Well put, Azizi. But sometimes it's the method of recuperation that the artist chooses that can turn into a problem.

While watching "Classic Arts Showcase" on the tube a few weeks back I saw a short documentary on the great Swedish tenor, Jussi Björling. Björling's voice was like burnished silver and his musicianship was second to none. He sang at the Met a lot and was considered to be one of the few world-class tenors who was not Italian (things have changed a bit since then). His only flaw in opera was that, as rich and beautiful as his voice was, he couldn't act worth sour owl jowls. He was sometimes referred to as "the Swedisn choirboy" because he was so wooden on stage. But his recordings are marvelous. All that emotional expression goes into his voice! It's all there.

In the documentary, his widow, Anna-Lisa Björling, told how he agonized before going on stage, feeling (even after a substantial career of bravura performances) that he just wasn't good enough to be doing what he was doing and fearing that he would disappoint his audience. He found that the reception line after a performance, where people would line up to shake his hand and tell him how much they loved his singing, didn't help. It was actually torture to him because he just wanted to get out of there and get a drink. He was sober when he went on stage, but he would really pour it down afterward. His drinking really bothered his friends and relatives, but there it was.

He died young, merely 49. Heart attack before a performance at London's Covent Garden. He went on in spite of it and performed. He died about six months later of heart complications. His drinking hadn't helped his heart much.

Don Firth