One Down, 17 To Go*

Only enough time for a quick post. I unplugged (well, mostly) yesterday, and as a result today will be a bit of a scramble. But worth it.

Saturday night's Spanish Treasure recital (cast photo at left) was gorgeous. If you're curious about what was sung, go here. Every classical singer should have some of this stuff in his or her repertoire. If only for the way it broadens the horizons of our claustrophobic notions of European music.

Thinking About Grendel

I've received some emails about last week's drama concerning the delay of Los Angeles' Grendel premiere. I have no inside track, nor do I have any particular expertise with these kinds of productions. But it occurs to me that if opera continues to try to compete with the 21st-century technological bells and whistles that our culture now takes for granted in other media , we will almost always lose. I shouldn't leave it at that, for I'm almost certainly going to be misunderstood. But I have to get back to work.

Flowers 6.04.06

The jackmanii clematis is blooming. I saw it with my own eyes on my day off yesterday :)

[*performances, that is.... 3 recitals, 4 improv, 1 concert, 10 opera in total]