Spotlight on Eric Weimer
Part of the Life of the Opera Pianist series
Photo by Teresa Tam Studio
General Information
Education
Curtis Institute of Music: one year Piano major
Haverford College: BA with double major in History and Music History
University of Chicago: PhD in historical musicology
Current opera house and position(s)
Lyric Opera of Chicago: full-time Assistant Conductor (34 seasons from 1987)
Ryan Opera Center: coach (30 years from 1991)
Other or former affiliations
Santa Fe Opera (1986--90)
Canadian Opera Company: selected productions from 1990 until the present
San Francisco Opera: Ring cycles (1990, 1999, 2011, 2018)
Metropolitan Opera: Assistant Conductor (1991 - 2000, 2009);
Guest coach with the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program (2000-06)
Bayreuther Festspiele: Musikalischer Assistant (1992-98)
Washington National Opera: guest coach with the Cafritz Young Artists of the WNO (2000-06)
Contact
Official Website
Email: ericdweimer@gmail.com
11 Questions
Many people do not know the many roles and responsibilities a répétiteur has in the opera house. How do you explain your job to non-musicians, or even other musicians?
Train young singers for careers in large, international houses; help all singers learn their roles (including delivering their French, German, or Italian with the authenticity and conviction of a native speaker).
What do you find to be one of the most challenging aspects of your job?
Challenging with whom? With singers? The fact that most singers simply copy the translation of their text from Nico’s libretti volumes into their scores but then don’t even bother to learn that translation! With administrators? The fact that we tend to get pigeonholed: this person is an expert in German rep, that person is an expert in Italian rep; this person is a great coach, that person is a great recitalist, etc.
Do you have a favorite part of the preparation (rehearsal or learning an opera) process? If so, what is it and why?
The Sitzprobe…it’s like a private concert! I can usually just sit back and bask in the sound, which is usually a bit louder and fuller (without an audience soaking up some of that sound), and I usually don’t have to worry—yet—about stage/pit balance since the setup is so different from the actual staging.
What is your favorite opera?
Hmmmm….can I name several? Don Giovanni, Pelléas et Mélisande, Falstaff, whatever I’m working on at the moment! (At various times in the past, Les Troyens, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Katya Kabanova, and Lulu were on that list.)
What is your favorite opera score to play and why?
Anything but Siegfried and Rosenkavalier!
What are some adjectives that describe the skills one needs to be a good répétiteur?
Obsessive compulsive, detail oriented, driven, disciplined, patient (with singers), somewhere between diplomatic and obsequious (with conductors).
As a répétiteur, we are expected to prepare music quickly (sometimes having to sightread or transpose or play music from the orchestra full score), manage multiple opera productions at the same time, play rehearsals for last minute cast changes, conduct last minute rehearsals or performances and sometimes even sing roles in these rehearsals or performances. Do you have any advice on how to deal with the excitement of the job?
Valium? Seriously, I regard these challenges, some of which can arise quite unexpectedly, as one of the advantages of our profession. In the c. 240 productions I’ve done in various houses, however, I have never had to transpose something or play from the orchestra full score. In the absence of a singer in a staging rehearsal, I have sometimes sung their part, although I don’t think anyone could hear me…
We also wear many hats as a répétiteur. We are often asked to assist conductors by taking notes, provide backstage conducting for performances, prompt the singers, conduct staging rehearsals, accompany chorus rehearsals, manage sound effects or major musical cues for performances, perform a keyboard instrument (or two) in the orchestra pit and give notes to singers about language and diction. Do you have a favorite aspect of the career? Have you branched out in other directions related to our field?
I think you’ve described the various hats we wear quite well and exhaustively. And the fact that we do have to change those hats (on a daily basis if not from hour to hour) is one of the things that makes our little profession so rewarding and fascinating. Consequently, I’ve always preferred the situation that has obtained at Lyric (particularly before the reorganization of the Opera Center in 2011) in which there are two Assistant Conductors (instead of just one) who alternate playing staging rehearsals. This gave each one of us ample opportunity to engage in coachings, mostly of the young artists. The situation at the MET was more rigid, at least when I was there in the ‘90s. One year I had to play every rehearsal of Meistersinger……thank God, I was 22 years younger!
June 2021: Outdoor performance of Hansel and Gretel
The other direction I’ve branched out into is one that’s quite common among Assistant Conductors, since we know the rep so well: conducting. Started late in my career, but highlights included the first summer concert of San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program and a Fliegende Hollaender with the Washington National Opera (2015)
What was your first experience as a répétiteur? And your most recent experience as a répétiteur?
First experience: Strauss’ Die aegyptische Helena with the Santa Fe Opera
Most recent experience: Catan’s Florencia en el Amazonas, Lyric Opera’s first ever opera in Spanish (another example of the great variety of challenges and tasks that make our professional lives so rewarding)
How do you manage playing an opera (or opera aria) for the nth time?
You try to play it more expressively, striving to render the various orchestral colors and layers somehow more vivid and clear. You focus on your conductor and singer(s) of the moment and let them draw you into an interpretation which might be a little different from anything you had contemplated before. Be open-minded.
Do you have any advice for pianists interested in a career at an opera house?
Love opera—listen to it all the time. Study foreign languages as much as you can…..when you’re young! (I had the good fortune to grow up in an area of PA where foreign language instruction was begun in 4th grade!)
Any additional memories, thoughts or comments?
I only auditioned once…..for Santa Fe Opera’s founder and General Director John Crosby back in November, 1985. I had never worked for an opera company before nor had I received any training from a young artists’ program, so I didn’t know that the standard audition repertoire for an opera pianist normally consisted of a selection of individual arias or scenes (as it does for singers). I prepared Elektra, Ariadne auf Naxos, and La Bohème in their entirety. Walked into the audition, placed the piano-vocal scores on the piano, and told John that I would play (and sing voice parts) of any scene of his choosing. That’s the last time I had to sing Chrysothemis in public (as it were), and I did get the job!
WATCH AND LISTEN…
Eric Weimer on Bandcamp
Eric Weimer on ClassicalConnect.com
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