Ivan the Terrible. Act II 37 (cf. [Ex. 296]).
When the chorus sings in the wings the soloist is always heard distinctly.
Examples:
Ivan the Terrible, Act I 25-26.
* The May Night, Act III Ccc.
* Sadko 102, 111.
Instruments on the stage and in the wings.
The use of instruments on the stage or in the wings dates from distant times (Mozart, Don Giovanni, string orchestra in Act I, finale). In the middle of last century orchestras of brass instruments, or brass and wood-wind combined, made their appearance on the stage (Glinka, Meyerbeer, Gounod and others). More modern composers have abandoned this clumsy practice, not only unfortunate from the spectators' point of view, but also detrimental to the mediaeval or legendary setting of the majority of operas. Only those stage instruments are now used which suit the scene and surroundings in which the opera is laid. As regards instruments in the wings, invisible to the audience, the question is simple. Nevertheless, for the musician of today the choice of these instruments must be regulated by aesthetic considerations of greater importance than those governing the selection of a military band. The instruments are played in the wings, those visible on the stage are only for ornament. Sometimes stage-instruments may be replicas of those common to the period which the opera represents, (the sacred horns in Mlada, for example). The orchestral accompaniment must vary in power according to the characteristics of the instruments played in the wings. It is impossible to illustrate the use of all the instruments mentioned below, and to outline suitable accompaniments. I can only give a few examples and refer the reader once again to the passages in the full scores.
a) Trumpets:
Servilia 12, 25.