Walter Meyer wrote:

>At the intermission during today's Metropolitan Opera broadcast, a question
>was asked of the panelists about forgetting their lines, w/ at least one of
>them admitting to memory lapses during which he was grateful for the saves
>he got from the prompter.
>
>Exactly, how does that work?  It would seem that if a singer forgets his
>line, the music isn't going to stop for him and by the time he's been
>coached by the prompter it will be too late.  Just how does a prompter
>restore the flow occasioned by an opera singer's memory loss?

Some "pirated" opera performances show exactly how it is dome.  I am
specifically thinking of a recording I have of Salieri's Falstaff.

The prompter says the first few words of the singer's text, a few beats
before the singer enters.  It's almost like a pre-echo of the words.  Not
only does the prompter help the singer with the words but also with some of
the entrances.

When you realize that an opera singer needs to know the score, the libretto
and the blocking, which changes with each different production, one must
give the singers respect for getting though the evening without having a
nervous breakdown.

Eric Goldberg
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