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U III c tit en eni i III x o III t c GI In n the opera hall hail this trucker delivers TR Reid The Washington Post Interstate 95 as usual was one long traffic jam Carl CarlT T Tanner er as usual was singing to pass the time up in the fit cab of his J 16 6 As the trucker inched forward on an exit ramp south of Washington he launched into the Puccini aria E luce- luce van le Ie stelle In the next lane a woman in a convertible called up to him Is that you or is that the radio me lady Tanner replied Well then youve you've missed your calling the woman declared You should be bes s singing nging for a living not diving dri dri- ving That proved to be a comment comment comment com com- ment with fateful consequences consequences consequences conse conse- sparking Tanners Tanner's transformation from trucker to tenor with a stellar career and now a date with the Metropolitan Opera But for Carl Tanner the suggestion was hardly novel Ever since his junior year at Washington-Lee Washington High School when School when he used to sing the national anthem before football games and then trot out to play center for the people Generals had be been I- I t t. telling th the Arlington a Va native that his his fort HeT ev even e i d degree in li But that didn't produce any gainful employ employ- ment So Tanner enrolled in the Northern Virginia Trucking Academy and spent the better better better bet bet- ter part of the driving big rigs To pick up extra money on the side he moonlighted moonlighted moonlighted moon moon- lighted as a bounty hunter for Arlington area bail bondsmen I was carrying a Beretta with the extended clip the one that holds 23 bullets Tanner recalls Ridiculous weapon You gotta be a pretty bad shot to fire at some guy 23 times and not hit him All An ll of this seems immensely far removed from the glamorous world of today's Carl Tanner an operatic operatic operatic oper oper- tenor of international stature whose huge but bright voice has been heard from Covent Garden to La LaScala LaScala Scala Seal a from New York to Berlin to Naples to Washington This summer the year 43 old Virginian is performing a juicy tenor rol role playing Calaf Calafat at the Santa Fe Operas Opera's production of Puccini's In 2007 he will get a starring role at New NewYork's NewYork's NewYork's Yorks York's Metropolitan Opera His operatic schedule is so full that he expects to make between 1 million and 2 million annually for the next five years But in many ways the tenor is still a trucker at heart He looks and talks like the central casting version of ofa a burly truck driver right down to the 2 carat 4 diamond diamond diamond dia dia- dia- dia mond ring set in a big block of platinum on his finger And he is clearly astonished at what has happened to him himin himin himin in the decade since he took the advice of that woman on 1 I Im in the 7 Eleven on Lee Highway one day Im I'm a and some kid comes up to tome tome tome me and says Arent you Carl Tanner I mean it blew me away And last year Im I'm in Vegas Im I'm in a ashow ashow ashow show and all of a sudden I Opera Cont on Page 10 h hear hearne ear Opera w Way Wayne a y n ne c e Cont Cant from Page 7 I I mean Its It's Wayne Newton saying Newton saying Ladies and gentlemen gentlemen gentlemen gen gen- we have one of the great American tenors in our audience tonight That switch proved essential to Tanners Tanner's singing career but it took nearly a decade after leaving Shenandoah to have any singing career at all He spent those years driving trucks by day and chasing skippers bail-skippers by night singing only in the shower or in the cab of his rig In one sense that decade was a detour from his operatic destiny It definitely slowed everything down Tanner says While my contemporaries contemporaries contemporaries contempo contempo- were going around to the small opera companies landing roles getting experience I was driving driving driving dri dri- dri- dri ving a truck But in the highly competitive world of contemporary opera where a stirring voice is hardly enough to distinguish one ambitious tenor from a dozen others Tanners Tanner's tough-guy tough background has turned out to be a spectacular marketing marketing marketing mar mar- device The turned trucker-turned- tenor who spins out lively stories from his former life with practiced flair is fully aware of the competitive tive advantage his unusual career path provides Im a huge name in opera right now Tanner says in a of matter-of-fact way There are a lot of other guys out there a lot of good singers but they weren't truck drivers They weren't bounty hunters who had some juvenile on the lain lam fire 17 shots at them They dont don't have a astory astory astory story to tell and I do One of his first breaks came from the Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia which signed Tanner in 1994 to sing the title role in a rarely performed Puccini opera Edgar I was from Northern Virginia and they gave me one of my first leads Tanner recalls gratefully And those Puccini heroes are perfect perfect perfect per per- for my voice In 20 months he is due to perform the lead in Mascagni's at the Metropolitan Opera in New York The tenor relishes relishes relishes rel rel- rel- rel the opportunity but wonders why it took so long The Met is the crown jewel for American singers and Im I'm an American he notes A decent American tenor even one who started started started start start- ed late like me shouldn't have to wait until hes he's 44 to debut at the Met The Metropolitan Opera should be developing American singers looking for them Tanner continues But in my case they waited until I Iwas Iwas Iwas was famous to give me my first chance Its It's an American house but they keep giving the big contracts to these Europeans In addition to the Met Tanner hopes to sing more roles for director Placido Domingo in Washington and he has a busy schedule of roles around the world through 2010 or so He is also trying to put together financing for a CD of Christmas songs centering on his signature version of O O 0 Holy Night In short Arlington's Carl Tanner is looking at a glittering future in the world of opera But if things go wrong he says he wont won't be destitute destitute destitute desti desti- tute I still know how to drive a truck |
