Why did you end official performances?

Perhaps I’m just an “average guy”, and, like others, want to relax and enjoy my pension and the few pennies I’ve saved.

But also: a singer who doesn’t stop in time often has a tragic side. In my case, the voice was in good enough shape (and maybe still is?), but, after 40 years of working intensely and responsibly, I wanted to enjoy my profession from a more distant corner…

Did stopping solo performing give symptoms of withdrawal?

No. It happened gradually. I still had recording projects which had to be completed. I immediately began singing in my favorite choir, which performs a Bach cantata every month. And, I still sing with and for my students.

Also, the glamour – the spotlights, and the attention – are not indispensable for me. I always saw them as a necessary part of the profession that ends when the work is done.

What is your feeling about the fact that a book has been written about you?

I saw it as a necessary and useful element of my profession, something which could help my earning potential, and the promotion of my career. Any other motive to attract attention to myself is foreign to me.

Tell us something about getting older.

I can highly recommend it! But only so long as you remain fit. And to that, we can all contribute more than we think. Under those conditions, every new decade is a joy, because you realize that you have, in those past ten years, again discarded some unimportant things, but added some useful items to your repertoire of wisdom.

What are your current ambitions?

It is only a short while ago that I began my retirement. That requires some getting used to…

With the internet, I hope to maintain and expand my international contacts.

I would also like to improve my knowledge of Italian. For singing, of course, I knew enough, but I’ve never acquired a level high enough for a real conversation.

Naturally, I’m still engaged in occasional professional activities. The annual summer courses continue, as usual. On a small scale, I also continue to give private singing lessons. And I wouldn’t miss being on juries for competitions and exams, however fatiguing that can be.

By practicing the art of living , I hope to maintain my spiritual and physical health.

Yes… “how does one do that?”

A good question. Everyone strives for a “good life”, but how often do we succeed? And what is it?

Perhaps this: finding a balance. Balance between activity and relaxation, between enjoyment and austerity, between the natural and the artificial, between joking and being earnest, between giving and receiving.