The moral of the story...always be ready!

Canadian tenor Ben Heppner, who just taught a fabulous master class at the University of Toronto Opera School last week, was in the NY Times:

Opera Houses Play a Game of Tenor Round Robin

By DANIEL J. WAKIN

The San Diego Opera and Metropolitan Opera are playing a fine game of tenor round robin, as in Heppner to Lehman to Morris.

The Met said on Friday that Jay Hunter Morris would replace Gary Lehman in the role of Siegfried for the Jan. 27, Feb. 7 and Feb. 11 performances of the company’s new production of “Gotterdammerung,” the final installment of Wagner’s “Ring.” Mr. Lehman, who is suffering from a lingering virus, was himself a replacement for Ben Heppner, who early this year said he had decided not to sing the role. (Mr. Morris is already on the scene at the Met, filling in for Mr. Lehman in the title role of the Met’s new production of “Siegfried,” part 3 of the “Ring,” which had its premiere on Thursday night.)

Now follow: Mr. Morris had been engaged for a San Diego production in February of “Moby-Dick” by Jake Heggie, which had its premiere at the Dallas Opera last year. He was cast in the role of Ahab. San Diego agreed to release him for the Met performances. So it needed a new Ahab to pursue the leviathan. The substitute? Mr. Heppner, who originated the Ahab role.