It's a wrap — An Elegant Sufficiency

It's the last planned day of the recording. Tomorrow has been set aside “just in case” but everything has gone well so far and it's hoped to record the last couple of arias and a few “inserts” today, maybe finishing around lunchtime. With that in mind, I decide to join my Hero in the concert hall this morning, rather than the swimming pool.

As I sat quietly watching the process of recording this opera commercially, I thought I'd share what went on during those three or four hours. I felt I had a privileged insight to all of this and was very impressed by the array of skill and talent in front of me, so much of which I had previously taken for granted. I haven't attempted to edit any of the very basic level videos captured on my phone - what you see here is what I saw and heard. When the finished, polished product is released, then I will definitely be glad to post the details!

It's Thursday morning. We arrive at the same time as the “home team”; the orchestra, some of whom are already warming up on stage. As we came in, we could hear the sounds of the soloists warming up too. They'd expressed a little shock earlier in the week when they discovered they'd be called to sing at 9am each day, but have prepared well and had no problems.

At 9am on the dot, Dario lifts his baton and they're away. Lara and Julia are singing their duet but don't get very far when Dario stops them and offers some notes. Off they go again.

The two of them dance about as they sing and Dario joins in with a wiggle of his own.

Meanwhile, Johannes shoots a video to use in the creation of a promotional trailer for the recording.

“Back to C2" “All OK?”

Off we go again though it takes time to settle and there are a few false starts. Each time, the orchestra and singers come in right on cue but perhaps stumble over a word or there's a stray note heard somewhere, which prompts the disembodied voice of the sound engineer to call a halt.

The patience of these people is remarkable.

Each “take” begins with a moment’s silence. The baton is raised and there's a pause…then off they go again.

Suddenly there's a stop and a few expletives in an unknown language as someone goes wrong. The disembodied voice offers clarification and direction to return to bar 573. The baton is raised and this time, it flows beautifully. Lara and Julia punch the air with delight.

The orchestra quietly get on with things without much direction at all, but “two small things” require attention. Dario speaks to a couple of players and they return to play just a few bars part way through. At 9.32am, he says “Thank you” and it's done. The duet is in the bag.

On to the next number and Dario would like a word with the singers first. They return and begin to sing and by 10am, the Trio is nearly complete.

But the last few bars prove tricky and Lara has to sing her cadenza several times before “OK, that's it - break until 10.30”. Lara comes over - she's finished her part completely and can relax…unless she gets a call later.

I stand up and look around. This is such a beautiful concert hall!

After the break, everyone returns to work on the tenor aria. but there's a mysterious buzz coming from somewhere outside.. A member of the orchestra goes off to find out what's going on and returns a few minutes later having requested something be turned off in the park.

Now, no-one knows where the tenor is…a call brings him running back, ready to sing.

10.50am and the orchestra begin to play a run through and everyone is in place for the “real thing”. A few pronunciation checks are noted before a return to bar 81 for a short burst of sound which stops suddenly again at 92. Slowly, progress is made, with frequent stops and checks, Dario makes some comment to the orchestra who laugh and start again. There's a good working relationship here and at 11.04, out comes the metronome, for someone recognises it's all a little slower than it should be.

The metronome mark is fast but is actually the composer's own, so they give it a try and it sounds great. A few more stops and starts and at 11.15 it's more or less done. Or?

Ta Dah! Everyone's happy!

There follows a short break, from which everyone returns to hear a few bars of Bohemian Rhapsody coming from the piano. A few join in before the three men appear on stage, ready to sing. All goes quiet… But Dario detects a small creak on the stage and investigates. Every small sound makes a difference.

A few false starts later - someone wasn’t ready, then someone else…getting tired, I think. But then they get going well and the music flows. Wonderful voices!

We reach a soaring conclusion - or so I think - but the music continues before stopping abruptly once more. It's 12.05 and a few points have been noted by the producer. Everyone returns to bar 1641 or thereabouts and the three soloists begin in full voice. The orchestra is at full force too and it really sounds as though this could be it. A few more small details need to be resolved but time and again, those three singers are called upon to give of their all. The pronunciation of “überströmt” is checked and I look at my watch. Ten minutes to one and they're still working on the last few bars.