His teacher in Milan was the master Lamperti, who admitted him after careful examination. In Madrid Gayarre had begun to study Italian and continued reading the most enlightened prose writers and poets. He also tried to acquire pure diction, clear phrasing and correct pronunciation. Read the lyrics of the romances out loud over and over again. He spelled all his words, he learned them by heart, he recited them giving the phrase the proper intonation. He studied the entire plot of the time, lyrics and music. Later, in Paris, he carried out the same with French operas until he reached perfection.
One fine day, Maestro Lamberti announced to Julián that he was ready. After finishing his studies, he presented him with a contract for the Varesse theater. The fair season for one hundred and ten lire, about twenty-two dollars. Gayarre accepted.
The debut was with Verdi's opera I Lombardi , in a supporting role. He was the only one who was saved from failure. Given the good disposition of the public with the new tenor, the company proposed that he sing Elixir de Amor . Gayarre, master of himself, sang with all his faculties. From the first moments he owned the auditorium. To judge him definitively, the public awaited the famous romance of the third act, A furtive tear . They say that they were preparing to go on stage, when they delivered a telegram from Roncal. He announced a great misfortune: "With deep regret I inform you that your poor mother has ceased to exist. I accompany you in your legitimate sentiment. Gregorio." The orchestra was already preluding the first bars of the romance and they pushed him on stage. Gayarre sang his own pain, not Nemorino's at the disdain of his beloved woman. The public, fanatical, believed that all that treasure of feeling was for him and at the end, he burst into an immense applause, madness invaded the theater. Gayarre's drama, the cruel news, flew from the backstage to the public, provoking a wave of sympathy for the hitherto unknown artist and invading the dressing room to his affection for him.
MEL