We had taken the opportunity of Carreras and Pavarotti singing alternately Stiffelio and Chenier in Vienna (which brought us to sleeping almost every night for more than a week in front of the opera house to get the standing room tickets). Originally, we only planned to go to the first two Stiffelio performances because me and my sister had urgent other obligations at home, and the performances between the second and the last Stiffelio were not worthwhile to be seen. After the second Stiffelio we returned therefore to the station to go home by train, both with sad hearts and having the feeling that we could never miss as much at home as in Vienna. This however was kept to ourselves. Neither of us dared to propose to the other to get out of the train, thinking that this would just be a too silly thing to do...

Shortly before the train started I asked timidly, "Stiffelio - I think, would it not be good to stay?" "I hoped you would ask that" said my sister, and we jumped out of the train!.. The next day, after having seen a terribly bad Manon we decided that the performances that were still to come before the third Stiffelio would just be too bad and that it would be better to go home and not to be so silly as to wait three more days without doing anything in Vienna, just to see the last Stiffelio. Again we entered the train - and this time reached the frontier station to Czechoslovakia - before jumping out of the train and going back to Vienna.

Believe me, the third Stiffelio too was a gorgeous performance and we are still happy that we made the wise decision to be rather silly than miss one of the Stiffelio's with Carreras.... I still remember it, but I can not remember what we have missed at home.