Episode 1 Maestro at the Opera

This programme contains some strong language.

The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. One of the world's great stages,

where only the best of the best ever get to perform.

Opera's the ultimate art form.

It's everything.

It's orchestral music, it's vocal sound,

it's the most wonderful visual display.

And ultimately, it's drama.

It's the most powerful drama in the world.

And the conductor is in charge of everything.

Being in the middle of the orchestra there's nothing quite like it.

All these people coming together can create something

so beautiful, so powerful and so emotional.

In this series, four hopefuls are competing for the ultimate honour -

to conduct a real opera performance in this house.

I see a lot of them doing that with their hands, doing that!

None of them has ever conducted before.

I can't remember which instruments are actually involved in this piece.

I don't read music in any shape or form.

I mean, how am I going to know to turn the page over?

If you've never conducted an opera before,

it's the most challenging thing you can think of doing.

I didn't do that properly, did I?

Flipping heck!

It could be somebody's worst nightmare.

It's the experience of a lifetime.

I feel violently ill.

I was shaking so much I couldn't do the triangles.

Who wouldn't jump at the chance to have an orchestra

and singers at your mercy?

That was terrifying. It didn't go well.

I think have I got the bottle to stand up in front of thousands

of people, do something I'm not skilled at doing...

Practice, practice, practice.

..and pull it off?

Bloody hell, that is so hard!

There can only be one winner.

Ye-e-e-es!

There can only be one Maestro At The Opera.

Our four absolute beginners are about

to start a crash course in conducting opera.

All have ambitions to take to the podium.

But each week they will be judged by a panel of opera experts

and one of them will be asked to leave.

-What are we doing today?

-I don't know.

I think they've got something ghastly in mind.

They're about to meet the chair of the judges, Sir Mark Elder.

One of the most renowned opera and symphonic conductors in the world.

Top conductors all have their own unique personal style.

Sir Mark wants to test our students' natural musical instincts

by throwing them in at the deep end with a full orchestra...

and singers.

I'm setting them this challenge because I want to find out

whether they can hear and feel music.

Everybody has this idea that conducting is just simply

waving your arms around and it'll all be fine.

Well, it's not.

I can't imagine that they've done anything as hard as this.

Picking up the baton are choreographer, Craig Revel Horwood.

'Disaster.'

Strictly Come Dancing's Mr Nasty.

'Darling, you made it up almost from beginning to end.'

I'm going in this with a very open mind and I'm hoping

I will feel I understand just a small part of the opera world.

Oxford professor of mathematics and broadcaster, Marcus du Sautoy.

'As a mathematician

'I'm fascinated by the patterns we see all around us.'

I really fell in love with opera as a kid.

I'll tell you, if I had to do a Jim'll Fix It,

I would probably have chosen to do this.

In the olden days, pound shops were very expensive establishments...

Josie Lawrence, actor and legendary comedy improviser.

'..candles, batteries for my household needs...'

I want to do my hardest and work hard,

but I want to have a laugh.

I might even find a husband, a nice bassoonist or something.

'First for hot new music, BBC...'

And finally the UK's premier urban music DJ.

'This is Trevor Nelson on BBC Radio 1Xtra.

'Still to come we've got some Ed Sheeran and some Drake after this.'

I'm doing this because it's one musical form

that I've never ever embraced, ever. I mean ever.

So I'm hoping I learn something.

Oh my God.

Look at everybody.

This looks nice, darlings.

-This is not fair.

-Hi.

Well, good evening, I'm Sir Mark Elder.

-Hello.

-Evening, Sir Mark.

And it's lovely to welcome you here in the Royal Opera House.

And the idea tonight is that you should conduct.

LAUGHTER

We'd like you to conduct an aria, a solo spot number.

Here to work with you is the Chelsea Opera Group.

And to sing these arias for you are four talented young artists

from the Royal Opera.

I'm sorry.

LAUGHTER

The plan is that you should listen

to each of your pieces for about 15 minutes

and then come back and see how we go.

Good luck and we're all dying to see how you do.

That's not on!

-That's so unfair.

-That is ridiculous.

15 minutes to do what people learn in 15 years.

'An aria is when the action stops'

and the singer conveys what they're feeling to the audience.

It's quite ethereal, it sort of floats through the air

and that's why it's called aria.

It's got... It's got space.

It's the outpouring of enormous emotion, anger or passion.

It's how they feel in that moment.

Sir Mark has selected four of the greatest arias

in the operatic repertoire.

# O mio babbino caro... #

It's so slow.

For Trevor it's the soulful pleading of O Mio Babbino Caro,

sung by a daughter to her father in Puccini's opera Gianni Schicchi.

It's a beautiful piece.

I'm not deaf, it is a beautiful piece.

It's so subtle though, that's my problem,

I thought I'd have something with a bit of a step, you know?

Craig gets the pride and pomp of the Toreador's song from Bizet's Carmen.

Josie's aria is from the same opera.

At least I've heard this before.

Trevor's never heard his before.

Carmen is a sultry gipsy girl and this is her playful opening number.

I could just dance it.

And for Marcus it's the tenor aria Una Furtiva Lagrima,

sung by the lovesick hero of Donizetti's The Love Potion.

It's not a big piece, it's very delicate.

Now it's getting bigger, now it's getting bigger.

Whoa, there it goes, there, that's the push. Ooh.

And up to the big notes.

That's what he wants to hold onto.

APPLAUSE

First to take up the baton is Craig.

The orchestra have been instructed

to follow exactly what each conductor does.

For better or for worse.

I love a challenge, I love going into unknown worlds,

and opera is something I'm nervous of.

'Five, six, seven and... One-two, three-four.'

I had background in music because I played the recorder at school

and I moved on to the French Horn.

'This is perfect.

'If we ever ended up like that, we'd be delighted, wouldn't we?'

And then I became a dancer.

When I turned 30, I decided to go into choreography.

I've even done some operas.

I was really scared of it, though, when I first went into that world,

because I come from musical theatre which is all

"There's no business like showbusiness", you know,

all bump and grind.

And that's completely the antithesis of classical music.

# Toreador, en garde... #

Craig's covering his nerves with extreme flamboyance.

He feels the music pretty well, but it's all much too balletic.

I sort of got into it at one stage where I thought, oh yeah,

this is all right, I'm loving this bit.

But then of course it changes, so you get carried away with yourself.

Oh! Just glad that bit's over.

APPLAUSE

Thank you.

Oh! I have to say...

I have to say I can't remember

which instruments are actually involved in this piece,

but I cue you by probably waving this baton.

OK.

MUSIC STARTS

HE HUMS THE ARIA

What's the cue for you then?

I thought I looked at you.

-Just looking, no.

-What is the cue for you then?

-You have to show me when to come in.

-How?

-Because you didn't move, you just look at me.

-I'm sorry, guys.

'I can't pretend that I like opera.

'To me, it's all massive voices,'

females screeching at the male, who's bellowing back at her,

or something like that, it's all very preposterous and posh.

I thought the conductor was just for show

and he was just waving his baton freaking out, as if to say,

"What about me? Look at me!" That kind of thing.

Since the age of ten, I've had no musical training at all.

I can't read music, I can't play an instrument. I mean, anything.

But secretly I have a grudging admiration

for people who can make classical music.

MUSIC STARTS

# O mio babbino caro... #

No, he's not setting the tempo right.

# Mi piace

# E bello, bello... #

But he's so calm in his physicality. That's really amazing.

# Vo'andare in Porta Rossa... #

It's an amazing power -

it's like having some sort of weapon

that you don't know how to use.

So you're there, leading an army and you're doing it wrong.

One minute, you're powerful, the next, you're that small.

# Si, si... #

I felt really vulnerable, man. Although I smiled through it,

the truth is I didn't know what I was doing.

APPLAUSE

Er, hello. I'm Marcus du Sautoy.

Um...I'm a mathematician, but I'm also a trumpeter.

HE PLAYS A TUNE

I really got into music when my music teacher

at my comprehensive school said, "Do you want to learn an instrument?"

And three of us kind of put our hands up and said, "Yeah!"

HE PLAYS A JAUNTY TUNE

And so I did all my exams, I got up to Grade Eight Trumpet With Merit.

And I did a lot of orchestral playing.

But I've never, ever conducted.

I think opera is, for me, the ultimate art form.

For me, winning this competition would be extraordinary,

because I love music - it's part of my life.

# Quelle festose... #

Now, Marcus's problem seems to be that it's too...

aggressive. It's too tense and hard.

# Invidiar sembro... #

But...he has talent.

He has a feel for being there.

# Che piu cercando io vo? #

I really enjoyed it.

And it is just an extraordinary energy

just coursing through that room.

And you're deciding when it's going on. That's...amazing.

# L'amour

# L'amour

# L'amour... #

Josie, in her natural element.

Immediately, you can see it, can't you? The comedienne.

Very, very witty, lively person.

# Il n'a jamais, jamais connu... #

I'm going to work really hard and take it seriously.

You know, these people are professional musicians

and I don't want to go in there as a sort of comedy klutz.

APPLAUSE

'Please welcome Miss Josie Lawrence!'

CHEERING

JAUNTY PIANO TUNE

Josie may have no experience of conducting,

but she has her own distinctive encounters with opera

on the improvised comedy circuit.

# We have many, many miles to go

# Ha, ha, ha!

# This is no laughing matter! #

'I haven't really had any musical training,

'although I have really loved singing from the year dot.'

# Oh, shit, I cannot see! #

Freeze! Do they say "shit" in opera?

-All the time.

-Oh, OK.

'I'm hoping what I've done before will help.'

I know I've got a sense of rhythm,

I know I've got a sense of the dramatic,

so that's two things in my favour, I guess.

# Si tu ne m'aime pas... #

Now, we've got to the last part. This is the hard thing...

..because the singer stops and does a lovely pause on her top note,

and then the orchestra's got to come in after her.

# Prend garde a toi! #

THEY ALL PLAY AT DIFFERENT TIMES JOSIE LAUGHS

Thank you so much!

She just didn't know how to do the last part.

APPLAUSE

I didn't feel in control at all.

I felt like a silly woman waving her arms about,

which is exactly what I was.

But I did enjoy it, and they were lovely.

Lovely. And God knows what they think about us lot...

treading on their turf.

Craig had the worst go at it.

He relied a lot on...dancing.

Whilst he was waving his arms around,

it didn't really have much to do with how many beats

were in a bar or which bit of the bar we were in.

Mathematician, the most boring of the lot - he was really slow.

He was...

Oh, man alive! You just wanted to go, "Wake up! Come on!"

Josie Lawrence looked like she was enjoying it more.

Interesting, as well,

she was the only one actually mouthing the words.

I, straight away, got what she wants.

And I'm very surprised and impressed.

The revelation for me was Trevor Nelson. He is really good.

He's... He's such a natural.

It was great to see him really move with the music as well,

and feel it with his whole body and not be rigid.

See you!

None of what we saw tonight could one call good conducting,

because they don't have the technique and the tools to do a good job.

I'd say they were, from that point of view, pretty evenly matched.

So I think it's a good first step and everything's open now.

At the end of the competition, one of our students will conduct

at the Royal Opera House, in front of a discerning audience.

To see how it should be done, Sir Mark has arranged for them

to join the 2,000-strong Opera House audience for a performance

of Mozart's The Marriage Of Figaro.

'This will be the first opera I've ever seen in my life.'

To sit for three and a half hours through it...will be interesting.

Ooh, a box.

The thought of standing on that podium with all these people

in this place - I think I would just faint.

You'd just see a hand go up...

and then fall.

And that would be it!

And the sound of a "twank" as the baton lands on the floor.

APPLAUSE

Tonight's conductor is the music director of the Royal Opera House,

Sir Antonio Pappano...

..one of the world's most charismatic

and experienced orchestral conductors.

MUSIC: "The Marriage Of Figaro - Overture" by Mozart

The whole idea of conducting, we think,

"leadership, driving the music."

In that sense, I think you're almost like conducting for a film.

You have to create atmosphere,

you have to create the situation that brings the audience in.

Support the singer, drive the singers.

You have to bring them to heaven, you know?

# Ora si ch'io son contenta

# Sembra fatto inver per me... #

His conducting is amazing.

He was full of life, he was full of the joys of what he does

and it transmitted to us, all the way up in the balcony.

Well, he looked like he hadn't broken out into a sweat.

He'd been on their for three and a half hours,

really joyously taking it all in and this rhythm that he's got as well.

APPLAUSE

After the curtain calls, the four students are invited backstage

to meet Pappano and get some tips.

What are you thinking?! THEY LAUGH

Ten weeks to do that?!

-It looked easy, the way you did it.

-Yes, joyous, watching you.

Yeah, you're going to confront situations

where you're going to be in difficulty,

but remember that it's music and it's there to...

Yeah, there are challenges, but even in a short period of time,

you'll find your either style...

There are certain things that have to be a certain way,

but if you've got spirit, then show it, you know?

And if you've got rhythm, then show it, you know?

I'm just terrified about the whole thing, really.

I mean, you looked like you were dancing up there,

that's what it looked like to me.

Yeah. You just hit the nail on the head.

If it's got... Look.

-Two, three.

-Exactly.

If it's got that in it, it's spring, it has a spring in its step.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-We'll keep that in mind.

-Thank you so much.

-Good luck. And...

'This is the biggest ask in the world.'

It's like asking somebody to referee the cup final

when they've never been on a football pitch.

It's HUGE!

I wouldn't like to go into an orchestra pit.

I always think it must be like going into the lion's den.

Everyone's waiting to savage you.

The students are about to meet four professional opera conductors,

who will guide them through the basics of their craft.

Ah, fantastic!

Would you like a drink?

In one week's time, they'll be judged on a performance

of their arias at the Royal Opera House.

I've set up my whole house as a music room.

Lessons start at the beginning, and when it comes to conducting music,

that means the upbeat - the very first signal the conductor gives.

'Upbeats are so important.'

So much energy and communication

is conveyed in the manner of the upbeat.

The gesture - that launches a piece of music -

has to contain everything about the music.

Not just how fast or how slow it is, but how loud or how soft it is,

what the emotional temperature of the music is.

Everything has to be in that first gesture.

Imagine that my hands are the table for the moment,

-so you're really going to shove them to the floor.

-Yeah, OK.

And "boom," and then "fwoosh!"

-Good, OK.

-Massive, huge energy so that your arms really fly high.

Yeah. Lovely!

One, two, three, four!

-One, two, three...

-It's like you throw a ball up in the air

and you know where it's going to land.

Once the orchestra has started playing,

it's the conductor's job to beat time with their right hand,

leaving the left hand free to indicate expression and mood.

What the orchestra require is for you to be down for beat one

and up for beat two.

So on a really, really basic level, if there's no emotional input,

just purely like a machine, what you're basically doing is...

# Bom

# Ber-dum, bom-bom... #

Oh! I did that.

-So what we're doing is beat one is their low note.

-Yeah.

Beat two is the high note.

Whilst Josie and Trevor tackle two beats in a bar...

Really, um...

-Stiff?

-Yeah.

..Craig and his mentor, Michael Rosewell, go two better.

And one, two, three, four. And one, two, three, four.

-And one, two...

-Can you do a three, so you're coming in on three?

One, two, three. One, two, three.

One, two, three.

# Ai, ai, ai, ai... #

Now that the four students have grasped the essentials of beating time...

Are we going through here?

..there are two days of intensive instruction and aria rehearsal.

And the first thing they have to learn

is what their singers will need from them.

Their guide through this potential minefield

is the mezzo soprano, Kathryn Harries.

What I'd like to achieve today

is to see what it's like from the singer's perspective,

so you actually have a real partnership.

# Ah-ah-ah-ah... #

Successful opera conductors have

an understanding of what the singers are going through.

They tend to be sensitive to the breathing, to the needs of a singer.

SHE SINGS HABANERA FROM CARMEN AND LAUGHS

That might be ever so slightly off-putting.

Is that famous expression, "less is more?" Come on, Marcus.

SHE HUMS HABANERA FROM CARMEN

Marcus, don't look like an axe murderer, dear.

I think, for you, it's about a little bit more relaxation.

If you get rigid, then you communicate rigidity. OK?

All right, that was very good indeed. Trevor, your turn.

-You're going to sing.

-Am I?

I do hope these conductors nowhere to sing.

They're going to need to know where to breathe.

They're going to need to know what a phrase feels like physically.

# My name is Trevor Nelson

# I work for BBC. #

-Fantastic. Excellent, well done.

-Oh, that's so sweet!

-You have a future, my dear.

-Where?

I'm not quite sure. But I'll think of it.

OK, do all please trust that you are musicians,

and if there are things that you do, like you frown a bit.

And Craig, because you're a dancer,

-your default position is to do slightly too much.

-Yes.

And from a singer's point of view, if there's too much going on

with the conductor, it's distracting.

Talk to your singers, ask them what they need from you,

and I'm sure they will give it to you.

Thank you.

Our four students are now ready to develop their own

interpretations of their arias with their singers.

Craig is working with singer Daniel Grice on the Toreador Song from Bizet's Carmen.

I think we should bash in, and see what happens.

It's sung by a bullfighter to his adoring fans.

And you tell me what you need.

-OK. We'll find out, went we?

-Well, we will, darling.

-The Toreador Song.

Very familiar, incredibly rhythmic.

So, you need a very, very strong gesture to get it going,

and a strong feel for the...

HE SINGS THE RHYTHM

This aria is actually very tricky, because my singing line is supposed

to be quite smooth over the top of a jagged sound from an orchestra.

# Vortre toast, je peux vous le rendre

# Senors, senors, car avec les soldats... #

A vital part of a conductor's job

is to agree the feel of an aria with the singer.

-Great. All right?

-What interpretation do you want of this?

As you are the maestro here.

-So, it sort of showing off in a way, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-You know, it's a song of seduction, led by his penis, darling.

-True.

And I think that's what you need to play in it.

OK. Cool.

-When you get excited.

-When you get excited I start...

Yes. I was trying not to get excited.

His conducting style is very camp, but I'm not sure it will get

the best respect from an orchestra, that's the thing.

# Et songe bien, oui, songe en combattant... #

My dancing's not really helping me,

because I'm not allowed to use my legs,

I'm not allowed to use my bum, I'm not allowed to use my hips,

and that so frustrating.

Josie, and mentor, Steve Higgins are next door.

And singer, Justina Gringyte is joining in to rehearse

Carmen's seductive Habanera.

Welcome to the wondrous world of opera.

I'm here to teach you all about it.

THE LAUGH

What I'm going to try and convey through you, as my Carmen,

is the sense of this magnificent creature telling everyone

what she thinks about love.

You know, get the heat of it, and the playfulness and the passion.

Come on, let's have a little go at it. Can we? That would be fantastic.

She's being at her most evasive, Carmen.

So, the tempo can't be too slow.

# L'amour est un oiseau rebelle que nul ne peut apprivoiser... #

And she'll play around it, but that rhythm must be absolutely

rock solid underneath.

It goes into the second part.

There are some traditional little pushes and pulls

that the singer might want to do.

Just little meaningful winks!

# Si tu ne m'aimes pas, si tu ne m'aimes pas, je t'aime

Mais si je t'aime, si je t'aime, prends garde a toi. #

You're very good. She's so sure of herself, which is wonderful.

Are you that sure of yourself with blokes?

-Pretty much, yes.

-She is! No wonder I'm single.

Will you teach me how to flirt with blokes?

Sod the aria, let's go dating.

Many great conductors find it more freeing to work from memory,

and Trevor has too.

So his mentor, Jessica Cottis, is working out a system

to guide him through his aria, Puccini's O Mio Babbino Caro.

I've been thinking, because you don't read music,

we need to get some version of the score on a piece of paper

for you to be able to memorise it.

He doesn't read music,

so everything that he does will be completely from here.

We need to make sure he's comfortable under pressure,

on the day, that he can come up with the goods.

However you need to memorise, I'm going to write it down.

One set, two sets.

Of course, if you can't read music,

you still have a fighting chance,

because what matters is your communicative ability.

The clarity of how you show everybody how much you love

this music, and you know how it should go.

Meanwhile, Marcus has a ready mastered his Donizetti aria,

Una Furtiva Lagrima, but his mentor, Paul McGrath,

is more concerned about facial expressions.

You've got an amazing, big, shiny brain,

but when you do this, you have to open it out to everybody.

Yeah? Whereas this, "I've got all this data in my head.

"I know that this is 83.6 beats per minute,

"and I'm going to get ready now, I'm going to count."

-Yeah, yeah.

-We don't want to see your big brain like that.

We want to see your big brain, opened out.

For me, personally, the best thing a conductor can do is look happy,

because then it puts the singer at ease.

Marcus has got to continue thinking about how he presents himself,

what his face looks like,

and how he's connecting to the people in the room.

You know, I think he was quite upset that Katherine Harris

told him he looks like an axe murderer!

Conducting is, of course,

about an entire package of how a musician expresses

the inner meaning of the music through his personality,

through his face, his eyes, and his gesture.

Pierre Boulez is an example of a conductor who is immaculate,

and always intensely clear for every beat of the bar.

At the other end of the scale, you've got Leonard Bernstein,

who was extremely exuberant, physically very free,

responding to the moment, spontaneously,

and creating a different relationship with an orchestra.

APPLAUSE

For me, the conductor can't conduct with just one gesture,

you've got to have variety,

you've got to be able to respond to the inner life of the music.

In their quest to become great conductors our students

-are given sessions on multitasking.

-Do you know what it is yet?

Body language,

and keeping time.

Everything a budding maestro needs to know before taking to the podium.

There really is so much to learn in a very short space of time.

I hope I can do it.

Our four would be conductors are returning

to the Royal Opera House, to show their skills.

I'm really nervous, but hopefully, that will disappear

when I walk through this door.

But at the end of the day one of them will be

voted out of the competition.

Home sweet home. Today's finally come.

All of this fuss and trepidation, and sleepless nights.

I'm either in, or I'm out, but I'm going to do my best to enjoy it.

-That's all I'm thinking.

-Focus.

I suppose the only worry is, "am I going to blank?"

Am I just going to go, "what's next? I haven't a clue what comes next!"

If I start to think, "oh, it's a competition," I'll be a mess.

So, at the moment I'm really in my, "I'm a performer," zone.

I think it's horrific role reversal, actually.

It's nasty being judged, so I have to get on, do my best,

if that's not good enough, then chuck me out.

This morning they each have a rehearsal, here,

in the Paul Hamlin Hall, where they'll meet

for the first time the orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

Hello everybody.

For a warm-up exercise they've been asked to conduct

an extract from the overture to Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus.

-Here we go then.

-And just starting this piece is a challenge in itself.

VIOLIN STARTS TO PLAY

Sorry. I didn't do that properly, did I? So I will go...

# Du du, du-dle-du-dle-du-dle... # Is that all right?

OK?

May I start that again?

I think Josie is still finding it difficult to communicate what

she wants and trust what she wants and be really clear.

This works so well when the music's taped.

SHE LAUGHS

At the moment, she's not really committing to any gesture.

She's almost like asking permission to give it rather than being

absolutely firm and telling them what she wants.

All over the shop.

It's because I'm shaking.

I didn't think this would happen.

Hey, well done.

-I thought I was a mess.

-You weren't a mess.

-And they're so stern, you know?

-This is the beginning of Fledermaus.

You are a metronome.

-Forget, don't even listen...

-You're not understanding what I'm saying.

-What?

-I was shaking so much I couldn't do the triangles.

What you did is you heard and you started following them.

And that threw you completely.

That's fair enough, that's what the experience was for.

The acoustic of the room, they play behind your beat...

-I get the feeling what's happening here...

-They're playing late.

I get the feeling what's happening at the Royal Opera house

is they're all very lovely and bloody brilliant

but I think they think what we're doing is a bit silly

-and they're a bit fed up with us.

-That might be the case.

In which case, you just need to go and enjoy it.

I think I'm going to be the first one out

because I just made a stupid, girl mess of myself out there.

You didn't.

See, he started right away.

-See, he's doing ones, which is much easier.

-You were doing ones.

I wasn't! But... I was doing. No, I don't...

Calm, calm, calm.

Shaking.

Craig's problem is the extravagance of his gestures.

It slows the orchestra down because they're reading

a long distance between beats

so they're reading that as if they need to take more time.

And also because he's very muscular in what he's doing,

they all tend to play louder and heavier.

Darling, I look like I've just come out of a scuba class!

So much for hair and make up.

I'm not going to look pretty on this job, am I?

Marcus is very clever.

He's been able to absorb lots of strands of information

to do with the music.

It's not so straightforward putting them all together even for him.

So that's obviously a minefield moment so let me try

that one a little bit better, OK?

You see, I can't count. OK, yeah.

I just proved to you, mathematicians are rubbish at counting.

That was terrifying.

It was terrifying?

It didn't go well, I felt.

-It was...

-Let's analyse that. What didn't go well?

-I wasn't in control.

-OK.

I was following... I just... What I wanted to happen,

my intention, I obviously wasn't communicating it. But, um... God!

Finally, it's time for the four students

to conduct their arias in front of an audience.

If that's the Ferrari, you're holding a steering wheel

and you have your foot on the gas pedal.

I'm going to do it fine.

I've never felt this sort of sweaty and nervous about performing

for years and years and years.

I do have to be firm with them though.

-Good luck, I'm rooting for you.

-Thank you.

What I shall be looking for is someone who's fluent

in the music, who sets a good natural tempo, not a tempo

that's extreme, that forces the singer to take huge, long breaths.

Oh, I feel violently ill.

APPLAUSE

Sir Mark is joined on the platform by fellow judges,

leading orchestral bass player, Dominic Seldis,

and the star soprano, Danielle de Niese.

I want a clear beat.

I want them to be able to follow the singer

so that the orchestra can then follow them perfectly.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Josie Lawrence.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I'm going to be looking for conductors

who have a beautiful gesture.

Conducting is not just about beating time,

it's about bringing a group of musicians together

to make a homogenous sound as well.

# L'amour est un oiseau rebelle

# Que nul ne peut apprivoiser

# Et c'est bien in vain qu'on l'appelle

# S'il lui convient de refuser

# Rien n'y fait, menace ou priere

# L'un parle bien, l'autre se tait

# Et c'est l'autre que je prefere

# Il n'a rien dit mais il me plait

# L'amour!

# L'amour!

# L'amour!

# L'amour!

# L'amour est enfant de Boheme

# Il n'a jamais, jamais connu de loi

# Si tou ne m'aimes pas, je t'aime

# Si je t'aime, prends garde a toi!

# Si tou ne m'aimes pas si tou ne m'aimes pas, je t'aime

# Mais si je t'aime, si je t'aime

# Prends garde a toi!

# Si tou ne m'aimes pas si tou ne m'aimes pas, je t'aime

# Mais si je t'aime, si je t'aime

# Prends garde... a toi! #

APPLAUSE

-It was lovely, wasn't it?

-Yeah, it was great.

I like the buoyancy that you brought to the very beginning.

Bu the moments when you did get lost,

you were beating yourself up about it.

You closed your eyes and went, "Damn".

That leaves the orchestra at a bit of a loss

because in that moment, they need you.

Yeah, absolutely terrific.

I really appreciated the cueing that you gave to the French horns.

When you give a good cue, it gives the players so much confidence.

You got a fantastically expressive left hand and if I were playing,

I would be able to follow everything that you were doing.

What I think is really marvellous, Josie,

is the way you've learnt this two in a bar.

We knew absolutely where the downbeat and the upbeat were.

But I felt that sometimes, you were... You were following them,

rather than really leading them.

Because the beat lacked definition. Like, there it is. There it is.

But your understanding of the spirit of music is really lovely.

So bravo, well done!

Let's put it this way - they were very kind.

They were very kind to me.

Because I made lots of mistakes.

You did well. You couldn't tell!

And I have done it now, no matter what happens, I have done it.

Let's all welcome Trevor Nelson.

# O mio babbino caro

# Mi piace, e bello, bello

# Vo'andare in Porta Rossa

# A comperar l'anello

# Si, si, ci voglio andare

# E se l'amassi indarno

# Andrei sul Ponte Vecchio

# Ma per buttarmi in Arno

# Mi struggo e mi tormento

# O Dio, vorrei morir

# Babbo, pieta, pieta

# Babbo, pieta, pieta. #

Dom, what do you think?

I think you were conducting,

but not necessarily the orchestra or the singer.

The performance that you gave was entirely yours.

It just was not connected to what was going on around you.

I almost had the sensation that you were so seduced by the music

that you slightly just went along for the ride.

That is the problem with me.

-It was that moment you lost the orchestra.

-I love melodies.

And every time that bit comes up, I want to close my eyes and...

You know, be on a beach somewhere.

It is really not easy. But you just flowed.

And as Dom said, you did not always flow at the right moments.

But at least physically you are giving yourself to the music.

Oh, that was tough.

My aria, which I normally really control quite well

I kind of lost the connection between the orchestra and the singer.

Which I don't normally do, funnily enough.

So I saved my worst aria

for the main performance, which is really disappointing.

# Una furtiva lagrima

# Negli occhi suoi spunto

# Quelle festose giovani

# Invidiar sembro

# Che piu cercando io vo?

# Che piu cercando io vo?

# M'ama! Si, m'ama, lo vedo

# Lo vedo. #

Well, Dani, what did you think?

I was really impressed, Marcus.

The one thing that I would say,

it is very easy to become bar orientated.

So you have, DUM-dah-ree-ree, DUM-dah-ree-ree...

Sometimes with the orchestra,

I felt it got small, slowing down before each time.

So it was, DUM-dah-ree-ree-dah-dah, MMM-dah-ree-ree...

Maybe it would help to have a bit more flow.

Marcus, sometimes you delay a little bit.

-"Will they do it for me?"

-I know!

You turn to the singer, hoping he'd start at the right time,

you slowed down a bit, as if to say, "Is he there?"

-My mentor told me not to do that!

-Yes, that is very scary for singers,

if you slow down, just before they are about to come in.

It slightly makes them breathe, and then go...

If there was one tiny criticism, I'm seeing a lot of mirrored movements.

So you are doing the same with your right hand as you are with your left.

Try using your left for the emotion and volume

and your right to keep the beat.

As a general rule, that should be your default.

I think it is because I study symmetry as a mathematician.

-I love doing things which are...

-But this is music, not maths!

APPLAUSE

That was wonderful.

That was just... They did everything I wanted them to do.

I felt in control. It was just...it was lovely.

I do not think axe murderer went out there.

I think the guy who loves music went out there.

Lastly, let's all welcome Craig Revel Horwood.

# Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre

# Senors, senors car avec les soldats

# Oui, les Toreros, peuvent s'entendre

# Pour plaisirs, pour plaisirs

# Ils ont les combats!

# Le cirque est plein C'est jour de fete!

# Le cirque est plein du haut en bas

# Les spectateurs, perdent la tete

# Les spectateurs s'interpellent a grand fracas

# Apostrophes, cris et tapage

# Pousses jusques a la fureur

# Car c'est la fete du courage

# C'est la fete des gens de coeur

# Allons! En garde! Allons! Allons! Ah!

# Toreador, en garde! Toreador! Toreador!

# Et songe bien, oui, songe en combattant

# Qu'un oeil noir te regarde

# Et que l'amour t'attend

# Toreador L'amour, l'amour t'attend! #

Three words I have got to say to you, darling. Fab-u-lous!

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

Well, Dani, what do you think?

I, I...I'm impressed.

Where some of the other students have shown nervousness,

I think you're really good at putting the show on

that does not show you are nervous.

But it can in some way disconnect you

from what you are actually needing to do, which is listen.

I agree, I totally agree. I knew that I was doing it.

There was that moment when suddenly it comes to a stop.

-Yes.

-And then you suddenly thought, "We are going on, who moves first?"

-Yes, and then I remembered, it was me.

-That's right, yes!

By then the music had steadied into a comfortable gait,

and we had lost the excitement that you got so well at the beginning.

It seemed to me that there was like a duet.

There was you and the singer.

And that is really not the way it should be.

You are there to help the music come out.

We know you can dance, we know you can move.

But that is kind of now getting in the way a little bit.

This whole dramatic stuff is actually quite a lot of bravado,

and you are actually a very sensitive musician and artist,

and I think you should let that show more.

In the end, the art of conducting starts from the idea

that you cannot control anyone else until you have controlled yourself.

But anyway, bravo, and thank you very much, Craig.

APPLAUSE

Thank fuck that is over. Thank God that is over.

That was just hideous.

I was shaking all the way through like an absolute leaf.

But it is not half fantastic, standing up there in Covent Garden,

I mean, you know, wait until I tell my mum, in Ballarat!

The judges must now decide which two students

will definitely continue their journey.

The face, Craig, with his arms...

Marcus is methodical, but he needs more...

Then the remaining two must face the orchestra's vote.

and one conductor will be asked to leave.

-It has not been easy.

-It has not been easy, that is for sure.

But we have decided that the two students who should progress through

to the next stage of this journey, are...

..Craig...

and Marcus.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

That's good, darling!

-More torture.

-Yes!

Josie and Trevor's fate is now in the hands of the musicians.

The first thing we noticed about Josie was how nervous she was.

You could see how tense she was.

And coupled with the strange looks on her face

this can give a bad impression to the orchestra

who then could start to panic as well.

Trevor was lovely,

but he did not always seem very engaged with us.

He was enjoying himself,

but we did not get a lot of eye contact,

and when the conductor does not have that sort of contact with you,

you feel very much that you are driving the car yourself.

The orchestra have voted.

And I can reveal that the conductor

who has been appointed to go further in this wonderful process, is...

Josie.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Oh, it is fine.

-Josie, congratulations. We are all thrilled.

-Thank you very much.

-And Trevor, I am sorry.

-I had a great time, a great time with everyone.

At the start of this show, I said,

"Conductors are probably just posers, aren't they?

"The orchestra know what they are doing, don't they?"

Clearly not. Honestly, the sounds that you make are incredible.

It has changed my whole view on opera, and I am a fan now, so...

Yeah! Good for you!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

It has been a very positive experience

and everybody feels there is a certain justice in the decision...

I am so sorry!

I didn't do anything you asked me to do!

..and those three are the ones who should go forward.

I am disappointed. If you had six more months with me...

You would be winning! You would be Maestro!

But of course, conducting an aria will very soon seem halcyon days

in comparison with what they have got coming.

Next week on Maestro at the Opera: three surviving conductors

tackle the next challenge...

I thought last week was difficult enough!

..to conduct a fully staged operatic scene.

I am doing it every time, the ending, wrong.

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