MARCH, 2009

I arose early, just like every other day, went down to the Westside, 72nd Street Oval and ran my daily two miles, after my fifteen minutes of calisthenics. Breakfast, play with my girls, do some studying for an upcoming role and, like clock work, lie down for my one hour nap, which was part of my established regimen, on a performance day. Since it was Sunday night, and a 7:00 curtain at NYCO, I had taken my nap from 2 to 3 o’clock. I rose, made myself a steak and salad, and then walked to the piano for a little preliminary vocal work. I never “warm-up” my voice, I always “tech” it up! With good technique, it usually only requires some singing of strong, well focused lines, i.e. “Tosca divina ...” through the end of the “Te deum” or “Pura sicome un Angelo ...” from Traviata.

This time, my worst fear was realized; my cords weren’t approximating worth a hoot ... and I was to sing my first note of “Rigoletto,” regarded by many as the most challenging of the Verdi Baritone roles–in about three hours. Added to the pressure was the fact there were 33 friends and guests, of ours, attending, chief among them, Mr. And Mrs. Werner Klemperer (Colonel Klink, of “Hogan’s Heroes). They were devoted Met Opera fans, who had never seen a performance at the New York City Opera. He had told me, five nights before, that he always closed his eyes at the Met, so that the acting didn’t disturb the music. That’s why I told him there would be two tickets at the box office that night, in his name. He had protested, “But, what if I don’t like your performance?” “Don’t come back stage!” was my answer.

What to do ... well, lessee now, number one ... don’t panic, dummy!
I walked into the bathroom and pulled out a bottle of Prednisone 5 Mg. I popped five of them, to start shrinking the cords, as they were clearly swollen. “SINGER; KNOW THYSELF!”
It’s Sunday ... where’s my great friend, Charles Schneider, the best Ophthalmologist on the planet? Gone for the weekend, as I reminded myself. Should I alert my understudy? Oh, that’s right ... I was the only one at City Opera who could sing the role. Sooo ...

Back to the piano ... I plucked the E above middle C, but couldn’t phonate ... I ended up able to get a tone marginally focused, a bit thready, on middle C. Beverly Johnson, some years before, had given me a great exercise, which was a variation of one of my own ... but, better, so I always used the beginning of mine and segued into hers; my “ming ming ming me” a e oo e a e aw e a e oo e a e aw with a descending five note scale (ending on F). It is started very high and forward in the honk, arch of the tongue very high, narrow mouth, narrow tone. With the exception of the m’s in the ming’s ... the spinning tone is piano and seamlessly legato... waaay ooover there! A shot of breath pressure from the Bellybutton to start it and the continuous feeding of that tone, with the BB and the raising of the chest, to the lifting of the final F .... is what makes it work.

I did one ... and would stop for about thirty/forty seconds, then repeat for three of for times. Then take five ... and start all over again. That took about a hour and a half ... always gentle, always gentle.
THE NORMAL REACTIONS FROM MOST SINGERS IS TO A. CANCEL B. CALL THE COMPANY TO ALERT YOUR COVER, ASSUMING THERE IS ONE OR C. TRY TO FORCE IT, MAKE IT WORK, ONE NIGHT I HEARD MICHAEL MOLESE TRY TO HOLLER HIS WAY INTO HIS VOICE, FOR ABOUT AN HOUR BEFORE A LUCIA, AT WOLF TRAP. HE BARELY MADE IT THROUGH A POORLY SUNG FIRST ACT. NOTE: IF IT AIN’T GONNA WORK ... DON’T, OH PLEASE DON’T TRY USING A BIGGER HAMMER.

When I had first tried to sing, that afternoon, with no expectation the voice would not respond properly, I wasn’t able to sustain an E ... but, by curtain time, I had my full range back. Where normally, in good or great “technique,” I would be able to add a bit more drama (thunder), in a phrase. This night was the exception ... I never went past 90/95 percent on any high note. Not knowing why my cords were swollen made me sing the most technically perfect Rigoletto, of my career.

After the performance, Werner and Louise were first at my dressing room door and subsequently wouldn’t let us go until around three in the morning. He had never seen an opera where he forgot who the people were, singing the performance, and was swept away by the event. He never closed them, that night ... The same thing happened to my buddy Jack Klugman ... but, that’s another story. If you are a bit curious about why all the fuss ... you might go to my Audio/Visual page and see the six excerpts from a Rigoletto dress rehearsal, with Opera Quebec. It’s a bit dark, in some scenes, as it was not lighted for TV ... but, most feel it is well worth the journey ... and the sound is really good!