One Opera Two Languages

When I was working in Luzern, Switzerland, we had presented a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor.  The beauty of the theater in Luzern was that as a rule we performed everything in the original language. Therefore, we performed the Lucia in Italian.

A month or so after the premiere, I received an emergency phone call from the theater in Pforzheim, Germany.  Their baritone was ill and they needed me to ‘jump in’ to their production of Lucia that very evening.  

It was 1pm in the afternoon and I immediately packed an overnight bag, my music, and hurried to the train station.  It was about a three hour trip to Pforzheim.  

I arrived there are 5:30 and the conductor picked me up from the train station.  

This was my second year in Europe so my German was advanced and that is what we spoke was he drove me to the theater for the rehearsal.  

We entered a practice room and he started playing the introduction to my music.   I began singing (in Italian) and he abruptly stopped with a shocked look on his face.  

He said, ‘Du singst auf Italienisch!!!” (you sing in Italian!!!)

I said yes, that in Luzern we sing everything in original language. 
He said, ‘aber unsere ist auf Deutsch!!!”  (but ours is in German!).   

Well, there was no time to find another baritone, so I sang in Italian and all the others in German.   It did work and the audience didn’t seem to mind!!!! 

A month later Pforzheim had the same emergency, and I was called in again, so I must have done alright!