Elizabeth Finkler wrote:
> In defense of MY suggestions to Molly about learning the role of the Mother
> (which I had to learn myself): Mother has one short aria, and the rest of
> her singing is ensemble/dialogue scenes with Hansel and Gretel and with
> Father. I've found working with recordings extremely helpful in getting the
> basics of a dialogue scene down: words, musical cues, counting.
I agree about how recordings can be helpful in practicing ensembles on one's
own, and also
for getting an overall idea of the totality of the work. I've used them that
way myself,
especially when I'm trying to memorize the music I've already learned, or
practicing my
blocking. But I've also found that the recording is most useful when I already
have a
solid idea about what's happening with the music.
I still would want to check out the new opera-part CDs they have, hoping they'd
be
performed at a fairly straight tempo all the way through. This is because I
often find it
difficult to deal with recordings because of conductor liberties, and I'm
afraid I might
learn the recording's idiosyncracies too well and then mess up when things go
differently
in real life.
Peggy
--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...
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