The situation

I was asked on Tuesday night if I could be available for a rehearsal with The Dallas Opera on Thursday.

The regular player was injured, and wasn’t sure if he’d be able to make it or not. He confirmed that I would be subbing on Wednesday afternoon, for rehearsal on Thursday at 11AM.

Preparation

I wasn’t able to do as much preparation as I did for Hansel and Gretel, but I did listen through the entire opera with my part. It’s interesting to me how much more important this is to me now than practicing the part itself.

Of course, I made sure that I could play everything, but I was more listening for entrances, how my part fit with the orchestra, tempo, and style. Perhaps part of being able to shift my focus this way is because at this point, I’ve built up enough technical skill to be able to play most of the parts easily.

This rehearsal was a lot easier to prepare, as it was a shortened version of L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love)- under an hour of music.

The two flute parts are printed on the same score, so when in doubt, I could follow along. Finally, the phrases are a lot more straightforward in Donizetti, so it was fairly obvious to me how the parts fit together.

Thoughts on my experience

In the context of an orchestral rehearsal, the little missed notes or flubs are less important than the big picture, especially to the conductor. I heard people around me missing accidentals here and there- this was the first reading.

It seems like the biggest priority is to capture the style, the atmosphere, and the phrasing correctly. It is assumed that technical imperfections will be taken care of.

Beyond that, maintaining a beautiful sound in all registers and dynamics, and paying close attention to/adjusting intonation is crucial.

I think it is important that you don’t repeat mistakes, and that you respond very quickly to the people and music around you.

It’s funny how these priorities feel so different than how I was preparing my auditions, especially in the earlier years. I’m sure this inexperience came through in my auditions, one way or another.

I was so overly focused on technical execution. Of course, that is important as well, but certainly not more important than the big picture things.