Santa Fe Opera, 2010

Having just arrived a few days ago here in Santa Fe for their 2010 summer season; I am reminded of the last time that I was here…three summers ago.  At that time, I was singing the same production of The Magic Flute that I am now covering for this summer.  Opera company production scheduling can be a nightmare, and when Santa Fe asked me a few years ago to sing “The Four Servants” in their new Tales of Hoffmann production, it was clear that there would be precious little time to rehearse or perform any other of the early operas being presented–The Magic Flute being one of them.  Therefore, it was a wise decision on the part of management to have me ‘cover’ the same role which I had performed three summers back–just in case they need me at the last second!  That much I do have time for.  The question we are often asked is “Why aren’t you singing it again; others are?”.  The above helps to explain at least some of those reasons.  It also has to do with the amount of time we are allowed to rehearse daily, especially if we have an evening performance.  So in this case, it simply was not feasible to actually sing in both productions.  The return singers to this cast are not involved with The Tales of Hoffmann, which we will begin to rehearse later in this third week of June.
While I am always eager to be on stage as often as possible, it is also a thrill for me at this point in my career to watch some of the new young talent hone their skills as they prepare for hopefully long and fruitful careers.  It was my pleasure to meet Tim Oliver, a fine young man who will be singing the role of Monostatos in this summer’s remount of The Magic Flute as staged by Tim Albery.  I will post more about The Tales of Hoffman, the cast, and director Chris Alden as we move forward with the summer.  As ever, Santa Fe is beautiful this time of year; and it is always a pleasure to rehearse outdoors in the fresh air!!!!
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