The vagaries of principal singers have engraved two other performances on my memory. For "Il Trovatore" the very high tenor aria in Act III - "Di quella pira" - was often shortened to one verse and also transposed down a tone or semi-tone, so often that we only had the lower version in the Goodwin and Tabb parts we were using at the time. Walter Midgley wanted to sing it at the original pitch and include the second verse. There was not much time and I ended up brewing black coffee and sitting up most of the night working on it. Next day the Press Officer, Michael Wood asked me why I looked so bleary-eyed; when I told him he thought it was worth giving to the Press and the "Star" paragraph began: "The fact that Walter Midgley has a fine, strong voice and knows it has occasioned a great deal of hard work for Mr. Temple Savage... amending the score. He has had to write out 150 pages of manuscript." Walter Midgley was very upset, he said it made him appear very inconsiderate, keeping me up all night - I think he even threatened not to sing at all, which would hardly have helped. He need not have worried, it was all in the day's work for me; but when I made new parts I took care to ensure that all three possible versions were included. << less