Italian rehearsal

Posted by Smokey Stover on May 21, 2009 at 03:33

In Reply to: Italian rehearsal posted by Scott on May 12, 2009 at 22:04:

: Does anyone know the origin of the phrase "Italian rehearsal"? As I understand it, the phrase refers to a rehearsal technique in which actors run through their lines as fast as possible without "acting". I've seen it referred to as a "speed through" as well.
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"Italian rehearsal" became a phrase indicating a whirlwind rehearsal or rehearsal schedule, but I haven't found a definition per se. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Music (olim The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians), s.v. rehearsal, it esplains why Italian opera companies gained their reputation for speedy preparation for opera production in the 19th century. The opera houses gave singers a rather short time to learn their parts for various kinds of operas, and sometimes virtually no time at all. It is quite likely that even the dress rehearsal required little of the singers in the way of stage action, although they were probably in costume.

"Experienced British and French observers testified to the disciplined routine that enabled Italian companies swiftly to put together an acceptable performance. Sometimes, however, operas were being written right up to the first night or beyond . . . ."

The article doesn't discuss "blocking," that is, blocking out the movements on stage, or the stage action. While many of the singers were experienced in the major repertory and had already played their role on stage, the repertory was constantly changing, and so were the casts. The Italian audience was primarily interested in the music, and I suspect that the stage action underwent a lot of revision in the course of the opera's run, just to keep the singers from knocking each other down. By and large, there isn't room for much subtlety of acting in opera, although action scenes between arias need some traffic control.

The size of the opera house may require some accommodation in the action. I was a supernumerary in a few opera productions in Boston. The opera house has (or had) a stage roughly the size of a postage stamp, with an even smaller backstage area. That's how I happened to get bumped into, hard, by Renata Tebaldi, I apologized, but she was distracted and didn't notice.

TMI, sorry! (I was unable to access the Grove Dictionary of Opera.)
SS