Sometimes dreams do come true.
The lore and legend of opera thrives on the fact that every once in a dozen blue moons a star can be born, rising from nowhere. There are stories about the prima donna who, in a fit of temperament refuses to sing, only to be replaced by the shy young understudy who rockets to stardom. I attended a performance of Simone Boccanegra at the Metropolitan Opera where the soprano, whose name I now forget, but of star quality, was ill, only to be replaced by Aprile Millo, who blew away the critics with her exquisite performance of Amelia. My mother still tells the story of the evening she finally made it to the Met to see her favorite Robert Merrill only to discover he was being replaced by a young baritone no one had heard of, Sherrill Milnes. Such a moment occurred a few weeks ago when a very shy, insecure Welsh tenor appeared out of nowhere and has set the opera world, and perhaps the pop music world on fire.…
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