The Rehearsing Musician

There is an army behind every production of, say, “La Traviata”: armorers and fight directors for the action; lighting technicians giving Violetta’s last breaths a ghostly frisson; wig-makers and costumiers who make the Paris demimonde glitter. An even less visible figure, whose contribution and responsibility is huge, though you will seldom see them at the performance, is the repetiteur. Their job, conducted behind the closed doors of practice room and rehearsal studio, extends beyond a single scene or even opera. They play on the piano every note of what the season has in store, over and over.