The archbishop closed the door behind him. Ted was left alone in the room. There was silence, like in a tomb. After a few seconds came the signal – a quiet sound of a gong, cut short.
He sang, freely, smoothly and cleanly, although the fragment of the aria taken out of the context was technically very hard to sing. The “warm-up” sequence always seemed strange to him: melodious but in a way more like a bird’s singing than modern music.
After the next gong he sang again and then once more. Then someone opened the door and the archbishop invited him back with a gesture.
The teachers exchanged some remarks quietly, looking at the computer screen. The pale glow gave their faces an incredible, unusual look. It seemed as if they were sitting in some remarkable laboratory or some portentous cou
