Overnight Audition

Luzern, Switzerland, November 1986

When I went to Europe for auditions for the first time I spoke no German, Italian or French. 

I spoke English and Spanish.  English and Spanish don’t help you much when you are basically in the major Germanic countries. 

I went to Vienna and sang for the assistant to Ioan Holender, and he sent me to the Vienna Volksoper and the theater in Luzern, Switzerland. 

I received an offer from the Volksoper, but the assistant, Herr Seitter, wanted me to sing in Luzern before I made any decision on accepting contracts. 

I traveled to Luzern for the audition and as I had almost no money for lodging (or the whole trip for that matter), I was looking for a very cheap hotel.

As it turned out there was a large event taking place in Luzern and no cheap hotels were available. I back-tracked to Zurich, and also, nothing cheap (well, Switzerland has never been cheap, anyway). 

As I was desperate to do anything rather than sit in a cold train station all night, I jumped on a train from Zurich to Milan.
I arrived in Milan around 1am, luckily sleeping on the train. 
I then had to wait four hours before returning to Zurich, so I walked around Milan until my train left. 

Once in Zurich (I wasn’t able to sleep much on this train), I doubled back to Luzern for the audition.   I had to wash on the train, cold shave, change clothes, and warm up, all in the small bathroom! I was tired arriving in Luzern and concerned I wouldn’t have a strong voice. 

When singers do a general audition they usually sing two arias, one other their choice then the theater management chooses the other.  

I sang Ford’s Monologue from Falstaff first, then they asked me if I would sing a German aria. Just as I was about to sing an aria from Tannhaeuser they also asked if I knew any other Verdi aria, and I did have “pari siamo’ from Rigoletto.  After the Tannhaeuser they also asked if I had the Count’s aria from Le Nozze di Figaro.  I had sung the aria, but not for over a year.  As I walked off stage they told me to take ten minutes to refresh my memory then sing the last two arias.   Well, I was in a bit of a panic but was able to put everything together.   So, in this audition I sang four arias.  Some how my voice was in great shape and I sailed through the audition.

I was asked after the audition to come to the office and speak with Herr Statkus and Marcello Viotti, who was coming in as the new General Music Director. They offered me a two year contract, in which I would sing Rigoletto and the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro, among other operas. 

So began my European career with a wonderful two year stay in Luzern, Switzerland.