Another paces backstage just before he’s about to go on, repeating the mantra “I’m a tiger, I’m a tiger” quietly under his breath. One singer candidly talks about his intention to take three sleeping pills to get a decent night’s rest before the performance. The intimacy of Froemke’s cinema verite style reveals something of the intense pressures facing the auditionees. Over the course of 90 minutes, we watch the finalists as they select concert repertoire work intensively with singing, breathing and acting coaches rehearse with the orchestra try on costumes and finally stride onto the Met stage to perform. The documentary covers the climactic final phase of one the world’s most prestigious competitions for up-and-coming opera stars. “The film is really about whether these young singers have what it takes to transcend their fears, walk on stage and face their futures,” Froemke says. Shot by filmmaker Susan Froemke (the director of Emmy Award-winning documentaries about pianist Vladimir Horowitz and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, among other projects), “The Audition” follows 11 opera singers from ages 20 to 30 as they prepare for the 2007 finals of the Met’s National Council Auditions over a tension-packed 10 days in New York. A new, feature-length documentary produced by the Metropolitan Opera, “The Audition,” which debuts today in conjunction with the Met’s HD screening series, provides a rare insight into the enormous challenges facing up-and-coming singers as they attempt to launch their careers in a cutthroat profession. One aspect of backstage drama that few people outside the opera world know anything about, however, is the high-stakes journey undertaken by aspiring singers as they reach for stardom.

The salons of Europe doubtless gossiped for months after Hans von Bulow’s wife, Cosima, left the celebrated German conductor and pianist for the even more celebrated operatic auteur Wagner. Luciano Pavarotti earned the nickname “The King of Cancellations” for his habit of frequently backing out of performances, which strained his relationships with some opera houses. Maria Callas’ diva-like antics have become legendary. Just like the stories it seeks to tell through histrionic plots, spectacular settings and virtuosic vocal lines, the world of opera is full of behind-the-scenes drama.

Lyric opera house pictures