In Mozart’s comic opera “The Marriage of Figaro,” the title character and his betrothed, Susanna, go to great lengths to remove obstacles to their love. By contrast, when bass-baritone Matthew Burns and soprano Anne-Carolyn Bird first played those roles together – five years ago in Grand Rapids, Mich. – they spent the entire rehearsal and performance period trying to avoid romance.
But our little story is getting ahead of itself.
Even before that “Marriage” – which they are performing in together for the first time since Grand Rapids, in a Virginia Opera production opening tonight – there was a Facebook peek and a street encounter.
During a rehearsal break last month, the two recounted the path of their relationship.
It was Bird’s first time performing the role of Susanna. “I was scared out of my mind,” she said, eyes wide. “This role is huge and terrifying. And it was my first professional principal role.”
Before rehearsals, she had reached out to leading cast members via Facebook, asking if they would get together with her to sing through the opera.
On Facebook, she looked at Burns’ profile portrait. “I noticed how good looking he was,” she said. She told herself, “Well, it won’t be bad to have that guy as my boyfriend for a few weeks.”
He had studied her picture, too, and based on that snapshot he recognized her in midtown Manhattan, six blocks from Lincoln Center. She was walking to Metropolitan Opera, where she’s been cast a lot.
“Anne!” She turned around, stared at Burns. “Anne-Carolyn,” she said, correcting him. Her Southern-born mother had named her that, and she didn’t like it shortened. “I’m going to be your Figaro,” Burns said. Hearing that, her demeanor warmed.
Soon after, they met again for the sing-through. Bird was sharply focused. The possibility of new romance was far from her mind.
Besides, Burns had a girlfriend, and Bird was dating someone.
Once in Grand Rapids, in early 2008, they noticed how comfortable they were together – not just singing but also touching.
In that production’s opening scene, Figaro and Susanna, servants to a count and countess, are stealing a private moment in a parlor. Seeing how at ease they were physically, the director called for lots of kissing.
At one point, the director said the actors weren’t sufficiently sizzling from the start of that scene. He suggested they kick-start that spark by kissing just before they came on.
Next rehearsal, they met at the edge of the stage. “We kind of looked at each other, ‘OK, here we go,’ ” Burns said. He described what came next as a “for-real kiss.”
“It wasn’t very long. Just a two-second kiss or so,” he said. “But I felt my heart rate drop. I felt the world stop.” The director was pleased.
“So we did that before every time we ran the show,” Burns continued. “And maybe a little bit too much. We would start meeting about five minutes before. Then 10 minutes before.”
“They were very chaste kisses,” Bird said, cheeks rosy. “We did not make out.”
But Burns was developing a major crush on her. “I still had the wall up, but it was starting to crack,” she said.
Bird had a blog, so after each rehearsal he checked to see what she had written. For her part, Bird admits now she felt the attraction but wanted no part of a short-lived “showmance.” “They usually don’t end well,” she said.
And then the opera was over.
Burns went home and had a heart-to-heart with his girlfriend but didn’t quite break up.
Bird said, “I think it’s safe to say I really didn’t think about Matt until two weeks later when we started our next job together.”
It’s rare for opera singers to do two shows together back to back, both said. But during the run of “Figaro,” Bird got a call from the Dayton Opera to see if she could jump into the role of Rosina for Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville.”
She learned that Burns had been cast as Don Basilio, a music teacher. This time, they would not portray lovers.
Bird arrived for rehearsals, “and he walked in the door. It was like all the lights came on in the room. I had no idea what that was. I just knew I couldn’t stop touching him.”
They started spending more time together outside of rehearsal, in the company of colleagues. Their romance crystallized at a gala in Dayton. “She got all dressed up and looked like a million bucks,” Burns said. The band played “My Funny Valentine,” and they danced.
Back in New York City, where both lived, Burns broke up with his girlfriend and started dating Bird. They eloped in November 2008. At their official wedding the following January, they danced again to “Funny Valentine.”
Now Burns hears the tune every time his wife phones him.
Their son Henry was born in July 2010. The three live in Astoria, Queens, though their tow-headed boy sometimes accompanies them on the road. He’s here for “Figaro” and has a baby sitter for while they work.
He already sings on pitch. “You could tune your piano to his singing,” his mother said, as she showed off photos of him on her cell phone.
Burns said, “My life used to be thinking about high notes, vocal technique and performance practice. Now it’s logistics” involving Henry.
These days their most romantic moments are… when?
“When we’re on stage,” Burns said, laughing, “and we get to play young love again.”
This one is a different “Figaro.”
“I think this Figaro and Susanna are more true to the characters,” Bird said.
“They know each other really well, and we know each other so well now. And this Figaro and Susanna have a playfulness that maybe the first one didn’t.”
Lillian Groag, stage director, said she is loving “the miracle of seeing a couple devoted to each other in real life playing a couple devoted to each other on stage. There’s no seam.”
They don’t kiss on the edge of the stage any more.
“We don’t need to this time,” Bird said. “We wake up next to each other in the morning.”
Bird started a new blog recently and typed an entry on Wednesday: “This morning we sent Henry off with his sitter,” so they could pay bills, return emails and update websites. “With both of us working on this gig, we need this catch-up time or we’ll sink!”
The name of her blog?
Momandpopera.
© Teresa Annas, The Virginian-Pilot 2013