Rehearsal Notes:

Recitative Coachings: Day 2

Again, I was pleased with the overall level of preparation for these recitatives.  While it is challenging to provide in depth work with a total of six Zerlini in the room, I think we managed to get some very productive work done on the Act I recitatives.  I appreciated the effort that has gone into the language and, most important, in understanding the text and thinking of how it needs to be delivered.  This pace of preparation will put us well on course to an exciting peformance.

One general note about recitatives:  SLOW THEM DOWN!!!  There is NO reason to be in a hurry to get through this material.  There is a horribly misguided “tradition” that says that the speed of recitatives should be sung twice as fast as notated.  This is sophomoric and stems from a time in which character development and immersion in the dramatic quality of a scene was not considered particularly important.  As a result, there was little involvement in conveying the drama in a believable way, and so performers simply tried to get through recitative as quickly as possible.  However, speed does not make a recitative interesting – it makes it sound like you can’t wait to get to the next number. This is precisely what kills recitatives and brings down a performance.  So, keep always in mind that your recitatives are, in fact, dialogue and must retain the quality of discourse.  Do not perform recitatives faster than you would actually speak these lines, and also avoid falling into the trap of adapting the same speed of speech of the other characters you are speaking with (we do not all speak in the same pace normally, and this intermingling of ‘tempos’ in recitative are one of the elements that makes it sound conversational).

Use these coachings/rehearsals as opportunities to explore different angles about the character and the way they deliver their lines and interact.  As with any dialogue, there are often many options that you, as the performer, have at your disposal.