Pause

I don’t know if I’ve ever been the onstage recipient of the kind of audience response that greeted last night’s Bastianello & Lucrezia performances.  We who toil in the fields of “classical” music often go through entire evenings onstage wondering if anyone in the audience is really with us.  Of course, we sometimes find out later, much to our relief, that we weren’t alone in our journeys; it’s just that you can’t always tell the difference between a silence that is only respectful and tolerating and one that is deep inside the music.

I’d like to believe that we can feel the energy and empathy of an audience that is silently involved, but in my experience, the performer’s sense of listeners’ receptiveness has more to do with his or her own confidence and openness on any given day.  I could happily be wrong on this.

But comedy… well, you get feedback on it pretty immediately.  Failure is pretty obvious, and success is audible.

I’ve rarely heard an audience enjoy itself as much as the folks did Friday night at The Barns.  And once you take into account that about half the them were chamber music series subscribers (not known for demonstrative behavior:)), and the others were vocal music and opera devotees, you might appreciate the astonishment we felt onstage when they were with us every second of the way.  Including what felt like a collective holding of breath when the story turned serious.

It was a fairly reckless thing we did, wedging a semi-staged opera into the calendar and budgetary confines of a chamber music series, and there are many people to thank.  Including the Boss, who gave this reach a vote of confidence; Rahree (whose exhausting day is recounted here); SSW and her volunteers (who churned out libretti); guest of honor librettist Mark Campbell (who regaled a capacity preshow talk crowd); and a not-to-be-taken-for-granted outpouring of hard work, good will, and positive energy by our 5 cast members, guest pianist and director.

More details will follow on your chance to see these performances online, no matter where you are.  The inaugural event in Discovery Goes Digital will feature video streaming of B&L on May 24.

Meantime, I am toast.  My ability to churn out many back-to-back long days of multi-tasking is lacking.  I will disappear until mid-April, when the blog will return in its robust production season mode.  Lots of exciting stuff on the docket for May through August, and all the more reason to go into it with a full tank.

See you soon.