It’s interesting how life can be long on fun even if it’s short on free time. The first part of my summer has not been exactly leisurely, thanks to a double dose of rehearsals. As usual, I am busy rehearsing the summer musical at the Racine Theater Guild, which this year is the delightful two- person show “I Do I Do,” and which on its own would keep me plenty busy. But for the first time I decided to also take on some involvement with an exciting group in the area called Opera a la Carte. They have been in existence for about five years, and every year they seem to get bigger and better. It was created by a very fine singer (and pastor’s wife) in town named Kathryn Peperkorn, who wanted there to be a program that would allow young people (high school, middle school, and even younger) to have the experience of performing opera. It began modestly with about six young singers participating, but it has grown spectacularly ever since, both in number of participants and productions.
Kathryn has issued several invitations to me to be a part of the program, but it has always been impossible because of my schedule. But this year the program expanded to include an early summer production which would be over and done with before things got too crazy with the RTG show. So in a moment of weakness and optimism (my wife would say insanity) I agreed to be music director for the group’s production of Puccini’s one-act comedy Gianni Schicchi. And while it has soaked up quite a lot of time, it really has been a lot of fun. Mostly.
Actually, my first rehearsals with the cast were intense and challenging because this is an incredibly complex and challenging score— FAR more difficult than most people begin to realize. This is an opera from the early 20th century and you can tell from the extensive use of dissonance, the tonal volatility, and the wildly varied rhythm which make each measure of music its own intimidating adventure. (In earlier operas by someone like Mozart, things lie on the ear so much more easily – the music tends to be at least a bit predictable – and there is a fair amount of repetition. It’s challenging in its own way, but in terms of actually learning the music, Gianni Schicchi is ten times harder than Don Giovanni. No two measures are the same. And this score would be tough enough for experienced college-aged musicians to learn; how about trying to teach it to high school singers singing in their very first opera? There were many moments in those first few rehearsals when I privately thought “this is nuts- and this is impossible.” But we kept slugging away, and at some point things finally started to stick, and eventually we moved from merely accurate to surprisingly impressive.
One thing that makes this an especially challenging gig is that this is done with piano accompaniment, and I am both the pianist and the conductor – and with a score as complex as this one is, I very much wish that I had four hands rather than two. But on the other hand, it’s the kind of juicy challenge that I really relish and leaves me energized if also exhausted.
There are many things I could say about this production and cast, but one of the main things I need to underscore is the special pleasure of working with a group that ranges from young semi-professional singers (in their twenties) to high school students who have never been in an opera before. That might seem like a very odd mix, but it actually makes it even more exciting. The youngsters get to watch more seasoned singers in action and see how they handle themselves. And fortunately, the young adults – especially our Zita, Brianna Sura – are consummate professionals and sterling examples of how to undertake a challenge like this with just the right combination of serious focus and relaxed graciousness. And by the way, the puppy-ish excitement of the young singers livens up the proceedings and is an inspiration to the veterans.
This is also the kind of undertaking in which everyone has to pitch in – and does. And leading the way in that regard is Kathryn’s husband, Rev. Todd Peperkorn – who is often onstage (in our opera as Simone) but who also spends hours beyond counting with a paintbrush or hammer in his hand, getting the set ready. I love the energy and devotion of their partnership and it’s a great inspiration for everyone else in the company. . . and it just underscores the sense of camaraderie that is so essential to this kind of “let’s put on a show” production.
I first encountered the opera in grad school, when we did the trilogy of one act operas by Puccini known as Il trittico, but I was in one of the other operas – and simply enjoyed Gianni Schicchi as an audience member. Seven years later, I got to sing this opera at Carthage back when I was just a part-time adjunct voice instructor in either my first or second year teaching there. One funny thing about it is that the professor who directed it (I won’t mention his name) never got around to actually asking me if I was willing to sing in the opera and take on the title role. One day a cast list ended up in my mailbox and that’s how I found out I was going to be Gianni Schicchi. It was fine, once I recovered from my heart attack. (I’m sure he intended to ask me and thought that he had. But no, the first I knew of it was when I saw that cast list in my mailbox.) Aside from the shock of seeing my name on the cast list, my most vivid memory of the experience was the very first day of rehearsal, down in the choir room, when it became very evident almost right away that basically none of the students had managed to learn any of their music. . . and this was music that was WAY too hard for any of them to sight-read. At the mid-morning break, the director took me aside and said that I was excused for the rest of the week while he taught the score to the students. In other words, he did not want me standing around while he pounded out parts. And sure enough- when I came back a week later, they had learned the score. . . and we went on to what I think was a fine performance of this complex, challenging, delightful score.
There was one day last week when the young pro singing the title role had to be gone because of another obligation, and from the piano I ended up singing almost all of the role of Gianni Schicchi – and what a pleasure that was to sing this music again. The one time I had done it, I was scarcely past my 30th birthday, and didn’t have a clue how to play a crusty older character. Twenty years later, I feel like the crustiness of the character comes pretty naturally to me, and it’s a part that’s a pleasure to sing. (Well, maybe not the high G.) The absence that day of our Schicchi (an excellent singer named Tim Rebers) secretly delighted me because I got to lose myself in one of the best comic roles of them all. And it reminded me that one of the great pleasures with music is how it allows us to revisit some of the best moments of our past and knit them into our present and future.
pictured above: past of the cast of Gianni Schicchi. The production very imaginatively sets the opera in Kenosha, WI in the early 1940’s, in the home of Italian immigrants. (Giannia Schicchi himself is depicted as a butcher.) I love the concept and it’s worked out beautifully by our stage director.
You can see our Gianni Schicchi Thursday at 2 or Saturday at 7 at Reuther High School in Kenosha. It’s being done as a double bill with Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Tickets will be on sale at the door.