>From "The Australian":

   It was the three tenors with a twist.

   Opera Australia premiered Der Freischutz in Sydney on Saturday night
   with three tenors playing the lead role of Max - one silently acting
   on stage, another singing from the orchestra pit and a third speaking
   the character's dialogue from the wings.

   The opening night of the German opera, which has not been performed
   in Australia since 1896, had all the trappings of an operatic drama
   itself when lead tenor Keith Lewis fell ill with swollen vocal cords
   early Saturday morning.

   Unfortunately Lewis's understudy, Stuart Skelton, was in Broome,
   Western Australia, performing at a concert and could not return in
   time for the Der Freischutz premiere at the Sydney Opera House.

   Then tenor number two, Jamie Allen, was called in to sing as Max,
   the main character in the dramatic depiction of good versus evil in
   17th century Bohemia.  But having never before read the opera's score,
   Allen could handle only the singing so enter, stage left, third tenor
   Christopher Dawes.

   Dawes, a fluent German speaker, already had been cast as the evil
   spirit Samiel but was posted to the wings, where he read Max's speaking
   parts while Lewis voicelessly acted the part on stage.

   Lewis, recovering yesterday at his Sydney home, expects to be well
   enough for the next performance on Wednesday night, when Skelton will
   also be back.  Allen was still reeling from the bizarre sequence of
   events that found him singing an opera without knowing any of the
   music before that night.

   "It was an extraordinary day," said the tenor, who sang the opera
   standing next to the conductor.  "It was a form of calculated
   madness...but all three of us were on stage for the curtain call.
   The audience gave us a huge cheer."

   OA chief Adrian Collette explained the company's day of dramas to
   the opening night crowd before declaring: "The show must go on."'

Richard Pennycuick
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