Yes, this is a challenge

In a few hours, Lord willing, I will have completed one of my most difficult 48 hour stretches as a performer. We had a performance of the double-bill here in Toronto on Friday evening and will now have an early Sunday afternoon matinee. This means that I will have sung 4 operas (2 operas---twice each) in less than 45 hours. I have always trained and lived my career much as an athlete. There are great similarities between being a professional singers and athletes. However, this weekend I feel like the career is more along the lines of competing in a decathlon---and then turning around after the final event and running a marathon. I always enjoy challenges but this one sort of “takes the cake”. Let’s hope it can also “take the gold”.I have been enjoying this run of “A Florentine Tragedy”/“Gianni Schicchi” so much. There are nights, in the middle of the Zemlinsky piece, where I all of a sudden have the panicked thought running through my head, “My goodness, I still have another opera to sing tonight”. But all in all, it’s gone VERY well. I look forward to today’s challenge and the final performances which won’t be until Friday. What in the world will it feel like to sing a performance fully rested?