OK - so - two weeks in I have photocopied a mass of music equal to the weight of a small village, rubbed out many markings, put in lots of bowings and met loads of fantastic singers. Handel holds a special place for me, not only as I studied it in detail at Cambridge, but also because the first opera I conducted was Handel’s Serse (Xerxes). He wastes nothing, everything is so clean and clear its almost a meditative experience (almost!!). Lucky that it is, as running back and forth from 3 Mills studios in Bromley by Bow (ETO rehearsal venue) to Clerkenwell (ETO offices) normally with music etc. is not! The offices are a small but perfectly formed powerhouse of activity. All the shows look and sound great. I think revivals are exceedingly difficult to pull off convincingly but with different singers in many cases and different conductors and directors, a real freshness is starting to be obtained. I really admire the conductors taking on tempi alien to their feelings and thoughts, I am not sure I would be able to do it with such discretion – but they certainly are creating a convincing product. The arrival of first orchestral rehearsals last week brought real excitement to the rehearsals and we launched ourselves into a headlong debate about what temperament to use: Young or Velotti!! We settled on Young as it was something different but brings a vitality to flat keys, although we have now decided that Velotti is a better path to go down as it is much more familiar and the G and D sharps were starting to cause a few winces among all concerned…
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