Importance of having independent skills ~learned from Wagner Ring Cycle

HK Phil has just finished the concerts and recoding of Wagner Ring Cycle. It took for 4 years to complete.

After all, I got muscle ache and tiredness, but I felt more fulfilment which I did not feel for long time.

All four operas were super long(4.5-6hrs), so Maestro,Musicians, Audience have to be really ready to get through the trip until the end.

Importance of having Independent skills 

What I learned from this opera was importance of having good Independent skills. More than 200people tried to make this opera including Maestro,Musicians,Stuffs and Recoding Engineers. We surely need good team work to make good music. Then why do I talk about independence?

We some times mistake during the show. When we do mistake, we immediately withdraw the sound and we rely on some stronger player who are good at that moment. We both have to know the timing of withdrawal and takeover.Both player who mistake and player who take over the line are required to have technique and experience.

 I learned that it is important to have good independent skills from this project.

The independent players know what they are good at and they know when to withdraw. And they can keep working good day and bad day.

What is the meaning of professional?

Orchestra need to have good teamwork to make music. Players who can make good teamwork have own independent skills and capacity to accept unfortunate accidents. And they can find other player’s strong parts. If they think other player can play specific place better than them, they can immediately step back for stronger player. I will call these players are the professional.

I might change my opinions in the future…who knows? But I felt strong right now 🙂

I talk about the importance to have independent skills from musician angle. I believe that it is same for other jobs as well.