"E lucevan le stelle
e olezzava la terra -
Stridea l'uscio dell'orto -
e un passo sfiorava la rena.

Entrava ella, fragrante,
mi cadea fra le braccia...
Oh! dolci baci, o languide carezze,
mentr'io fremente
le belle forme
disciogliea dai veli!

Svani per sempre
il sogno mio d'amore...
L'ora è fuggita e muoio disperato!
E non ho amato mai tanto la vita!"

Mario Cavaradossi
Act III

Then she - fragrant with perfume - was there
and fell into my arms.
O, sweet kisses, o lingering caresses,
while I, trembling,
released her beautiful body
from her clothing.

Vanished forever
is my dream of love.
Now it flies away, and I die, in hopeless despair.
And never have I loved life so much!

As The Sacristan, Loup brought another of his wonderfully detailed comic performances to the stage, as he had since 1974. Performing in Europe as well as throughout the United States, he sang Bartolo in both the Mozart and the Rossini versions of Figaro, Donizetti's Dulcamara and Sulpice, and a number of other significant roles, including Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte. Loup plays the Sacristan as gleefully simple, his rubber face reminiscent of the Hollywood actor Donald O'Connor, his movements deliberately selected to punctuate a thought or phrase.

"Retirement" is a word most singers don't have much use for, and François Loup can hardly be said to have slowed down. As a faculty member at the University of Maryland School of Music, he is still a singer, actor, stage director, and coach - inspiring and guiding new generations of singers, who benefit from a lifetime spent on stage.