Long before the Alma Theater in Cleveland Heights' Cain Park was restored, I was asked to stage Klaus Roy's little chamber opera therein. This was actually the first full staging of the piece, though the amazing Sara Caldwell had done a television version for PBS in which hands were the only visual to a lush sounding voice over. Amphimusic had very little money, of course, so I ended up singing the basso role myself. This was a delightful role (the title role) and well within my range. A few years later, Klaus called me to ask if I would perform a role which he had written with me in mind in his Zoopera, The Enchanted Garden. His exact words to me were: "I need a basso non-profundo who can act." I thus became the only living person to have performed the entire canon of Roy's distinctive and brilliant operas.

During the audition process, I realized that opera singers are not like you and me. A parade of sopranos came through showing off their spectacularly beautiful tones and carefully guarded sounds, none of which were right for the harridan wife in this delightful little piece. More than once, when I asked for an ugly sound in a certain passage, I was greeted by a stiffening of the spine, a bristling of the air, and the retort, "I am an opera singer." Fine. I learned that I didn't want singers: this was not after all a concert; I wanted opera actors. Don't get me wrong. I believe strongly that one must hit every note, and serve the score in a technical way, or you may as well be howling at the moon. But, and it's a big but, if all a singer brings to the table is a preconceived set of sounds, then the piece will not be served. One can make lots of different kinds of sounds--call them colors--without damaging the instrument. A truly fine violinist can make all manner of sounds emanate from a Stradavarius. Realizing that not everyone has a Strad voice, or even an Amati, the search for someone with a good instrument is necessary. But if they can't play the thing, what good is it?

Lucky for me, I found an extraordinarily talented soprano called Susan Cady who not only did whatever I asked, she understood instinctively what I was asking for. She went on to solo with the Cleveland Orchestra, and many other very fine musical organizations, and is now working on her own independent recordings of her own compositions. Alas, the "establishment" has decided what a "good" singer sounds like, so there are very few interesting operas out there in the USA. Too many singers imitating singers, and not enough imitating life...