# When You See A Chance, Take It... - Site: Analog Industries - Author: Chris Randall - Date: 2012-08-17 - URL: https://analogindustries.com/2012/08/when-you-see-a-chance-take-it/ There was some discussion about the "right place, right time" aspect of my mission statement in the previous post, so I just wanted to put up an example of what I meant. This is fairly old news; I'm not breaking some big scoop or anything, and this particular performance has been covered six ways to Sunday in the various media that cover opera, but it's a perfect example to illustrate my point. Some back-story... The opera in question is Offenbach's _The Tales Of Hoffmann_. This particular opera contains an aria, "The Doll Song," with vocal calisthenics that make it considered by some (many? All?) to be one of the most difficult pieces of singing anyone can take on. During the Metropolitan Opera's 2009 season, the part of Olympia (and thus "The Doll Song") was played by consumate professional Kathleen Kim. She could sing this aria night after night, twice on Saturday, note perfect every time. The woman is incredibly skilled, and there's no denying it. But right before Christmas in 2009, she got sick, and with 3 hours (!!!) notice, her understudy, Rachele Gilmore, had to take on one of the hardest coloratura parts in opera, on one of that art form's most respected stages. So, the young Ms. Gilmore, seeing the chance to hit one out of the park, decided to use that opportunity to do what you see in the video above. Note the reactions of the other actors when she hits an Ab above high C towards the end. This is generally recognized to be the highest note ever sung at the Met. You can clearly hear the audience's reaction when she hits the first G above high C about mid-way through. (For extra credit, [here's](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkpsbp0Is2Y&feature=player_embedded) a little spectrograph of the pertinent section, with audio. The crazy part is that she's within a couple hertz of spot-on pitch too.) Now, whether opera is your cup of tea or not, the skill involved in pulling that off, the risk at even attempting it, and doing it in front of one of the most critical audiences in existence, in effect risking your career, is absolutely unquestionable. If she had phoned it in, nobody would have thought less of her for it. But this is what I mean when I say that being in the right place at the right time is nice at all, but you also have to be able to put your money where your mouth is. ## Comments (11) **MikeF** (2012-08-18): Cool. Love this comment on You Tube: "That loud popping noise you hear at 6:02 is a lightbulb bursting backstage. I shit you not. She made a bloody lightbulb burst with her voice. Stagehands told us later no one had touched the light that broke, it was her voice." **bassling** (2012-08-18): I heard something. Thought it might've been one of my cherries popping. **Chris Randall** (2012-08-18): My favorite moment is at 3:52. If you watch one of Ms. Kim's versions, or follow the score, you'll hear/see that scale go up and down twice. She does the first one up and down as per the normal way to do it, and then the second one, she just keeps going up and finishes 2 octaves above the starting point. This is the first time in the performance the audience (and the actors on stage) start to realize she's gonna go for broke, as it's the first spot she really departs from Ms. Kim's normal take on the part. I don't buy the lightbulb story, personally. -CR **TZ** (2012-08-18): I thought the noise backstage was a sick person yelling "that bitch!" **Mike** (2012-08-18): I don't have much to add to this. But blow me, that was staggering. **33degrees** (2012-08-18): There's something about this story that totally chokes me up. Inspiring. **bongo_x** (2012-08-18): There's something about this video that totally stimulates me. Arousing. bb **mad ep** (2012-08-19): This is what I miss... Many musicians got their break from "filling in" and being at the right place at the right time. What made these people special is that they also had something special to say when they had their moment. Leonard Bernstein's big moment came when he was asked to fill in for Bruno Walter at a moment's notice (just a few hours) and did so by knocking it out of the park. **Chris Randall** (2012-08-19): The crazy thing is that there are maybe five people on Earth at any one time that can pull this aria off with the skill necessary to perform it at that level. I mean, obviously she could do it, or she wouldn't have been the understudy, but this is the opera fan equivalent of finding an ARP 2600 at a yard sale for $25. -CR **pierlu** (2012-08-19): stunning. just one question, when hittn the high Ab at the end, was she following the score or did she go for it? **pierlu** (2012-08-19): as for being in the right place at the right time, well... From my experience I understand that the most important part is to be at the right time at any place, good or bad. it's the timing that makes anything worthwhile. When the timing is right, the place does not matter, something good will come. The right place part kicks in when you add the guts to the right moment... If the timing is right and you put also something into it, it will be canonical "right time, right place". If you just live the moment, without risking something, it will be the "right time, wrong place". But nonetheless, if the time is right, good things will come nonetheless. 2 cents