Spotlight on Eric Melear
Part of the Life of the Opera Pianist series
General Information
Education:
BA in Music and Math, Luther College
MM in Piano Accompanying, University of Michigan
Current opera house and position(s):
Vienna State Opera, Music Staff and Stage Orchestra Conductor
Metropolitan Opera, Music Staff and Banda conductor
Other or former affiliations:
Houston Grand Opera
Wolf Trap Opera
Contact or Connect:
www.ericmelear.com
11 Questions
Many people do not know the many roles and responsibilities a répétiteur has in the opera house. How do you explain your job to non-musicians, or even other musicians?
At the most fundamental, we are pianists who do our best to sound and react like an orchestra. Then, we most often work closely with singers, helping them learn roles, offer musical, stylistic, and linguistic advice, and support them while in rehearsals. Depending on the size of the house, we are involved in almost every other type of musical activity, from playing rehearsals, assisting conductors, playing for or leading chorus rehearsals, and playing in performances as required.
What do you find to be one of the most challenging aspects of your job?
Juggling the repertoire along with the myriad of personalities that one encounters on a daily basis. Everyone's process is different, and with guest artists coming in and out of the house, one week is rarely like the next.
Do you have a favorite part of the preparation (rehearsal or learning an opera) process? If so, what is it and why?
Breaking open a new score is the best feeling. So fresh, full of possibility. And then there's the slog of score work, marking it up, and learning it. The learning can be really rewarding - from diving into a new world to finding different ways to solve difficult passages. I wish I could say I’ve gotten more systematic over the years, but alas, until 95% of the work is done, I feel like I’ll never quite be ready! But then, I do love putting it all together with conductors and singers, and helping it develop from there.
What is your favorite opera?
This is hard to separate from specific performances and productions! Very often it's a show that I don't have a direct relationship to, which allows me to turn off the critical side of my brain more easily. Seeing the premiere of Written on Skin in 2012 at the Aix-en-Provence Festival stands out as a real highlight in the theater.
What is your favorite opera score to play and why?
This is also hard to narrow down! Falstaff is one of my favorites, but I'd be happy to follow that with a Walküre or Lohengrin, and give me a Bohème or Figaro anytime!
What are some adjectives that describe the skills one needs to be a good répétiteur?
Patient, demanding but kind, empathetic, detail-oriented.
As a répétiteur, we are expected to prepare music quickly (sometimes having to sightread or transpose or play music from the orchestra full score), manage multiple opera productions at the same time, play rehearsals for last minute cast changes, conduct last minute rehearsals or performances and sometimes even sing roles in these rehearsals or performances. Do you have any advice on how to deal with the excitement of the job?
Most often it's not about you. You may feel the pressure acutely, but usually there's someone else in the room facing more pressure or who is feeling even more nervous. Sometimes that helps calm me down and allow me to do better work when under such pressure. After all, no one has asked ME to step on stage in front of thousands of people and sing. Well...not yet....
We also wear many hats as a répétiteur. We are often asked to assist conductors by taking notes, provide backstage conducting for performances, prompt the singers, conduct staging rehearsals, accompany chorus rehearsals, manage sound effects or major musical cues for performances, perform a keyboard instrument (or two) in the orchestra pit and give notes to singers about language and diction. Do you have a favorite aspect of the career? Have you branched out in other directions related to our field?
Ha! I used to joke about all these other things we have to do as "Things They Didn't Teach You at Music School." Like playing a thunder sheet, knowing how to read a room to know when the best time to give a note might be, discovering all the nooks and crannies backstage for offstage music, and playing any number of keyboard instruments you never *actually* studied. I've branched out into conducting, which I love to do as an enhancement of my other skills, and I've also been on the management side of the table. Certainly an exciting part of my job in Vienna is the offstage conducting with our full-time stage orchestra. It can be with anywhere from one instrument to a whole small orchestra, the whole time coordinating with what's happening onstage and in the pit. That never ever gets boring.
What was your first experience as a répétiteur? And your most recent experience as a répétiteur?
My first experiences doing what I do now were at Luther College, where I was very busy singing in choirs and worked a lot with singers. Soon, I stumbled into playing opera scenes, which led to helping out with a production of La bohème, which hooked me. My most recent experience is now, coaching Peter Grimes a LOT while Austria is in lockdown, in anticipation of our upcoming rehearsals and performances in January. Fingers crossed and Daumen gedrückt!
How do you manage playing an opera (or opera aria) for the nth time?
I've started doing a really boring thing, which is to make a list in the front of my score of the pages I need to look at before starting rehearsal. Chances are I don't need to re-practice everything and this cuts down on preparation time. I find playing familiar repertoire can be a barometer on how I've changed over the years (how I have evolved as a pianist, how I feel about the music itself, and even how it relates to other pieces I've since played) and also very often, it's a necessary element of keeping the work diverse and interesting.
Do you have any advice for pianists interested in a career at an opera house?
Play as much repertoire as you can NOW (scenes programs, full operas, whatever) and learn them as well as you can.
Excellent foreign language skills (even just one other language!) will make your life easier.
Any additional memories, thoughts or comments?
It's easy to get caught up in the daily trappings of the work, but every once in a while, I manage to step back and look at all of my colleagues - pianists, soloists, chorus members, orchestra musicians, stage directors, and so on - and I'm amazed at what they're able to do. It's not normal what these people can do! EVERY DAY!! And I am thankful to be a part of it.
Eric Melear at the Wiener Staatsoper
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