We had our second rehearsal for Rigoletto today, and it was our first with singers. This is an opera I prefer to rehearse with singers; it makes it so much easier to play! Besides, I just love voices.

My part isn’t killer hard, but it has its moments. There’s one section I should copy out for students, as it has tons of left E-flats and forked Fs, and it moves somewhat quickly. There’s an earlier spot that flies by and has trills to deal with that are just awkward. Verdi does have little surprises. As my neighbor to my left (not sure if you want to be named!) said, it just goes along easily and then all of the sudden … ka-bam! .. you’ve got a surprising little moment of difficulty.

The easiest solos for me are the most exposed of my solos (toward the end of the second act—I found a video of them here although the recording isn’t the best quality … lots of hiss. Oh … and here is another). So far they’ve been fun to play, even while I’m not satisfied with my reeds.

What I can hear of the singers is great. As usual, I hear far too little and this time it’s even more troubling as we have things that we really need to coordinate with them. Someday we’ll have a crash and burn moment and maybe we’ll finally get a couple of monitors in the pit.

I can dream ….