10 Great Opera Villain Moments

Samuel Ramey as Mephistopheles in Gounod's Faust

As an avid opera goer, I find nothing more exciting then a well written villain. From hostile takeovers, kidnapping, manipulation, and murder, there are some incredible villains in the great history of opera. I have compiled a list of my personal favorite moments where the villain gets to shine. These picks are either scenes or arias or a combination of the two. For this list, I have picked ten operas and at least one villain from that opera. My focus will be on opera from the classical era up to the early-mid 20th century, since these are more prevalent in the public eye. I disqualify villains from comic operas and operettas in order to focus on dramas and tragedies. My list does not reflect the views of any other particular person or organization. In no particular order, here is my list of ten great opera villain moments.

1) "Credo in un Dio crudel", Iago from Verdi's Otello
There is no uncertainty in the opera world that Iago is one of the great villains to ever be penned. The second to last of Giuseppe Verdi's great operas, Otello follows the great moor of Shakespeare as his jealousy leads him to commit murder. Who leads him to this downfall? His "trusted" ensign Iago. In the original play, he is more of a trickster and less of a cold hearted demon. He is racist, manipulative,  and competitive. In the opera, Iago is passed over for the appointment of captain by the Moor general Othello. In revenge, he makes up an affair between Desdemona, Othello's wife, and Cassio, a captain in Othello's fleet. In his famous aria, distancing himself from Shakespeare, he declares his belief in a cruel god, who wants nothing more but for men to suffer in this life and the next. This is the epitome of evil for any operatic villain.

2) "La Veau d'Or", Mephistopheles from Gounod's Faust
Historically, there has been no greater force of evil that man fears more than eternal damnation at the hands of the devil. None has been more prevalent than in the legend of Faust, a german scholar who sells his soul for youth and knowledge. The devil Mephistopheles has appeared in many adaptions, but Gounod's Faust was so acclaimed, it ushered in a new age of french opera. In his famous song of the golden calf, Mephistopheles sings an ode to the greed of man, while simultaneously creating a frantic orgy. He knows the sin of the earth and revels in how easily man is led astray.

3) "O Beauty, O Handsomeness, goodness.." Claggart from Britten's Billy Budd
Benjamin Britten's opera, based on the story by Herman Melville, follows the recollection of  british Captain Vere's days as a captain during the days of the French Revolution. After taking on new recruit Billy Budd via impressment, John Claggart, master-at-arms of Veer's ship, orders his spy Squeak to get the young man in trouble. When his plan fails and he sees Billy's innocence and loyalty, Claggart curses goodness and beauty, stating that he will destroy the boy who brought it on the ship. In the second act, he frames Billy for conspiracy to mutiny. When Billy is charged in front of Vere, he stammers and kills Claggart with a single punch. This ultimately leads to Billy's execution.

4) "Schweig', damit dich niemand warnt"/Wolf's Glenn scene- Caspar from Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischutz
This is the only combination of two separate moments from the same opera. Der Freischutz is considered the first great romantic german opera. When a hunting ranger named Maxwell fears that he will be unable to pass a trial shot before his wedding, he seeks the help of a fellow ranger Caspar to help him obtain magic bullets. Unbeknownst to him, Caspar is the cause of Maxwell's unlucky streak, due to some supernatural assistance. In the finale of Act 1, Caspar sings of how he will use the magic bullets to exact revenge on Maxwell for stealing his former love Agathe. In the Wolf's Glenn, Caspar calls on the devil, portrayed as the Black Huntsman, to give him one more day to find a replacement soul, Maxwell. The rest of the scene involves the creation of the magic bullets, summoning wild creatures, demons, and spirits to the land of the living. The day of the wedding, the plan fails. The final bullet, controlled by the devil, misses its intended target and kills Caspar.

5) "Der Holle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen", The Queen of the Night from Mozart's The Magic Flute
Yes, this list has an overload of testosterone. But that doesn't mean we don't have great female villains in opera. None can match the pure evil that is The Queen of the Night. Sopranos of all ages envy this role for its difficulty and her power. In the first act of the opera, Tamino is sent on a quest to save the queen's daughter from the evil Sarastro. By the time we see he again, we find that the queen is actually the villain, and Sarastro the good guy. In her famous aria, she orders her daughter Pamina to kill Sarastro or be killed herself. It is one of Mozart's greatest arias and remains a classic to this day.

6) "Va, Tosca", Scarpia from Puccini's Tosca
None of Puccini's villains is as sadistic and lustful than Baron Scarpia, chief of police for the city of Rome. He is after a political prisoner and the affection of Floria Tosca, an opera singer. Knowing that her boyfriend Cavaradossi is an accomplice and a political ally for the prisoner Angelotti, he uses her emotions to his advantage. After tricking Tosca into thinking that her lover is having an affair with another woman, she confesses to Cavaradossi's whereabouts. When Scarpia believes that he has both the prisoner and Tosca in his sights, he sings of his love of Tosca, which is distracting him from the Te Deum performed in the church. This is some of Puccini's most chilling writing.

7) Revival Scene, Olin Blitch from Carlisle Floyd's Susannah
What is a villain without power? And what greater power than a religious god? In this classic american opera, a young woman is judged by her townsfolk for her supposed sin. Along comes Olin Blitch, a revival pastor, who comes to town to judge the wicked and save the good. At a revival meeting, Blitch gives a sermon aimed at Susannah of how God punishes the wicked. After public humiliation, he rapes her. After Susannah's brother kills Blitch in revenge, she ostracizes herself from the rest of the town. Many situations like this were based in the cold reality of life in the southern USA, and touched the souls of many facing the wrath of Senator McCarthy's Red Scare.

8) "Quel vecchio maledivami", Sparafucile from Verdi's Rigoletto
This is one of the two duets I have on this list. Sparafucile is an assassin who introduces himself to Rigoletto, and is later hired to kill the Duke of Mantua...unsuccessfully. He lives to kill for cash uses his sister to seduce his victims. Before this meeting, Count Monterone places a father's curse on the Duke for raping his daughter, and on Rigoletto for mocking him. After Rigoletto's own daughter Gilda has been saved from the Duke and Monterone only reverses the curse on the Duke before his execution, Rigoletto has no choice but to have the Duke assassinated. But, after Sparafucile's sister falls for the Duke, he decides that he will kill someone else (Gilda) and take the money. He has no moral center to anything but family and money. I consider this an important moment

9) "Son'io dinazi al re?", The Grand Inquisitor from Verdi's Don Carlo

The second scene involving two characters is the meeting of the Grand Inquisitor with King Philip of Spain in Don Carlo. The Inquisitor is so full of himself that he essentially tells the king to kill anyone who dares defy the kingdom and the church. In this case, he means his son Carlo and his friend Rodrigo, a revolutionary. He is the ultimate power in the case. His influence is the reason so many people died by the hands of the inquisition. He goes into depth of how god is commanding him to rid the world of evil. And of course, the dark deep bass is terrifying enough as it is.

10) "Bin ich nun frei?", Alberich from Wagner's Das Rheingold
No other villain casts a shadow that take four operas to bring to an end. Alberich is the main antagonist of the Ring Cycle. He is a dwarf who takes the enchanted rheingold to fasten a ring to give him unlimited power, but only by denouncing love. Wotan, king of the gods, kidnaps Alberich, takes all his gold to pay a debt to some giants, and cuts off his hand to take the ring. Angered, Alberich places a curse on the ring. It will bring death and destruction to whoever holds it until it is returned back to him. He is mentioned in Die Walkure, plots to take the ring from a young warrior in Siegfried, and commands his son to kill Siegfried and take the ring before being dragged down to his death by the rhinemaidens in Gotterdammerung. His curse lays down the foundation for the rest of the cycle.

Well, that's my list of some of the best villain moments in opera. If you agree, disagree, or have your own favorite that wasn't mentioned here, feel free to comment down below.

The Castleton Diaries: Week 7- A Condensed Week and an Elegy

I had originally meant for this to be posted before the events of Sunday came around. Unfortunately, things never go as you plan, life has its ways of taking the things we hold dear. I am currently in mourning of Lorin Maazel, a great man who I had the privilege to meet a few weeks ago, but whom I had admired my entire life. So, I will divide this into two parts: a quick summary of the week following the Don Giovanni premiere and my thoughts on the late maestro.

The Sunday after opening night, I went to a wonderful after party hosted by a donor, and went swimming in the lake with the rest of the CATS.

 Monday I went to Shenandoah Park and did a 2 mile hike with my housemates.

 The rest of the week went by without much except a concert on Thursday at the wonderful Hylton Center at George Mason University with Jonathan Beyer and Denyce Graves.

 Then I met Margaret Warner, famous host of PBS News Hour, who was to narrate Peter and the Wolf that Sunday. After another Butterfly and Don Giovanni performance, we all got the shocking news that Maazel passed on Sunday morning, so we dedicated the Story in Music Concert in his memory. Dietlinde, his wife, was not able to narrate his pieces as originally planned. Luckily, Maria Tucci, who had performed in a reading of Don Juan in Hell by GB Shaw, had agreed to step in. Plus, we had the wonderfully outlandishly dressed Sir James Galway perform in one of the pieces. He also gave a masterclass the day beforehand. During the company party, we gave a toast to Lorin Maazel, "the greatest showman who ever lived".

Now, how to honor this man? How do I go and tell the world the great deeds he has done? I can't. Everyone else has. It would be useless to say what he has done when it has been printed by every newspaper in the world. I attended a memorial service for him this past Wednesday. Never in my life would I ever think I was important enough to be part of his family. But there I was, with my fellow "Castletonians" as one speaker put it. I can never thank the man enough for everything he has done to inspire my life's ambitions. The man was truly a citizen of the world, and just for a few weeks, he was part of mine.

Now, I never got to shoot the breeze with him.The only time I ever talked to him about anything musical was over Facebook. And I think I lost that conversation years ago. And when I finally talked to him here, It was just a question as to whether or not I needed to print scores for all the conducting fellows. That was all. Everything else I ever heard him say was to the orchestra and singers. And every word out of his mouth was magic, or to more age appropriate, remarkable. The last time he was in the theater was for a Don Giovanni dress rehearsal. Since then, he had been watching every performance from his manor house on the farm. He was a pleasure to meet and will be an inspiration to millions in the future. Thanks to this festival, Youtube, and the hundreds of recordings he has made. No future musican will ever be able to learn about great music men without hearing the name Lorin Maazel. Thank You Maestro. Godspeed.

The Castleton Diaries: Week 7, Extra- The Rant (Optional Reading)

---Warning: Rant Ahead-----

The Don Giovanni premiere went very well. Splendid cast and orchestra, wonderful sets, not so shining reviews. 

"Worse was the coda: Giovanni’s comeuppance is taken not by him, but by a doppelganger who shadows him at various points during the show. Giovanni stands by to watch, bemused, as the doppelganger is dragged off to Hades. He then provides cynical, pantomime commentary on the other characters’ denouements, upstaging them with a quick, final sexual conquest. So the moral of the story, I guess, is that as long as you stay true to your libertine principles, nothing bad will befall you."-Robert Battey, Washinton Post

He bashed the conductor, the costumes, and our concept, but the cast blew him away. I don't care what he has to say. I thought everything was incredible. My personal philosophy for putting on an opera is that you are always putting on a show for someone who has never seen an opera. Your production be whatever you want, but if your audience can't follow along with the story or with the emotions of the characters, then you are, and excuse my language for this with kids, s**t out of luck. This production was alive and engaging, and I was sitting in the wings the entire night. 

But the one thing I will care about is how in both opera reviews from The Washington Post, they continually set out to rip on the conductors. I think that this is simply because they are not Maazel. Things happen, people get sick, that is the whole reason why we have assistant conductors. Brad Moore is exceptional. Salvatore Percacciolo knows the work with such clear definition in his mind. I have spent weeks watching these rehearsals. The only things I have concern over are the length of the rehearsals, at least two 3-hour rehearsals a day for at least 6 days of the week. These musicians are kicking behinds and taking names, and I think that people should give them a break when it comes to being criticized. 

Maazel was there when they picked every musician and conductor who auditioned for this program. He has given his blessing to everything in the output and input of these performances. He has been watching every performance via live stream. He is essentially our Big Brother, ironic because he wrote the operatic version of 1984. Plus, we are working with ridiculous circumstances. Musicians are out of commission left and right and we need to fill replacements at the last minute notice. New practice parts have to be scanned and printed on the daily, not just for concerts, but Chamber Cabarets before each concert and the weekend chamber and scenes concerts. Instruments have to be moved between rehearsal spaces and performance venues on the daily. Internet and Phone service are incredibly limited. But that is all made up for in talent and drive. 

After Maazel passes over the reins of this festival, it is up to the musicians, singers, directors, teachers, and conductors to make this festival worth while for the duration of its existence, which i hope will be a long one because Rappahannock County needs this festival like a dog needs a bone. I have total faith in the people who brought me here. And one day, I hope it will be able to stand on its own without Maazel. He started this project, and it is up to the people to keep it going. 

---This concludes the rant. We return to our original programming in the next post---

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The Castleton Diaries: Week 6- The Storm and Patriotic Flag Waving

I'm very glad to say that opening night for Madama Butterfly was a huge success. We had a sold out audience and a wonderful cast and orchestra to brighten the tears in peoples' eyes following the ending. The Mozart concert the following day was also wonderful. Donald Runnicles is a pleasure to have at Castleton. So what next....

Full on battle mode for Don Giovanni has been the driving force of my work ethic that past week. We open just a week after Madama Butterfly, and on top of that, we had the Military Reserve Band led by Colonel Bourgeois. That in itself was a real experience to witness. The brave men and women who fought to serve our country and protect our rights were together to play some extraordinary music. Marches, Slow Drags, Anthems and Hymns, you name it, they played that patriotic tune. Plus, three choruses, US Army Men's Chorus, a youth choir from DC, and the Castleton Festival Chorus. We also had the honor of having Joseph Alessi, aka the world's foremost trombone player, to play the solo in Arthur Pryor's Blue Bells of Scotland, followed by an encore of Debussy. So moving, and on such a peculiar instrument.

       Colonel Bourgeois leading the dress rehearsal

The rehearsal beforehand also was a sight to behold. We had a huge storm the Wednesday before and the power went out several times. During the longest outage, the band played through The Stars and Stripes Forever by memory. Not something you see or hear everyday. Also, I spent that night without power or running water in our house. FUN!

The craziness ensued as we worked our butts off to make the music for Don Giovanni sound incredible. The horns had the blunt end of the demands from the maestro. "Can we get them to sound softer?". They moved around, muted, covered the area behind them with padding and blankets and even putting in sound guards. The next logical thing is to put them offstage. Hopefully I'm just being ridiculous and it won't come to that.  

Fireworks

Also, this is a time where I no longer trust all reviews. We got a pretty nasty review in the Washington Post for Madama Butterfly. But then we got a great review from DC Theatre Scene. I was pretty worried. But honestly, we still are selling out shows left and right, and we have a great Don G production premiering by the time this goes online. I have my doubts, but I also have great hope for the talent and production design. 

The raven ladies, symbolizing Don Juan's past

The big ending of the production may also scare a few purists, but when it was explained to me, it made sense in terms of the mythological man known as Don Juan. The production makes him out to be more of a legend more than a man. During the finale, the Commendatore is accompanied by Raven Ladies, symbolizing the women who Giovanni had "conquered". Then, Don Giovanni's body double, who lurks in the background of the show and who wears a mask made for this production from a face casting of the star baritone, is dragged to hell instead of him. But Don G is still out of reality by remaining on the other side of the pit and in the audience. This is supposed to represent how the legend of Don Juan survives in every generation.

Set design for Act 2 

The work has also been piling up in other departments. We had a late arrival of parts for the CATS opera scenes concert, so we attempted to use a program called Partifi to make easy parts from the scores. It ended miserably and now I keep getting pop ups on my Chrome browser. Musicians can't play music if they are missing measures. Luckily, we have all the parts now and the concerts will sound spectacular.

That's all I can really say for this week. Until next time, this has been The Castleton Diaries.

A very tired oboist goes full zombie from rehearsing all day.

The Castleton Diaries- Week 5: How to Keep Calm and Carry On with Allergies

By the time this goes online, it will be Monday, late by 2 days. Well, I have my reasons. I've been so busy with my job that I haven't been able to process everything that has happened.

Rehearsals man! Physically and mentally draining. 6 hours a day on one show. Staging, music, tech. These three things must be perfected before the work can go before an audience. But when it does, boy is it beautiful.

Butterfly set

So essentially we had a rehearsal every day this week, only one break per rehearsal, plus lunch and dinner. I have to be on my toes when my boss isn't in the room, due to a flood of daily emails and calls. But luckily, nothing severe has happened apart from the swallowing of flies by singers and one minor glockenspiel snafu. I had to put all the keys back on after we accidentally unloaded it upside down. Thanks to perfect pitch (and the fact that the notes were etched onto the keys) it took no time at all.

Theater House Stage, Bradley Moore at Piano, Daniel Lelchuk with Cello

I went to Sperryville for an off the clock event: US vs Portugal. What a game. So many people atvthe bar were screaming and shouting. Probably hadn't been that excited about soccer in a while. Before the game, I walked around town. So many sweet little shops. And then I bought a copy of The Piedmont Virginian at the corner store. Why? The Castleton Festival program was inside. I found my name!! I was so thrilled. Just think, my name is attached to a major opera festival. It puts things into perspective. It was also amazing to read about the singers and musicians participating. I then bought the most delicious goat milk caramels I ever tasted. It was a good Sunday.

Bridge over river in Sperryville

Stress levels were at an all time high. Which is probably why I was so susceptible to summer allergies. Oy vey! I'm surrounded by musicians and singers that need to stay healthy, and I'm in the back sneezing and coughing with a runny nose. (In a nasally tone: too many tissues, so much cough syrup, and all the hand sanitizer!!). Luckily, no one got seriously sick before opening night. Did Maestro Maazel conduct? No. Did the Assistant Conductor do a fantastic job? Hell Yes! Madama Butterfly's opening night was wonderful. But boy was I uneasy. Between running around, being medicated for my allergies, and just the lack of energy due to late nights, I don't know how I managed to not explode. Honestly I love working here, but the responsibility I am given has not been the easiest thing to carry on my back. Plus, THE BUGS!! I hate the bugs in Virginia. I miss the lack of weird flying creatures that buzz on Long Island. But luckily, I have bosses and coworkers that care about me, which I am so lucky to have.

Tchaikovsky Wax Figure in Theater House

To tell you the truth, I am probably not going to make a career out of managing orchestras, but now I have a greater respect for the people who work at places like The Metropolitan Opera and The NY Philharmonic, who deal with this kind if stuff on a 24/7/365 schedule. Also, watching Donald Runnicles conduct was pretty awesome. Can't wait for Alisa Weilerstein to get here.

I will be back on Saturday. Until then, this has been The Castleton Diaries.

Knick Knacks at Pink House

The Castleton Diaries: Week 4- “Get that child off the stage!” and the Hiking Trip that Wasn’t

Not too much happened this week to be honest. Everyone is really starting to reach beiling point because the opening night is next Saturday, June 28^th. People are busy with rehearsals and recovering mentally from rehearsals. Sitzprobe and full staged runthroughs in the theater have begun for Madama Butterfly, the final staging rehearsals for Don Giovanni were completed at the local elementary, and orchestral rehearsals for the symphonic concerts have been going and going as they are allotted. 

The Orchestra Management Work Corner

            One thing that happened on Sunday was that my housemates and I were to go to Shennandoah National Park for a nature hike. That day, I decided to go shopping at Walmart for a few house necessities: shower mat, dustpin, water bottles, and air fresheners. When I got back, I found the house was empty except for me. Everyone was gone and I assumed that they left without me. So I drove out to the park, spent $15 on admittance, and drove up the mountain, enjoying the incredible views. Absolutely breathtaking. Too bad that when I finally got a message to one of them, it turned out they went to the pool at Meadows house across from the festival tent. So after taking some more pictures, I rushed back to Castleton, pissed that no one had informed of their change in plans. Luckily, they had never meant to leave me out of the trip had it happened. So we spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool, playing ball and barbequing. It was a much-needed break from all the hubbub.

Shenandoah National Park

            The rest of the week has been nonstop rehearsals. We finally started in the theater on Tuesday, after a few sitzprob with both show casts. I was very impressed with the design of the sets and backgrounds. I will be even more impressed once decisions of the background projections are finalized. Otherwise, everything is absolutely beautiful. There was one staging direction that went from beautiful to hilariously distracting of one person: Trouble. Of course, I mean the child actor who plays Butterfly’s child. In the scene where Butterfly and Suzuki set flowers on the floor, the way the scene is originally set is to have just the two of them. But the director wanted the child to join in setting out the flower petals. But she was too distracting, and Maestro Maazel would not have it. She was removed from that part of the scene so that it would just be a beautiful moment between to friends finding great joy in Pinkerton’s return.

A view of the pit

            This past Thursday, I made a trip out to Maryland. I was informed the day before that I would be driving two of the orchestra members to different shops in order to pick up their rental instruments for the remainder of the festival. Luckily the shops were only 20 minutes apart. L & L Music was in Gaithersburg, where my roommate Rupert got a rental horn. The cellist Stephanie had to go to Bethesda to get a cello at Potter Violins. Both store staff were great to talk to and very understanding of the time restraints and international issues for ID. They were also very impressed on our being part of Castleton. I would definitely recommend to those who need good shops to go to. And luckily, we had an enjoyable time in the car, discussing our favorite and least favorite music, the people we left behind at home, and how much we couldn’t get the festival music out of our heads. And after making a lunch break at Firehouse Subs, which was incrediblely delicious (better than Subway even), I made it back to drop them at the rehearsal in time. Good thing I get reimbursed for gas for errands in my personal car, because I probably used as much as gas that day as I had originally purchased that morning.

            Besides finally having a functioning printer/copy machine again, there isn’t much else going on. I will let you faithful readers know that the opening night of Madama Butterfly will be streamed online. So I hope that you will either come out to Castleton to view the operas and concerts, or watch the opera opening nights online. More info on that soon.

Until next time, this has been The Castleton Diaries.

The Castleton Diaries: Week 3- How DC Went, and the Day the Maestro Shocked Us All

It has been quite an exciting week to say the least. Saturday and Monday were spent in rehearsal for Don Giovanni and Madama Butterfly with the two assistant conductors. If I wasn’t sitting in front of the orchestra making sure the rehearslas ended on time, I was making copies and scans. It turns out that the administration put the orchestra management staff in charge of getting scores out to the Conducting Fellows, the lucky conductors chosen to work with and learn from Maestro Maazel during the summer. So I spent the entire Sunday making copies of parts and scores. Luckily I have great friends who like to check in on me.

Tuesday, I was given the day off. I decided to make a venture out to Washington DC. I brought my bicycle with me and rode all around the National Mall. It was the first time I had been there since 2007. The day started pretty lousy, rain and dreary skies. But as the day progressed, the skies cleared and the sun was scorching. This was great because I had never realized how cyclist-friendly the DC area was. There were bike lanes in the center of the roads and everything was accessible by walking or biking. After riding past the Capital building, I went to the Botanical Gardens. I was amazed at how beautiful they were. All of the exotic plants were in one place. I think I must have snapped a good 20 pictures before I even got past the first half of the building.

US Botanical Gardens

Next stop for me was the National Mall. I rode past the Washington Monument, the reflecting pool, the Lincoln Memorial, WW2, Korea, and Vietnam memorials, the Jefferson Memorial, the FDR Memorial, and the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, which had been erected a few years prior. I always wanted to go back and really get a feel for everything. When I was in eighth grade, we were on a tight schedue and we didn’t get to enjoy everything the city had to offer. So I’m glad I got a chance to see everything again.

 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN (Madama Butterfly Reference)

After looking at the White House, or as much as you can see from the fence, I stopped for a while to rest at Barnes and Noble before continuing on. I decided to attend an event Castleton was holding in the city, a young professionals meet and greet with music at the 201 Bar. Suffice it to say, after cycling around the city for a good four to five hours, I didn’t have a suit. So I felt a bit awkward. Luckily, my associates from the festival didn’t mind, as long as I was polite and said good things to the people that came in. Of course I wouldn’t say anything less. So after some refreshment and song, I headed back to Castleton. When I got there, it turned out my boss had emailed me asking to be back at the office by 10pm to take care of copying the score to Madama Butterfly, cuting the sheets down, and then holepunching them into a binder. That was taken care of in almost no time at all, thank goodness.

The next was the day, the most gloriously awaited day, a day to which all other days would bow down in praise and …too much? Anyway, Wednesday was an important day because that was the first day Maestro Lorin Maazel made his first appearance. The orchestra staff had to be in by 8am to set everything up before he got there at 9am. At which time, he came down to the rehearsal hall to get an idea of what was going to happen today. Then he scrapped that ntirely and said that we would do two sitzprobe for the operas in one day. Madama Butterfly was to start at 10am. So you can imagine the absolute frenzy that ensued getting the hall set up for the orchestra, chorus, principals, covers, stage managers, conducting fellows, and a special space in the back of the hall just for Maestro to watch the conducting fellows. What followed was the first professional rehearsal I had ever experienced. The orchestra was spectacular, the chorus and principals sounded incredible, and all the conductors were outstanding. At the finale of each act, I had chills. Whenever Maestro asked for a change, it had an immediate impact of the tone of the music. I remember one point where he asked for the two female leads to hold out a decrescendo after the pause in the flower-picking scene, and it just went from musical to magical in an instant.

 

The Reflecting Pool as seen from the Lincoln Memorial

(When Maestro walked in that morning, I had some idea of what to expect. He had been in ill health for a while, a fact that recently led to his decision to step down as Music Director of the Munich Philharmonic. But when he came in, despite his slow movement, he still had that air about him that stated with pride, “I’m here to do what I’ve always done”. In his blue straw hat and tan jacket, he sat in the back of the rehearsal hall, still actively listening and stopping the conductors to give instructions to them and the singers. This was the day I stopped idolizing him as a powerhouse conductor, and started respecting him as an artist. This man, who I had been admiring since my days in middle school, was proudly working despite the odds and taking the music to a higher level.)

The afternoon was spent on Don Giovanni, which continued into the next day. So of course when my housemates and I watched Sherlock Holmes that Wednesday night, we all just lost it when Sherlock mentions to Watson that Don Giovanni is playing at the opera house. By the way, excellent movie, and we are planning to watch the sequel soon.

After the sitzprobe were done, the orchestra started rehearsing the concert repertoire. I missed most of this because I was in the prodution office attempting to make copies of parts for the concert at the Hylton Center, which includes arrangements of Broadway standards. I was so frustrated with trying to connect to the office printer and then print out multiple parts, I told to my boss that I was willing to stay late to get more work done. I just proclaimed that “I was willing to give up a night of sleep to get s**t done!” Then someone said, “Now that’s the Castleton spirit,”. So I did, even though my boss had preferred I didn’t because he thought it was cruel of me to do so. But I managed to work late into the night printing out scores for the conducting fellows to use that following day. I got through all the arias that were to be rehearsed, plus a few other things that I was constantly being asked for. I had luckily streamlined the process of finding out what music the conducting fellows already had via Google Docs, so I didn’t have to make 16 copies of every score. I made 16 copies of some scores, and 14 for most. I was of course worried that at some point the machine would run out of toner. And it did, at 3:30 am, a few pages into the third copy of Peter and the Wolf. I knew that I should have at least printed out the scores for The Giving Tree instead of The Empty Pot, since that one was to be rehearsed. But life is life, you roll with it. So after having kept myself awake with music and conversations with foreign friends via the internet, I quietly made my way back to the house, where I slept on the couch to avoid waking anyone up. I slept from 4 to 6:30, and still had the same high energy level from that night. So I made my way out for breakfast, told my boss what I did, and that we were not getting toner until Monday. He was both appreciative of the gesture and shocked that I actually went through with it. Actually everyone I told was pretty much in shock. Honestly, I just sat next to the printer and organized msuic as it came out. But the conducting fellows were very happy to get their scores, eventhough they wont see any others until Monday night.

 

The Jefferson Memorial

But even after making all those copies, some condutors didn’t even bother taking their scores after the day’s rehearsal, which was also phenomenal. The orchestra went through the arias that highlighted the concert series, as well as The Giving Tree, written by Maestro Maazel and narrated by his wife Dietelinde. I had never experienced Maazel the composer until that time. True I had heard faint snippets from his opera 1984, but I didn’t realize he had written anything else besides that. The Giving Tree, based on the book by Shel Silverstein, was very colorfully orchestrated. I loved hearing the violincello obbligato, you could feel all the emotion of the tree as she dealt with the aging of the boy. Mrs. Maazel is also a great narrator, although it will be Margaret Warner that will be narrating the works for that concert.

Afterwards, the orchestra was given the rest of the day off. So I got to go back to the house and take a nap before I started writing this. Much needed by the way. So what have I learned from all this? First, you have to realize that you can’t set impossible standards for last minute requests that involve staying til lord knows when. Second, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. What is important is how you deal with it. Third, office work is just inevitable at this job. Lastly, some men are willing to make great sacrifices to keep doing what they love.

So that’s all I can impart for now. Until next week, this has been The Castleton Diaries.

P.S., Best of luck to my younger brother Evan and his highschool baseball team as they fight for the NY state championship in Binghamton this weekend.

The Castleton Diaries: Week 2- Emus, Printers, and the European Invasion

Wednesday, June 4^th:

So much has occurred since I began my stay. Most of it was paperwork. I have more hours than I have ever thought it humanly possible in front of a computer and a copy machine/printer. I have probably hit a thousand pages of music within first five days, probably exceeding 2000 at some point. Honestly, I have lost count. But what I do know is that I have printed out thousands of pages of sheet music for Don Giovanni and Madama Butterfly. This afternoon, we managed to do the setup for tomorrow’s first rehearsal. Finally, I could have a break from the long cycle of buttons on the computer screen: Scan, Choose printer, Scan, rotate, crop, scan, Choose printer, Scan, crop, rotate….etc. Waiting hours at the printer for collated, double sided parts to finish so I don’t get lost when organizing them. I started saying the mantra from Fight Club, “Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy…..”.

The majority of the musicians arrived today. I have the joy of sharing the house with some of them. One horn player who now shares the common room with my fellow interns and me is from NY. Finally, I am not alone! But surprisingly, three of my new housemates are from none other than the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London, England. Yes, the British are here! Living with us in the house are a horn player, cellist, and violinist. I’ve been spending the past day and a half showing them around and showing them some of our American customs. One of those customs is Cards Against Humanities. What an interesting game that was. Equal parts awkward and hilarious. But it did the job of bridging the gap and getting to know how crazy we all truly are. But honestly, these are some good people and I can’t wait to hear them in rehearsal. I just wish I were going to be playing with them. We also got to bond over a never-ending shower faucet. For at least an hour this morning, the water would not stop running from the shower. Luckily we got the plumbers to come while we were out for the day.

            Moving on from People and Things, I move on to Places. Specifically, I speak of the trails surrounding the property at Castleton. One leads to a small lake and tennis courts. Nothing too exciting. The paths were so steep that it was a thrill and and danger to go down, but a struggle to get back up. Boy did my calves feel sore after that. The other path was longer and quite exciting. I went through the woods and past many of the houses. Past the cows and deer, I rode on, fearing for my life as I sped downhill on many a winding and twisting roads. At the end of the path, I came across Maestro Maazel’s estate. It was huge, simple, but forboding. And there they were…Emus! There were at least four of them, sharing a plot of fenced off land. Strutting around like they owned the place. At this point, I was exhausted and running low on water, so I decided to head back. It was absolutely beautiful. I hope to do it again with a GoPro if I can acquire one.

            The most beautiful view experienced in my time here so far has not been during the day, but at night. In Castleton, there is no city afterglow that prevents one from seeing the eternal beauty of the night sky. Every star is visible, and the fireflies fill the air with a spectacular light show that can only be described as fantastic. It is the true side of paradise that I have seldomed seen before. Even as a Boy Scout, I never got to enjoy a night so peaceful and beautiful as the one following my bike ride. For once, I actually longed to sleep under that beautiful black sky, dotted with the ghosts of ancient stars. It was pure and absolute beauty in the plainest sense.

Near the End of Day

            With the majority of the preparations done, tomorrow’s rehearsal will actually be something to look forward to instead of being stuck at the printer all day. We will just have to see...

Friday, June 6^th: 

            What a busy couple of days it has been. The actual rehearsals have begun, though in sectionals. But the musicians are here and playing, and that is what I am excited about. I see them practicing in the morning around the cottages and silo. That’s what you have to do when you only have four practice barns. Anyway, I started my Thursday morning with the string sectional, led by the wonderful concertmaster Paç. He is so passionate when it comes to Puccini and Madama Butterfly. Unfortunately, that was all I got to see.

After lunch, I was assigned to drive out to Shenandoah University to pick up four percussion trap tables and a suspended cymbal stand from one of the percussion teachers. He was a delight to meet. The traffic heading back? Not so delightful. It took me an hour to get off I-81, and then an additional hour to get back to Castleton. Luckily everthing made it to its destination safe and sound.

That evening, I joined my fellow interns for a night at the movies and Chilli’s. Best tableside guac I ever had. Also, Maleficient was not as bad as I had originally thought. I actually enjoyed it. But I digress that the real point it that I am actually making some awesome friends and we are really getting along. Which is good, because I have to live and work with them for two months. But then again, who wouldn’t want to work with such amazing people and brilliant talents.

Speaking of brilliant talents, I began this Friday morning at the winds and brass sectional for Don Giovanni. Chills! It was so good. And these musicians have only had the music for a few days at the most. The assistant counductor Maestro Repicky was so insightful about the history and plot of the opera. He even relealed a few double entendres. Later that afternoon, Maestro Moore, assistant conductor for Madama Butterfly, led the winds and brass sectional. It was another spine chillingly wonderful rehearsal led by another incredibly insightful conductor. He even was singing along with the score, having quite the baritone vocal skills.

Entrance at Morning

After a long day, I did laundry and had some help cleaning up the house before the rest of the roommates came back from the wine tasting event out in Culpepper. We had another night of Cards Against Humanities, some of the players not understanding references, making it twice as hilarious. But we took a break to walk outside to enjoy the beautifully clear night sky and the dazzling firefly display. Plus, I managed to fall off the trampoline that happens to be on our property. Good Times.

But now that the evening has settled, I write these words down in anticipation of more things to come, especially since we have our first orchestra run through of Madama Butterfly tommorrow morning. I look forward to the inspiring sounds of a professional level orchestra. Let the magic begin.

Until next Saturday, this has been another edition of The Castleton Diaries. Now, here is a photo of a Zonkey!

The Castleton Diaries: Week 1: The Calm Before the Storm

This is the first of my weekly blogs detailing the ups and downs, the sights and sounds, and the lessons I have learned during my stay at the Castleton Opera Festival. First, I should give some background as to how I acquired this summer internship.  A few months ago, my curiosity about the Castleton Festival grew immensely.  I had heard about the festival in years past and had wanted to visit. However, I never got the chance. Then, I discovered that there were internships available for the summer. With help, I was able to send in my resume for consideration. After a wonderful Skype interview with the director, Nancy Gustafon, I was informed of my acceptance as an Orchestra Management intern for the summer of 2014.

 

Festival Tent

I arrived this past Monday, May 26^th, a bright and warm day. After getting my welcome packet and filling out some paperwork, I was taken on a brief tour. My first impression of the facilities and the landscape was that of shock and awe. The grounds cover 600 square acres, all of it beautiful. The hills, fields, and woods are something to behold. Plus, the wildlife is something else. Besides the usual cows and cats, there were llamas, a zebra, goats, and a zonkey (donkey and zebra hybrid). I heard that there are emus, but I have yet to see them.

I was assigned to live in a house on the property. It is called Bluebird Haven. Secluded by a long and downward driveway, the area around the house is expansive and hidden by trees. I later found out I was to share the house with up to 18 people, six people on each of the three floors. Since I arrived a day early and had already made reservations to stay the night in Culpeper, I simply went to unpack the clothes and supplies I brought for my stay. The next day, my father, who had accompanied me on the drive to Virginia, went home to NY via train and plane.  I was officially away from family for the first time in my life.

The first full day I was at Castleton, I spent my time unpacking more supplies, exploring the grounds, and waiting for the rest of my roommates and coworkers. I’m happy to say that everyone working here is incredibly kind and eager to do the best they can. Two of my fellow interns and housemates were eager to get to know me and I them. We all hit it off quickly, which is definitely something I am not useful. However, I was surprised that the first night at the house was just the three of us, plus the people upstairs, stage managers for Madama Butterfly. It turns out that most of the people planning to stay with us aren’t arriving until this coming Sunday, June 1^st.

Speaking of arrivals, that was what the first week was spent preparing for. Since the performers were not to arrive until Sunday, we all had to get to work preparing. My jobs so far have included copying practice parts and uploading them online for the musicians, calling universities and percussion shops looking for instruments to borrow or rent, and making sure we have all the right music. Rehearsals are supposed to begin next week. It seems so close, but so far away. Luckily, I have a great orchestra manager to work with and wonderful coworkers who make the officework less stressful. I am mentally preparing for the weeks of being on my feet all day for orchestra rehearsals with Maestro Maazel and the conducting fellows.

The downside of my time so far has been the limited Internet access. It is either in the offices or not at all. Plus, I have trouble making phone calls on my cellphone and need to use a landline for local calls only. Besides that, this is more of a blessing than a curse. Being away from the daily hustle and bustle of facebook and netflix is allowing me time to read and socialize. We get three meals a day, served at the community firehouse, all of them delicious. It’s nice to meet everyone and find things we have in common. It’s a nice way to get to know your coworkers before the oncoming storm of musicians that will be filling up the festival grounds. I have no doubt that everything will be ready by the time that happens.

P.s. Due to the limited bandwidth, I am unable to use youtube and will not be able to upload any videos of the festival at this time. I will try to include photos with each blog.

Coming Soon: Blogging from Castleton Opera Festival

If you don’t normally don’t read my blog, here is an update. I am spending this next week, plus June and July, working at the Castleton Opera Festival in Virginia as an Orchestra Management intern. I will be at rehearsals daily, which will be led by Lorin Maazel, former music director of the NY Philharmonic and current chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic. The music this summer will include Madama Butterfly, Don Giovanni (of which he recorded the score for the 1979 Joseph Losey film), a staged reading of Don Juan in Hell by George Bernard Shaw, and plenty of concerts featuring Mozart, Prokofiev, Maazel’s own compositions for children, and plenty of others. Special guests include Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sir James Galway, Eric Silberger, Alisa Weilerstein, and more. Performances start June 28th.

Now that I’m done advertising, I’m here to inform you that I will be blogging about here and on my Tumblr page: <http://www.maestroweinstein.tumblr.com>. Be sure to read all about it starting this Saturday.

HOT January 7th: First Day of Staging

After an hour and a half of chorus music rehearsals, my fellow cast members spent the afternoon choreographing the overture for Dido. For me, this was the moment of realization. You aren't just a singer, you are an actor and a dancer, not for just one 3 minute scene, but for 2 hours. It also reminded me of how much work goes into staging. 

Choreography takes much more time then people might realize. You not only need to make the dance applicable for the chorus, but also that it works with the set, is viewable to the audience, and fits the timing of the music. Do we have enough people for this part? Where do we place you? How many steps should you take and will you start on this foot? As someone who spends most of his time sitting down to play notes on a page, it's interesting to not feel so restless in a chair and to actually move. 

Which brings me to a point I'm terrified about: I don't want to stand out during group numbers. We are suppose to become one entity. But I do fear that I can't move fast enough, or move fluidly. Despite these fears, I must move forward. If I do something wrong, I can always ask the choreographer or my castmate. I just need to stretch and practice. 

This is also the week we go off book. Even for me, it's not easy. I still have a few spots I'm unsure of. But once I get those down, I'm all set to start learning the music for L'Ivrogne. I'm very excited about getting to participate in both shows. 

Hofstra Opera Theater 2014- Dido and Aeneas/ L'Ivrogne Corrige

With a new year comes a new opera production for the Hofstra Opera Theater. This year, we are proud to present a double bill. The first opera will be Henry Purcell's only full opera Dido and Aeneas. The second half will be Christoph Willibald Glück's comic masterpiece L'Ivrogne Corrige, ou Le Mariage du Diable. Both operas will be presented during each of our three performance from January 31st- February 2nd at Hofstra University's JC Adams Playhouse. For tickets and times, refer to this link.

As with last year, I am happy to be blogging our process during the rehearsal period as well as exploring the history of the works on this blog as well as my youtube channel, which is in no way affiliated with Hofstra University. This is simply an exploration through the eyes and ears of one of the performers. I am fortunate enough to be a member of the chorus for both operas and look forward to sharing my experience.

Production Concepts and Synopsis:

Dido and Aeneas (1689) (Sung in English) - Dido, Queen of Carthage, has been mourning the loss of her husband for almost two decades. One day, the greek warrior Aeneas gets shipwrecked along with his crew. Dido allows the men to stay and offers anything they desire. Her handmaiden, Belinda, believes that a marriage with Aeneas will bring an end to Dido's depression and make her a stronger leader. The two fall in love, and Dido soon accepts Aeneas' marriage proposal. Meanwhile, the evil sorceress plans to ruin the lovers' lives by tricking Aeneas to return on his mission to found Rome and then sink his crew at sea. Following a day of hunting and romance between Dido and Aeneas, the people of Carthage seek shelter from a rainstorm. However, Aeneas left alone with the sorceress' elf, disguised as Mercury, who tells him to leave Carthage and return to finding Italy. The next day, Aeneas and his men prepare to leave. Aeneas says goodbye to Dido, who curses him for leaving her. He decides to stay and defy the gods, which still leaves Dido upset because he was still willing to leave. After Aeneas sails away, Dido commits suicide by using Aeneas' sword, followed by a funeral pyre constructed from items Aeneas left behind.

The production, directed by Isabel Milenski, will delve into the psychological aspects of why people are willing to give everything for love. The set, designed by Jian Jung, takes on a minimalist perspective. From above, long incandescent lightbulbs will rise and descend to create the emotional and physical atmosphere, along with two large white boxes that will serve as a bed, a pedestal, and ship, and finally, a coffin. The choreography will be a homage to the work of Martha Graham and Pina Bausch. The costumes are a mix of modern style and classical greek fashion, changing throughout the story as the characters move from depression to happiness and depression again.

L'ivrogne Corrige, or The Drunkard Reformed (1759-61) (Sung in French with English Dialogue)- Mathurin and his pal Lucas constantly neglect their work to drink. Mathurin decides to give Lucas his niece, Colette, to wed as a token of his friendship. However, Colette is in love with Cleon, a young actor. Together with her aunt Mathurine, Colette and Cleon devise a plan to get the drunken uncle to quit the bottle and consent to the marriage of the two lovers. They decide to dress as furies and trick Mathurin and Lucas into thinking they have drunk themselves to death. Cleon, in the role of Pluto, offers clemency to the two misguided men if Mathurin consents to Colette and Cleon's union and they give up alcohol. After the marriage contract is signed, the masks are removed and Mathurin becomes a changed man, while Lucas returns to the bottle in anger and confusion.

The action for this production will take place at several bars in 1960's France. The concept is to convey the light and dark sides of alcoholism. In addition to a new set and actors, this opera will incorporate set pieces and chorus members in costume from Dido to play Cleon's actor friends. Mathurin and Lucas will be mailmen, a profession where some can get away with being late. The set will be lopsided when the two men are drunk, and straighten out with their realization of soberness.