Gordon Gietz gravitates toward high-flying tenor roles--literally, in the case of Camille Raquin, the cuckolded husband and, later, vengeful ghost of Tobias Picker's Therese Raquin. (Sound Bites).

Gordon Gietz gravitates toward high-flying tenor roles--literally, in the case of Camille Raquin, the cuckolded husband and, later, vengeful ghost of Tobias Picker's Therese Raquin. For the world premiere in Dallas (in 2001), Gietz soared high above the stage, suspended by wires, in a long, climactic sequence. "Every time," he says, "there was a moment of terror, but after that, there was such a sense of freedom. I'm hardly Cirque du Soleil material, but it felt great." Gietz returns to the role of Camille for Therese's West Coast premiere, in San Diego next month (March 22-30).

Camille, a whining invalid, "is inert, he is nothing, he is a zero, a cipher, his whole life is a nothing. Only in death does he find his power," says Gietz. "Some of the music Tobias had written for me was so vivant. He said, `You need to be more sickly.' I said, `Honestly, I'm not sure I can [do that and] sing this 6/8 passage at top speed and then run up these stairs. Maybe you should put me in a wheelchair.'"

Perhaps to offset his boyish looks and minty-fresh sound, Gietz brings a hint of wildness and danger even to such standard-rep parts as ...