Katarzyna takes us through the rehearsal process for a new production, in this case Welsh National Opera's The Magic Flute, in which she sings Queen of the Night.
Coming back
It's always nice to return to a company and catch up with everyone. Lots of this happens in the canteen!
It was particularly exciting to come back this time, as this is my first time here in the new house - the Wales Millennium Centre. It's so beautiful and very well equipped - but of course there is airconditioning everywhere.
This is normal these days, but it's very difficult for singers. It makes everything very dry - your throat, your skin - and it can feel very cold as well - but you just have to adjust to it.
There's always a lot to organise. The rehearsal schedule isn't firmed up until close to the time, especially in the early stages. The company doesn't like you to stray too far from the area in case they need you to come in at short notice as well.
Other things to sort out are when you can expect to get paid, when hotels and travel need to be booked for touring, tickets for friends for a performance, stuff to do with tax.
Day one
Everyone is there for the beginning. All the cast, the director, the conductor, the makeup, wigs and costume people, the designer, the publicity department, the opera company management.
The director talks about the production and explains his ideas for the whole piece and how the design works with it. You can see all the work that has been going on beforehand, with the set design and costumes and wigs.
In the afternoon, you get to try on your costumes as they've done a lot already - they had my measurements from last time I was with the company.
My costume is beautiful but very heavy so I hope I won't have to move around too much or too quickly! Various changes will be made to the dress during the weeks leading up to the first night - this is just the basic template, and it will need to be tweaked so it will work with me, not against me!
I also tried on my wig. It's long and dark, and how it will be styled will be worked out during the rehearsal period. The dress and wig will be tweaked according to how it will work alongside the other members of the cast and the stage set.
Early rehearsals
The opera is like a jigsaw puzzle - all the different arias and ensembles get divided up and separate rehearsals scheduled for them. This is a huge job for the company management, co-ordinating everyone's availability and making sure that the different types of rehearsal don't clash.
There are music rehearsals, ones for movement and for the technical side as well, before everything comes together in the last couple of weeks before the opening.
At first, you get a feeling for how it's going to go - working on a stage with the director, conductor and a repetiteur. This is where you find out what movement is involved, both for you and your co-performers, though of course it gets revised throughout the production period. You'll run through the opera from start to finish so everyone has an idea of where they fit in.
Each music rehearsal is usually for one piece - it could be an aria, or it could be an ensemble. The first of my music rehearsals was for the quintet, which is for the Three Ladies and Monostatos together with The Queen of the Night.
We work on the music alone, to settle on the tempo, the text and the balance between voices - the movements will be rehearsed at another time.
The Queen of the Night is a funny role. As a character, she is central to the plot, and the whole concept of day/night, good/evil, but she actually has relatively little to do. In total, there are two arias and a quintet. As a result, I have less rehearsal time allocated than for last time I was here, for the role of Zerbinetta in Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos.
Zerbinetta spends more time on stage, some of it with complex choreography, so more of every type of rehearsal is required.
I've also been able to get some extra rehearsals to help with the language - my first language is Polish and my second German, so singing in English is much more of a struggle for me than for my English-speaking colleagues! And the Magic Flute has quite a lot of dialogue as well, unlike most operas.
The final period
As we get closer to the first performance, the pace steps up and there is an increased sense of urgency around the place. For me the turning point is the first rehearsal with orchestra, which is when everything suddenly feels very real.
Everything is finalised once we get onto the real stage and tiny details worked on to achieve as near to perfection as possible. I've particularly enjoyed working with the director, Dominic Cooke. I find him really sympathetic to some of the problems - like how to combine singing with movement, while wearing a very large and heavy dress and cape! Together with Kevin Pollard, the costume designer, they worked out how to help me.
The second dress I wear is very heavy - unlike the first, the skirt can't be supported by a crinoline as it wouldn't go through the trap door when I disappear, so instead there are stiff organdie petticoats - using around 20 metres of material! At first I could hardly move, and couldn't use my ribcage to breathe properly, but Kevin and the costume team expertly removed some of the organdie so that it looked the same but weighed less.
There are several complete runs, followed by two dress rehearsals. I was amazed that during the second dress rehearsal the auditorium was full! It was good to see lots of children there - this is a great introduction to opera, with lovely music and elements of pantomime, with lots of wild beasts and magic. And of course they can easily follow the story with the dialogue.
First night is almost here...
