Audition Hell

For those of you who read this who are not involved directly in opera, you might as well know that auditions are hellish for everyone concerned. After eight hours, opera singing begins to sound like yelling and even the most delicate aria can sound like an irate parent screaming at a toddler. And people wonder that I don't go to the opera after a day of auditions.

For the singers, it is probably even worse. They spend hard earned dollars on these ten minute opportunities which are very much subject to late plane arrivals, scary cab rides, bad audition accompanists, and assorted sniffles and upset stomachs.