(originally posted October 20, 2019)
Today I had my second performance as “Die Alte Nonne” in Hindemith’s very controversial short opera Sancta Susanna. The role is small and perfect for me and marked my debut with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop. I’ve included a couple obligatory “office for the day” pics from Strathmore Concert Hall in this post.
I highly encourage you all to listen to Sancta Susanna, noticing how import the instrumental colors are to the opera and that the melodic content is carried and driven by them and not the singers for most of the show. For me, this was highlighted specifically when I heard the piano reduction in preliminary rehearsals.
I’ve spent a lot of time backstage in my life. In fact, I’m probably at my most happy in rehearsals whether I’m participating or watching/listening. For me, it’s about taking the music apart, understanding why things are written or staged the way they are and then knowing the piece literally inside out for ever more. It’s been great to do this with Hindemith’s music and to remember how much I like that composer’s music generally.