...today they rehearsed Act III of Heliane and brought in 7 extra sets of tubular bells of different sizes, plus a bell piano that sat next the harmonium. Oh, and the chorus, and Robert Tear and Willard White and Andrew Kennedy. Finally they ran the act straight through. We were hanging on for dear life up in the balcony (as safe a distance as possible from the offstage brass). It was completely electrifying.
Dazed members of the orchestra wandered out afterwards, some of the older players declaring it the hardest thing they've ever had to play in 40 years, some of the younger ones threatening to move 6000 miles away and have ten babies to escape such ordeals. The horns are happy. The strings are stressed. The chorus has been brought over from Germany and has to be bussed to and from accommodation in Croydon. Vladimir remains ice-cool, zen-focused and totally in control: he has learned every atom of this piece, backwards. He finished the afternoon by explaining calmly that it sounds ideal now, but when we reach the RFH and its acoustic tomorrow, it will sound and feel utterly different...
5 comments:
Oh thanks for posting this, Jessica. How am I supposed to stay focused during my Tuesday lectures now? :s Oh well, good things come to those who wait...
This is truly one of the most exciting things ever! Having heard DIE GEZEICHNETEN in Amsterdam in May and now DAS WUNDER DER HELIANE it really is a great year for rediscovering masterpieces!
I too went to that Die Gezeichneten and to hear the Concertgebouw (the pit band at the Netherlands Opera) play that astonishing music and have it so well conducted by Ingo Metzmacher was incredible--and they did it complete too!
Dazed members of the orchestra wandered out afterwards, some of the older players declaring it the hardest thing they've ever had to play in 40 years, some of the younger ones threatening to move 6000 miles away and have ten babies to escape such ordeals
Hahahahahahaha. I know that John Mauceri commented that Heliane was one of the hardest pieces he's ever conducted. The downtown library here in Los Angeles has a copy of the piano/vocal score, I'm going to have check it out and give it a pass through to see what terrors await the performers.
This is very exciting, I can't wait to read your report after the performance. [prays] Please let Ms. Racette and Mr. Hendrick be up to the task vocally. [/prayer]
Sadly I wasn't at the Concertgebouw in 95, but Brendan, and also Michael Haas who was the producer of the Decca recording, tell me that it contained swathes of cuts. This is borne out by the first violin part that Tom brought home to practise, which had presumably not been touched since that concert: pages of it had been crossed out. They had to be uncrossed. Jurowski and the LPO are playing every note.
Jurowski and the LPO are playing every note
Excellent!
A few weeks ago, I watched a video of Die Tote Stadt from the Deutsche Oper Berlin with James King --the perfect voice for Paul though sadly he's about as involved with the text as if he was reading the phone book-- and Karen Armstrong and I can't stand that standard cut at the end of Act I that merges the first two acts together. It cuts out so much of that incredible music that starts Act II plus it makes for a 90-minute sing for two roles that are punishing enough as it is.
The less said about Paul picking up the gun at the very end, the better.....
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