CREATING AN OPERA PRODUCTION

To bring an opera to performance requires weeks of rehearsal for the singers, orchestra, chorus and dancers, and long preparation in the costume and wig-making, scenery-build and lighting design.

To coordinate the work of so many people, there must be someone to develop a concept for the production and someone to supervise its execution. In producing an opera there are two such directors, the Conductor and the Director. The conductor is responsible for all musical matters and musical preparation for the performance while the director is ultimately responsible for all other aspects of the production.

The conductor and stage director must come to an agreement as to style, mood, period and quality – not only of the overall work but also of each major segment. They must work closely together throughout the rehearsal period to make sure their mutual concept is achieved.

The conductor supervises not only the orchestra, but also the chorus master, music and language coaches, repetiteurs (rehearsal pianists) and assistant conductors. Musical coaches are unique to opera and other dramatic musical productions. Their job is to prepare the singers musically for their roles.

The coach helps the singer to learn how to sing the specific notes and how best to use the voice for the role; the coach also helps the singer to bring out the dramatic qualities of the character through vocal and musical interpretation. In addition to coaching the singers, repetiteurs play the piano for staging rehearsals, since it is not practical to have a full orchestra for these rehearsals.

The conductor attends as many rehearsals as possible, both to help solve whatever musical problems arise as a piece is staged, and to conduct the singers so they get used to the tempi, dynamics and his particular interpretation of the opera. In performance the conductor directs both the orchestra and performers on stage. He keeps the entire performance together from the orchestra pit.

The director has a large number of people to coordinate and works directly with the choreographer (if there is dancing) and the designers of the scenery, costumes, lights, makeup and wigs. There must be complete agreement on the interpretation of the work, and it is the director who ultimately must decide whether each element of the production supports that interpretation.

Each designer, in turn, works with set-manufacturing and wardrobe teams. The director also works with the singers and chorus, exploring how and where they should move on stage, and how they will interpret their roles dramatically. Similarly, the choreographer must design the dances and then train the dancers to execute them.

In preparing a performance, the singers first learn their roles musically, with the assistance of a coach. Then, after the performers have memorised the music, staging rehearsals begin. Normally the first step in staging rehearsals is to work out with the stage director the basic movement pattern, the 'blocking'; where each person will be when, where they come from and where they go.

Once the music and basic movements have been learned, increasingly subtle work is done to refine each moment in interpretation and expression. Ultimately, every second - each note and each word is brought under conscious, chosen control so that they can be repeated over again in almost identical fashion during each performance.

At this point technical and dress rehearsals are held in which all of the technical machinery – lights, scenery, special effects, costumes, makeup and wigs –is introduced, and coordinated with the music and the action. The technicians must also have a chance to rehearse their work to ensure that all performances run smoothly.

After several complete dress rehearsals, in which each element is given exactly as though in a performance, the opera is ready to be presented to the audience.

During a performance the Stage Manager is in charge backstage. It is his or her responsibility to make sure everything goes exactly as planned; that every costume, lighting or scenery shift is done on time, and that the performers get onstage from the right place at the appointed moment.

All this has been carefully prepared in rehearsals and noted in a master (or production) score, which the stage manager follows during the course of a performance.

Many technicians whom the audience never see make the show run. There are people who help the performers get into their costumes and makeup, there are the technicians who change the scenery, run the lights, pull the curtain, and make sure that everything which is used, whether it is a chair or a fan, is in good repair and in its proper place.

In traditional opera productions there is sometimes a prompter, who helps the performers with their lines if they should falter.

The list below provides a sense of how many people were needed, and for what jobs, in a recent production of Carmen.