Episode 3 Maestro at the Opera

The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Here, four novices have been competing for the ultimate prize.

Buum!

The opportunity to conduct in front of 2,000 discerning opera-lovers.

Ooh!

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

Their first challenge was to perform an operatic aria.

Fabulous!

And that was followed by a fully staged scene.

You are a math man, you think methodically,

and you didn't miss a beat.

But these proved to be Trevor and Josie's final bows.

You just flowed, but you didn't always flow at the right moments.

If you're really happy with musicians,

to give them the thumbs-up, it's best to do afterwards, not during!

It's now the final stage of the battle between the technique

of mathematician Marcus du Sautoy...

Making live music has to be one of the greatest things on the earth.

..and the flamboyance of choreographer Craig Revel Horwood.

I don't know this piece - that's my biggest issue.

-But there can only be one winner.

-Come on!

There can only be one maestro at the opera.

This programme contains some strong language

Craig and Marcus have been summoned to the Royal Opera House

to discover their final challenge.

Oh, my God.

Oh, no! Oh, no!

BOTH LAUGH

-La Boheme.

-Act two. Conducted by...

-Craig Revel Horwood!

-Or...

Marcus du Sautoy!

Oh, what a fantastic opera!

-Puccini!

-Puccini. At last.

In one months' time,

either Craig or Marcus will be conducting act two

of La Boheme, right here.

I'm loving the whole idea and concept

that I'm wedded to the Royal Opera House.

I can't tell you what a buzz that gives me,

seeing my name on a place that I've come to ever since I was a kid.

And to have my name on the front of the Royal Opera House,

it's just extraordinary.

And La Boheme. I mean, what a gorgeous opera.

THEY SING

Set in Paris in the 1830s, La Boheme

follows the lives and loves of a group of poverty-stricken friends.

In act two, it's Christmas Eve and the friends are celebrating in a cafe,

where temptress Musetta is trying to win back her ex-lover.

Outside, the streets are bustling,

children crowd around a toy-seller

and a military band plays in the distance.

It's a complex act and notoriously hard to conduct.

There's choral singing, there's soloists singing.

It's a big street scene with people moving, selling things.

The second act of La Boheme

is one of the worst - be careful!

To decide who will be conducting the whole act,

Marcus and Craig will be judged on a five-minute extract.

-Right, what have we got?

-Yeah, well, we've got...

-So, this is our five minutes.

-What does it say here?

BOTH: "Extract starts here".

Coaching them are mentors Paul McGrath and Michael Rosewell.

Oh! Ooh! It looks busy!

Look how big this orchestra is compared to the ones

you've conducted so far.

-Look! Flutes, piccolo...

-The score is laid out like any other opera.

Every instrument has its own line,

from the high piccolos to the low double basses.

Over 80 players, as well as soloists and a chorus.

There are lots of technical challenges in this,

but some of them we've already begun, so how lucky have we been?

Yeah. No, we are. We're going to have a ball.

So, how do we beat Marcus? That's the ploy, darling.

He'll have all this down pat. He knows it.

Well, we need it down pat. We need to do that, and then some.

Someone who knows La Boheme well is Maestro judge

and renowned conductor, Sir Mark Elder.

In this extract,

Marcus and Craig have got some very severe challenges.

It's extremely difficult

to control the way the ebb and flow of the music happens.

Some bars slow down and others then go forward.

Sometimes the singer needs time to take a breath,

then she holds her top note

and you've got to bring in everybody after it.

The music never stands still.

This challenging extract requires practise.

So, two days after getting the score, Marcus tackles

his first orchestral rehearsal with the Chelsea Opera Group.

ORCHESTRA PLAYS

One chord.

Yeah!

I just got through the piece. It was amazing.

When you get it right,

that kind of trust, you can see the faces lighting up.

An amazing experience. I can go home now!

When the orchestra's all playing together, it's like Christmas!

Marcus has successfully navigated the score.

Now Craig has a chance to identify what his difficulties will be.

-You wanted to keep it a bit smaller. Remember?

-Yeah.

It's important that Craig looks at the challenging corners,

that he listens to the various colours,

cos there's a whole gamut of colours and wonderful instrumentation.

-Ah... No, no.

-I'm supposed to do a two, though.

So, I'm hoping that if things go well

that it will only add to Craig's confidence

going into the next few days.

-Sorry. I'll go back. Sorry. Thank you.

-Just calm down a little bit.

-It's that bit.

-No, no, no. It's absolutely fine.

I'm not used to the instrumentation. That's why.

So, every moment is another shock.

Be calm and not suddenly jump in, cos they won't be able to follow.

'Craig is still dealing with, you know, where he is in the bar'

and remembering to count three and all of that.

So, it's a very basic level.

I'm just trying to encourage him

that with this fantastic opportunity that he takes on board

the qualities of the sounds and the instruments.

That's all.

Two, three.

One, two, three.

One, two, three.

One, two, three.

One, two, three.

BLAST OF BRASS INSTRUMENT

ORCHESTRA RESUMES

Right.

That was a really bad experience.

I really don't know this piece - that's my biggest issue.

-You know, I hate going out there...

-Yeah.

..in front of people, not knowing it. I never do that, you know.

-Onwards and upwards.

-It's sent to try us.

-Yes, well, it can't really get any worse than that, can it?

-No.

To help Craig and Marcus get to grips with the music,

they're being sent to the very heart of Puccini country.

My slightly skewy baton that seems to do the magic at the moment.

It's important to look stylish while you're there, definitely.

I don't want to look, you know, like Marcus,

wearing mustard trousers all the time.

So, I'm going to try and out-fashion him.

You know, the glitz, the glamour - Italy.

Craig and Marcus are heading to the Renaissance city of Florence in Tuscany,

where, 400 years ago, opera was born.

-Buongiorno. I think "buongiorno" is hello.

-Yes, it is.

They're heading to one of the world's leading conducting academies,

where, for the next two days,

they'll be immersed in the world of Puccini.

Usually when I go to a centre of excellence,

it's one I'm excellent at!

So, I am a bit frightened.

-It's a bit posh, isn't it, darling?

-Look at that view.

The academy is named after the legendary Hungarian opera maestro,

Sir Georg Solti.

-I love an entrance! I love an entrance.

-This is some entrance.

I can see myself living here!

WOMAN SINGS AN OPERATIC PIECE

This year's course is held at the Villa San Michele,

where Craig and Marcus join their singers to rehearse.

Here, they both hope to perfect their extract

in time for the competition back home.

First, can you just conduct anything,

but play around with the air...

For the moment, just don't use this hand.

Craig is being coached by Anthony Legge,

one of the academy's top conducting teachers.

What you have to imagine

is that all the electricity is coming out of the tip, like it has...

HE MIMICS CRACKLE OF ELECTRICITY

-Your focus in your mind has to be at the end.

-Yes.

-Cos I'm so used to stopping at my fingers.

-Of course.

-Because of dance.

-Some people don't use a baton.

You can do that, if you want.

I sort of like using the baton,

-I think because it stops me from doing...

-Yes.

-..all of that.

-You know, it makes me a little bit more controlled and concise.

-OK.

HE SINGS IN ITALIAN

Marcus is working with the academy's artistic director, Jonathan Papp.

OK, so that moment, which was a little eggy earlier,

-you knew exactly what you wanted.

-Yeah.

-Your arms went with it.

-Yeah.

-So, do that in there.

-Yeah.

-Listen to her.

-Yeah.

-Don't go with her. Do you.

-OK. All right.

During their stay, they do far more than just conducting.

HE ENUNCIATES ITALIAN

Good!

They read through the text to get to grips with the meaning

and interpretation of each Italian line.

HE ENUNCIATES LINES IN ITALIAN

They also get a chance to explore Florence,

to put their highly advanced language skills to the test.

-Pizza.

-Oh, sorry.

-Scusi. Scusi!

-Scusi.

And they even visit the place where it all began.

It's actually quite a quaint sort of place.

-I was expecting like a great big palace.

-It's got a Puccini plaque.

-The house where Giacomo Puccini lived for most of his life.

-Lovely.

-Watch the palm tree.

-Wah!

Sorry, I'm doing everything I can to destroy you!

Puccini wrote some of the most famous operas there are,

here in Tuscany.

Not only La Boheme,

but at this very piano

he composed Tosca and Madame Butterfly.

Oh, how lovely.

Oh, look. This is the piano he composed on.

-You're going to sit down.

-Oh, yes.

I'm going to get some inspiration from...

Ooh!

-Gosh!

-That's Puccini getting you back.

-Do you want a go?

-Yeah, well, we've come all this way.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Get that feel from the...

-Hang on, darling.

Oh...!

It's amazing, actually, isn't it?

I mean, just sitting here and thinking back,

-that this is THE actual...

-Yeah, look, he's got the desk here.

-So, he goes, "Oh..."

-Exactly! "That's great! Love that tune!"

I don't know how he does it.

I mean, it's just bizarre to think that entire score

was in his head, and he heard the music.

-Yeah.

-I mean, that's what I find just fascinating.

Yeah, to have that kind of vision to pull that piano apart

-into full orchestra, choir, singers.

-I know.

What I will take away from this experience

is a personalised view of his music.

And that will, hopefully, inform how I conduct it.

It's Craig and Marcus's final day at the academy.

Oh!

Puccini!

And it's their last chance to finesse the skills they've learnt

during their Italian trip.

Oh...!

I think we should skip this a moment.

WOMAN SINGS OPERATIC PIECE IN ITALIAN

For Craig's final session, Anthony wants him to conduct from memory.

Craig is going to be working this session on internalising the music.

In other words, not be tied to looking at the music

and given more time to look at the singers.

Stretch.

So, the score's a map - you check it, make sure you're on the right route

but you're not tied to it, otherwise you have a crash.

-OK. You've forgotten the map, OK?

-Yeah.

-Let's look at the map.

-Sorry.

-No, it's fine. You couldn't remember your visual marks.

-And then you did the stretch there.

-Yes. I just couldn't remember what was coming up.

You have to make the mistakes...

-Next time, you'll remember what it is.

-Yes.

-It's the only way of memorising.

-OK.

I've been trying to write a little bit

-just of my sort of mapping of this piece.

-Good.

-Will you conduct from your book?

-I'm not going to conduct from anything.

I don't want to be doing this, where am I now? I just think...

-Just from memory?!

-I-I... Yeah.

As Marcus already has a firm grasp of the music,

Jonathan wants his pupil to focus on emotional expression.

PIANO PLAYS

-Good. Sorry, I'm going to stop you there again.

-Yeah.

Are you getting "lurve" out of his arms?

-..I take that hesitation is a no.

-No!

-OK, yeah, Yeah.

'What I'm aiming to do, is to really get all the feeling that he obviously has for the music...'

I want it all to be expressed in the point of the baton.

Yeah, shall we try that? Yeah.

And as soon as he starts, this left hand,

which is simply mirroring the right hand,

we lose any expressive quality that's going on in that.

PIANO PLAYS

That's great, you just don't need the hip thrusts for the final emphasis.

Yeah, sorry, yeah.

PIANO PLAYS

'It's been an important journey, I think, for me, in actually

'bringing alive so many layers that are going on in this opera.

'I mean, actually, it's got so much richer'

from being immersed a little bit in Italian culture, immersed in the language...

-THEY SING IN ITALIAN

-'And it's bringing that all together as a conductor into this moment

'when it all fuses.'

SHE SINGS SOLO

It's stirred my emotions in a way.

I've got to keep under control. I can't get lost in this music.

'I think, technically, this weekend has been brilliant for me

'because it's focused my movement,'

and I've learnt to communicate, and pull people together.

'Because they want it to happen.

'They all want to make fantastic music.

'You just have to remind yourself of that.'

And when I get onto the podium, I think, let's make fantastic music.

SINGING CONTINUES

Oh, my God, it's Sir Mark Elder with one of our heads on performance day!

-"You will not be conducting Boheme, I'm sorry!"

-Ker-chunk!

Love it!

SINGING REACHES CRESCENDO AS PIANO PLAYS

-No sooner have Craig and Marcus returned to London...

-Ciao, bello!

..than they make their way to Covent Garden for the final judgment.

They'll be conducting the cast and the orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

They'll then vote on the person they want to perform the entire act with.

-OK, so, when you've done three...

-'I woke up, adrenaline pumping,'

cos I'm, you know, just so close to that dream.

It's a mixture of boyish excitement and total fear.

-I think we're in spitting distance of nailing this.

-Come on!

Overseeing the contest is Sir Mark Elder.

'I shall be very interested to see which of the candidates

'has the best balance of competence and flair.'

-I'm nervy.

-This is the moment, isn't it?

And this music needs panache, it needs spontaneity,

it needs brilliance and bravura.

It needs somebody throwing care to the winds with one part of their brain,

and yet with the other part, being cool enough to control it.

APPLAUSE

So, today, we are here to find out which one of you

is going to take on the final challenge of conducting the entire second act of La Boheme.

You have the very talented young soloists, this is your orchestra,

and we're first of all going to start with Marcus.

INSTRUMENTS STRIKE UP

MALE SOLOIST SINGS IN ITALIAN

FEMALE SOLOIST SINGS

INSTRUMENTS PLAY IN BACKGROUND AND MALE SOLOIST SINGS

-Think of it as the warm-up act.

-Yeah, warm-up.

-He's warming them up for me.

-For the main attraction.

-Perfect. Good idea!

MUSIC CONTINUES

MUSIC STOPS

Great, well done.

-What a cock-up!

-Sounded great.

-APPLAUSE

-Welcome...

It was amazing. My legs are just wobbling from the emotion of that.

I mean, I almost cried at the end.

ORCHESTRA PLAYS AND CAST SING IN ITALIAN

MUSIC CONTINUES IN BACKGROUND

-Wow, I was impressed.

-Yeah, I mean, we actually got through it.

-No, it went really well. It was way more than getting through it.

-Yeah.

I thought it was good. It was good.

MUSIC STOPS

Thank God that's over! Oh!

You're going to vote now and think about which of the two candidates you would put your name to.

You'll be completely honest and clear in your own hearts

about who you think could take you through this performance.

Marcus, I felt he was really genuine.

I just liked his attitude.

Craig has amazing passion that is absolutely necessary

for conducting opera.

It was really a choice for whether it was going to be intellect or passion.

It was such a difficult decision.

Well, here we are.

Thank you so much for the incredible commitment that you've both shown.

I'm very pleased to be able to announce

that the person who the orchestra has decided should go through to the final round

in the complete performance of the second act of La Boheme...

is Craig.

APPLAUSE

Commiserations to Marcus, and we look forward, Craig,

to you taking this experience to the final challenge

in a performance here at the Royal Opera House.

So, thank you. Thank you, Marcus. Thank you.

APPLAUSE

I'm really disappointed.

I mean, I so wanted to do that, but, you know...

I did my best, I put a lot of work into this,

and you know, making music is brilliant.

I just wish I could carry on. That's the kind of shame.

-'Hello?'

-Hello, is that my lovely mother?

-'Hi, Craig, how are you?'

-I'm good, I'm lovely!

'There's an amazing thing at the end of this which Craig's got a chance to do,'

and I'm bloody envious. I really am!

We've just got the results... I won!

-'Ya-a-ay!'

-Ya-a-ay!

-'Yes-s-s! That's FANTASTIC!'

-I know.

Marcus did well.

He has a strength of purpose, and he has a natural feeling for

standing in front of an orchestra and communicating with them.

-Darling!

-That's the result we want!

-Well, you can't get better than that, can you?

-No, fantastic.

'I felt that Craig showed more feeling for the particular musical style.'

He seemed more in touch with the beauty and the sensuousness of the music.

We did it!

Well, here it is. The stalls will be full, La Boheme, popular opera.

The atmosphere's electric.

-It's absolutely the most glorious, glorious space.

-Isn't it?

Now, Craig, come and take your first look at this special throne.

-Oh, dear!

-No, it's wonderful.

-Oh, it is amazing.

-On you go.

-Onto the podium at the Royal Opera House.

-Oh-h-h!

And that's where you'll be when you start that second act.

This is the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

APPLAUSE

Waking up this morning,

it dawned on me that we'd actually won that prize,

which is the chance to conduct Act II of Boheme.

I don't think he quite knows how complicated it is going to be.

So, fingers crossed, and we hold on for the ride.

ORCHESTRA PLAYS AND CAST SING IN ITALIAN

The Royal Opera House's production of La Boheme is considered a classic.

For one night, world-class maestro Semyon Bychkov is allowing Craig

to conduct Act II during his performance.

INSTRUMENTS SLOW DOWN, THEN STOP PLAYING

ORCHESTRA STRIKES UP GRADUALLY

FEMALE CAST MEMBER SINGS

He's just amazing. Incredible.

How am I going to do that?

-My name's Craig Revel Horwood.

-Hello.

You're a bit of a tough act to follow.

Just don't follow.

Go your way, you don't need to follow.

What do you do in life?

-Well, I'm a director/choreographer.

-I see.

-I was a dancer.

We have to do the same thing that you do,

because we have to express, tell the story,

-through silent gestures.

-Yes.

-What do you do?

-Tell stories through silent gestures.

-Voila!

-That's where it connects.

-Yeah, it's true. It really is true.

It's been such a gorgeous pleasure to meet you. It really, really has.

ORCHESTRA PLAYS AND MALE CAST MEMBER SINGS

It's three weeks to opening night.

Over 100 stagehands are busy preparing the set.

Built for its premiere in 1974,

the same set is used each time the production is revived.

Pick up the spoon.

-Rehearsing the principal singers, is the production stage director, John Copley.

-Got it?

If the performance is going to be a success,

it's essential Craig works closely with him.

-Hello, sir.

-Good evening. Congratulations, you've got the job!

Hello, Michael.

How long was that sequence you did? How many minutes was it?

Five minutes and 12 seconds, something like that.

Is that all? You've got 18 minutes, so that's quite a lot more to do.

Yes.

You must be scared out of your wits! THEY LAUGH

What he did the other day was in a room, like a concert.

It's very different when they're whizzing all over this great set.

In Craig's Act, Musetta, played by Madeleine Pierard,

sings a risque aria in an attempt to woo back her former boyfriend.

The music is woven together with complex stage action.

She's got quite a difficult time,

because she's going to play billiards.

So she comes up here and she takes a cue,

-and somebody gives her the chalk...

-Yeah.

-..and she just goes...

CUE CLUNKS Oh, shit!

LAUGHTER

And then she does the aria up here.

HE SINGS PART OF THE ARIA So you've got to be very clear.

We don't want any of this... HE HUMS A TUNE

Fantastic.

Anyway, you've got to get going with them. There's lots and lots to do.

John is a formidable director, and I can learn a lot from him.

He's very, very funny.

MALE CAST MEMBER SINGS IN ITALIAN

Now the singers are acting on-set, they're trained to follow the conductor

without appearing to look at him.

MADELEINE SINGS THE ARIA

As Madeleine goes to pot the ball,

Craig has to negotiate a pause in the music.

MUSIC PAUSES

MUSIC STARTS UP GRADUALLY

Fail to lead the orchestra in correctly...

-I need to slow that down, maybe.

-..and breathing is an issue.

I think Craig was waiting for me to look at him

and wait for a note, but he has to really lead it.

I had her bottom, you see, facing me, and not her mouth.

-Maestro.

-Darling.

It really is boing...

look, boing.

-JOHN SINGS PART OF THE ARIA

-Don't wait for me.

I was sort of hanging there waiting, thinking, "Do I have to wait?"

For me, personally, it is the biggest scene in the opera.

You know, there are going to be people there in my industry

who are looking and watching and wondering, and of course,

as a young singer, that's incredibly important.

So, if he screws it up, it really does make us look bad as well.

MALE CAST MEMBER SINGS

'The tension is different now, because it's for real.'

Not just a little game.

We're actually doing it for real, so everyone is getting a bit,

"OK, well, it's my performance and I don't want it ruined by you."

SINGING CONTINUES

SINGING STOPS

-I have something to say.

-Yes.

That's a line I would like to decide...

If you are going to conduct me, or I am going to sing, and you are...

I am going to conduct you, because what you tend to do is slow it down.

By the time we get to the end of that first phrase,

you've slowed down so much I have nowhere to go.

I know. But...but...

-What's your "but"?

-It is my line.

-Yeah?

-Which otherwise, it becomes...

HE SINGS

But I'm not doing that, actually.

-No, no, no.

-I'm letting you breathe it.

You know what I'm saying?

But what you're doing is, you're staring at me, cos you want to go slower.

If you want to pull it about, pull it about and I'll listen

and go with you, and then get them back,

but don't just stare me out, cos that won't work.

You need to just express it, sing it as you want to sing it,

and I will try and accommodate. Does that make sense?

Be musical, and do what Puccini wrote.

And don't glare.

Same place, please.

HE SINGS IN ITALIAN

They're going to find it really, really tough, I think, to trust me, you know?

This is the biggest issue I have.

That was better. Much better. Well done.

That was a very nice evening, and thank you, everybody.

It really is coming on beautifully.

You mustn't be frightened

when you see 240 people, all waiting for your every beat.

Thank you for that thought! I'll take that to bed with me tonight.

He shows such a musical sense. There are some tricky bits to come.

But he's got terrific courage, I think, you know?

He's really a very brave man.

Sam, lose a bit of upstage, please.

Now that Craig has worked with the principal singers on the set,

his next step is to control the children's chorus,

who, in this scene, cause mayhem in the street outside the cafe.

Hello!

If I was to think about the really tricky moments in La Boheme,

the first one that comes to mind is the children.

Wow. There's, like, loads of you.

Many's the performance of La Boheme when the children,

it's just chaos, because they don't know how to watch the beat.

Well, welcome, everyone. It's lovely to see you.

Right, why don't we have a look at it from that sausage - salami - darling?

-Do you know where I mean?

-CHILDREN: Yes.

THEY SING IN ITALIAN

I wanted to take it a little bit gentler,

and they were just...boof, boof!

Children, during a performance, will reproduce what they've rehearsed,

so Craig's got to tap into that, be able to reproduce it.

That will be the best way of it going well.

Adapting to the children's hectic pace isn't Craig's biggest headache.

DRUMBEATS

Not only is he conducting the orchestra and singers,

a military band also marches onto stage.

It's Craig's job to merge the different rhythms.

One of the most tricky things in opera is the last six or seven pages of the score.

The business of co-ordinating this band, that gets nearer and nearer

and comes marching onto the stage, and they've all got to be to be together,

with the orchestra and with all the singers - that's hard!

As the band starts playing offstage,

an assistant conductor is employed to cue them at Craig's signal.

-Hi.

-I'm Alice.

So I have a monitor. I watch the conductor

and I listen on the headphones,

and then I very slightly anticipate everything that you're doing.

Once I start them off, they then march onto the stage,

and it's no longer my problem.

-Yes.

-It's your problem.

The capacity for this to go wrong is immense.

With ten days to go before the performance, a full stage rehearsal,

with piano accompaniment, has been organised for Craig.

This has got to go well. It's really important that he comes out of this with some confidence.

Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!

I'm a nervous wreck.

-Hi, Craig!

-Hello.

I'm actually terrified, but I'm not going to show them that.

-I'm going to pretend that I'm fabulous.

-And John...

Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me the greatest pleasure to introduce Craig Revel Horwood, who's...

CHEERING AND WHISTLING DROWNS SPEECH

Remember, it's a rehearsal. You've got to just keep your head.

I'll try and keep calm.

And if there's a misunderstanding, we sort it out, remember?

-Standing by for tab cue three and surtitle screen to come.

-Thank you.

Go.

MUSIC STARTS

200.5, go, please.

THEY SING

One of the hardest things that Craig will face in the second act

is the music's changeability.

Craig has to be alive to the tiny nerve-endings of how bars,

phrases, pages change and settle,

and the conductor has to be calm enough and yet passionate enough

to master these changes of direction,

these changes of character and mood.

Can we try salami again?

Ready?

Try the salami...

It just rests on your head.

Just a complete fuck-up! That was hideous.

Next, a chance to rehearse the band's entrance onto the stage.

We hear in the distance a marching band.

We've got this march that, against this passionate music,

starts beating time absolutely strictly.

# Dum-dum-te-dum. #

And to meld from one type of music into the other type of music,

and keep it together while the band walks on stage,

this is a nightmare, and often goes wrong.

It doesn't matter how experienced the conductor.

< One, two! One, two!

DRUMBEATS

There we should...

Thank you! Stop, stop, stop.

Oh, my God! Oh, my God, I don't want to do it now. I don't want to do it.

-< But we've got a chorus rehearsal.

-I don't want to do it.

< We've got a chorus rehearsal and a kids' rehearsal, too.

-God, that was shit.

-It wasn't shit.

CRAIG SCOFFS

< It was a stage and piano. It happens. Honestly.

This is without the orchestra. This is with just the piano.

I mean, you'd think that you'd be able to keep it in time. It's insane.

OK. That's my career washed up.

It was so stressful, because everything that could go wrong went wrong.

I'm slightly concerned about myself, actually,

whether or not I'm capable of doing it.

With Craig's confidence shaken, Sir Mark steps in to help.

Craig needs to learn how to lead the orchestra.

So, before you start, just think of exactly how fast or slow you want to hear it.

-They will play what you give them.

-Hmm.

So, just for your own confidence, your own experience,

just do the last four bars,

just to get the feeling of, what you do, they will play.

-OK.

-So do something different.

-OK.

Take them by surprise.

Do you see?

So, what I want you to feel is that, whatever you need to do, for the music,

you can have confidence in them, that they will be with you and will read you.

Do it once more, and do something different.

ORCHESTRA PLAYS AT SLOWER PACE

-LAUGHTER

-See?

-You see?

-Yeah, I see, I see!

-I think that's 15/40 to the orchestra.

You can't catch them out, this lot.

This has an enormous amount of power, this little thing,

and it's not to be messed with! You know?

Now, let's go back a little way.

Sir Mark now decides to tackle the most challenging section of Act 2 -

the arrival of the military band.

MUSIC STARTS

He's got to latch onto that tempo.

However much he wants to be distracted by the sounds

and people around him, he's got to concentrate on that drum.

MUSIC AND SINGING DROWN OUT SPEECH

My ears are bleeding.

One of the reasons why I thought we should, like, lift the lid on this bit this morning

is because this is really hard, because of the spatial elements

and because he's done two things at the same time.

-Yes.

-But it's hard for everyone. All of us.

You have just to do a military beat to make sure that, even if you can't hear the drums,

you're still thinking about them. The problem is for the singers -

they have to respect that, and they have to do all their lovely phrases exactly with you,

-so that when the drums and trumpets arrive on the stage, it's still all together. OK?

-Yes.

Shall I just do it with...?

You just stay here and you do it as well,

-but let me just do it with you.

-OK.

Now it'll really fall apart.

LAUGHTER

I'll take a back seat on this one.

HE SINGS IN ITALIAN

So, we need one, two...

BAND STRIKES UP

Keep the beat close to your body.

Now here they go.

-I don't change. I don't change.

-No.

I'm just thinking about them.

That session with Sir Mark and the orchestra,

I've got to say was absolutely unbelievable.

# Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba! #

What do you think? Slow?

LAUGHTER

Just that one-and-a-bit hours

has really opened my eyes to the world of conducting.

It really, really has.

As performance day approaches,

Craig embarks on hours of endless rehearsal

with singers, orchestra and chorus.

The backstage crew go through final technical checks...

-514 is on here.

-You need to spill over the side.

..and the props department organise over 1,000 separate items,

including real food for the cafe scene

and even a pet dog for Musetta.

Hello, Puffin. She's so cute.

Upstairs, in the wardrobe department, there are over 350 costumes to be made

or adapted for the current cast.

I think these are the oldest costumes we have.

1902, from the Covent Garden Theatre.

For every revival of La Boheme,

over 500 people help bring it to the stage.

But, on the night, the success of the performance itself

will rest entirely on the conductor's shoulders.

The day of the performance has finally arrived.

At the beginning of my career at the Ballarat Lyric Theatre,

in Australia, I never thought for one moment

that I would be conducting La Boheme

for the Royal Opera House.

-A-ha!

-How are we?

-The big day!

-The big day!

'I really want it to go well for Craig.

'He's worked so hard,

'he deserves for this evening to go'

not just well, brilliantly.

I feel like a little boy about to go to school for the first time,

where you have to leave your parents and then trundle in, all by your lonesome.

Tonight is sold out,

and over 2,000 opera-lovers make their way to their seats.

The audience at the opera house, I think they are one of the best.

They are very enthusiastic but in a very professional way.

I think they are one of the best professional public in the world,

I tell you!

Among these are Craig's former classmates.

I reckon he is going to be so nervous. This is the real deal.

This is now about the audience.

These are real opera fans that come to see a real show.

If it was me tonight I would be a nervous wreck. But that is important.

You need that kind of adrenaline to do a performance like this.

I'm sure Craig is... The nerves are beginning to ramp up.

ANNOUNCER: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Royal Opera House.

Please take your seats.

This evening's performance of La Boheme will commence in 10 minutes.

Please take your seats. This evening's performance of La Boheme is about to commence.

Please take your seats.

The atmosphere is fantastic. All these people and this magnificent building

and Craig there on that magic square.

The opportunity to be standing there in front of all those people.

I am dead envious. But also slightly relieved because it is terrifying.

Look at it.

-ANNOUNCER:

-House lights to half. Go, please.

And conductor's lights, go, please.

LX cue one, tab cue one, surtitles screen in.

Go.

MUSIC STARTS

While the Maestro Bychkov conducts Act One, all Craig can do is wait.

'Ladies and gentlemen this is your Act Two beginner's call.'

Mr Revel Horwood, your call to the pit, thank you.

The journey to the pit is one of the most daunting, terrifying

journeys that a conductor makes.

You come out of the dressing room.

Endless corridors, endless steps,

you go down and down into the bowels of the building.

You get to the pit door and you don't go in. You've got to wait for somebody to give you a signal.

Oh, my God, it's actually happening.

And all the time at the back of your mind you're thinking, "Have I got the tempo?

"I must remember the tempo."

I have to do it. I have to do it. I have to do it.

APPLAUSE

HE SIGHS

I can't explain it. I cannot explain how terrifying it is.

With the first act finally over the backstage teams

spring into action for a rapid change of set.

-Oh, darling!

-They are hot and ready.

HE BREATHES OUT

I must remember to breathe. I have to breathe.

-OK.

-Thank you.

CHATTER

Standing by for tab cue three and surtitles for screening.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Backstage Michael follows Craig's progress

joined by the two Maestro judges, double bass player Dom Seldis

and soprano Danielle Denise.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

OK, here we go.

MUSIC STARTS

-DOM SELDIS:

-It's a lovely dancing movement that he has got.

He's definitely with the singers. I can see him looking up.

He's really... If he's nervous he's not showing it.

Craig's first big hurdle is to keep the orchestra in time with

the children as they surround the toy seller.

Big moment. Now the kids.

KIDS SING

-Look at that.

-Good, excellent.

-Wonderful.

-Now, kid's solo.

-Here it comes. Stop.

It feels slightly slower than normal, very slightly,

but that's good because it means that he can react to everything, so it's in control. Really good.

All very closed. All seems to be very rhythmical. Brilliant. There is a very, very strong beat.

Bravo, Craig.

With Musetta's entrance in the cafe, Craig's left-hand needs to

convey a new mood while his right keeps tempo.

DANIELLE DENISE: I am really impressed with how Craig is using both his hands differently.

He's conducting proportionately sometimes. Other times, he's got one hand down. He's really in control.

Just over halfway, and Craig has to nail the contentious tempo change for Pablo Bemsch.

TEMPO SLOWS

In the last rehearsal this was a big issue because the tenor had

a different idea of what the pulse was supposed to be.

But it was up to Craig to lead that more and he's done that now.

Now Craig needs to set the right tempo and yet give Madeleine enough time to breathe.

Contact is key.

-That's fantastic.

-You can really see the contact between the singer and Craig.

Those little hip gives are absolutely appropriate.

He is using more parts of his body than conductors...

-It's fine, it's good.

-Yes, why not?

-Just not all the time.

-He took quite a bit of time there.

-He did. Too much.

But he made contact with the singer so she was there when he finally decided to come in.

-Huge build-up here.

-Time to lift this.

-Watch him now.

-He takes a bit of time. They followed him.

-Absolutely.

-They were there.

-Perfect.

-In the bag.

-Look at that posture.

-Oh!

-That couldn't have been more perfect.

-Yes.

Under three minutes to go

and Craig still has the hurdle of the military band to come.

Five, four, three, two, one.

DRUMS START

-He goes with them. He is with them.

-He is beating in two.

-Good.

The next challenge is to keep the orchestra in that same tempo.

-A little wide. A little wide.

-He had a bit of a corner but it was OK.

With the band onstage Craig must now keep control of over 170 performers.

Look at that. That is a conductor.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

That surpassed our expectations.

-Michael, you've got to be happy with that.

-I'm absolutely delighted.

-DOM SELDIS:

-Michael, you have created a conductor.

APPLAUSE

'Craig was fantastic. He was in touch with the sentiment and the feelings of the music.'

His focus was up to the stage.

He really had... We've been talking about it. He's never achieved it.

You really felt he was a proper conductor.

'I am really impressed with the way he coped with the different aspects.'

It is one of the most horrendous acts. It was fun. It went well. I'm happy for him.

This has got to be my finest 20 minutes, I suppose, ever.

'There's nothing that can sort of replace this feeling that I got from it.

'I just think it's been phenomenal

'in opening the doors to the most wonderful,'

wonderful artistic life that I think you could ever possibly want.

Opera.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd