SOUND BITES: Michael Schade.(Brief Article)(Interview)

"There's no danger of someone making a pop idol out of me," quips lyric tenor Michael Schade, comparing himself to a certain Italian singing sensation. But Schade does wonder why the once-lauded "Mozart tenor" seems to be getting short shrift these days. "I love to surprise people with the lyricism of Mozart," he says. "It's not as flashy as Verdi, but you can stop an audience cold with a well sung `Dalla sua pace.'"

That's pretty much what Schade, thirty-five, has been doing with consistent style and grace since making his opera debut as Jacquino in Fidelio thirteen years ago at Pacific Opera Victoria. He first came to international prominence in 1992, when he stepped in at the last minute to replace Ramon Vargas as Almaviva in II Barbiere di Siviglia at the Vienna Staatsoper. He excels at Belmonte in Seraglio, Ottavio in Don Giovanni and Ferrando in Cosi. But it is with Tamino in Die Zauberflote that he is most closely identified. The part sits well in his voice, which is sweet and elegant but laced with a heroic ping. "I've done Tamino over 145 times," he says. "Ten new productions and more than seventeen total. And guess what -- I'm not sick of it at all!" That's good news for Flute fans, since Schade returns as ...