Tonight marks the second of four performances for the student opera production of "Albert Herring," a comedy that both cast members and directors described as a whole new musical experience.
The opera, written and completed in 1947 by Benjamin Britten, was chosen both for its appeal and its uniqueness. The performances — which started last night — are $4 for students and will continue tonight and Saturday starting at 7:30 p.m. through Sunday afternoon beginning at 2:00 p.m.
"We only do opera once a year so it's a very important process for the entire School of Music and all of the young singers that would want to be chosen," said Orcenith Smith, director of the DePauw University Orchestra. "Generally, we try to find operas that have plenty of cast members so different students at different levels can get experience."
The students cast in the play vary in experience, some performing as freshman with this as their first opera at DePauw, others finishing as seniors with this as their last opera.
"I've been in the opera every single year and this is my last one" senior Sarah Horton said. "It's been a really cool experience and this is a good one to go out on. It's been my favorite production that I've worked on."
Casting for "Albert Herring" began prior to winter break in order to allow students time to master the music on their own. The most prominent factor taken into account for the casting was, as one would assume, voice.
"The roles are determined by voice type," said Joachim Schamberger, the Lee G. Hall Visiting Professor of Music. "There are different niches within a voice type that will determine the repertoire that you sing, ergo what role."
Both Smith and Schamberger agreed that in order to fill the roles properly, they had to distinguish the differences in voices.
"There are students who have light voices or heavy voices, high voices or low voices, in both men's and women's categories," Smith said. "This opera was particularly challenging because the nature of the music that they were learning was different than the kind of music they had done before."
This particular opera has been double cast, a practice that most undergraduate schools do not utilize. Students will alternate nights, to have the opportunity to sing one night, rest the next night, then do it again, Smith said.
"It's not like we're doing this opera one time," Smith said. "The repetitions matter."
Double casting also provides a safety net in case of unexpected obstacles. Even if a student loses his or her voice, it doesn't cause much panic because there is a second student who can perform in his or her place. Having two students for each role is a backup plan that Smith said works fairly well.
At the start of Winter Term, students worked, sometimes up to ten hours a day, to completely grasp their roles. The opera was performance-ready by the end of Winter Term, Barnash said. Preparing the opera in such a short period of time is attributed to hard work.
"It's a really challenging piece, with exceedingly difficult music," Horton said. "It's been great to see everyone rise to the challenge and make this truly the best opera I believe we've ever put on."
This particular opera has proved to be the most challenging in the dominant aspect – the music. The musical language is very different than the other kinds of operas performed in the past, Smith said.
"The opera is musically, rhythmically, harmonically challenging," Schamberger said. "I am very pleased with how everyone has stepped up."
Aside from mastering the music, there have been few obstacles for the students. There have been only minor, unexpected setbacks, such as one cast member losing her voice for a period of time and another accidentally burning his hand during a particular scene.
"If the planning is done properly, then there won't be any challenges," Smith said. "There's a real organizational dynamic that's built into everything." This planning is done years in advance and involves everything from scheduling usage of the theatre to building the set to picking what the next opera will be.
As the performances approach for the students, the anticipation is nearly tangible. Both the students cast in the opera and the directors guiding the process are thrilled to finally show off their hard work.
"All the musicians realize what an amazing architecture the piece is, what an amazing enterprise it is to even put it together," Smith said. "But once everyone is performing at their top level – gaining ownership of the music – that is when the work of art stands at its pinnacle. Both the singers and the orchestras arrive at the same point of the learning curve."
Smith continued, stating that the singers and orchestra work together in their distinct roles to portray the plot well.
"Here is an opportunity for students to go to opera performed by the best young singers that we have and see what it's like, to hear a fascinating story being told with beautiful music."