Why is that guy pointing at me? Notes on Collaborating with a Conductor

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by Kevin Class

The conductor’s art is elusive to many.  What we do, what we say and how we think may often seem nebulous and confusing.  Our medium is sound, and yet, as a conductor, we do not physically produce it.  Instead, our role is to find some way to have others produce the sounds we hear in our imaginations.  How this is accomplished is a combination of physical gesture, verbal instruction, psychology and some version of the Yoda mind trick (or so it seems).  In fact, the less a singer or orchestral player tries to decipher the conductor’s art, the better.  Over analyzing the conductor can only lead to musical paralysis, and this is the last thing anyone wants. Nevertheless, going into a rehearsal with a conductor with whom you have not worked previously can feel a bit daunting.  Obviously, as a musician, you want to enjoy a meaningful collaboration with the person in the pit.  In order to do this, a singer must have at least some insight into the view from the podium.  Let’s begin by taking a brief look at the types of conductor a young opera singer is likely to encounter as he/she enters the professional world.

Conductors are, of course, human and this means that each is a distinct personality.  Still, categorization is fun so let’s go ahead and break opera conductors into four types:

1)     The Dictator:  We all know ‘em, we all love to hate ‘em.  This conductor is convinced they are the musical authority in the room; certain that they are revered beyond measure, and will demand nothing less than complete submission to their will.  Obviously, this can be tense, intimidating and highly frustrating for singers.  The artistic results are often solid but completely uninspired, and the experience is usually completely unsatisfying for everyone involved (except, of course, for The Dictator).

2)     The Accompanist:  Often a favorite of singers, the accompanist will go to great lengths to keep the singer comfortable and happy by allowing the singer the freedom to do all that he/she pleases.  While this is luxurious for the Diva, the artistic result often leaves much to be desired if the dramatic intention of the music is not served.  Some repertoire may lend itself more successfully to this type of conducting, but ultimately the singer bears most of the responsibility for the musical success of the production.

3)     The Dictatorial Accompanist:  He/she often has little understanding of either singers or the orchestra; has no real concept of musical drama, and yet feels the need to compensate for this by trying to appear in command of the situation.  This conductor is most likely to pick arbitrary tempos (or pull out a metronome in rehearsal), relies heavily on others to prepare music, and contributes only the most fundamental comments such as “this is in two”, “hold this fermata for the count of two full measures” or “the audience does not know these words so be clear in your diction” (with no artistic elaboration, of course).   He/she exercises savvy in allowing a nominal amount of liberty to singers (most usually in arias) to cover for a lack of musical vision and (most important) to keep favor with most members of the cast.

4)     The Collaborator: This conductor has a strong will and will not hesitate to ask for the impossible.  Likely to be highly demanding, but not unapproachable.  This is a conductor determined to get the best performance out of everyone in service to the music, the libretto, the stage direction and the strengths of the particular cast on hand.  The Collaborator will insist on certain things, and will be able to justify everything they ask for, while also knowing when to be flexible.  The rehearsal process may be intense, but the results may be spectacular.  Ultimately, the singer who is the most serious musician will find this conductor to be the most ideal.

Opera should be a collaborative effort, and the essence of collaboration is preparation.  While different conductors may have slightly different expectations, it goes without saying that you need to know your words, your notes and your rhythms. The Collaborator will hope for more.

The Collaborator will want to see that the singer has thought about the musical details of the work, and try to engage the singer’s musical imagination in an effort to develop an ideal interpretation for the production.  The Collaborator will want to know how you understand your character, so have your backstory prepared and be able to talk, in detail, about your character’s personality and emotions. This is not only the domain of the stage director (and you should never be relying on the S.D. to inform you of all of this).  The decisions YOU make about your character will have a strong influence on things like tempo, pacing, articulation, dynamics, ornamentation, etc..  The Collaborator may well wish to engage you in discussions about this during musical rehearsals and will also view the entire rehearsal process as one over which the musical interpretation evolves.

One thing that distinguishes The Accompanist from The Collaborator is that, at a first rehearsal, the accompanist is likely to ask your tempo for an aria while the collaborator will not.  Instead, the Collaborator will first put forth an idea and see how you respond musically to it.  If the conductor does not automatically defer to your preference, do not immediately misinterpret this as being dictatorial.  In fact, most young singers thoroughly prepare arias without an intimate knowledge of the role from which it is extracted.  Whether or not you have performed the entire role before, for this particular production your Zerlina may be more cunning than otherwise assumed, or Schicchi may not only be clever, but actually psychotic.  The Collaborator’s responsibility is to make sure that the aria you first learned from an anthology is performed in a manner in keeping with the character for this production.  With that aim in mind, he or she will want to engage and challenge your habitual interpretation.  View this as an opportunity to explore new colors, dynamics and inflections and breathe new life into this music.

One of the surest ways of gaining favor with any conductor is to demonstrate your knowledge and confidence in your preparation.  Sometimes it takes only a matter of minutes into a first rehearsal for the conductor to identify which singers he/she will be able to rely upon if the ensemble begins to falter.  We have all been in situations where a singer jumps an entrance by a measure only then to be followed by another singer, then another, until the train derails and musical carnage ensues.  Any conductor will be relieved to know which singers will have enough knowledge of the score not to fall into this singer’s trap, but be able to hold off for a cue and bring the vocal power grid back online.

Once you have gained the conductor’s artistic trust, there are only a few “no-brainers” to engaging in a productive relationship:

1)     Don’t openly challenge the conductor:  Regardless of which category of Maestro you encounter, you will not benefit in any way by being confrontational or disrespectful.  Remember, many conductors in those categories above are pretty insecure to begin with.  Do you really want to annoy the person controlling your tempos through those long, long, long phrases?  Even if you have noticed the conductor has made a mistake (human, remember?), simply ask for clarification in a discrete and professional manner.

2)     Do not fear a facial expression or gesture from a conductor: Especially in rehearsal, a conductor may be listening/reacting to a dozen things at one time.  Sometimes a perceived look of annoyance may actually be a look of extreme concentration.  Perhaps that furled eyebrow is due to the pianist misinterpreting an articulation, or the conductor is simply rethinking a phrase structure.

3)     If you have a question, ask it.  If you have an idea, propose it.  If you make a mistake, own it! You cannot have collaboration without dialogue, and most conductors respond very favorably to a singer who seeks clarification and invests in creative music making.
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Kevin Class is Director of Collaborative Piano and Music Director/Conductor of the University of Tennessee Opera Theatre. As a pianist he has recorded more than 15CDs as both soloist and collaborative artist.   He has also performed frequently  in venues such as Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, New York’s Carnegie Hall and Vienna’s Musikverein.  Kevin was named a Fellow of the Flemish Community by the Belgian government in 1998. He has conducted at the National Opera La Monnaie in Brussels, The Royal Opera Covent Garden in London, Opera Illinois and served as Guest Music Director/Conductor of the Illinois Opera Theatre in Champaign-Urbana.  He has conducted the Northern Illinois Philharmonic, the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, and was Resident Conductor of the Illinois New Music Ensemble from 2003-2005.  He frequently holds residencies in Asia where he leads workshops for pianists, singers and conductors. Kevin was the founding Music Director/Conductor of the Seoul International Opera and has been a regular visiting Guest Professor of Piano at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea.  Following concerts in China in 2009, Kevin was named Visiting Professor of Orchestral Conducting at Southwest University in Chongqing, China.

www.kevinclass.com