Working Preston Bradley Hall

Submitted by Stephen Raskauskas, Production Dramaturge

This week, we had the opportunity to rehearse Acis and Galatea in Preston Bradley Hall, where the first three performances of the opera will take place.  We learned a lot about the space, visually and acoustically, and have begun making certain adjustments. 

In the picture below, the Brian Hoffman, Scott Brunscheen, Caitlin McKechney, and Susan Nelson sing a chorus around Wilbur Pauley (seated), while ribbons of mellifluous melisma pour out of Brad Jungwirth’s mouth (upstage).

Wilbur Pauley, who stands a towering 6’4 and bellows with a booming bass, plays the perfect Polypheme.  He’s standing tall not just because he’s been blocked there; his wife August Tye just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy! 

Since opera singers rarely smoke, the Summer Opera celebrated with chocolate cigars.  Stage Manager Kathryn Eckert saves her cigar for after rehearsal, since she’s usually busy diligently taking notes of Joanie Schultz’s stage directions as she watches each scene unfold.

A little bit of everything

Submitted by Stephen Raskauskas, Production Dramaturge

Joanie Schultz has almost finished staging Acis and Galatea.  The opera contains a little bit of everything, from love songs to battle cries, and course, what opera would be complete without a dramatic death scene? In the pictures below; Wilbur Pauley (Polyphemus) imprisons Amy Conn (Galatea); John Zuckerman (Acis) prepares for battle as Rob Boldin (Damon) tries to convince him to tame his passions; John dies while Amy mourns.

All of the arias in Acis and Galatea are da capo (italian for, from the head); once a singer has sung the first two sections of the aria, called the A and B sections, he or she returns to the beginning (the head) to repeat the A section.  The repeats allow singers to showcase their virtuosity, adding embellishments and occasional cadenzas.  Because the raison d’ etre of da capo arias is virtuosic display, often staging these pieces can be a challenge.  However, Joanie has crafted some clever staging for these arias, after spending much time exploring these pieces with each of the singers.  In the picture below; Joanie discusses da capo form with tenors John and Rob.

Chorus for mixed voices

Submitted by Stephen Raskauskas, Production Dramaturge

The five voice chorus of Handel’s Acis and Galatea , calls for a soprano, three tenors, and a bass.  Though today, SATB (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) choruses are most common, 5 part choruses were very common in Renaissance and baroque music.  Through the baroque period, a general trend shifted towards four voice choruses, with the melody in the soprano, a strong leading bass line, and two lines of harmony sandwiched between. 

Handel’s use of a 5 voice chorus would have sounded like somewhat of a throw back, even to people in 1718, when Acis and Galatea debuted.  In addition to an uncommon scoring, Handel also makes heavy use of polyphonic, church-style counterpoint – usually choruses in baroque opera will sing in unison.  Because Acis and Galatea was performed at a private residence with its own chapel, Handel probably used singers whose main duties were to sing church music, and would have been familiar with this style of singing.  Since in polyphonic choruses, each singer sings different melodic ideas at the same time, the choristers in Acis and Galatea can imbue their line with their own individualized characters, rather than acting simply as a ‘park and bark’ group chorus.

In addition to the use of 5 voice choruses, baroque choruses also differed from modern ones in that they were often all-male, using boy sopranos to sing the upper parts.  The economics of supply-and-demand made boy sopranos a rare commodity, and some choristers were castrated to prevent their voices from developing and to retain their shimmering sopranos.  Nowadays, of course, that practice has been abolished.  In order to reproduce the timbre of a baroque chorus, conductors will often add men to an alto section or women to a tenor section.  Click “Read More” to read Caitlin McKechney’s thoughts on singing tenor in this 5 voice chorus:

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The secret life of librarians

Submitted by Stephen Raskauskas, Production Dramaturge

Though music rehearsals for Acis and Galatea have been in progress, Friday was our first day of staging, and also the first time the whole group had been assembled.  Stage Director Joanie Schulz and Production Designer Chelsea Warren presented their ideas, constructing the whimsical world that the characters inhabit.  Together, the singers explored the lives of librarians to begin discovering their characters’ motivations, mannerisms, and movements.

A sneak peak at Chelsea’s designs

As promised yesterday, here are a few sneak peaks at Production Designer Chelsea Warren’s beautiful work.  The library theme of the Summer Opera’s production not only provides exciting and clever staging opportunities, but also lends itself to striking (and stunning) visual design; most of the costumes, sets, and props are literally made of books.  As such, floors and tables are brimming with books.

But before Chelsea and her crew begin making physical objects, everything is planned on paper after careful consideration.  Once the overall design for the stage has been determined, a scale model of the set is constructed.  Chelsea’s model contains even the tiniest details, from library carts to lamps, and of course, books;

The backdrop, too, starts out as an idea on paper, and then is made into a scale drawing.  A grid helps transfer the scale drawing onto the backdrop.

Check back soon to watch Cheslea’s designs develop (or better yet, come see them at a performance!)