daniel smith

Well, today the set is starting to really come together. This afternoon and evening was again another scene rehearsal and today the absolutely incredible soprano Signora Angela Gheorghiu (playing Violetta) arrived on set. There is now less than 2 weeks before the premiere performance so things are starting to heat up a little. One of [...]

Buona Pasqua a tutti! Happy Easter to everyone! Unfortunately, this Easter was spent alone but was a great opportunity to study in the afternoon. In the morning I had a date at the concert hall in Vatican city for the Easter concert, this year, Maestro Lorin Maazel conducting Beethoven’s 9th ‘Choral’ Symphony, at 10.30 in [...]

It was interesting to see that here, Good Friday is not a holiday – in fact, everything trades as normal. That of course meant for us, rehearsal. This massive production is really starting to come together now, today especially, with the set start to be pieced together on stage (see photo below). Today, staging rehearsals [...]

I must have been really tired this morning to start to brush my teeth with moisturising cream instead of toothpaste. Sad thing is it took more than one second to notice. I must write rather quickly today as I have forgotten the time and will be late for my rehearsal! I decided to write earlier [...]

Ciao tutti! Well, today was the first “Italiana” rehearsal. These rehearsals are with the soloists and orchestra. Of course, the soloists are just sitting or standing, and in plain clothes for this rehearsal. Today was the Italiana rehearsal with the forth cast (Yes! I’m not kidding, not just one cast and an understudy but four [...]

Time can fly right past when you are not paying attention! Today, for the first time, I started to feel the whole production starting to come together. For the last week, we’ve been in an auditorium on the very outskirts of Rome for scene rehearsals with the very famous stage & film director, Maestro Franco [...]