Name: Robert A. Dunn
Profession: wigsmaster
Date: 09/17/2004 11:57:55 PM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
I have to say no. If that were true than someone living on my income would never have been able to see the opera which I have seen. It's not inexpensive to attend the opera but it can be done on a limited budget.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
To be honest I do not enjoy Ms. Fleming singing more popular/musical theatre music. She has an amazing instrument which has been trained to sing opera and it sounds silly singing musical theatre music. I don't want to hear Patti Lupone or Bernadette Peters singing Un bel di or Casta Diva either. Each person has their own gift and should use it to the best of their ablilities but should also realize the range of their abilities. Ms. Fleming's opera repertoire continues to grow and become more fabulous with each year. I can't wait to hear what is next for her in the opera world.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
Here in the USA yes I do think Classical Music and Opera are endangered art forms because of the low importance placed on music and the arts in general in our schools. When society has a whole states that something is not important the children begin to listen. I think a large shift is necessary in our society. Music and art are essential to a childs growth and understanding of society.

Name: gerald sternbach
Profession: musical director (theater)/ songwriter/
Date: 09/16/2004 02:04:41 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
I'd like to think not. It should never be looked/or heard at from behind a glass distanced from the audience. I saw Idomeneo in LA last evening and it was attended by young, old alike and the pre-opera lecture was packed!!!!

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
She should sing what she likes. and what moves her..however you sing Joni Mitchell or Duke Ellington differently than Strauss or Verdi...but the communication should be the same. I have been privileged to accompany f the 70-years young Marilyn Horne...who sings Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael and Paul Simon with the same worldly reverence and inspiration as a Montsalvage,Schubertor Wolf lied. (we'll have to put Rossini in another category of her inspiration)

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
I am passionate about musical theater, as well as all classical music and especially opera. You need to enlighten, educate and inspire audiences about history and context of art, but never lose sight that all art must be ALIVE to br fully experienced. People can learn and always willing to discover new things...even things that may not be new...but new to them.

Name: Heather Virtue
Profession: French Horn player/Machinist
Date: 09/15/2004 06:54:52 PM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
Yes. however popular "pop" music may be, I feel that the reason classical/opera music is listened to less is not only because of the age factor of the music, but also largely because there are so many facets to a classical composition. Layers upon layers of intricate sounds make up this art and I really believe that many have a hard time listening to it because it is practically impossible for the average listener to pick out one individual voice. So, yes! it is an elitist art form...anyone can pick up a mixer and sampler and write music. But how many can say the same about playing an oboe or french horn?

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
I personally feel that if Renee were to sing popular music it would probably be the best thing that the culture has seen in a while. Why not share such a beautiful voice with as many people possible? I listen to pop music everyday...it would be nice to hear a good voice for once when i turn on the radio.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
I do think it is an endangered art form only because of the fact that society has not taken the time to share the joys of it with todays youth. I am not thrilled about some types of classical music, but much of it is beautiful...but there has to be a respect for it. Not many people have that respect. However, I think that opera is enjoying a nice comeback. I would love to see more contemporary operas.......like, John Adams?

Name: Benjamin Walter
Profession: Professor Political Science, Vanderbilt
Date: 09/15/2004 02:09:11 PM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
It probably is but does not have to be. Lowering ticket prices and high school outreach programs would help. Also, getting unused tickets to students at a deeply discounted price, perhaps for nothing.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
She could recite train schedules to the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and I'd buy tickets. Within the realm of "serious" music, I'd like to hear more Italian opera and less French-German repertory. I check daily at the local Tower Record store for her new Handel collection.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
Classical music is endangered. I see fewer and fewer high school students attending our local (Nashville Tennessee) symphony orchestra. Opera, probably less. DVD performances help young people see the dramatic or comedic face of opera in a way that the most inspired performance on CD cannot. As more people acquire home theatre systems, putting opera on display in this format can increase audiences, revenue and the desire to see live performances.

Date: 09/15/2004 09:23:41 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
no... but I think opera and classical music demand the audience to do 'homework' before listening. one should not 'dumb down' music and show its true colours.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
renee can sing anything... as long as the music speaks to her... if there is no 'frisson' there is no music

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
oh Gawd... i can write a book about this LOL
it is endangered because the north american education and culture has not embraced it like in other parts of the world. Will classic written literature an emdangered art form? or Shakespearean plays? They will never be endangered because the school system embraced them...
So 3 words to save classical music... education education education :)

Date: 09/14/2004 09:40:25 PM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
I think that it is but yet it isn't. Opera and classical music takes a lot of hard work and discipline, as technique and performance is the focus. Because of the intensive training that classical musicians need to go through it pushes them to be the best in their field of work. But I do know that classical music can be appreciated and studied and enjoyed by those that are not part of the elite classical musician category.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
I rather enjoy listening to the popular music because it shows the diversity of her musical talents. Musicians are to be well rounded and when we focus simply on one form of music we tend to be less well rounded than if we had explored different musical options.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
I think that especially in North America classical music and Opera are becoming more and more unfamiliar and disliked by the younger generation. Many people do not understand and appreciate Classical music and Opera because they do not understand the training and the level of difficulty that goes into it.

Date: 09/01/2004 09:41:12 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
I would guess that it probably is since most people (at least in the U.S.) who listen are in the upper income levels. Most people who attend events are probably in the upper income limits (it's quite expensive). I think it can appeal to a wide audience if they get the chance to hear it. Generally, it doesn't seem like the average citizen gets the opportunity to hear opera or classical music because they are inundated with pop music and are never exposed to the beauty of the classics. A shame, because it is most beautiful.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
Love to hear it. Her voice is beautiful and if she were to sing pop music, more people would get the chance to hear her and might be intrigued enough to seek out other music where her voice could be heard.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
Yes both types are heard less often and with schools dropping their music programs, more children will not be exposed to classical music at all.

Name: John Heer
Profession: retail management
Date: 08/26/2004 09:12:42 PM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
No

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
Renee has woked hard to develop her magnificent voice, and I would hope she will continue to sing works that are worthy of her extrordinary talent. Pop musicians are a dime a dozen, while Renee is a once in a life time gift.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
Not as long as there is someone like Renee to keep it alive.

Date: 08/10/2004 12:44:31 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
No - I think it is more accessable than people realize.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
It depends... "Popular" in what sense? I heard her in concert and she sang a few Musical Theatre pieces and I enjoyed them just as much as the art songs and arias. But, if she suddenly broke out singing "Hit Me Baby One More Time," I think I would fall out of my seat laughing! ;o)
But, in all seriousness, I have heard Kiri Te Kanawa sing 70's-ish type music and musical theatre on a CD from when she was young, and it was really interesting to hear the difference and I enjoyed it all the same.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
Yes and No. I think the lack of appeal is just fear of the unknown and a LOT of misconceptions. I find, a majority of the time, when someone is exposed to it and actually find out what it is all about, they really enjoy it.

Endangered? Not really. I actually think it is at its peak with all of the resources available today. I do, however, think that singers are being treated more like a commodity and the singing profession has turned into a business, and with that, a lot of the artistry is being lossed.

Name: Ryan George Morris
Profession: eleventh grade student
Date: 07/30/2004 08:13:40 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
Not at all.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
I think Renee should follow her heart and try what she would like to try. (although I adore her renditions of Italian opera and song)

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
I think all things as beautiful and refined as "Classical" and Opera will live forever in the hearts of those who recognize beauty.

Date: 07/30/2004 08:13:17 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
Not at all.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
I think Renee should follow her heart and try what she would like to try. (although I adore her renditions of Italian opera and song)

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
I think all things as beautiful and refined as "Classical" and Opera will live forever in the hearts of those who recognize beauty.

Name: Kelli Pierce
Profession: Student
Date: 07/28/2004 01:28:04 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
I think that Opera is an art form that is so magnificent that it touches the souls of all people. It certainly appeals to the elitist, but can also move the heart of any common person as well. It is a form of art and art is not meant solely for the elite. Art is meant to grace the lives of all people.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
I believe that no matter what a singer's forte is, she should always pursue every aspect of her passion. If she wishes to sing popular music then so be it. Music is about love and passion and happiness and should be pursued as such.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
I think that both are endangered. The art of classical music is no longer appreciated like it was. It is no longer the dominant musical genre and it shows in our society. Fortunately, there are still so many who adore and can't live without it.

Name: Me
Profession: al;sdfj
Date: 07/22/2004 05:02:53 PM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
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How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
aldj

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
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Name: David Richie
Profession: attorney
Date: 07/19/2004 06:46:26 PM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
"No" (If "elitist" is bad.)

"Yes" (If "elitist" is good)

"What's 'elitist' mean?

So you see, the question is meaningless because "elitist" can mean anything. If it means poor people with no education do not deserve to enjoy it, then obviousliy Opera/Classical is not elitist. If it means Opera/Classical demands OF THE PERFORMER and elicits from her/her more god-given talent, generosity of spirit, communicative ability, selfless intensity, dedication, brains, guts and ambition than any other musical art forms, then Opera/Classical is elitist.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
Stick to the classics and perfect her art in the opera house where she belongs.

Not every classcial artist has to do crossover and there are plenty of pop singers who sing pop music better.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
Yes, thanks to TV and the mass media, who have done the following:

1. shortened the audience's attention span
2. trained the audience to think car chases, explosions and loud noises are art, and destroyed any apprciation for subltety
3. destroyed the audience's appreciation for sound and turned the modern world into a "visual" society.
4. frightened the music educators with charges of "elitism" so that they no longer teach that classical music is GREAT.
5. loaded pop "artists" with so much special effects that the public can't tell what's real and what's fake anymore.

Name: Douglas Sumi
Profession: Music Student
Date: 06/14/2004 02:34:55 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
No, it is quite challenging and formal, but not elitist. Anyone who desires to become more informed and involved with such arts has the opportunities to do so. Renee seems so down to earth that opera is not viewed as an elitist art form.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
I love it, it shows strength in variety. It also is probably pleasing for Renee, considering nobody likes just opera. She has such amazing techniques, that she can sings whatever she wants.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
Yes, and no. Yes, because the typical student, who I seemed to be around all to often, is not brought up with exposure to western art music. No, because there are so many young amazing talented musicians with a bright future ahead of them in the performing arts. Opera seems to be an aquired musical taste after one has had exposure to the world of western art music.

Name: Francois Juteau
Profession: Internet web development
Date: 06/07/2004 05:20:47 PM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
NO, not at all.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
I prefer Renée in serious opera. Her talent is somewhat wasted in popular selections. Leave that to lesser singers, there are plenty !

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
No, absolutely not. Opera has never been as pupular as now. There are opera houses everywhere and recordings of about any valuable opera that has been ever written.

Date: 05/17/2004 09:52:04 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
No. Of course not. Unlike the older days when there was no recordings of artists, there are CDs in the market now, and if you can't afford to go to a recital or an opera, you can listen to the CD at home.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
I think that if she wants to, she should experiment with different types of music. Although I would like her to work more on the classical field and expand her repretoire.
And I like Renée performing jazz or broadway. The CD 'Under the Stars' with Bryn Terfel was excellent, and I would love to hear her sing more of broadway.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
No. Because there are still lots of classical music lovers around. Although people say that the amount of talent in the opera field has decreased since the golden years,I dissagree. There are big talents like Renée Fleming, Barbara Bonney, Cecelia Bartoli, etc.

Date: 05/07/2004 07:31:41 PM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
Absolutley not. The artists that are gifted with the ability to perform timeless classics, with perfection, are so special and rare; I believe that anyone who hears their music can, and will be touched by it's awesome beauty.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
I think Renee has the talent to sing any style she wants to. I also believe that she can discriminate and select music that her voice can enhance. I am, however, thrilled when she performs those classical pieces that only a few women on earth can sing.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
No, because there will always be people who appreciate the talents and gifts that are necessary to perform these beautiful works of art.

Date: 05/07/2004 04:30:26 PM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
No. I believe in music for everyone. We all should learn to appreciate all forms of music.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
I think her extension into pop music is a fabulous artistic and "business" choice. She will prove to those that know her classical work that she is not just an opera diva and she will attract other audiences that may not have listened to her sing opera. By attracting a wider audience base she will also work to prevent the dying out of Opera.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
Classical music does not worry me; opera does. I fear that not enough people understand it and therefore they reject it. If more were educated about opera then it would be more universally accepted.

Date: 05/07/2004 01:49:30 PM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
No. I have no idea why so many people have such difficulty appreciating it. I enjoy many, many styles of music, and they each enrich my life in different ways.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
Please do release popular music you enjoy. It would be a pleasure to hear your interests.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
Not as long as we support new artists.

Name: Terry Oldes
Profession: accountant
Date: 05/07/2004 12:32:49 PM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
Yes, for the most part. Simply because of the way it is marketed and the expense of going to the opera. It scares people off that aren't exposed to it or don't have the funds.

However, it doesn't have to be, look at the popularity of Boccelli or the 3 tenors with blue collar workers. Music makes people feel, no matter what their backgrounds are, and if you hear Puccini your heart and gut jump to it, not your pocketbook or intellectual background. I just think opera and classical music need to be more accessible to the general public. I see many people go to the Lyric simply because it's the "in" thing to do.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
Renee is one of the only opera singers I have heard that can succesfully sing jazz or pop and make it her own and "fit" into the genre. I would love to hear her do more of it. The pop pieces are always eagerly anticipated by myself and friends at her concerts. When singing Over the Rainbow at orchestra hall in Chicago, she made it her own. A friend of mine went with me and she said, "I've never liked anyone but Judy singing that song, but Renee did it her own way and it was fantastic!"

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
No, I don't think it is endangered of disappearing, but new pieces certainly are few and far between. I'm getting very tired of the same warhorses being pulled out for the public.

Date: 05/07/2004 03:19:09 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
No, but I do think that its an aquired taste for lots of people

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
Leave the pop to the popsters

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
A minority taste is always endangered & thus must remain vibrant

Date: 05/07/2004 12:15:17 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
yES

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
I THINK SHE SHOULD STICK TO WHAT SHE IS DOING RIGHT NOW. MANY SINGERS ARE TRYING TO DO POPULAR MUSIC AND THAT DOES NOT SEEM RIGHT. YOU HAVE PAVORATTI WHO CAME OUT WITH HIS ALBUM TI ADORO IS IS OKAY BUT I WOULD RATHER LISTEN TO WHAT THEY WERE MEANT TO SING FIRST.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
NO

Name: Sue Adie
Profession: Medical P.A.
Date: 05/06/2004 09:15:39 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
No, and certainly in the UK more and more people are listening and appreciating both opera and classical music.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
I get more tingle factor from her operatic work, but also enjoy popular music sung sooo well.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
I do not feel classical music is endangered, as borne out by the attendances at all concerts. I feel work is being done extensively to make opera accessible to more people, who may have hitherto had little exposure.

Date: 05/05/2004 11:34:58 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
No, I do not.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
There is nothing wrong with Renée singing popular music, as she sings it so well. If classical music is to shed its "elitist" label, it's adherents must reach out to those who are more familiar with other media. And, lest we forget, in earlier days Operas WERE the popular music of their time.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
I think neither classical music nor Opera is an endangered art forms. They are, however, not immutable. As arts, they adopt new ideas and adapt to changing times.

Name: susan rathmell
Profession: piamo professor
Date: 05/05/2004 10:47:20 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
to some extent, yes

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
I prefer classical, but she's free to do what she feels suits her best

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
absolutely not!

Date: 05/04/2004 05:24:48 PM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
Opera----yes. I love opera but it portrays itself as an art form for only those who "appreciate/understand" opera. Very sad but self-inflicted. (From someone who has opera soloists as friends)
Classical music----not so much. But many of its afficionados deplore the "dumming" down by radio programmes such as Classic FM, which in my opinion has brought "classical" music, whatever that is, to millions.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
Fine by me as long as she sticks to music that will show the quality and range of her voice.
Very difficult balance to achieve when one hears the "three tenors" murder some songs they should never attempt.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
Classical Music----no.
Opera----yes. Needs to come down to earth.

Name: Dennis Wilkerson
Profession: Television Producer
Date: 05/04/2004 01:46:18 PM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
I think it's perceived by the general public that way but shouldn't be.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
I think any artist should explore their interest in music no matter the genre. Ms. Fleming's voice lends itself to popular music and I would like to hear her perform some popular selections.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
Yes, unfortunately, with music being cut out of school programs and a society that thinks that classical music is uncool I do feel that both opera and classical music is on the endangered list.

Date: 05/04/2004 09:21:13 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
no

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
Personally, I like it. (and I would like to do more myself but I always sound somewhat rediculous...it's good to hear someone with great technique do it well, so we can all learn from it.)

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
I think Opera will last, but art song is a bit endangered. I think song for art sake has a harder time appealing to the masses.

Date: 05/03/2004 10:06:14 PM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
Yes I do. However, it does not have to be so, but I believe it should stay this way. Opera is just another genres, and, depending on where the emphsis is put, every kidn of music has its own elite - rap, hip-hop, country. So, it's all a matter of how one asks the question.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
I do now really like Ms Fleming singing popular music, but I think cross genres can be fruitful for the general development within music itself.
I do believe that, given her talent and popularity, she should try and popularize more unknown pieces (in the veine of what Cecilia Bartoli does).

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
I believe Classical Music is endangered in terms of the global market dictating what music should be played and recorded.

Date: 05/03/2004 03:33:34 PM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
No, but the way it is offered and the cost make it unavailable to many people

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
I listen for her voice. If the song works with the voice, I am happy.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
Neither, but opera must be simplified to reduce the cost of the performances

Date: 05/03/2004 09:00:28 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
No. God knows I would never be mistaken for an elitist!!!

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
I would enjoy anything she would sing. I think she would do a great job with popular songs.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
I believe that both will always have a strong following. However, getting a wider audience, mainly from younger people, will be critical to ensuing its continued growth.

Name: M. Scully
Date: 05/02/2004 05:34:14 AM

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/der_juedische_kaiser_von_atlantis

or

http://www.artsjournal.com/sandow/archives20040101.shtml#66076

Not long ago I was having dinner with some reasonably substantial people in the orchestra world. And as often happens when people inside the business get to know me, the conversation turned to critics. Why, I’m regularly asked, do critics…and here we can fill in the blank with whatever odd behavior some critic recently exhibited. (Though the question people really want to ask is a lot simpler, and eventually they get around to it: Why don’t critics know how the music business works?)



This time, though, my dinner partners wanted to ask something much more dangerous. Why, they asked, do critics so often and so strongly praise a musician widely said to be a pedophile? Though “widely said,” in this context, isn’t putting the case strongly enough. This musician is an international celebrity, one of the most famous names in the business. He’s wildly popular in New York and elsewhere, and has worked for years with one of the most powerful institutions in classical music.



And yet people in the business don’t just whisper rumors that he’s a pedophile. They take for granted that he is, and that his pedophilia takes especially disgusting forms. This man forces himself on boys, people confidently state. He’s been arrested for it, they add, and on more than one occasion has been bought out of trouble, allegedly with enormous sums of money. Since everybody knows this, my dinner companions asked, why do critics (especially in his home city) so strongly praise the man? Shouldn’t they deplore him and expose him?



This question was asked very seriously, with a lot of moral fervor. I had to explain that neither I nor my critic colleagues -- or, for that matter, my dinner companions -- have any evidence for all these charges. We don’t know the dates or places of the supposed events, or the names of anyone involved. In all my years in the business, despite all the conversations I've had on this subject, I’ve never spoken to anyone with firsthand knowledge of these things, or even to anyone who claimed to know someone with firsthand knowledge.



That puts a journalist in a tough position. You can’t just write a story saying, “X is a pedophile -- everybody says so.” You have to name your sources, and show where they got their information. You need hard facts -- documentary evidence (arrest records, perhaps), or else eyewitness reports from people who’ll let you print, with their names attached, that they saw something -- saw a child molested, saw the musician in police custody, know the parents of a molested child, once worked for a corporate CEO who ended one of these affairs with money, and who once came into the office and indiscreetly said, “I just paid $5 million to get charges dropped against X. Don’t tell anyone!”



This wouldn’t be easy; to find these sources (if they could be found at all) might take months of work, and even then you might never persuade them to speak on the record. It’s no wonder no music journalist has written this story.



And yet I think it could be written, by someone who isn't a music journalist, but instead is an experienced investigative reporter. We're not talking here about military secrets; if these things really happened, eventually somebody will talk. I don't claim to have much investigative experience, but I might start with a major orchestra that not too long ago considered this musician for an important job. (With what result I won’t say.) Some board members were said to oppose the appointment on moral grounds. I could call each member of the board, in search of someone so outraged that he or she might talk. (And then, of course, there are staff and board members, past and present, from everywhere this musician has already worked; employees, past and present, of his management; and, if we learned the place where any of the alleged events had happened, the police department wherever that might be).



But even without a full investigative study, here's a question worth asking. Never, in all my years in this business, have I talked about all this with anyone who thinks the stories aren’t true. Why, then, do we treat this musician with such respect? If we praise his performances, why don’t we do it with reserve? How can we support him for major appointments, as many of us have done? Including me, I have to say; I need to rethink my own behavior, just as much as anybody else.



One thing at stake here is classical music’s credibility; our need, which I think is very urgent, to show we live in the same world as everybody else. So enough with the artistic piety, the pretense of loftiness, the wish to be judged by higher standards than those of everyday life. Which is more important -- the glory of classical music, or the safety of our children?

Name: Lawrence Landis
Profession: technical writer
Date: 05/01/2004 10:08:20 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
Absolutely NOT, though it's often perceived as such. Especially in this day of being submerged in an tsunami of "data" and constant emphasis on our left brains, we need - more than ever - the relief that opera and classical music bring to our right brains. Otherwise, we get out of balance - and eventually, on both a personal and societal level - go a little bit crazy.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
Her "Alcina" may be the finest thing ever recorded, but I would certainly not be adverse to hearing her do some jazz.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
Both are, and probably always will be. But that doesn't mean they aren't worthy of our support, individually and as a society. Asking everyone to love them is, of course, impossible.

Name: E J Michel
Date: 05/01/2004 06:39:39 AM

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
This is my fav clip in that long but perceptive rant.

[About the GRAMMY®-winning but not-so-new DECCA ---COCKSUCKER BLUES---
, we have read fluff like "A New F-i-r-s-t L-a-d-y of Bel Canto -
Renée Fleming very nearly manages to shake the insistent ghost of
Maria Callas." (see "http://www.andante.com") --- But we are neither
deaf nor naïve nor stupid. You see, n-e-v-e-r e-v-e-r f-o-r-g-e-t,
we insist, that sopranos of the caliber of Cheryl [Studer] and Maria [Callas] (to name
but two), frayed of voice and heart or not, n-e-v-e-r e-v-e-r s-t-o-o-
p-e-d this low (below the navel) in the style department. But after
all, the new product (foreplayed in a studio some years ago but not
ejaculated for another 2 or 3) is being cart-wheeled under a neon
sign that reads "bel canto" (yes, in lowercase and with the 'b'
dangling), complete with a $2 rebate incentive b-e-l-o-w its already
reduced repo artistic value - ya know, in the manner of the stereo-
typical toupéed and polyester-clad used-car salesman – breathy,
cajoling, cheap, cheesy, insincere, sleazy, slimy, slippery, sticky --
in that order – and that's the singing -- a raw deal -- a lemon. Hard
to swallow, ain't it?]

It says it all. Ouch!

Date: 05/01/2004 02:52:06 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
No.

How do you feel about Renée singing popular music?
Or would they like her to stick with serious and more esoteric choices?
I feel she is stylistically mismatched in popular music, and definitely sound stick with serious music. One downfall I have noticed are "jazz" and "pop" inflections in her opera singing, and that is a detriment to her great artistry.

Do you think Classical Music is an endangered art form? What about Opera?
We all know that technically, there are more people attending opera now than ever. However, opera companies themselves could go alot further to promote the art form to younger audiences and make it see less elitist or old fashioned.

Name: paolo
Date: 04/30/2004 05:09:54 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
A Community Outreach Initiative, Addendum to Part I

----------------------------

"In life, democracy.
In art, aristocracy."

--- Arturo Toscanini

----------------------------

3C. How exactly is naXos alleviating the crisis of overcrowding and
confusion among consumers? In opera titles alone, they have recorded
yet a-n-e-w: Boheme, Fidelio, Butterfly, Tosca, Flying Dutchman,
Barber of Seville, Aida, Rigoletto, Magic Flute, and on and on and
on. Correct us if we are wrong, but these bread and butter works were
not lacking in existing documentation, whether historical or not,
hysterical or not, distinguished or not, low end or not. And the
combined sad efforts from naXos simply do not measure up. Why pay
less, then, when you can get better and more for twice the price?

Name: paolo
Date: 04/30/2004 04:58:33 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
A Community Outreach Initiative, Part I

----------------------------

"In life, democracy.
In art, aristocracy."

--- Arturo Toscanini

----------------------------

"¿Cómo se siente? ¿Cómo se siente ver que el horror estalla en tu
patio y no en el living del vecino? ¿Cómo se siente el miedo
apretando tu pecho, el pánico que provocan el ruido ensordecedor, las
llamas sin control, los edificios que se derrumban, ese terrible olor
que se mete hasta el fondo en los pulmones, los ojos de los inocentes
que caminan cubiertos de sangre y polvo?

¿Cómo se vive por un día en tu propia casa la incertidumbre de lo que
va a pasar? ¿Cómo se sale del estado de shock? En estado de shock
caminaban el 6 de agosto de 1945 los sobrevivientes de Hiroshima.
Nada quedaba en pie en la ciudad luego que el artillero
norteamericano del Enola Gay dejara caer la bomba. En pocos segundos
habían muerto 80.000 hombres, mujeres y niños. Otros 250.000 morirían
en los años siguientes a causa de las radiaciones. Pero ésa era una
guerra lejana y ni siquiera existía la televisión.

¿Cómo se siente hoy el horror cuando las terribles imágenes de la
televisión te dicen que lo ocurrido el fatídico 11 de septiembre no
pasó en una tierra lejana sino en tu propia patria? Otro 11 de
septiembre, pero de 28 años atrás, había muerto un presidente de
nombre Salvador Allende resistiendo un golpe de Estado que tus
gobernantes habían planeado. También fueron tiempos de horror, pero
eso pasaba muy lejos de tu frontera, en una ignota republiqueta
sudamericana. Las republiquetas estaban en tu patio trasero y nunca
te preocupaste mucho cuando tus marines salían a sangre y fuego a
imponer sus puntos de vista.

¿Sabías que entre 1824 y 1994 tu país llevó a cabo 73 invasiones a
países de América Latina? Las víctimas fueron Puerto Rico, México,
Nicaragua, Panamá, Haití, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, República
Dominicana, Islas Vírgenes, El Salvador, Guatemala y Granada.

Hace casi un siglo que tus gobernantes están en guerra. Desde el
comienzo del siglo XX, casi no hubo una guerra en el mundo en que la
gente de tu Pentágono no hubiera participado. Claro, las bombas
siempre explotaron fuera de tu territorio, con excepción de Pearl
Harbor cuando la aviación japonesa bombardeó la Séptima Flota en
1941. Pero siempre el horror estuvo lejos.

Cuando las Torres Gemelas se vinieron abajo en medio del polvo,
cuando viste las imágenes por televisión o escuchaste los gritos
porque estabas esa mañana en Manhattan, ¿pensaste por un Segundo en
lo que sintieron los campesinos de Vietnam durante muchos años? En
Manhattan, la gente caía desde las alturas de los rascacielos como
trágicas marionetas. En Vietnam, la gente daba alaridos porque el
napalm seguía quemando la carne por mucho tiempo y la muerte era
espantosa, tanto como las de quienes caían en un salto desesperado al
vacío. Tu aviación no dejó una fábrica en pie ni un puente sin
destruir en Yugoslavia. En Irak fueron 500.000 los muertos. Medio
millón de almas se llevó la Operación Tormenta del Desierto...¿Cuánta
gente desangrada en lugares tan exóticos y lejanos como Vietnam,
Irak, Irán, Afganistán, Libia, Angola, Somalia, Congo, Nicaragua,
Dominicana, Camboya, Yugoslavia, Sudán, y una lista interminable? En
todos esos lugares los proyectiles habían sido fabricados en
factorías de tu país, y eran apuntados por tus muchachos, por gente
pagada por tu Departamento de Estado, y sólo para que tu pudieras
seguir gozando de la forma de vida americana.

Hace casi un siglo que tu país está en guerra con todo el mundo.
Curiosamente, tus gobernantes lanzan los jinetes del Apocalipsis en
nombre de la libertad y de la democracia. Pero debes saber que para
muchos pueblos del mundo (en este planeta donde cada día mueren
24.000 pobladores por hambre o enfermedades curables), Estados Unidos
no representa la libertad, sino un enemigo lejano y Terrible que sólo
siembra guerra, hambre, miedo y destrucción. Siempre han sido
conflictos bélicos lejanos para ti, pero para quienes viven allá es
una dolorosa realidad cercana, una guerra donde los edificios se
desploman bajo las bombas y donde esa gente encuentra una muerte
horrible. Y las víctimas han sido, en el 90 por ciento, civiles,
mujeres, ancianos, niños efectos colaterales.

¿Qué se siente cuando el horror golpea a tu puerta aunque sea por un
sólo día? ¿Qué se piensa cuando las víctimas en Nueva York son
secretarias, operadores de bolsa o empleados de limpieza que pagaban
puntualmente sus impuestos y nunca mataron una mosca?

¿Cómo se siente el miedo? ¿Cómo se siente, yanqui, saber que la larga
guerra finalmente el 11 de septiembre llegó a tu casa?"

--- Gabriel García Márquez to Puppet Bush, Jr.

----------------------------

On 26 September 2000, the so-called great Mickey (Mouse) "I-have-not-
attended-a-performance-in-fifteen-years" (
http://listserv.cuny.edu/Scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0309B&L=opera-
l&P=R13279&D=0&H=0&I=-3&O=T&T=1
)
Richter performed a 'plug-in', heroically and by proxy, on behalf of
Klaus Heymann, the so-called authority behind ---naXos---:

{{ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 21:40:41 -0700
Reply-To: Mike Richter
Sender: Discussion of opera and related issues L@L...>
From: Mike Richter
Subject: Authoritative word on naXos' methods
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

The following comments are from Klaus Heymann, the force behind naXos
and other labels, to our posts on their approach to recording opera.

> Mike Richter wrote in response to Bob Kosovsky's post

[Bob Kosovsky of CUNY's Opera-L: Homosexual, Jew, Liberal,
Librarian, and – would you believe it? – Censor]

>>Since the naXos label is being lauded by some as forecasting a
future path of opera, I have a question. I know several people who
have participated in naXos recordings of chamber music. All of them
have been paid a one-time-only fee, and have ceded the right to
royalties. Does this kind of contract also apply to naXos's
recordings of vocalists in operas or recitals? (I hate to think that
Ewa Podles doesn't get anything more than her initial fee for that
Rossini recital of hers, naXos 8.553543.)

### Yes, singers are also paid a flat fee. Ewa Podles is very happy
with her Rossini ... she would like to do more recitals but the cost
of recording her with orchestra and chorus is prohibitive ... we
still haven't recouped our investment in this recording. ###

>>It sounds a bit exploitative to me, IMO. On the other hand, my not-
yet-famous acquaintances jump at the chance to record for them. (They
are allowed only two or three takes, with no chance of fancy editing
to correct mistakes.)

### Most singers understand that recording opera is extremely
expensive, especially under our perfect studio (not live) conditions
and are happy with our modest flat fees. Look at our Fidelio cast!
The bit about being allowed only two or three takes and no chance of
fancy editing is nonsense ... artists are allow as many takes as
necessary to get the music right. However, having said that, we
expect our artists to be well prepared unlike many big-name artists
who rely on the producer and editor to produce a good performance.
###

>>So I'm curious to hear whether vocalists are also bound to such
contracts. I believe you have it right. My understanding is that
Klaus and his people search the globe for artists and groups who
merit the exposure and are doing (or are able to do) the works he
wants to include in his catalogue. By providing one-time fees - often
of critical importance to such artists - and exposure, naXos both
benefits the artists and produces high-quality, inexpensive
programming. There may be exceptions in which royalties are offered,
but that does not appear to be the rule. Of course, limiting studio
time also contains costs.

### We do not limit studio costs but our producer have the authority
to send poorly prepared artists home. ###

>>The other major factor in naXos and its related labels keeping
prices down is that they give up much of the promotion the more
famous marks employ. Since the recordings are focussed on the music
and there are seldom acknowledged "stars", stellar advertising and
displays are unnecessary. It is a different approach to marketing and
seems so far to have been a most successful one.

Mike

Best regards,

Klaus

*********************
(My apologies for the confusion in indenting of Bob's original post,
my reply and Klaus's.)

Mike

mrichter@c...
Opera: http://mrichter.simplenet.com/
CD-R: http://resource.simplenet.com/ }}


End of quote

----------------------------

Thus spoke the authority. We re-quote:

"Most singers understand that recording opera is extremely expensive,
especially under our perfect studio (not live) conditions and are
happy with our modest flat fees. Look at our Fidelio cast! The bit
about being allowed only two or three takes and no chance of fancy
editing is nonsense ... artists are allowed as many takes as
necessary to get the music right. However, having said that, we
expect our artists to be well prepared unlike many big-name artists
who rely on the producer and editor to produce a good performance."

We ask:

1. Mr. Heymann seems to have contradicted himself by simultaneously
affirming that his artists are indeed allowed "fancy editing...to get
the music right" while ranting against the "many big-name artists who
rely on the producer and editor to produce a good performance." What
exactly is the difference? Isn't fancy editing what earns producers
and editors their bacon, be it at naXos or Lucifer Classics? Or is
Mr. Heymann whining and bickering because Lucifer's console is (or
rather, was) bigger than his?

2. Mr. Heymann seems to have fallen prey to the epidemic virus of
unfounded critical prejudice and the politics of defamation and
character-assassination (the rate of infection appears to be
abnormally high within the familial fraternity of
American/Anglosaxon/Anglophile critical bedfellows). His words can be
easily formulized: "Big Name + Big Label = Little Music (or
Falsity)". No need to state the converse but we'll do it
anyway: "Little/No Name + Little Label = Big Music (or Truth)". Who
exactly are these many unprepared big names? And how, where, and
when?

3. A few years back, the authority was also quoted in "The Boston
Globe" - this other 'plug-in-by-proxy' courtesy of CareerHomo-turned-
critic-turned-promoter Richard "local church mice are world-class
people too" Dyer. Lately, Dyer has been heard advocating for the
equal part Charity/Chimpanzee Acts that are The Three Mo' Tenors,
Andrea "Dunkin' Donuts" Bocelli, Charlotte Church, Josh "popera boy"
Groban, and Pavarotti's latest pop dreck.

[What is going on?]

["Maestros of the Pen: A History of Classical Music Criticism in
America", by Mark N. Grant, Northeastern University Press, 1998, ISBN
1-55553-363-9: n-o-t o-n-e f-o-o-t-n-o-t-e *not one* on Dyer ---
and this after a 25+year career behind him dedicated to latter-day
Anglo+Judeo+Homo-centric bitchery, dishonesty, and hypocrisy. And
just as long dedicated to sobbing after the footnote (but no
reference), indeed, that was one Lucine Amara.]

But back to the authority:

"The market is shifting away from name artists, and the average music
lover is confused by bins crowded by recordings. What is the
difference between Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado and Riccardo Chailly
in a given piece? Whatever the difference is, it doesn't mean
anything to the average music lover who gives up and chooses our
recording because it is more reasonably priced, and the performance
is just as good. It is an absurdity for Plácido Domingo to sing 'The
Barber of Seville'; our recording is a better performance of the
opera. If Cheryl Studer were to come to me and ask to sing some of
the operas she has recorded, I wouldn't let her." {Author: Richard
Dyer / Date: 19.01.1994 / Page: 61 / Section: Living Arts}

We comment and ask:

3A. Funny but we bet that the suits at Lucifer Classics swear t-h-e-
i-r barber gives a better haircut. Not that some of us (not nearly
enough) give a one-night-stand about Sir Domingo, at least not since
his early 90s (and thereafter) publicity and musical circus
prostitutions – this case of gonorrhea is treatable no longer.

3B. Let us cut to the chase: we propose that one encompassing reason
for the present-day crisis in this wasteland is that the ever-so-
important anecdotal and testimonial lore and the ensuing
language/narrative about the live stage experiences a-n-d about the
documented legacies of certain important big-names (those immediately
preceding the generation of today's Ass-ociated Press "A List")
literally fell through a g-e-n-e-r-a-t-i-o-n-a-l and c-u-l-t-u-r-a-l
c-r-a-c-k - an abyss, really. Little or nothing was said. In
retrospect, a lot of people in this abortion-gone-bad of a business
(a system that, with escalating aggression, knows the price of
everything and the value of nothing --- a business
that throws the baby, the bathwater, and the mother) have a lot of
answering to do. Observe in comparison, if you will, how today's
desperate and thus general(ised) press a-n-d the chintzy, natty
queens (old and new, male and female) write about an integer to the
far left of zero (if that) such as one Ruth Ann Swenson or, for
example, Tibor Rudas' Third(rate, if that) Soprano and division by
zero (if that), one other Kallen Esperian. Simply impossible to
believe... but sadly true. And this is the flip side of the same coin
--- and a penny it is --- that places the 70+-year-old-Renata-Scotto-
who-made-her-debut-in-1952-or-three-years-before-Cheryl-was-conceived-
and-who-is-still-in-her-prime-and-getting-better-and-who-should-have-
many-of-us-wondering-what-has-she-done-in-20-years on the cover
of "Opernglas," March 2003. Or the other septuagenarian Montserrat
Caballé, a has-been-but-getting-better-and-still-interesting-yes?, on
the cover of "Opernwelt," April 2003. Or the penny that pays for
space about Leontyne Price's tremendously important, yes?,
Meisterclass in "The Financial Times" (albeit bankrupt and then some)
(see "Bernheimer, Martin"). Or the outrageously dumbo piece in "Opera
News" (keeping up with their recent tradition) by one "Siff, Ira"
(who ought to know better) on the significant-other of
soupy-pop-ballads-Duetto infamy, blue-collar teddy bear Salvatore
Licitra – why yes, the twofer even made it to the cover of
"Opernglas," October 2003. And a penny it is. And a penny it will be.

In the realm of opera, this previous generation came "too soon" after
the Marias and the Renatas and the Joans and the Montserrats and the
Vickys and the Mirellas and the Regines and the whoevers....and "too
late" for today's democratic free-für-Alles (think of the
deregulation of the airline industry in the U.S.A. - surely it is
cheaper to fly and with more options but the experience is ghastly –
and look now, they is droppin' like flies) in deadly mix with the
quick fixes and seductions of HyperPublicRelations and HyperText. Few
artists can survive without some form or other of critical and
popular encouragement. It became fashionable sport (nah, Mob Rule -
nah, Olympics --- but becuz this singular marathon has and is being
run by throngs-oh-so-bright, we have to coin it The Special Olympics)
for too influential but equally ignorant, tin-eared and incredibly,
corrosively partial critics (and their bedroom partners) to dismiss
these artists' work faster than they could say Compact Disc (and
worse: to fully ignore too – consider the phenomenon, consider the
indignity, consider the abuse, consider the calamity, consider the
chicanery, consider the betrayal that is the Remarkable Eclipsing and
Banishment by the press (we know of no greater form of disrespect) of
a certain v-e-t-e-r-a-n
and c-o-n-t-e-m-p-o-r-a-n-e-o-u-s soprano whose stage appearances
are pre-judged to be just that: Appearances: Phantom Ships In The
Night, when noticed ---- or to fully d-e-n-y the usual "critical
anal(ysis)" - is that what it is? - accorded dimmer lights ("Monsieur
Giordani could not sustain pitch b-u-t the Sicilian understanding"
[by coincidence, the same understanding which, according to the
experts, eludes fellow Southerner Riccardo Muti] - "Madame Phlegming
[no other soprano before or during Renée is known to have "taken
chances"] shrieked unnaturally, gurgling and flatting two high A
naturals and her overall intonation was insecure too b-u-t all that
(jazzy) rhythmic integrity!" (see "Tommasini, Anthony" --- and yet,
you will look in vain for his promotional write-up on that
Verdi "Blanche Dubois" from Houston - *after* the event, that is) –
"Hausfrau Void was in customary shrill and squally voice again last
night and her top sounded tired, though no fault of her own, b-u-t
her sofa scene was comfortably moving --- that Svelte Lil' Debbie
didn't make that final F-sharp is none of your business." - "Irish-
American AFL-CIO Heroine Flanigan [who, by the by, tries (and is
carded) to "sing everything"] [no other soprano before or during
Lauren is known to have "taken chances"] could not sing Reiza's music
[not that she can sing anything, mind you][she replaced DeVoid, who
had also cancelled all engagements in Vienna, and for the 2nd season
in a row - not a bad thing when you try to remember – and try you
must - those Scheiße AIDAs at the MET where Crayola connected them
dots and none of the music - not to mention the brutal stupor that
were Luciano "snotty handkerchief" Pavarotti and the ever-
accomodating, yes? James "sweaty towel" Levine] b-u-t the visceral
ennui of it all") - "Madame Shout squalled
an Elektra consistently below pitch (that's about 75% of your
evening) b-u-t it seems that the excitement of some level or other of
on-pitch faithfulness to and by die Juden and a few silent-movie camp
gestures secured her an unqualified triumph...and an onstage kiss too
from Jimmy Boy (or rather, Jimmy the boy-paedophile - ladies and
gentlemen, you too can have it all: from orchestras in Munich,
Boston, and naturally New York to standing Os to gushing press
coverage to paid Christian holidays to state-sanctioned murder to
state-sanctioned looting to Presidential Pardons (see "Rich,
Jonathan" - see "The Hassidic4 [that's right, not one not two not
three]" - see "Hillary 'some of my relatives are Jews' Clinton" and
the race for the NY State Senate....provided you are "one of us"
or "with us") --- but for how much longer? ....well, all that plus
Gaby is getting better and better and better, yes?" - "Madame Attila
spreads her top like butter on warm bread b-u-t her cool, Nordic,
blonde looks carried the night [our bladders burst open when trying
to reconcile the paradox that is the pre(and post)occupation with
Aryan archetypes by these duplicitous pseudo-minorities in the
industry (you know who and what you are), habitually the first to cry
wolf at the whiff of perceived or real prejudice] --- and more
importantly, she took off her shoes! (but what we'd really like to
know is: what language was *that*, Querida?)" – "Debbie 'Crayola
Opera Program' Void's French (not unlike the strangely clapped Yawn
Upshaw's) and any language other than the Dixie Chicks is for and
about pigeons --- merde --- [Crayola's sour and rusty tonal quality,
let alone her musical probity, are more reminiscent of the gold you
see in soiled underwear than of the Golden Age, by far...and worse:
as stupid as the laundry water you soak and scrub it in] b-u-t
her 'major' contributions to Culture are 'consistent.' --- or is it
the other way 'round? --- B-u-t why give a hoot about such things,
what with all that `Junoesque rhythmic integrity'! (see "Tommasini,
Anthony" – yes, the promoter used that again [as in Renée Fleming] to
sell his Debbie)" - "The consensus that Madame Shorties could not
really sing Konstanze is questionable and, in the end, unfair for she
is a gifted, six-foot taller......b-u-t more importantly, her name is
not Cheryl Studer." - "Monsieur Hiccup proved once more that you can
crack loud and wide before a Manhattan audience of tourists as long
as your name is not Cheryl Studer; b-u-t even better than that, the
loss of 95-plus pounds, in cocktail with a widely broadcast Sob
Story, are sufficient to satisfy the most discriminating thirst of
the-below-IQ-of-47.5 (that's-50%-of-something-or-other-to-you)-and-
minus-set and anyday's coverage of the Arts in "The New York Times"" -
"Maestrisssssimo of Legend, Gilbert "Lego Blocks" Kaplan, swears he
can conduct but one piece of music and one piece of music alone b-u-
t, as one of "our chauvinistic own", full coverage by "The New York
Times" is fully warranted - all that plus a recording medal from the
syphilitic Deutsche Grammophon" – "The authentically FRENCH LetItRain
sounded anonymous and great b-u-t I blame the amplification for some
harshness up top" --- "Suzie B. Anthony's soft-grained portrayals are
just that, soft. B-u-t her problematic top notes, at this early stage
in her career already, should be of no concern to a superb evening." -
"Young Sondra mimed, for she couldn't sing, while (the) Old Nelly
sang, for she couldn't act – this one constituted a triple triumph –
two for the price of one Cheryl Studer – you do the math." - "Also in
Paris, cover-girl Marisol's voice took a toll and she found herself
voiceless b-u-t she mimed ¦with feral abandon and athletic grace!¦
while Lulu, positioned at the stage's edge in a black pantsuit and
the use of a chair and walker!, sang – this too became a triumph, you
see?" - "Everyone's favourite poodle, Ewa Podles, showed up in Philly
and scored a three-register triumph with her debut as Eboli: a splice
job of all your favorite (and not so favorite) Eboli's, on record or
imagined. In
attendance for the Veil Song was Elena Obraztsova, Luciano Pavarotti,
Cheryl Studer, and David Daniels, among others, and for facial
exhaustion, we had the pleasure of Cecilia Bartoli's company; comes to
show how much you can get away with provided your name is not...oh,
never mind." - "Schñfer is certainly no one's idea of coloratura b-u-t
her hip-hop Violetta in Berlin, under the
tolerant/multidimensional/psychodepth baton of Barenboim, must be
remembered as an important achievement –don't ask but do tell." ---
"Make no mistake, Christine is no one's idea of coloratura. B-u-t
her gang-rape Gilda in London (conducted by Sir Edward Downes of 1994
fame) caused Mickey-Mouse-the-Great to significantly wet his
panties..."

To wit...

http://www.operajaponica.org/reviews/dvd/rigoletto00dvd.htm

Verdi: RIGOLETTO

Reviewed by Mickey (Mouse) Richter
01 Nov 2003

Cast: Paolo Gavanelli (Rigoletto), Christine Schñfer (Gilda),
Marcelo Alvarez (Duke), Eric Halfvarson (Sparafucile), Graciela Araya
(Maddalena), Royal Opera Chorus, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House,
Edward Downes (conductor), David McVicar (director), Sue Judd (video
director)

{{This may well be Rigoletto for our times. It is a driven
performance without errors but without grace or beauty. The
production is brutal with full frontal nudity illustrating the
depravity of the Mantuan court. Sets are stark and brutal, movements
are exaggerated and explicit.

Yet, on its own terms, it succeeds. It is beautifully recorded,
visually and audibly. Downes offers a more massive and darker sonic
palette than usual with well-judged tempi and ample support for the
singers. Gavanelli's jester lacks mirth and paternal affection, but
one must acknolwedge his ease in the role and his brilliant, ample
baritone. Alvarez is the only one of the three principals with a true
legato, but he has few opportunities to exploit it. His portrayal is
neither inherently evil nor naively wicked; this Duke complies with
the baseness about him rather than leading it. The voice is well
produced over the range (he has the 'Possente amor' cabaletta but
eschews the unwritten high D) though he sounds more brilliant than
beautiful. Schñfer's Gilda is hard rather than innocent, scarcely
less forward than the flirtatious Countess Ceprano. Halfvarson's
Sparafucile cannot reach the depravity achieved so easily by
Gavanelli; Araya seems little more licentious than Gilda.

The story of Rigoletto is brutal. If the beauty and romance of
Verdi's score are diminished, this recording makes its violence
explicit.}}

Why yes, ladies and gents, even these public acts of levitation are
denied Midland, Michigan's Prodigal Daughter --- But then, taking
into account the desperate [in vain] efforts toward reconstruction
and regeneration, toward opening new markets (undue over-exposure in
Arts Journalism and in Arts Ad(as in advertising)ministration - over
who counts - over what counts – and when and where --- and why and
how and how much --- and for how long --- all this being the final
vestige of their former Imperial selves), what is the increasingly
brilliant, independent-minded, informed, impartial, cultured, mature,
eloquent, and sympathetic Anglo/Judeo/Homo-centric Promotional
Universe to do with a creature refusing easy categorization? - of
what value or use is the lady? - of what value or use is the artist? -
who is neither aesthetic suppository (credit where credit is due to
Mr. James Jorden of Parterre Box Productions, certainly Ltd.) nor
psychobabble nor English (nor pretender) n-o-r r-e-s-i-d-e-n-t n-o-r
c-i-t-i-z-e-n n-o-r D-a-m-e nor Faerie Queene nor Greek (nor
pretender) nor black-and-blue (nor pretender) nor Slav (how could she
pretend?) nor German (nor pretender) nor Austrian (nor pretender) nor
squally Kammersñngerin nor French (nor pretender) nor Cinema Paradiso
Italian (nor pretender) nor Eastern European (nor pretender) nor
Spaniard/Latin American bombshell (they are the flavor of the moment
and how could she pretend?) nor Brasilian bossanova nor Argentinian
tango nor Appalachian spring nor Yiddishbbuk nor Anonymous4 (that's
right, not one not two not three) nor Asian (how could she pretend?)
nor Aussie nor Canadian --- nor deemed sufficiently A-m-e-r-i-c-a-n --
- n-o-r r-e-s-i-d-e-n-t nor MET-centric nor Manhattan/Queens/Brooklyn-
ette nor Broadway belcher nor Saint Francis-can nor Angelena nor
Chicagoan nor Texan nor New Mexican nor Washingtonian nor Saint Louis
Gal nor panderer nor tall nor thin nor heroine-overdose chic nor deaf
nor dumb nor blind nor blonde nor Blonde Ambition nor Barbie Doll nor
grotesque nor grotesquely zaftig nor power hungry nor agenda driven
nor faghag nor lesbian nor hairy chested nor cherub nor fashion rag
nor glamour puss nor arriviste nor aspirant nor aspirate nor
potential nor promise (what you hear is what you get, sweetheart) nor
apology nor antiquity nor preserved museum mummy nor soccer mom nor
sucker nor trend nor hip nor H.I.P. nor hip-hop nor joined at the hip
nor hippie nor barefoot at Carnegie Hall nor folkie nor cantor nor
castrata nor contralto nor countertenor nor counterculture nor
anarchist nor antichrist nor lyric mezzo nor soprano on the verge of
a mezzo breakdown nor vice versa nor chanteuse nor soubrette nor
starlet nor coquette nor canary nor woodbird nor nightingale nor
cuckoo clock nor tic toc tic toc tic toc nor geriatric nor vanity
record label owner nor downwardtransposer-Hochfinancier-conductor-
doubleintendant-baritenor-voicecompetitor-crossoverpimp-moviemogul-
realestatemagnate-restaurateur-sexsymbol-playboy-jetsetter (all in
one and one for all and all in a night) nor married to one nor lazy
nor lovely nor beloved nor shrinking violet nor daddy's lil' lass nor
mystic nor myth nor minimalist nor hyperbole nor Überfeminist nor
Konzept nor symbolism nor ying nor yang nor Dreams and Fables nor
metaphysics nor philosopher ("Philosophier' Er nicht, Herr
Schatz...") nor scholar (nor pretender) nor didact nor pedant nor
peasant nor lecturer nor soapbox preacher nor symposium nor
musicologist nor composer (you know, like Callas who wrote all them
masterpieces now falsely ascribed to one Bellini, one Donizetti, and
one other Verdi) nor paladin of the glorious avant-garde nor ostinato
nor experiment nor rarity rat nor rat tat tat nor archaeologist nor
room temperature nor Sponsored By Talbots nor Anglican Service nor
Vivaldi postcard nor Handel MBA [opera's answer to the 80s business
phenomenon --- everyone has one --- but look, ma, they is droppin'
like flies!] nor Britten Ph.D. nor Janácek Nobel Prize nor stunt nor
parody nor caricature nor Hallmark Card nor Disney nor Ozzie &
Harriett nor Will & Grace nor smiley face nor horseface nor humor
monger (in any event, not the shtick you grew up with) nor camp nor
marketing-promo tramp nor cliché nor slogan nor acronym nor t®ademark
nor image-chaser nor sensation-seeker nor Eurogarbage nor ez-
listenin' nor pleasure ride nor automatic cruise control nor
sentiment-al nor cripple nor married to one nor victim nor tearjerker
nor nostalgia trip nor tourist trap nor good-cause nor fund-raiser
(so to speak) nor social worker nor United Way nor Red Cross nor
Katie Couric nor Walk For A Cure nor We Are The World nor Sound Of
Music nor Under the Stars nor Over The Rainbow nor Rainbow Coalition
nor Summertime nor Supper Time (nice tunes if you can) nor vanilla
nor cheeze-whiz nor fruit salad nor cotton candy nor apple pie nor
melba toast nor peaches in double cream nor café au lait nor cinnamon
roll nor dark chocolate nor civil/human rights centerfold nor gulag
survivor nor married to one nor refugee nor married to one nor UN
Ambassador nor married to one nor member of any one precious special
interest group (you know who and what you are) n-o-r m-a-r-r-i-e-d t-
o o-n-e n-o-r s-t-r-a-t-e-g-i-c-a-l-l-y w-e-d-d-e-d (you know who and
what you are) nor politician nor married to one nor inter-national
political crisis parasite nor ad-minister of propaganda nor
grassroots peace activist (you do know, don't you, that them ancient
favourite warhorses of yours composed by Bach and Beethoven and
Brahms and Schubert and Schumann and Wagner and Liszt were explicitly
AND implicitly inspired by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict --- or
even better, by the epicentric causes of Israel, Zionism, and of
Universal Jewry --- everything, and we mean everything, seems to
revolve around this Axis, no? --- ask Mehta and Señor Honorario und
Tolerant Barenboim --- by the by, in a recent Chicago program of Hugo
Wolf's Lieder, the "Great Jewish Musician" [and we thought it un-
Klezmer to allude to the man's other career] in harmony with his
German/Christian sub-ordinates – a "physically handicapped baritone"
and an "underpitch soprano" (see "Kubiak, David") (the soprano is one
Angela Denoke, whose disastrous Fidelio Leonore at the Salzburg
Easter Festival of 2003 under Sir Simon will surely have to be
patched by the studio wizards before the "Please-Save-EMI" hype
campaign unfolds) - were heard "r-e-c-l-a-i-m-i-n-g the true meaning
of the 'heilge Deutsches Kunst'" --- again, see "Kubiak, David" ---
kindly note, please, that no one else before `GJM & Co. GmbH' had
accomplished nearly as much, and in a mere evening --- but we live n'
learn --- now we know that Herr Wolf wrote his songs inspired by
populations everywhere holding hands - to promote future handholding.
But Wolf was more than that – he was gracious and generous, which
stands as a synonym for: in addition to reaffirming the existence
[and illegal expansion] of Israel, he also sought to reaffirm the
existence of a specific sexual-orientation population --- and all
this, ladies and gentlemen, for a song) ---
where were we?, ah yes --- nor married to one nor Adler Fella nor
Crayola Opera Program alumna nor Karajan-Harnoncourt-Cardiff-
VeraRosza-Schwarzkopf-Ludwig-Auger-GeorgeLondon-RichieTucker-
BelleSilverman-Albanese-Horne-Scotto-vonStade-Heggie groupie nor
traveler along the Anglo Silk Road --- the LandOfOz-
BerlinStaatsoperUDL-LaMonnaie-ENO-Glyndebourne-NYCO-Glimmerglass-
StLouis-SantaFe-SanDiego-DallasO-HoustonGO-FloridaGO-WashingtonO-n-
such workshop ghettoes.


[Imagine, if you dare.]


E-N-V-Y = D-E-S-T-R-U-C-T-I-O-N
but
S-I-L-E-N-C-E = D-E-A-T-H


Enter into the equation the contemptibly stupid (discerning,
discerning) audiences who (wanted to and still do) believe everything
they read...and voilà, the science gives the (false) i-m-p-r-e-s-s-i-
o-n of yielding the expected (forced) hubris. Then add the ones who
stayed away from attending these artists' performances because they
were simply told to do so (in so many words). Never mind the c-o-w-a-
r-d-s who n-e-v-e-r attended, self-admittedly, but who later saw
fit to publish obituaries passing for legitimate eyewitness report
{BIDU SAYAO, 1902-1999 BRAZILIAN SOPRANO BROUGHT SPARKLE TO
MET / "The Boston Globe" / Author: Richard Dyer / Date: 19.03.1999 /
Section: Living (?) Arts}(again, check out "Maestros of the Pen: A
History of Classical Music Criticism in America", 1998, by Mark N.
Grant, and see if you can spot "Dyer, Richard"). Never mind the h-y-p-
o-c-r-i-t-e-s who, in addition to prematurely and irresponsibly
issuing death certificates (see "Davis, Peter G."), years later were
caught with their pants down performing auto-erotica to the tune
of "Returns Triumphant!" (see "Davis, Peter G."). Little wonder
many ceased listening --- and begin listening with others' ears and
without their own little heads and hearts they did. But leave it to
the bloodless (and if you don't have blood you don't need a heart and
if you don't have blood you will find yourself thirsty, very thirsty,
guaranteed) - it is in fact their exclusive province - to accomplish
such feats. No, they were/are neither Maria nor Renata nor Renata nor
Joan nor Leonie nor Gwyneth nor Anja --- impeccable vocalists that
they were --- and why should they be? --- Take the particularly
complex case of a fascinatingly complex yet elemental yet thoroughly
modern, and yet not, artist...Cheryl Studer --- was/is the backlash
really for l-a-c-k o-f q-u-a-l-i-t-y, for l-a-c-k o-f a-r-t-i-s-t-i-c
w-o-r-t-h, for l-a-c-k o-f t-e-m-p-e-r-a-m-e-n-t, for l-a-c-k o-f p-e-
r-s-o-n-a-l-i-t-y?

A decade or so later there is a pregnant, pulsating and penetrating
sense of panic and fatigue among critics, industry folk, and fanatics
(naughty word but only and only when linked with you-know-who) alike,
most shockingly noticeable within the gated communities of the old
and the jaded, who can be heard loudly cheerleading anyone (and we
mean anything)....


[....as long as their names are n-o-t Cheryl Studer.]


[God Willing.]


[And yet more Enchantment/Jubilation courtesy of the
Panacea/Schadenfreude of Cheryl Studer-Free Zones/Ground Zeroes.]


[Sternstunde.]


[God Willing.]


[Young Ones - Do not be duped by the hollow enthusiasms of the age ---
ever seen a sad clown playing happy?]


[But now, oh today....Music and Art....or rather, what passes for
it....and every new product or stage appearance tossed our way by the
Star System we hate to love (certainly a system long preceding but
fatally ran to the ground by the quasi-empty rhetoric and prissiness
of political correctness run amok and afoul, and the Gestapo-like
censorship tactics of the instinct/thought-control police, in concert
with the 'World Music Congress' - the Rudases, the Breslins, the Sire
Jonases, the Mehtas, the Holenders (whose nose is long and arrogant
enough to sniff all the way to the Volksoper and as far as Berlin),
the Levines, the Maazels, the Heymanns, the Previns, the self-
professed rap-music fans of the world (see "von Dohnányi, Christoph" -
-- Uncle must be spinning in his ashes --- ladies and gentlemen, more
often than we are led to believe, death CAN be in vain), The Due(tto)
or Three or Four or Five or Six or Seven Whores - we are losing
count -, Best Friends & Co. Inc. Ltd. S.A. GmbH –-- the Ozawas and the
Gergievs too (following in the goosesteps, in the like-minded Grand
Gestures of Mehta and Maazel, Valery and Seiji would rather
accommodate [and have] the Blind n' Pop(ular) Lounge Singer than the
likes of Gorchakova --- yes, to this level we have sunk) are prime
shareholders (and puppets) in this repugnant jUdErEi – (that's right)
- i.e., by the Wish-Upon-a-Star System of Bocelli, of course, or
Hampson (now pretty much an undisputed by-the-book Straussian,
Wagnerian a-n-d ...hear hear...Verdian...of Stature, don't you know?)
or the Alagnas (f-a-k-e recordings of Verdi's -Trovatore- for Sire
Tony/EMI and Bizet's - Carmen-, also for Sire-to-be Whoever/EMI ---
Grecian Approximation No. XXVI - we have lost count - has yet to sing
Leonora or Carmen where it counts) or the other Bocelli and Michael
Bolton comrade, Fleming....well, all of it h-a-s sudden Meaning and
Necessity, so the public relationists tell us....the Magic courtesy,
n-e-i-t-h-e-r because of especially great voices nor exceptional
interpretive wills nor because of bona fide personalities n-o-r
because of remotely acceptable n-e-w music, but because:

NUMBER 1: their names are n-o-t Cheryl Studer

and

NUMBER 2: ...*in good portion and out of proportion* due to the
PromoOp-Catchpenny that has become 9.11 and its aftermath --- a
monstrous crime monstrously debased by the Infernal Spinning Wheel of
opportunism and commerce and avarice and mayhem and revenge and
murder (widely disguised as justice) --- a tragedy now symbiotically
hijacked to peddle everything from Arms Races to Military Buildups to
Far Right-ism (see "Sharon, Ariel" --- how come we don't hear strings
of consistently shrill High Cs crying for h-i-s removal and disposal
of h-i-s (that is, ours) Weapons Of Mass Destruction --- the latest
government double-standard/media buzzword and insult to our dignity
and intelligence --- this time, however, we applaud Barenboim for
being practically the only one playing FIDDLE ON THE ROOT of the
problem) to Nationalism to Patriotism to Requiems to Anglo-Zionist
Terrorism --- the latter conducted both musically and extra-
curricularly, most prominently with (critical mass-destruction) Heavy-
Metal made in the squeaky clean U.S. of A. and paid for with y-o-u-r
humble American tax dollar (as if you had a choice) and the blood of
y-o-u-r sons and daughters. --- So why won't Israel and its
Business/Washington lobbyists fight their next
door neighbors, which include Iraq and now Syria and Iran, all by
themselves and with t-h-e-i-r o-w-n currency and leave us all a-l-
o-n-e a-n-d i-n p-e-a-c-e?]

[Consequently, would that t-h-e o-t-h-e-r terrorists (for there
are two sets) went home too.]

[Did we fail to add that the terrorists need the U.S. as much as the
U.S. needs them?]

[As it turns out, no other country --- no other --- is as arrogant,
as infantile, as selfish, as bellicose, as disrespectful, as
insulting, as pervasively poisonous, as dubious, as abusive, as
destructive, and as dangerous as the USA (in "universal" coalition
with its satellites: its former occupier the UK and the UK-occupied
Palestine, Israel). And we mean militarily, economically,
politically, diplomatically, spiritually, culturally, and
philosophically – about the latter five, it is the stuff of
bankruptcy courts and all are on equal footing. Sviatoslav Richter
knew (better yet, f-e-l-t) this and never came back. So did Brigitte
Fassbaender. Terrible.]


[In other words, and in some order or other of appearance...


NO MORE BLOOD FOR `THE NEW AMERICAN CENTURY'
NO MORE BLOOD FOR THE WILLIAM KRISTOLS
NO MORE BLOOD FOR THE PAUL WOLFOWITZES
NO MORE BLOOD FOR THE ALAN GREENSPANS
NO MORE BLOOD FOR THE JOE LIEBERMANS (er, THE JOHN KERRYS)
NO MORE BLOOD FOR THE LEFT-WING JEWISH LOBBY
NO MORE BLOOD FOR THE LEFT-OF-CENTER JEWISH LOBBY
NO MORE BLOOD FOR THE CENTERED JEWISH LOBBY
NO MORE BLOOD FOR THE RIGHT-OF-CENTER JEWISH LOBBY
NO MORE BLOOD FOR THE RIGHT-WING JEWISH LOBBY
NO MORE BLOOD FOR SHARON'S SANDBOX
NO MORE BLOOD FOR THE RIGHT-WING CHRISTIAN LOBBY
(Surprise of surprises --- The ever-clever Jews
have contrived to ingratiate themselves with this
segment as well, among all the others)
NO MORE BLOOD FOR THE DICK CHENEYS
NO MORE BLOOD FOR THE DONALD RUMSFELDS
NO MORE BLOOD FOR THE JOHN ASHCROFTS
NO MORE BLOOD FOR ARROGANCE
NO MORE BLOOD FOR OIL
NO MORE BLOOD FOR VENGEANCE
NO MORE BLOOD FOR THE TONY BLAIRS
NO MORE BLOOD FOR THE MARIONETTE/MINSTREL ACTS OF
Sir COLIN POWELL, Dame CONDOLEEZA RICE, and
Sir KOFFI ANNAN]


[Discuss, if you dare.]


[About the new studio-product ('tis is what we call them fakery, no?)
from EMI ---IDOMENEO---, we have read puff like "a recording that n-
e-e-d-e-d to be made." --- after all, it contains the antipodean
missionary of all things English, Sir Charles; British Will o' Wisp
Bostridge; the Bocelli collaborator Frittoli; and, to top it all, the
New (Age) Callas – the organically-grown, FDA approved, anodyne,
pastel, drab as damp cardboard, and dull as fishwater, LetItRain Hunt
(hyphen – I married a techie with composer pretensions + I too have a
little Sob Story in circulation - what is yours?) Lieberson. But do
not for a second believe the ad-men....for this product is yet more
of the ho-hum variety.]

[And don't forget that LetItRain is an "a-r-t-i-s-t", sensitive and
musical - albeit a very very VERY part-time one - but please
understand that very very VERY few others are as musical, let alone
sensitive and artistic].

[About the GRAMMY®-winning but not-so-new DECCA ---COCKSUCKER BLUES---
, we have read fluff like "A New F-i-r-s-t L-a-d-y of Bel Canto -
Renée Fleming very nearly manages to shake the insistent ghost of
Maria Callas." (see "http://www.andante.com") --- But we are neither
deaf nor naïve nor stupid. You see, n-e-v-e-r e-v-e-r f-o-r-g-e-t,
we insist, that sopranos of the caliber of Cheryl and Maria (to name
but two), frayed of voice and heart or not, n-e-v-e-r e-v-e-r s-t-o-o-
p-e-d this low (below the navel) in the style department. But after
all, the new product (foreplayed in a studio some years ago but not
ejaculated for another 2 or 3) is being cart-wheeled under a neon
sign that reads "bel canto" (yes, in lowercase and with the 'b'
dangling), complete with a $2 rebate incentive b-e-l-o-w its already
reduced repo artistic value - ya know, in the manner of the stereo-
typical toupéed and polyester-clad used-car salesman – breathy,
cajoling, cheap, cheesy, insincere, sleazy, slimy, slippery, sticky --
in that order – and that's the singing -- a raw deal -- a lemon. Hard
to swallow, ain't it?]

----------------------------

IF YO NO KEEP `EM ENTERTAIN' N' DISTRACTED N' IGNORANT N' PLACID(O),
WHO GONNA FIGH' YO WARS?


Blue-Collar/Working-Class Cheap Labor (and the aesthetics, or lack
of, of --- but why stop there? --- how about the absolute absence of
artistic acumen? --- see "Flanigan, Lauren" - see "Radvanovsky,
Sondra" - see "Goerke, Christine" – see "Makarina, Olga"-
- see "Guleghina, Maria" - see "Queler, Eve" – see "Oren, Daniel" –
see "Chaslin, Frédéric" - see "Eastern Europeans" – see "the little
touring companies that could") and Blitzkrieg-style Public Relations
and Marketing have been summoned to the cause of salvaging something
or other from the debris of these self-appointed arbiters/stewards of
taste [tastes ranging from (Z)ubin to Purcell to Kirkby to (A)nalSex –
the rawer the longer the harder the faster the deeper the sooner the
better] and self-avowed "opera/music lovers'" own making. And thus
have the armies of businessmen landed, triumphantly, with portfolios
chock-full with the losers, the useless, the amateurs, the
dilettantes, the pedigree-less, the unaccomplished, the homo-geneous,
the vocally faceless, the emaciated, the pretty, the photogenic, the
grotesque too, the church rodents, the H.I.P.-voiced, the H.I.P.-
mannered, the pedigree-less, the correct, the obedient, the mega-
amplified, the firefighters, the policemen, the heroes, the
construction workers, the factory slaves, the custodians, the
industrial quality, the white trash, the divas next door; the divas
next door with the cute children as gimmicks; the divas next door who
are so nice and behave so well and who must reassure us about it; the
divas next door who seek psychotherapy and then have the distaste to
announce it; the vedettes next door who love all that jazz and then
scat and squat through e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g that is European a-n-d
Classical and not --- but then, in music that requires precisely
that, the phlegm gets in the way of that thang called swing; the
divas next door who thrive on wrestling, meatloaf, and fish n' chips -
-- and look and sound it; the garish mansions next door who marry
well, transgenderly; the divas next door who, although already in
their 40s and beyond, must appease us by "taking baby steps to
protect their voices" and who swear that that's why they will still
be in their prime in extreme old age; the divas next door who swear
we will want to hear them then; the optically challenged, the
physically handicapped, the sob stories, more sob stories, the
victims, the politics of victimhood,
the politics of sexual orientation, the politics of identity, the
politics of race, the politics of reverse racism, the politics of we-
are-holier-than-thou, the politics of lifestyle, the politics of
triviality, the politics of image, the politics of artifice, the
politics of banality, the politics of favoritism, the politics of
partisanship, the politics of corruption, the politics of indecency,
the politics of Puritanism, the politics of fleecing, the politics of
the willing, the politics of "coalition", the politics of crass
deception, the politics of the willful, the politics of oppression
disguised as liberation, the politics of extracurricular social
agendas, the politics of inadequacy, the politics of "The American
Peepole," the politics of dumbing-down, the politics of the lowest
possible common denominator, the pedigree-less, the pedigree-less,
the pedigree-less, and yet more of that. And some more sob stories.
And not to be missed: the Teddy Bears (think of – well not really,
since you can't – the vocal troubles, the gross embarrassments of
stunt-ed live programs - everything from Beg Your Indulgences to
Public Regrets to Tosti to Walkouts - from, for instance, Juan
Dieguito Flórez, the Brightman/Bocelli/Church/Sissel-comrade Domingo,
the other Sissel and Bocelli comrade-in-arms Terfel, and Heppner – no
matter - the insulted audiences correspond to their own cheating with
tears and Standing Os --- but no surprise here, for it is nothing but
another perversion of our desensitized, demoralized, diseased,
frivolous, diluted, confused, and vulgar days.)

FUCK ME

Even Joseito Carreras became the object of one of these
demonstrations - and this in the enlightened and improved and newly
innocent and important again (or so it goes) Salzburg of the summer
of two-thousand-and-two-After-Christ --- to you that's 20+ years
since the Spaniard lost IT --- or almost a quarter century riding on
the [petty]coattails of his own sob story).

HARDER PLEASE

On the opposite receiving end we read the quasi-ecstatic notices on
behalf of Merola-ite but no one's conception of sound vocalism (until
now, mysteriously), Luana DeVol.


And thus today's so-called "A-List" (really, nothing but a paid
announcement transmitted by the "Ass-ociated Press"), the P®ops, the
Pops, the Popp Clones (she of the intellectual and revisionist and
hyperkonzeptual and seminal and monumentally popular programs, right
Sir Peter?), the Grümmer Clones, the Callas Clones, the Tebaldi
Clones, the Sutherland Wannabes, the Steber Clones, the Schwarzkopf
Clones, the Sarah Vaughan Clones, the Price Clones, the Janowitz
Clones, the Freni Wannabes, the Janet Baker Clones, the
Fischer-Dieskau Clones, the Furtwñngler Clones, the Cut n' Paste
Composites --- poor, pitiful
facsimiles a-l-l ---, the Little Names, the Wannabes, the Crossover
Hustlers, the Bubblegum, the New Age Mongrels, the Postmoderns, the
Postmortems, the Multiculturalists, the Community Initiatives, the
Soundbites, the Marketing Love Couples/Traumpaars (in the tradition
of Peter n' Ben, Sir Peter n' Sancta Lucia, Galina n' Misha, Richard
n' Joan, Edita n' Friedrich, Dietrich n' Julia, Anja n' Wieland,
Christoph n' Anja, Christa n' Walter, Walter n' Elisabeth, Maria n'
Ari, Plácido n' Marta, Nicoletta n' Luciano [we have lost count], now
we have Arnold n' Maria, Peter n' Petra, Angela n' Roberto, Mia n'
André, André n' Anne-Sophie --- by the widest and longest possible
stretch of the imagination, her greatest career move since Karajan
and since commissioning two or three (m)utterly charmless and
obsolete b-u-t oh-so-rigorous! works for fiddle), the Exquisite, the
Divine, the Fabulous, the Delicious, the Magnificent, the Paramount,
the Fantabulous, and the Little Labels That Could all have it
relatively easy in comparison to that preceding generation. And the
critical standards --- what standards? - whose? – of what era? ---
have reformed, or rather, have doubled and tripled....But injury is
often prone to insult. Hell, standards have liquified and then
evaporated vis a vis the new generation. It is no longer Sound Music
Criticism but Lowest-Common-Denominator Public Relations Spin [and
much worse: the fixation with that elusive something known as
technique --- technique and organization and perfection as ends in
themselves: music-making as athletic match: missing the forest for
the trees --- but this is another angle for another day – or is it?].
So much so that it has become strangely and suddenly k-o-s-h-e-r once
more (Jesus!, how many more times are we going to hear about market
over-saturation?) to make records [and k-o-s-h-e-r again to be
an "American Opera Singer"] (Remember when you and I were advised [or
should we say advertised?] to please r-e-j-e-c-t, swiftly and
wholesale, them records [or anything containing Cheryl Studer --- or,
for that matter, any, and we mean any attempt at open discourse on
her art? --- Do you remember the longstanding efforts amounting to a
campaign to discredit the lady and her work? --- Must you be made
aware of the pall hovering over the mere mention of her name in some
circles? --- You do not need to be told, do you?, of the air-tight
atmosphere surrounding the lady's name, tantamount to Can-Do-No-
Right – not then, not now --- Have you forgotten the p-r-e-v-e-n-t-i-
o-n measures taken by the taste/censorship police in these forums in
order to curtail all possibility of even the minutest measure
whiffing of favourable discourse on her art?] --- Oh, you know the
litany --- something about digital and generalized and faked and
frigid and manufactured and calibrated and illusory and phony and
phoned-in and un-necessary and un-fair and in-competent and in-
personal and contrived and in-experienced and un-felt and in-
expressive and ex-pensive and un-popular and over-exposed and under
the note and un-communicative and dull and null and sterile and
perfect and flawed and clinical and precise and international
(curiously, we hardly read such venom spouted at failed-serialist-
turned-serial-partitur-surgeon Pierre Boulez) (and yes, yet again our
bladders burst open --- consider that these traditionally liberal-
anythinggoes-wandering-international minorities are the same ones
seen n' heard wailing like widows over the caskets of
national/regional styles --- but *try* telling them *that* --- try
telling them that their notion of musical-personalities-and-music-
making-as-china-doll has come unglued and undone --- finished --- or
ought to be) and this and that and that and this - beautiful even -
artistic even - you know, the toxic byproduct of uncontained
Kapitalismus - the same Kapitalismus, isn't it?, that gave us such
goodies as Meyerbeer Halévy & Sons, penicillin, Bocelli & Sons, cheap
sentiments, more penicillin, Alan `my-competence-includes-championing-
the-OJ-Simpson-cause-and-the-case-FOR-torture-but-as-a-Jew'
Dershowitz, more penicillin, the Holocash, the Armenian, Russian, and
Chinese Holocausts no one *and we mean no one* made an Industry of,
the current Holocaust under our noses in Congo no one hears or cares
about, Convenience Dictatorships, convenience stores, preservatives,
PCPs, cigarettes, cancer, sunglasses, sunblock, suntanning, more
cancer, opera glasses, the megaphone, the horn, the microphone, the
photograph, the ("fideistic" and most pleasurable) Mapleson
cylinders, maple syrup, Marston Records, naXos, the phonograph, the
light bulb, gaslight, lamps, shades, nostalgia, animated pictures,
the telegraph, the typewriter, carbon paper, the telephone, the
clock, the metronome, the pitch fork, the antenna, the satellite
dish, the radio, the television, bandwidth, TV dinners, the
calculator, the metric system, calendars, famine, feast, walkie-
talkies, headphones, headsets, X-rays, MRIs, cat-scans, night vision
goggles, Google, Usenet, Yahoo, beepers, intercoms, elevators,
escalators, bicycles, stationary bicycles, stationery, faster trains,
the automobile, the jet plane, motorbikes, snowmobiles, surfboards,
skateboards, rollerblades, ice skates, rollercoasters, houses of
horror, houses of cards, houses of mirrors, Martha Stewart, Wal-Mart,
Jerry Springer, NASCAR, The Vagina Monologues, Cori Ellison, Anne
Midgette, Manuela Hoelterhoff, the efforts to erode the composition
and sound and culture of the Vienna Philharmonic (in the manner of
your favourite American Affirmative Action country club or of your
favourite International-sounding ensemble), trailer parks, fast food,
junk food, malnutrition, gluttony, obesity, anorexia nervosa,
nervousness, bulimia, lawn mowers, snow blowers, vacuum cleaners,
detergents, mops, brooms, dust pans, rags, sponges, shags, wigs,
afros, mini-skirts, bellbottoms, platform shoes, pajamas, lingerie,
bikinis, stockings, lava lamps, disco, beat poetry, grunge, turbos,
sedans, vans, buses, minibuses, limousines, tanks, bulldozers,
canoes, motor boats, sail boats, battleships, submarines, B52s, F16s,
space shuttles, robots, rockets, missiles, bombs, stealth bombers,
torpedoes, landmines, telescopes, Star Wars, Nuclear Races, Weapons
of Mass Destruction, Agent Orange, palm trees, palm pilots, Napalm,
Nepal, Free Tibet, Save the Whales, note pads, Post-Its, Hiroshima,
Dresden, Vietnam (to name but a few of these insignificant mishaps,
right?), MOABs (about the testing in mid-March of 2003 of such
destructive a WMD in Florida, USA --- about the latest sham, that of
Schwarzenegger in California, USA --- that either fiasco failed to
generate as much environmental, moral, philosophical and whatnot
concerns all around as a photo-op, says everything we need to know
about the collective swamp we are), Apaches, Indian Reservations,
indians, cowboys, Kleenex (we often cultivate and later spoon-feed
you the Sob Stories but we also arm you with the tissue to wipe out
the tears --- all on OUR terms), duct tape, gas masks, mascara,
cosmetics, perfumes, Tammy Faye Baker, Mary Kay, Pink Cadillacs,
Tupperware, bingo, lotteries, the welfare system, WICs, Vegas,
Niagara Falls, casinos, Elvis, brilliantine, Crisco, hairspray, hair
dryers, exhaust fumes, exhaustion, stimulants, sleep deprivation,
sedatives, alcoholism, depression, depleted Ozone layers, synthetic
fibers, fiberoptics, boxing, wrestling, rugby, frying bacon, monaural
sound, analog tech, reel-to-reels, 8-tracks, the cassette, the LP,
stereo systems, stereo sound, surround sound, boom boxes, faxes,
paper clips, nail clippers, paper shredders, photocopiers, laser
printers, overnight mail, the (unfortunate and devastating to the
testimonials of a vast majority of contemporary artists) digital
technology, the PC, laptops, lapdogs, hot dogs, alarm clocks,
wristwatches, dishwashers, ice boxes, refrigerators, toasters, ovens,
microwave ovens, food processors, blenders, the CD, SACD, the
walkman, the minidisc, the famous (pitch re-engineered) Richter CD-
ROMs, the (disgracefully influential, sound-engineering-bag-of-tricks-
wise) Anglo/Judeo DECCA/Culshaw/Solti Ring, MTV, commercial
infrastructures, eBay, Spam, frozen French fries, burnt-thin-weak
American coffee, diners, Java, Starbucks, generators, engines,
batteries, bartering, butter, department stores, super stores,
supermarkets, mega stores, shopping malls, strip malls,
overdevelopment, superstores, parking lots, overspending, high debt,
low savings, high crime, rampant violence, credit cards, more credit
cards, Carte Blanche (for some --- you know who and what you are),
bonus points, more fleecing, fees, fees, fees everywhere, more
penicillin, toothpaste, toothpicks, magazines, annual reports, filing
cabinets, paper paper paper everywhere, papered halls, confetti, more
paper shuffling, bureaucracies, red tape, yellow ribbons,
deforestation, tourism, eco-tourism, Chevron/Texaco, Tibet, Mt.
Everest, B&Bs, R&B, hotels, hostels, motels, park benches, jacuzzis,
T-lifts, plastic surgery, breast implants, Vail, Viagra, ski resorts,
Park Ave., Madison Ave., boulevards, summer homes, increasingly short
vacations, ice cream, cotton candy, cotton balls, Q-tips, ear plugs,
The Boston Pops, more wallpaper, formica, wood paneling, pop tarts,
lollipops, soda pop, pop psychology, popcorn, corn flakes, vitamins,
herbs, steroids, gymnasiums, hoola-hoops, pinballs, Chinese checkers,
yo-yos, Yo-Yo Ma, Tan Dun, John Williams, Bobby McFerrin, PBS, Yanni,
yet more wallpaper, more penicillin please, jams, jelly, jell-o, J-
Lo, day-glo, go-go, psychedelia, fans, air conditioning, wallpaper,
Vivaldi, The Four Seasons, 600+ variations on a theme, silk flowers,
plastic flowers, fake spring water, faux marble, faux fur, faux
leather, animal rights, stuffed animals, andante.com, 12,000 other
music websites, the pirates, special effects, the VHS, HTML, the WWW,
Apples, Windows, ATMs, FTD, LSD, FTC, IMF, DNA, UPS, the cell phone,
the LD, the DVD, MP3s, HMV, Opera In The Original (that's English to
you, naturally and perennially), survivor shows, SUVs, BMWs, VWs,
IRAs, 401Ks, BBQs, bb guns, water coolers, televised war crimes,
video games, Andy Warhol, instant soup, instant gratification,
Instant Opera, Opera For All (a noble Konzept but it's just that
the "critical masses" ain't there any longer...nor do they care to
be), Shock n' Awe, more penicillin, Toys r' Us, CNN operas, soap, soap
operas, Oprah, Howard Stern, more penicillin, Hollywood blockbusters,
Hollywood stereotyping (but seldom of "their own" --- you know who
and what you are), Jewish Racism (an issue of semantics, for we
hardly dare call it what it is), more penicillin, Sellars Konwitschny
Neuenfels Beito Wilson & Zambello, yet more penicillin, El Niño,
septic tanks, latrines, toilet stalls, more penicillin, yet more
Regietheater, yet more penicillin, graffiti, tattoos, wax, S&M, M&Ms,
teflon, styrofoam, disposable incomes, tax loopholes, tax havens,
creative accounting, ENRON, insurance scams, for-profit health care,
nannies, nurseries, nursing homes, retirement communities, inner-city
squalor, overpriced sneakers, gangs, segregation, not-in-my-backyard
liberals, For-God-and-Country right-wingers, country clubs,
fraternities, underpaid overseas labor, economies of scale, ever
widening income gaps, The Gap, GNP, NASA, the NASDAQ, the NYSE, all
out grossness, waste dumps, twisted metal, scrap heaps, junkyards,
scaffolds, the ENO, more penicillin, karaoke, red light districts,
peep shows, more penicillin, laxatives, aspirin, contraceptives,
antacids, the legal and illegal drug culture, the corner drugstore,
super drugstores, syringes, methadone, band-aids, prophylactics, test
tube babies, petri dishes, no culture, bagels, pretzels, lox, hummus,
Hummers, hybrids, Vilar gardens, Vilar foyers, Vilar lobbying, Vilar
titles, Vilar entitlements, Vilar foreclosures, Vilar defaults, Vilar
promises, skyscrapers, corporate-filtered news and op-eds, supply and
no demand, no supply and demand, overflow, overlap, overhead,
exaggerated price markups, unpaid overtime labor, the cheapest labor
since slavery and then bread --- the Economy of Volunteerism, the
Economy of Temporary Labor, outsourcing, more fleecing, multitasking,
micromanaging, compartmentalization, specialization (and yet today we
celebrate in the best way we can, posthumously, the versatility,
repertory escapades and consistently diamantine vocalism, yes?, of a
century+ ago of, say, the immortal [and Jewess] Lilli Lehmann or, for
that matter, of anyone – provided their last name is not Studer ---
and for that matter, how many of you experienced either one where it
counts?), teleconferencing, telemarketing, wireless technology (but
what are we really communicating?), multimedia, microchips, silicon
(perhaps all that sand in the Middle East, which includes Israel,
could be put to good use – BLOOD FOR SAND? --- nah, not worth it),
underutilized solar energy, superhighways, software, hardware,
peripherals, acoustically enhanced opera houses and concert halls,
euphemisms, masked balls, virtual reality, cloning, artificial
intelligence, Callas martyrs, more penicillin, Caruso, Ponselle,
Callas, more Callas, more penicillin, Flagstad, Nilsson, more EMI
Callas re-re-re-re-re-regurgitations, more penicillin, yet more Sony
Glenn Gould re-re-re-re-re-compilations, yet more penicillin, yet
more Vladimir Horowitz re-re-re-re-re-releases, yet more penicillin --
- and of course, the same Kapitalismus that has transmitted the Oh So
Long Anticipated, Oh So Very Important and, at last!, Oh So Necessary
EWIGE WELTKULTURERBE belonging to, for example and randomly,
Pavarotti's new excremental release (the Pop album), Bocelli,
Cecilia, Bryn, Barenboim, Zubin `I owe my spectacles to the Jews'
Mehta, Petra-Maria, E-di-ta! E-di-ta! E-di-ta!, LetItRain, Beverly,
Sir Simon, Ozawa, Renée, Gergiev, Galina, Neil, Aprile Millo [these
days (that is, when she is not excusing herself to audiences or
performing in restaurants) reduced - or is it enhanced? – to croon,
pathetically and below the note, opposite Danny Boy The 9.11 NYPD
Singin' Cop], Alessandra, Grace, Shirley, Jessye, von Otter,
Schñfer, "Marilyn Monroe Purr" and "Broadway Casting Agent's Dream"
Debbie (see "Ross, Alex" and "Tommasini, Anthony" respectively) - (a
f-a-k-e recording of R. Strauss' -Friedenstag- for Sinopoli/DGG ---
"...Deborah Voigt's Maria...was in fact dubbed in after the
recording was completed, after the original soprano had dropped
out...." -'Fanfare', Sep/Oct 2002, p. 214), Cathy, Kathy, Jane,
Ruthie Ann!, "Veteran Wagnerian" Karita (see CareerHomo-turned-critic-
turned-promoter "Tommasini, Anthony") - (a f-a-k-e recording of
Schoenberg's -Gurrelieder- for Sire Simon/EMI -
http://andante.com/magazine/article.cfm?id=17979),
Violeta (a f-a-k-e recording of Poncielli's –Gioconda- for Sir-to-be
Viotti/EMI – Urmana has yet to sing Gioconda where it counts (and
neither has her Spanish-Fly cohort as Enzo) – but at least she is
still in possession of her renowned italianitÓ and coloratura
abilities, yes?, sufficient to render her a Favorite of critics and
maybe, just maybe, to secure some paltry "Please-Save-EMI" sales),
Waltraud - and much much more) ----- for naXos, FARAO, Rare Opera,
Mom & Pop, even for Lucifer Classics. No matter.


[But......we are afraid it's t-o-o l-a-t-e --- because the
registers, they ain't ringin' (and all too often and in contradiction
to what we are led to believe, not just the cash ones). Regrets.]


3C. How exactly is naXos alleviating the crisis of overcrowding and
confusion among consumers? In opera titles alone, they have recorded
yet a-n-e-w: Boh

Name: paolo
Date: 04/30/2004 04:56:25 AM

Do you think that Opera / Classical Music is an elitist art form?
A Community Outreach Initiative, Part II

----------------------------

"In life, democracy.
In art, aristocracy."

--- Arturo Toscanini

----------------------------

3D. "Oh but it does mean something, it does", we say. So the "average
music lover" has become the barometer of quality and relevance?
Indeed they don't deserve Muti, Abbado, or Chailly (however much they
deserve the three-minute-aria-cum-top-ten-hit and however little they
give a dime or deserve whatever happens before and after the
goddamn Big Tune). And is the Hulun Hu Tympany Orchestra really
better than Amsterdam, Dresden, Berlin or Vienna? (although, truth be
told, too many of us have heard the Vienna, for one, play and sound
like a school of simians under the stick shift of a colonized and
assimilated but loyal to Queen Mum, and thus celebrated, Indian
cabbie).

3E. And Cheryl Studer, she's not one of the unwashed, is she? Were
they her contemporaries, would Mr. Heymann have singled out Callas,
Tebaldi, Sutherland, or Caballé, to name but a few, in his lowly,
opportunistic manner? After all, they were/are *Daughters Of
Lucifer*, to our benefit. Presumably naXos treats its "illustrious"
roster with more dignity, respect, and vocal support. Speaking of
vocal support, perhaps the crafty and clever Mr. Heymann is unaware
that *his own* Floria Tosca (Madame Nelly Miri-a-e-i-o-u --- "más
sabe el burro que tú") has reportedly bombed in this and other roles
numerous times in numerous places. However, these catastrophes have
failed to make a dent in the armory of the "cognoscenti" and their
media spokespeople, strangely. For those not "in the know", Madame M
is rumoured to be the Bastard Child of the Incestuous Union of the
Twins Callas and Heymann, now all grown and matured into a very 'Rare
Opera' singer complete with numerous fancifully edited recordings to
her name. No matter.

4. Many of us have heard naXos' Caruso edition (and not just naXos')
(mind you, not that the long-deceased tenor is remotely a Heymann
discovery/original --- and neither are --- not one --- any of the
others --- not one --- that Sir Heymann & Co. keep dumping as
remasterings upon this reverential but funereal shopping cart --- and
for the record, not one of Heymann's living artists –not one-
resembles a so-called personality or great voice). We have to wonder
what Mr. Heymann's authoritative producers and editors (and his Public
Relationists) would have made of the great man today
for violating at least a couple of standards of sound conduct such as
throat-clearing smack in the middle of a take and a glaring false
entry at the beginning of another? And what of the poor pianist?
Good God.

----------------------------

Considering the Grand Meltdown (not lacking the "Grand Manner" you so
prefer – or do you?) of new opera recordings (on Compact Disc alone?)
from the Universal Classics family of labels (DGG, DECCA,
Philips)....and now from Sony and EMI Classics too....let
us take a Long and Hard (as you like it) look at the following
repertorium ---

* Title role in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, rec 8/90, London SO,
Marin, Lucifer Classics

* Hanna Glawari in Lehar's Lustige Witwe, rec 1/94, Vienna PO,
Gardiner, Lucifer Classics

* Countess in Mozart's Nozze di Figaro, rec 1-2/94, Vienna PO,
Abbado, Lucifer Classics

* Countess in Mozart's Nozze di Figaro, rec 5/91, Vienna PO, Abbado,
Lucifer Classics

* Title role in Rossini's Semiramide, rec 7/92, London SO, Marin,
Lucifer Classics

* Florinda in Schubert's Fierrabras, rec 5/88, Chamber Orch of
Europe, Abbado, Lucifer Classics

* Title role in R. Strauss' Salome, rec 12/90, Deutsche Oper Berlin,
Sinopoli, Lucifer Classics

* Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto, rec 6/93, Metropolitan Opera, Levine,
Lucifer Classics

* Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto Act III, rec 9/91, Metropolitan Opera,
Levine, Lucifer Classics

* Desdemona in Verdi's Otello, rec 5/93, Opéra Bastille, Chung,
Lucifer Classics

* Violetta in Verdi's Traviata, rec 1/91, Metropolitan Opera, Levine,
Lucifer Classics

* Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhñuser, rec '88, Philharmonia, Sinopoli,
Lucifer Classics

* Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhñuser, rec '89, Bayreuth, Sinopoli,
Lucifer Classics

* Senta in Wagner's fliegende Hollñnder, rec 1/91, Deutsche Oper
Berlin, Sinopoli, Lucifer Classics

* Gutrune in Wagner's Götterdñmmerung, rec 5/89, Metropolitan Opera,
Levine, Lucifer Classics

* Title role in Floyd's Susannah, rec 3/94, Opéra de Lyon, Nagano,
Lucifer Classics

* Marguerite in Gounod's Faust, rec 2/91, Toulouse, Plasson, Lucifer
Classics

* Salomé in Massenet's Hérodiade, rec 11-12/94, Toulouse, Plasson,
Lucifer Classics

* Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni, rec 9/90, Vienna PO, Muti,
Lucifer Classics

* Konstanze in Mozart's Entführung aus dem Serail, rec 4/91, Vienna
Symphony, Weil, Lucifer Classics

* Queen of the Night in Mozart's Zauberflöte, rec 7/89, ASMF,
Marriner, Lucifer Classics

* Giulietta in Offenbach's Contes d'Hoffmann, rec 87/88/89, Dresden
Staatskapelle, Tate, Lucifer Classics

* Matilde in Rossini's Guglielmo Tell, rec 12/88, La Scala, Muti,
Lucifer Classics

* Madama Cortese in Rossini's Viaggio a Reims, rec 10/92, Berlin PO,
Abbado, Lucifer Classics

* Title role in Spohr's Jessonda, rec '84, ORF Orchestra, Albrecht,
Lucifer Classics

* Chrysothemis in R. Strauss' Elektra, rec 1/90, Bavarian RSO,
Sawallisch, Lucifer Classics

* Chrysothemis in R. Strauss' Elektra, rec 6/89, Vienna PO, Abbado,
Lucifer Classics

* Empress in R. Strauss' Frau ohne Schatten, rec 2-12/87, Bavarian
RSO, Sawallisch, Lucifer Classics

* Empress in R. Strauss' Frau ohne Schatten, rec '92, Vienna PO,
Solti, Lucifer Classics

* Title role in Verdi's Aida, rec 6/94, Covent Garden, Downes,
Lucifer Classics

* Odabella in Verdi's Attila, rec 6-7/89, La Scala, Muti, Lucifer
Classics

* Odabella in Verdi's Attila, rec 6/90, La Scala, Muti, Lucifer
Classics

* Elena in Verdi's Vespri Siciliani, rec 12/89-1/90, La Scala, Muti,
Lucifer Classics

* Drolla in Wagner's Die Feen, rec 7/83, Bavarian RSO, Sawallisch,
Lucifer Classics

* Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin, rec 6/90, Bayreuth, Schneider, Lucifer
Classics

* Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin, rec '90, Vienna PO, Abbado, Lucifer
Classics

* Eva in Wagner's Meistersinger, rec 4/93, Bavarian State Opera,
Sawallisch, Lucifer Classics

* Irene in Wagner's Rienzi, rec 7/83, Bavarian State Opera,
Sawallisch, Lucifer Classics

* Ortlinde in Wagner's Walküre, rec 8/81, Dresden Staatskapelle,
Janowski, Lucifer Classics

* Sieglinde in Wagner's Walküre, rec 2-3/88, Bavarian RSO, Haitink,
Lucifer Classics

* Zemlinsky's Der Geburtstagder Infantin, rec 83, Berlin RSO,
Albrecht, Lucifer Classics

* Coloratura Arias by Bellini (Sonnambula/Norma), Verdi
(Traviata/Trovatore), Donizetti (Lucia/Lucrezia Borgia), Rossini
(Barbiere/Semiramide), rec 4/89, Munich RSO, Ferro, Lucifer Classics

* Mozart Arias
(Entführung/Zauberflöte/Idomeneo/Nozze/Giovanni/Clemenza/Cosi), rec
9/89, ASMF, Marriner, Lucifer Classics

* R. Strauss' Vier Letzte Lieder/Wagner's Wesendonck-Lieder/Isolde's
Liebestod, rec 1/93, Dresden Staatskapelle, Sinopoli, Lucifer Classics

* Isolde's Liebestod, rec 1/88, Bavarian RSO, Tate, Lucifer Classics

* Wagner Gala (Tannhñuser/Lohengrin/Meistersinger/Walküre), rec
12/93, Berlin PO, Abbado, Lucifer Classics

* First Europakonzert - in Prague (Mozart: "Non mi dir"/"Ch'io mi
scordi di te-Non temer amato bene"), rec 5/91, Berlin PO, Abbado,
Lucifer Classics

* Covent Garden Gala (Otello/Traviata/Fledermaus), rec 7/88, Covent
Garden, Barker, Lucifer Classics

* Sacred Works
(Bach/Schubert/Mendelssohn/Handel/Mozart/Gounod/Faure/Poulenc/Bernstei
n/Bruch), rec 3/91, London SO, Marin, Lucifer Classics

* Samuel Barber Songs, rec 9/92, Browning (R.I.P.), Emerson String
Quartet, Lucifer Classics

* Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, rec 8/91, Vienna PO, Levine, Lucifer
Classics

* Beethoven in Berlin (Ah! Perfido/Choral Fantasy/Egmont), rec 12/91,
Berlin PO, Abbado, Lucifer Classics

* Brahms' German Requiem, rec 10/92, Berlin PO, Abbado, Lucifer
Classics

* Schubert Lieder, rec 1/90, Gage, Lucifer Classics

* Salzburg Recital (R. Strauss/Schubert/Debussy), rec 8/92, Gage,
Lucifer Classics

* Mahler's Klagende Lied, rec 11/90, Philharmonia, Sinopoli, Lucifer
Classics

* Mahler's Symphony No. 2, rec 11/92, Vienna PO, Abbado, Lucifer
Classics

* Mahler's Symphony No. 8, rec 11-12/90, Philharmonia, Sinopoli,
Lucifer Classics

* Mahler's Symphony No. 8, rec 1/94, Berlin PO, Abbado, Lucifer
Classics

* Verdi's Requiem, rec 6/87, La Scala, Muti, Lucifer Classics

* Verdi's Requiem, rec 11/91, Vienna PO, Abbado, Lucifer Classics

* Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, rec 4/89, Philadelphia Orchestra, Muti,
Lucifer Classics

* Bruckner's Mass in F Min/Mozart's Vespers, rec 3/77, MIT Choral
Society, Oliver, Lucifer Classics

* Donizetti's Requiem, rec 1/84, Bamberg SO, Gómez-Martínez, Lucifer
Classics

* von Schweinitz's Messe Op. 21, rec 7/84, RSO Berlin, Albrecht,
Lucifer Classics

* R. Strauss Choral Works, rec 9/84, RIAS Kammerchor, Gronostay,
Creed, Lucifer Classics


"L-A Ú-L-T-I-M-A..........que ríe, ríe mejor."


Bravissima Cheryl Studer, verlorene Tochter. Very beautifully and
exquisitely done. A most wonderful, exemplary, and unforgettable
legacy, a legacy of e-x-c-e-p-t-i-o-n-a-l q-u-a-l-i-t-y and d-i-
s-t-i-n-c-t-i-o-n. Thank you for u-n-c-o-m-p-r-o-m-i-s-i-n-g
Artistry of u-n-c-o-m-m-o-n i-n-t-e-l-l-i-g-e-n-c-e and i-n-s-t-i-
n-c-t --- the work of a consummate being. Thank you. Thank you for
Dedication, Seriousness, and Integrity. Thank you for remaining True
to your self, to the artform (on life-support as it is...and counting
down), and to m-u-s-i-c. Good Music. Thank you for a Universe of
Sound and Texture and Expression and Communication a-l-l o-f
y-o-u-r o-w-n. Thank you for g-e-n-e-r-o-s-i-t-y. Thank you for
H-i-g-h I-n-d-i-v-i-d-u-a-l-i-t-y. And (to boot) individuality within
the bondage of and respect for the T-r-a-d-i-t-i-o-n.

Thank You.

And thank you too, Universal, EMI and Sony, for having had the
foreskin to recognize and capture genius (we know, we know – but
worse has been written and said about the artist) in our midst while
the going was good (now that these dinosaurs' [delusional] populist
causes, causes lately so palatable to the Anglo/Judeo-centric and
their Axes-[oh irony!]-Of-Love, have caused them to
trim....ouch....their future....for that squeaky clean look and
sound....and potent[ial] self-extinction).

----------------------------

And now, a little something to ponder about ---

"Things got pretty rough at the last Philharmonic concert. A bitter
battle broke out over Liszt's 'Mephisto Waltz.' It was the standees
and a part of the gallery, resolved to give their all, against the
parterre, the mountain against the marsh. On the one side we had
youth, intelligence, idealism, good judgement, enthusiasm and
conviction; on the other dullness, frivolity, debility, ignorance,
arrogance, materialism. Such were the contending forces.

There was a lot of applause, but a lot of hissing, too. Since, as we
all know, these Semitic hissing sounds traditionally served
the 'chosen people' as shibboleth in combat with their neighbors, it
was not hard to determine who it was that so emphatically proclaimed
both their dissent and their identity. Indeed, these 'chosen people'
habitually make a great show of their exquisite taste. They are
always ready to recognize in Beethoven a good composer. And yet there
are those who see nothing heroic in the courage of such convictions.
What, then, can we call courageous? Let it pass. These excellent and
generous souls will surely enrich the National Guard with a doughty
legion of tailors, and thus be of service to the state. You can take
an oath on that.

To take seriously the ludicrous behavior of these worthy parterre
subscribers toward the works of a genius such as Liszt would be like
punishing children's bad manners with the rack. We are not so cruel.
But it is well to look for what it is that causes the public to
behave like an ill-mannered child and to think like a well-groomed
cad. How is it, we ask, that Liszt's compositions are rejected by the
majority of our degenerate public? The answer is made uncommonly easy
for me, since it is contained in the question. But then why, someone
could object, do Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, etc., appeal to this same
degenerate public? The objection is so banal, the answer so obvious,
that any blockhead could handle it easily. But should someone choose
to ask me what I mean by degenerate public, I accept the challenge
gladly, and am ready with the answer: a degenerate public is one that
is content to be the ward of a degenerate press.

It is a public of newspaper readers. That is the source of all other
evils. That is the source of the thoughtlessness, frivolity,
dependence, distraction, insensibility and, above all, the bias
against those works condemned to death by the press. If this were an
ingenuous public, it would not tolerate for another day the shameful
chains it now fastens to itself voluntarily. But the habit of cud-
chewing has already become too delightful to permit the slightest
effort to use one's own teeth. Thus, this public receives its
impression of a work of art not directly, but from the review in the
newspaper, to be had in concrete form for a patent. Go then to the
apothecary, and buy yourselves some nux vomica or some other
purgative if you want to have an impression. The effect remains
essentially the same, and you spare yourselves the price of the
ticket. And so a public, the despicable tool of a despicable press,
will pass judgement on the works of a genius! A sluggardly mob that
enters the concert hall as if it were a toy store, reduces the
noblest possessions of mankind to idle diversions, and then, if that
is not satisfactory, arrogantly turns its back on the work of art and
ceremoniously hisses...fie, fie, and once again fie!!!

Given such circumstances, it is hardly surprising that Liszt's
original compositions have excited a lively 'for' and 'against'
whenever they have been played in Vienna. This time the applause from
the standees was still far from constituting a demonstration when a
few hot headed Philistines signalled, stupidly enough, the
shibboleth. That was pouring oil on fire. The applause grew louder,
and rightly so, since it was directed no less at the splendid
accomplishment of the orchestra and its conductor, Hans Richter, than
at the work itself. And did not the wonderful performance of this
Lisztian composition merit the most extravagant praise? What did
Liszt's admirers do to excite the drowsy parterre to a counter-
demonstration? They were simply giving due honor to service
rendered."

Hugo Wolf
Vienna
25 April 1886

----------------------------

A HARPSICHORD GLISTENS AND TRIUMPHS

You and I, we know that something in the air is profoundly d-e-g-e-n-
e-r-a-t-e when a nobody of a harpsichordist and her twinklin' little
instrument command more respect and accolades and anal(ysis)
from 'the chosen people' (The Rake's Progress --
http://www.operajaponica.org/reviews/dvd/rake96dvd.htm) than those
ass-igned a certain soprano.

{{It is a delight to find