Let's start somewhere the public usually never gets to see.

A rehearsal.

You don't get to see them because they're full of mistakes and risk and things an orchestra doesn't want you to see.

This rehearsal is unfoldinging an in 1894 in the city of Weimar, Germany.

The city's symphony orchestra is rehearsing an insanely difficult opera written by their conductor himself. is Ricard is 29 and he's the junior conductor. His opera is called Guntram.

It's his very first one and it's a little ambitious.

Even Ricard had to admit, he'd gone a little overboard.

His score has parts for 62 string players,

and he only had 21 to work with.

He described his own work as quote,

insanely demanding, especially for the vocalist.

He felt bad for his male lead,

Heinrich Zeller, whose voice sounded so hoarse already, still just in rehearsals that he might lose it

entirely by opening night. Not a good sign.

Ricard's opera wasn't just physically demanding.

The music is dense and complicated too,

which is probably why Zeller just can't seem to learn his part.

Ricard keeps stopping him over and over again to correct every little mistake.

Finally, they make it to Act 3 and Zeller takes a break.

Now, it was Paulina de Anna's turn to sing her Aria,

which she does beautifully.

She doesn't miss a single note, but suddenly she goes silent.

...