Half a week,
Half a week,
All in the Lyon Opera House,
Rode the Two Hundred!
Ok, it’s not exactly Tennyson but it will have to do. It’s Tuesday, and there’s no going back. We must charge forth and hope that the cannons don’t mow us down.
The schedule: Double rehearsal today (Tuesday). Two three-hour monsters within which we shall go straight through the first half of the opera in the afternoon, and the 2nd half in the evening. Half, you ask? Doesn’t Porgy&Bess come in three Acts? Why yes it does, but we are taking our lone intermission after Act II Scene II, the Kittiwah incident. Part the First is now about 1 hour 38 minutes, Part the Second a little shorter. It’s a long time for the old arms to be a-waving, but at least it isn’t Gotterdammerung.
Wednesday: The Mr. Fix-it rehearsal at 2 pm. The hope is that there isn’t a lot to fix, but that damn second Act is a real mess. Musically that’s where most of the really hard to co-ordinate stuff lies, and I just bet we’ll be dealing with some of that. Then there’s the 8 pm Pre-General rehearsal. This is open to the public, so it is our first opportunity to get feedback from people who have not been intimately involved with the process of putting the opera together.
Thursday: This was supposed to be the night of the General rehearsal. Of course, this being France, it’s a strike day! I am looking forward to experiencing my first official French strike. Viva la Republique!!!
Friday: Supposed to be a day/night off, but with the previous day’s strike this is now the night of our General dress rehearsal. Everyone keep your fingers crossed.
Saturday: Opening night. There are folks coming for all about – major newspapers, etc., as well as a few folks coming in from Edmonton!!! I have some invited guests which include regular attendees to ESO concerts, as well as the ESO publicist, Melayne, and one member of the ESO, Susan. It’s going to be fun to see them, though it’s definitely outside of our normal context. They will love Lyon, and hopefully they will love their opera experience.
Sunday: Severe hangover. Please do not call, email, text, iChat, or disturb me in any other manner. I plan on dealing with a headache the size of Rhode Island, and frankly I deserve it.
After this week it’s all routine. Every other night we do a show. My family will come to Lyon the middle of next week and I am tremendously excited. It has been near 6 weeks since I have seen them, or near 10 if you count the time I spent in Edmonton in March. Much hilarity will ensue.
Please, everyone, wish us good luck. This is the first new Porgy&Bess in Europe since the Glyndebourne production and it shall set the tone for this opera in Europe for the next…. oh…. several decades, maybe.