TheMusicArchivist

I'm a professional orchestral musician, but I love conducting. I see stories of people just 'switching' because someone says to them they should try it. Do you think you could see anyone in your orchestra becoming a conductor just based on personality traits and musical talent? Or can you only become a conductor via a specialist training scheme/

Another question - I love playing Puccini, but the tempo changes seem ridiculous at times. How do you know when to rall and accel when it's not written in the score?

You can often find full-length operas on YouTube. Some things I would suggest: find a comedy, since the acting will often be over the top; find one in your native language (English National Opera, based in London, sing all operas in translated versions, whereas many opera houses use the original language of the composer) - or at least find one that has had subtitles added to the video; read through a brief synopsis of the plot. Be careful, Wikipedia articles have very detailed synopses which could take fifteen minutes to read and there's no chance of remembering it all, but knowing the main characters' names and their prior relationships is often helpful.

Then take a leap of faith and watch one live at your local venue; even amateur productions are often done to a high standard, and the humanity on display, so close to you, is something you won't get through YouTube.