There's a reason why opera singers do not perform day-to-day as with Broadway. Going from elation and falling madly in love and trying to embody that - then moving to jealousy and rage and extreme sadness in the course of two hours - really does a number! If you hit the mind hard, it will hit your body. Not with my voice, but worn out mentally and physically. When we did the piano/tech rehearsal, we hadn't gone straight through the show in a big way yet. 'I always miss Bohème,' said Michael, 'because it's the realization of human emotion. A succession of performances requires much more than muscle memory. During our recent conversation, we talked about the discipline involved for the tenor who has Rodolfo on his performance calendar. We connected in our mutual admiration of tenor Franco Corelli. My first interview with the dynamic young star occurred during his engagement with Seattle Opera for the 2013 production of La Bohème. Earlier this year, Michael received both the Beverly Sills Award and Richard Tucker Award.

He returned to the City in May 2013 to sing Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte and Missa Solemnis with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony. Michael seized our attention with his opening aria, Di pescatore ignobile.

The recently released DVD of that production captures Michael's vocal dexterity and brawn in handling composer Gaetano Donizetti. Superstar soprano Renée Fleming sang the title role. Michael appeared as Gennaro in SFOpera's 2011 production of John Pascoe's Lucrezia Borgia.

San francisco opera la boheme