By and large if I were to be offered the opportunity to attend either a performance or a rehearsal of a work I know well, I would choose to go to the rehearsal. There is something I find totally gripping about the process through which art is formed. Now don't get me wrong; I enjoy every bit as much as the next man to be able to sit in a concert hall or opera house (or even the Keller Auditorium!) and witness a live performance. But some how there is an extra special feeling attached to being able to witness performers work through a piece, finding nuances which perhaps had escaped them before or shaping certain phrases in a way they haven't done previously in order to see whether something exciting or plausible emanates. Every Summer I attend the open rehearsals which are such a wonderful part of the Chamber Music Northwest festival and I always leave them energised and in awe of what transpires when great musicians bring all of their skill and intelligence to bear on a piece of music. And even when one is aware that,say, a string quartet has played the particular piece being rehearsed many many times before one is often left feeling that the piece is fresh to them - that the ink on the page is barely dry from the composer's pen.

In no art form I know is the sense of excitement so palpable in rehearsal as it is in opera. When the 'stage' is deliniated by no more than marks or pieces of tape on the floor, when sets and costumes are minimal and there is no orchestra to provide distraction there is then a priceless opportunity to see and hear the guts of the piece.

All of which goes to explain why I was so happy to have been invited by General Director Chris Mattaliano to attend a run-through of La Traviata at the Hampton Opera Center on Tuesday evening of last week. This is an opera I know relatively well (who doesn't?) performed by a cast a number of whom I have got to know over the last five years or so. I couldn't wait!

The rehearsal was scheduled to begin at 7pm and it started right on time with the members of the chorus doing physical stretches led by Assistant Stage Manager Carla Jimenez. It was apparent to me that with some notable exceptions, the ladies of the chorus are more familiar with a yoga mat than the gentlemen. After a few minutes of limbering up we all adjourned to the main rehearsal space and very soon Maestro Stephen Lord called for silence and the familiar and plaintive opening notes were struck by the Principal Accompanist Tom Webb. Tom is a marvellously sympathetic pianist with an almost faultless technique who, over the course of the next three hours worked probably harder than anyone in the room.

As I expect you know the entire opera revolves around three main characters: Violetta, Alfredo and Germont (Alfredo's father). While I have come to know well Richard Troxell and Richard Zeller, who play the two male leads, this was my first exposure to Maria Kanyova and I was struck by how quickly she and Troxell have established true chemistry. As someone next to me whispered, "Richard Troxell always makes you believe!" and this is true. He seems to have an unerring ability to find the kernel of a role and to make it his own and with a minimum of artifice. It is clear that Ms Kanyova knows the role of Violetta very well and over the course of the evening I found her interpretation to be moving without being mawkish and totally compelling. And her voice is ravishing. One of the revelations of the evening was Richard Zeller's reading of the role of Germont. He has somehow found facets to the character which enable us, the audience, to feel for him - indeed almost to sympathise with his actions which are on the face of them selfish and heartless. It is very easy to play Germont as a villain. Zeller hasn't taken that easy path; he makes us wonder whether, in his shoes, we might not have done what he does.

Have you ever wondered when and how the conductor rehearses? I think we assume that by the time he stands up in front of the singers he has his role down pat and is there to make sure everyone else is up to snuff. It was very apparent in watching Stephen Lord at this run-through that he was rehearsing as hard as any singer. Often with his eyes closed and humming in a somewhat Glenn Gould-like manner one could see that in his mind he was processing every bar of the piece. He was so immersed in what he was doing it was almost as though he was trying to channel Verdi and to bring to La Traviata the passion and affection the composer himself felt for the piece. It was really quite moving.

Three hours of rehearsal passed very quickly for me and I am now looking forward to attending the final dress rehearsal next Wednesday at the Keller. I took the opportunity to have a word with Jim Fullan, the Director of PR and Marketing for Portland Opera and asked him how tickets are selling. "Like hot cakes!" was the reply. I gather that if you don't yet have your tickets your best chance of a decent seat is on Friday or Sunday. Get it while you can. This is going to be a great show.

The picture, by the way, is of Benjamin Britten signing autographs for some of the kids at a rehearsal for the first performance of his opera Noye's Fludde. Although not shown in this particular shot, I was one of the kids. Rehearsals are always special when the composer is present. Unfortunately, Verdi wasn't available last Tuesday or I would have been scrabbling for his autograph too.