RELUCTANT BLOGGER 10 Making myself redundant

In productions of straight theatre there is one person in total charge of both the vision and execution of the show – the director. In opera however, there is a delicate courtship between director and conductor. Sometimes the drama must bend to the music, sometimes the music must adapt to the drama. Sometimes this involves tense negotiations! Occasionally the process is an intense but enjoyable journey. On Alex Brücke Langer it has thankfully been the latter case as I am lucky to have as conductor Pierre-André Valade – a conductor not only of notable musical integrity, but also a patient and experienced colleague.

Opera rehearsals always begin with a few days of music rehearsals where the conductor gets to shape the kind of performance he requires from the singers. There then follows several weeks of production rehearsals which are primarily for the director to create the physical production, but also for the aforementioned negotiations to take place. This doesn't always go smoothly. It has been known for directors and conductors to fall out so badly that one or other walks away (or is sacked) from the production. Thankfully never in my case.

The final stage rehearsals with piano are for the director to put everything together – lights, scenery, action, stage effects, video......all the physical elements of the production. But after these vital and often nerve-wracking rehearsals there are still several rehearsals to go before the final dress rehearsal. These are the orchestral rehearsals where that final wondrous and unique element is put into place, and these rehearsals are strictly the property of the conductor.

This is of course as it should be. Come the performances the director will either be long gone, or propping up the stalls bar with a gin and tonic. It will be the conductor out there under the glare of the public, responsible for the whole shebang.

Some directors – and I have experienced it at first-hand – keep fighting to control everything right to the very end, as if their (and indeed our) lives depended on it. It can be very exciting to be caught up in that kind of frenetic energy but when they have left, you feel as if you have been washed up on a beach.

My view is quite different. Precisely because I WON'T be there for the performances, I prefer to withdraw during the final rehearsals so that my performers begin to rely on their own energy and that of the conductor. I still give notes and corrections of course, but if I keep driving the process personally at full speed where will they be when my energy disappears? First night will be fine because of adrenalin, but second night? Second night will fall flat because they have not learnt to create their own inner drive.

I also think it vital for the conductor to take that total control of the opera. He or she will be the one to take what is (hopefully) 'our' work to the public. For that to be the case there has to be trust and confidence and a hand-over period.

It all makes those final rehearsals very strange for the director. You tweak, you give notes, you support everyone and you give feedback of course, but ideally by the dress rehearsal you have made yourself dispensable. That is a strange feeling. I know few directors who enjoy first nights and that is because you don't have a job to do except turn up and take a bow.

There is also a bizarre truth - theatre changes in performance. It grows, it finds its true life, it truly develops only in performance. The conductor is, of course, right at the centre of this and can influence it. The director is completely out of it, except through the memory of the work that you have done in the rehearsal room which may inform performers' choices. It's a weird feeling believe me.

So we started orchestral rehearsals today and I have begun to withdraw. Giving notes, offering feedback, but ultimately slowly making myself redundant.