JOHN RELYEA WAS ANXIOUSLY PREPARING for his Metropolitan Opera debut as Alidoro in La Cenerentola when he happened to run into the legendary bass Sam Ramey. “Are you going to sing that impossible aria?” Ramey asked. Now, more than twenty years later, Relyea tells me from a London apartment, “That’s not what I wanted to hear!” After letting out a raucous and wonderfully resonant laugh, John collects himself enough to explain, “If Ramey’s telling me it’s ‘impossible,’ then I’m in big trouble!” Relyea, now at 50, is “focused on longevity.” In the realm of classical singing, the concept of longevity can be a loaded term. Perhaps he means vocal longevity, I thought. Many singers meticulously plan their vocal development as to not wade into roles that are “too heavy” too soon. But John isn’t worried about his voice. “I’m talking about my career.”
John’s now-thirty-year career has featured over two hundred and fifty performances at the Metropolitan Opera alone and regular appearances at virtually every major opera house in the world from Paris, to Chicago, to Vienna, to La Scala, and back again. The winner of the 2003 Richard Tucker Award, John
