This summer, I am working in Austria as an assistant on Verdi's Il Trovatore in Gars am Kamp.  Many of the roles here are triple-cast, so this is a great opportunity to learn the opera from many different perspectives.  We are performing outside in the ruins of an old castle. One of the most magical moments was while I was playing piano for a solo coaching with Azucena inside the castle: during the act 4 duet, one of our tenors in a nearby room joined in, and by chance while we were in a G-major section, the church bells from the village below began ringing a perfectly tuned G.  Similarly, we have often had dramatically stormy weather to accompany the act 4 "miserere".
since I didn't have any photos from Gars, I'm including this one from a nearby festival I visited in Jaromerice.
since I didn't have any photos from Gars, I'm including this one from a nearby festival I visited in Jaromerice.