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Rehersals for opera about Lizzy Borden start a bit choppy, but students rise to challenge By
Steve Barfuss
Notes climbing and falling, voices clamoring and carrying on, 10 different songs at once. This is the beginning of an opera practice. Voices being stretched and warmed just as an athlete would before competition. The opera is the story of Lizzy Borden, who was accused of murdering her stepmother and father, said Laurie Hart, an adjunct faculty member at Utah State University. Hart is one of the music directors for the opera Lizbeth, written by Thomas Albert and Linde Hayen Herman. This opera is her first in directing and so she is directing jointly with Edye Wagstaff. The opera will be performed on the USU campus Nov. 16,17, and 19, Hart said. "Many of the students put an extraordinary amount of practice into their performances," Hart said. Andrea Bowles, a junior at USU majoring in vocal performance, said, "Right now we put in two to three hours of personal practice time in besides group practices." Lizbeth opens with Lizzy having a tea party with imaginary friends. Lizzy is 58 and is looking back on her life, Hart said. There are three ages of flashbacks in the opera, when Lizzy is 10, 15 and 32, Bowles said. "Lizzy's only friends are animals; she desperately tries to get the attention and love of her father, but it's just not given. This drives her to go to any lengths to get her father to love her," Bowles said. "When Lizzy murders her father and stepmother she kills them with an ax. It's the same ax that her father used to kill the pigeons that were her only friends," Bowles said. "This opera is really hard because throughout it there is no recognizable melody and direction to base ones voice on." Hart said, "The hours spent practicing and coaching the performers, making sure they learn the music, have their parts down, and the rhythms are all key in making the production turn out well. "As the play gets closer to being performed the rehearsals will last anywhere from four to six hours. The cast members can get really worn out especially when frustration sets in." Nathan Baxter, a sophomore from Gilroy, Calif. majoring in vocal performance, said, "I have a hard time interpreting what you want in this part. Tell me what you want." "This piece is a real challenge to most performers and will make the students dig and find what they've got beyond just talent," Hart said. It becomes worth all the work when a person performs for the audience, to see their captivation and reaction to what a performer is doing, makes it one of the most exhilarating moments, said Bowles. "Performing evokes the best in my voice, and to hear that it's actually my voice doing what I hear is amazing to me," Bowles said. "I didn't sing at all until my junior year of high school, once I began I couldn't stop. I am so interested, and captivated by it." Said Hart: "Opera or any vocal performance is a lot like being good at anything. The desire must be there to put forth the time weather your studying history, music or math."
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