In Denver's Bonfils Memorial Theater one morning last week, 19 young men and women nervously shuffled their feet and cleared their throats. A piano plunked to the final inquiries of a piano tuner. Solicitous friends and parents were hustled off to a far part of the theater, and the Metropolitan Opera's brisk, soft-spoken John Gutman turned reassuringly to the tense group. "Please be easy," Gutman said. "Be a bit nervous if you like you are supposed to be. You've probably heard of one of our singers, Miss Pons, who is sick all day before a performance. But I'm not suggesting you...
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