What impact does appearing on stage in operas with such famous artists have on a young singer?
MD: It is an invaluable experience. For me, it provided the lessons in life that rather immature young man needed to learn. Wm: What lessons in life did you learn as an Adler Fellow? MD: I remember the San Francisco Opera’s 1987 season production of Rossini’s “Barber of Seville”. I was performing the role of Fiorello and covering Leo Nucci’s Figaro. It was an incredible cast. Besides Nucci, Renato Capecchi was the Doctor Bartolo and Nicolai Ghiaurov was the Don Basilio. The conductor was Alberto Zedda, who put together the critical edition of “Barber of Seville”. The stage director was Giuseppe de Tomasi, whom everyone lovingly called Beppe. It was a wild experience to spend time with these artists. I remember not being where I was supposed to be during the rehearsal period. Tomasi called for me and I wasn’t around. Sarah Billinghurst, who was then San Francisco Opera’s Artistic Administrator sat me down and said “Mark, you are so very unreliable.” That information had to sit in my min
