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L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O
November 1 - 30, 2017
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What is your role here at Lyric,
and how long have you held the
position?
I am an assistant conductor and
have been at Lyric for 30 years.
My role entails coaching singers,
preparing musical scores at the
piano, and ultimately monitoring
the musical and linguistic quality
of a piece. I’ve probably coached
some 120 Lyric productions,
as well another 100 elsewhere,
including some 15 productions
of Wagner’s
Ring
cycle. (
Walküre
is a particular favorite of mine!) I
help singers perform in languages
they’ve never spoken before and
do my best to ensure they’re
pronouncing things correctly and exuding the appropriate emotion
and subtext. All of our staging rehearsals are done with piano
accompaniment, which I and my colleagues supply.
What led you to work at Lyric?
Despite playing piano-vocal scores since the age of 9, I got sort of a
late start. I was always listening to operas but never actually worked
in the field until my mid-thirties, when I began serving as assistant
conductor at Santa Fe Opera in 1986. Through people I met there,
I learned of a few openings on the music staff for the 1987 season at
Lyric, and I’ve been here as a full-time assistant conductor ever since.
What’s a typical day like for you?
As a pianist, I spend part of my day coaching singers on an
individual basis. Some artists might need extra help if they are
learning their roles for the first time. I cultivate relationships with
them so they learn to trust my ears and experience. The other
part of my day may be spent at the piano in staging rehearsals
functioning as the orchestra, or if I’m the cover conductor, I may
get a chance to conduct some rehearsals.
What’s the most challenging aspect of your job?
We have only a few final rehearsals over a four- or five-day period
when the entire cast and orchestra are assembled together. That
means there’s a lot to accomplish in a very short period of time.
There might be balance issues, notes we need to give to singers, or
other things that need to be improved. That can be a challenge,
but it all comes together by the time the curtain rises for the first
performance.
What keeps you committed to the work you do?
When you’ve been doing something since you were a young
child, it’s hard to imagine doing anything different. Lyric is one
of the most distinguished opera
companies in existence, and I
am given the opportunity to
work with some of the best
conductors, singers, and stage
directors the world has to offer.
That’s a real privilege and keeps
my job exciting. If I find myself
preparing
Tosca
for the fifth time,
it’s always different for me (and
the audience) because of the
compelling artists we engage. And
sometimes, seeing something the
fifth time is more exciting than
seeing it the first time.
What’s something about your job
that people might not know?
People often don’t realize how hard it can be for a pianist to learn
a particular score: you not only have to learn the notes of the
orchestra reduction, but also develop the ability to sing each voice
part at the same time. My first
Elektra
took me almost a year to
master. It’s extremely time consuming, and becomes even more
difficult if the musical language is dense or if you’re doing an opera
in a language you aren’t familiar with. When I first worked with
The Metropolitan Opera in New York back in 1991, I had to learn
the score for
Katya Kabanova
, which was presented in Czech. As a
pianist, you need to be able to follow the conductor perfectly and
know what the singers are saying. I really wanted to impress them,
so I actually taught myself Czech from a grammar book!
Favorite Lyric moment?
One of my treasured experiences was working with French soprano
Natalie Dessay when she was singing her first
Lucia di Lammermoor
in Italian. I was the cover conductor and the two of us had a
wonderful relationship: before each show, she would ask how
certain things had gone in the previous performance. When she’s
onstage, she’s totally in character, but somehow she keeps a segment
of her brain free to monitor what she’s doing so she can keep
improving. I started playing
Lucia
on the piano at ten years old, but
hearing and watching Natalie perform it was like I’d never heard it
before, and I’ll always cherish that.
Beyond opera, what are your other passions?
One of my passions is traveling. I have a PhD in historical
musicology, so I have a strong interest in political history, as well as
art history. I enjoy being in a completely new environment where
time seems to slow down. You can soak in the sights, smells, and
of course the food of a different culture. It makes life all the more
vibrant and intense, and I’m looking forward to exploring more
places I’ve never been before.
BACKSTAGE LIFE: Eric Weimer