Newsgroup: it.arti.musica.classica
Titolo: DER JÜDISCHE KAISER VON BAGHDAD

"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) Richter
performed a 'plug in', heroically, on behalf of Klaus Heiman [sic],
the so-called authority behind ---naXos---:
http://listserv.cuny.edu/Scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0009D&L=opera-l&P=R10995
Thus spoke the authority:
"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. Heiman seems to have contradicted himself by simultaneously
affirming that his artists are indeed allowed "fancy editing...to get
the music right" and 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.
Heiman whining and bickering around because Lucifer's console is
bigger than his?
2. Mr. Heiman 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' 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 Bocelli, and Charlotte Church.
["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  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 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 damn about Sire Domingo, at least not since his
early 90s (and thereafter) publicity and musical circus prostitutions.
3B. Let us cut to the chase: we propose that one encompassing reason
for the present-day crisis 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  c-r-a-c-k.  Little or nothing was said.  In
retrospect, a lot of people in this rotten-eggs of a business have a
lot of answering to do. Listen in comparison, for example, to how
today's general(ized) press and the queens write about an integer to
the far left of zero 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.  Hard, very hard to believe…but
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.  And Montserrat Caballé too,
this other has-been on the cover of "Opernwelt," April 2003.  And a
penny it is.  And a penny it will be.  Anyway, 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-for-all (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) in deadly mix with the
quick fixes and seductions of Hyper Public Relations, HyperText, and
Cyberspace. Few artists can survive without some form or other of
critical and popular encouragement. It became fashionable sport (nah,
Mob Rule - nah, 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 that is the Remarkably Perverse Eclipsing by the press 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 analysis" - is that what it is? - accorded minor
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 ever "taken chances"] shrieked unnaturally, flatting two high A
naturals and her overall intonation was insecure too  b-u-t  the
gowns" - "Hausfrau Void was in customary 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" - "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 ever "taken chances"] could not sing Reiza's music [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 Pavarotti and the ever-accomodating 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 
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 from Jimmy Boy the
Paedophile (or rather, Jimmy the boy-paedophile - ladies and gents,
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 Presidential Pardons
(see "Rich, Jonathan" - see "The Hassidic Four [that's right, not one
not two not three but four)" - 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? --- stay
tuned ---....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 at the notion that 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, seem so pre(and post)occupied with Aryan archetypes] ---
and more importantly, she took off her shoes!" - "Debbie 'Crayola
Opera Program' Void's French is for and about pigeons --- merde ---,
not unlike the strangely clapped Yawn Upshaw's [let alone a sour and
rusty tone reminiscent of the gold you see in soiled underwear...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?" - "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, the loss of
95-plus pounds, in cocktail with a widely broadcast
the-dog-ate-the-homework Sob Story, are sufficient to satisfy the most
discriminating demands
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 Jew 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 Jew York
Times is fully warranted - all that plus the reward of a recording
project under the syphilitic Deutsche Grammophon" – "LetItRain sounded
great  b-u-t  I blame the amplification for some harshness up top" ---
you know the skit --- 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 who refuses easy
categorization? - of what value or use is the lady? - of what value or
use is the artist? - who is neither aesthetic suppository 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
Kammersängerin 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 Argentinian Tango nor Yiddishbbuk nor
Anonymous4 (that's right, not one not two not three but four) nor
Asian (how could she pretend?) nor Canadian nor Aussie --- nor, most
importantly, 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 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 aspirant nor aspirate nor potential nor promise (what you hear is
what you get, dear) nor apology nor preserved museum mummy nor soccer
mum nor sucker nor trend nor hip nor H.I.P. nor joined at the hip nor
hippie nor barefoot at Carnegie Hall 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
transposer-conductor-intendant-voicecompetitor-crossoverpimp-moviemogul-realestatemagnate-restaurateur-sexsymbol-jetsetter
(all in one and one for all and all in a night) nor lazy nor shrinking
violet nor daddy's lil' lass nor mystic nor minimalist nor hyperbole
nor Überfeminist nor Konzept nor symbolism 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 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] nor
Britten MD 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 trademark 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
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 fruit salad
nor cotton candy nor peaches in double cream nor café au lait 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
Beethoven and Brahms and Wagner and Liszt were inspired by the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict --- or even better, the epicentric causes
of Israel, Zionism, and of Universal Jewry --- everything, and we mean
everything, revolves 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") - were
heard "r-e-c-l-a-i-m-i-n-g  the true meaning of the 'heilge Deutsches
Kunst'" --- again, see "Kubiak, David" --- please note that no one
else before GJM had accomplished nearly as much, and in a mere evening
- of course, now we know that Herr Wolf wrote his songs inspired by
populations everywhere holding hands - to promote future handholding)
--- where were we?, ah yes --- nor married to one nor Adler Fella nor
Crayola Opera Program alumna nor
Cardiff-VeraRosza-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-n-such
workshop ghettoes.
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[Imagine, if you dare.]
[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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 but
who later saw fit to publish obituaries passing for legitimate
eyewitness report (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 Triumphantly!" (see "Davis, Peter G."). Little
wonder many ceased listening --- and begin listening with others' ears
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 Joan nor Leonie nor
Gwyneth 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  or  l-a-c-k  o-f 
a-r-t-i-s-t-i-c  w-o-r-t-h?  
A decade or so later there's a perceptible 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.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[....as long as their names are  n-o-t  Cheryl Studer.]
[God Willing.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[And yet more Enchantment courtesy of the Panacea/Schadenfreude of
Cheryl Studer-free zones/ground zeroes.]
[God Willing.]
[Young Ones - Do not be duped by the hollow enthusiasms of the age ---
ever seen a sad clown?]
[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 Berlin), the Levines, the Maazels, the
Heimans [sic], 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 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 are prime shareholders (and puppets) in
this "Juderei" - that's right, jUdErEi - we repeat: all this JuDeReI)
- i.e., by the 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. XXV - we have lost count - has not sung Leonora
or Carmen where it counts, on the stage) or the other Bocelli comrade,
Fleming....well, all of it  h-a-s  sudden Meaning and Necessity, so
the public relationists tell us....the Magic courtesy,  n-o-t  because
of especially great voices or exceptional interpretive wills or
personalities or even 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
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 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 intelligence --- this time, however, we
applaud Barenboim for being practically the only one playing fiddle on
the roof --- the root, 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 includes Iraq, 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 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 destructive, and as DANGEROUS
as the good ole USA (in co-operation with its satellites: its former
occupier the UK and the UK-occupied Palestine, Israel).  And we mean
militarily, economically, politically, spiritually, culturally, and
philosophically – Sviatoslav Richter knew (better yet, f-e-l-t) this
and never came back - (about the latter four, it is the stuff of
bankruptcy courts) – all are on equal footing.  Tragic.]
[In other words, and in some order or other of appearance...
NO BLOOD FOR THE PAUL WOLFOWITZES
NO BLOOD FOR THE ARI FLEISCHERS
NO BLOOD FOR THE ALAN GREENSPANS
NO BLOOD FOR THE JOE LIEBERMANS
NO BLOOD FOR THE JOHN ASHCROFTS
NO BLOOD FOR THE LEFT AND RIGHT-WING JEWISH LOBBIES
NO BLOOD FOR SHARON'S SANDBOX
NO BLOOD FOR ISRAEL
NO BLOOD FOR OIL
NO BLOOD FOR VENGEANCE
NO BLOOD FOR THE MARIONETTE/MINSTREL ACTS OF
   SIR COLIN POWELL AND
   DAME CONDOLEEZA RICE]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[Discuss, if you dare.]
[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, Sire
Charles; British Will o' Wisp Bostridge; 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 part-time one - but please understand that very few
others are as musical, let alone sensitive and artistic].
[About the 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 "
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  that
sopranos of the calibre of Cheryl and Maria, bruised 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
(scooped up in a studio about 4 years ago) is being pushed under a
neon sign that reads
"Bel Canto" complete with a $2 rebate incentive  b-e-l-o-w  its
reduced repo artistic sale value - ya know, in the manner of the
stereo-typical toupéed and polyester-clad used-car salesman – cheap,
insincere, cajoling, slimy, slippery, sleazy, sticky -- and that's the
singing -- a raw deal.]
"IF YO NO KEEP EM DEAFDUMBBLINDDUMBERNCOMPLACEN'...WHO GONNA FIGHT YO
WARS?  WHO GONNA BUY YO PLASTIC?"
Blitzkrieg-style Public Relations, Marketing, and now
Blue-Collar/Working-Class Cheap Labor (and the aesthetics, or lack of,
of - see "Flanigan, Lauren" - see "Radvanovsky, Sondra" - "see Goerke,
Christine" - see "Slavs" – see "the little touring companies that
could") have been summoned to the cause of salvaging
something or other from the debris of these self-appointed arbiters of
taste and self-avowed "opera/music lovers'" own making. Thus have the
armies of businessmen landed, triumphantly, with portfolios chock-full
with the losers, the useless, the amateurs, 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
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 divas next door who relax to the Dixie Chicks; 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 we-are-holier-than-thou, the politics of lifestyle, the politics of
triviality, the politics of image, the politics of favoritism, the
politics of corruption, the politics of indecency, the politics of the
willing, the politics of coalition, the politics of extracurricular
social agendas, the politics of inadequacy, the politics of fleecing,
the politics of "The American People," the politics of dumbing-down,
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
cancellations, the vocal troubles, the gross embarrassments of
stunt-ed live programs - everything from Beg Your Indulgences to
Public Regrets to Tosti to Walkouts - by, for instance, Juan Dieguito
Flórez, the Bocelli and Sissel comrade Domingo, the other Bocelli and
Sissel colleague Terfel, and Heppner – no matter - the insulted
audiences correspond to their cheating with tears and Standing Os ---
but no surprise here, for it is nothing but another perversion of our
desensitized, demoralized, diseased, frivolous, diluted, and vulgar
days --- f-u-c-k, even Joseito "Leukemia Sob Story" Carreras became
the object of one of these demonstrations - and this in the
enlightened and improved and newly innocent and important again (so it
goes) Salzburg of the summer of two-thousand-and-two-after-christ).
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, the Grümmer Clones, the Callas Clones, the
Tebaldi Clones, the Steber Clones, the Schwarzkopf Clones, the Price
Clones, the Sarah Vaughn Clones, the Fischer-Dieskau Clones, the
Furtwängler 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, the Divine, the
Fabulous, the Delicious, and the Little Labels That Could all have it
relatively easy in comparison to that preceding generation. And the
critical standards --- what standards? - whose? --- have reformed, or
rather, have doubled and tripled and....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 or Analysis
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]. 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 (remember when you and I were advised 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 of her art? – do you not remember the 
longstanding 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 hinting of favourable
discourse on her art?] --- oh, you know the litany --- something about
digital and faked and manufactured and calibrated and illusion and
un-necessary and in-competent and impersonal and contrived and
in-experienced and un-felt and in-expressive and un-communicative and
sterile and perfect and clinical and precise (curiously, we hardly
read such venom spouted at
failed-serialist-turned-serial-partitur-surgeon Pierre Boulez) and
flawed and generalized and dull and null and this and that and that
and this - beautiful even - artistic even - you know, the toxic
byproduct of uncontained Kapitalismus - the same Kapitalismus that
gave us such goodies as Meyerbeer Halévy & Sons, penicillin, Bocelli &
Sons, sentimento, more penicillin, Alan
‘in-addition-to-being-an-overpaid-and-overrated-bickering-head-my-competence-includes-championing-the-OJ-Simpson-cause-and-the-case-for-torture-but-as-a-Jew…'
Dershowitz, more penicillin, the Holocash, the Armenian Holocaust no
one made an Industry of, the current Holocaust under our noses in
Congo no one hears or cares about, opportunism, Convenience
Dictatorships, convenience stores, preservatives, cigarettes, opera
glasses, the megaphone, the horn, the microphone, the photograph, the
("fideistic" and pleasurable) Mapleson cylinders, 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, TV dinners,
the calculator, the metric system, famine, feast, walkie-talkies,
headphones, headsets, X-rays, MRIs, cat-scans, night vision goggles,
Google, Yahoo, beepers, intercoms, elevators, escalators, bicycles,
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, NASCAR, The Vagina Monologues, Cori Ellison, trailer parks,
fast food, junk food, malnutrition, gluttony, obesity, anorexia
nervosa, nervousness, bulimia, lawn mowers, snow blowers, vacuum
cleaners, shags, wigs, bellbottoms, lava lamps, disco, grunge, turbos,
sedans, vans, buses, minibuses, limousines, tanks, bulldozers,
battleships, submarines, B52s, F16s, space shuttles, robots, rockets,
missiles, bombs, torpedoes, landmines, telescopes, Star Wars, Nuclear
Races, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Agent Orange, Hiroshima, Dresden,
Vietnam (to name but a few of these insignificant mishaps), MOABs
(about the test in mid-March of 2003 of such destructive a WMD ---
that the fireworks in Florida generated as much environmental, moral,
and philosophical concerns all around as blinking an eye speaks
volumes of the collective swamp we are), Apaches, Indian Reservations,
Kleenex (we often cultivate and then feed you the Sob Stories but we
also arm you with the tissue to wipe off the tears --- all on OUR
terms), duct tape, gas masks, mascara, Vegas, casinos, Elvis,
brilliantine, hairspray, hair dryers, PCPs, exhaust fumes, exhaustion,
stimulants, sleep deprivation, sedatives, depleted Ozone layers,
synthetic fibers, Pink Cadillacs, Mary Kay, Tammy Faye Baker,
Tupperware, 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 tech, the PC,
laptops, lapdogs, palm trees, palm pilots, note pads, Post-Its, alarm
clocks, wristwatches, dishwashers, toasters, microwave ovens, food
processors, blenders, The Gap, the CD, the walkman, the minidisc, the
famous (pitch re-engineered) Richter CD-ROMs, the (disgracefully
influential, sound-engineering-bag-of-tricks-wise) DECCA/Solti Ring,
MTV, PBS, 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, credit cards, more credit cards, Carte
Blanche (for some --- you know who and what you are), bonus points,
more fleecing, more penicillin, toothpaste, toothpicks, magazines,
annual reports, paper paper paper everywhere, papered halls, confetti,
deforestation, tourism, eco-tourism, T- lifts, plastic surgery, breast
implants, Vail, ski resorts, Park Ave., Madison Ave., boulevards,
summer homes, increasingly short vacation time, ice cream, cotton
candy, cotton balls, Q-tips, ear plugs, Andy Warhol, The Boston Pops,
more wallpaper, 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, more wallpaper, jams, jelly, jell-o,
J-Lo, day-glo, go-go, 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, the cell phone, the LD, the DVD, MP3s, 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, 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), 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), more penicillin, Sellars Konwitschny Neuenfels Beito
Wilson & Zambello, yet more penicillin, latrines, toilet stalls, more
penicillin, yet more Regietheater, yet more penicillin, graffiti,
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, segregation, not-in-my-neighborhood liberals,
underpaid overseas labor, waste dumps, twisted metal, scrap heaps,
junkyards, the ENO, more penicillin, scaffolds, red light districts,
peep shows, more penicillin, laxatives, aspirin, contraceptives, 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, Vilar gardens, Vilar titles, Vilar entitlements, Vilar
foreclosures, phallic 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 bread --- the Economy of Volunteerism,
multitasking, micromanaging, compartmentalization, specialization (and
yet today we celebrate the repertory escapades and diamantine
vocalism, yes? of a century+ ago of, for instance, the immortal [and
Jewess] Lilli Lehmann --- but how many of you experienced her 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-releases, more penicillin, yet more Sony Glenn
Gould re-re-re-re-re-compilations, yet more penicillin, etc. - 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,
Barenboim, Zubin!, E-di-ta! E-di-ta! E-di-ta!, Sir Simon, Ozawa,
Renée, Gergiev, Aprile [these days reduced - or is it enhanced? - to
croon, pathetically and below the note, opposite Danny Boy The 9.11
NYPD Singin' Cop], Alessandra, von Otter, Schäfer, "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, on the stage – but at least
she is still in possession of her renowned italianità 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, 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:  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?
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 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. Heiman have singled out Callas,
Tebaldi, Sutherland, or Caballé, to name but a few, in this 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. Heiman is unaware that *his own* Floria
Tosca (Madame Nelly Miri-a-e-i-o-u --- "más sabe el burro que tú")
reportedly bombed in the same role in Orange, France in the year 2000
a-n-d  as Norma at the ROH, London, also in 2000 – and many more times
elsewhere since. However, the Tosca and Norma catastrophes, to name
but two, strangely failed to make a dent in the armory of the
"cognoscenti" and their media spokespeople. For those not "in the
know", Madame M is rumoured to be the Bastard Child of the Incestuous
Union of the Twins Callas and Heiman, 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 (mind you, not that the
long-deceased tenor is remotely a Heiman discovery/original). We
wonder what Mr. Heiman'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:
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 prefer) of new opera recordings (on Compact Disc alone?)
from the Universal Classics family of labels (DGG, DECCA,
Philips)....and now apparently EMI Classics too....let us take a long
and hard (as you like it, in fact) 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 VHS
* 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 Tannhäuser, rec '88, Philharmonia, Sinopoli,
Lucifer Classics
* Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhäuser, rec '89, Bayreuth, Sinopoli,
Lucifer Classics
* Senta in Wagner's fliegende Holländer, rec 1/91, Deutsche Oper
Berlin, Sinopoli, Lucifer Classics
* Gutrune in Wagner's Götterdämmerung, 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 (also on VHS & DVD)
* 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 Video
* Elena in Verdi's Vespri Siciliani, rec 12/89-1/90, La Scala, Muti,
Lucifer Classics (also on VHS & DVD)
* Drolla in Wagner's Die Feen, rec 7/83, Bavarian RSO, Sawallisch,
Lucifer Classics
* Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin (from Bayreuth), rec 6/90, Bayreuth,
Schneider, Lucifer Classics (also on VHS)
* Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin (from Vienna), rec '90, Vienna PO,
Abbado, Lucifer Classics VHS & DVD 
* 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 (Tannhäuser/Lohengrin/Meistersinger/Walküre), rec 12/93,
Berlin PO, Abbado, Lucifer Classics (also on VHS)
* 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 VHS & DVD
* Covent Garden Gala (Otello/Traviata/Fledermaus), rec 7/88, Covent
Garden, Barker, Lucifer Classics
* Sacred Works (Bach/Schubert/Mendelssohn/Handel/Mozart/Gounod/Faure/Poulenc/Bernstein/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 (also on VHS)
* 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  a-n-d  
d-i-s-t-i-n-c-t-i-o-n.  Thank you for 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, 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.  Thank You.
And thank you too, Universal, EMI and Sony, for having had the
foreskin to recognize and capture genius in our midst
(now that these dinosaurs' [delusional] populist causes, causes
palatable to the Anglocentric 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
analysis from 'the chosen people' (The Rake's Progress --
http://www.operajaponica.org/reviews/dvd/rake96dvd.htm
) than those
ass-igned a certain veteran soprano. Consider this shibboleth ---
http://www.operajaponica.org/reviews/dvd/aidaroh94dvd.htm
Verdi: AIDA
Reviewed by Michael Richter, 27 May 2002 
Cast: Cheryl Studer (Aida), Luciana d'Intino (Amneris), Dennis O'Neill
(Radames), Alexandru Agache (Amonasro), Robert Lloyd (Ramfis), Mark
Beesley (Il Re), John Marsden (Messenger), Yvonne Barclay
(Sacerdotta), Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent
Garden, Sir Edward Downes (conductor). Elijah Moshinsky (director)
Thus spoke our Mickey Mouse hero:
{{One can now prove that it is possible to make a performance of Aida
dull. Singing and conducting are altogether competent, but the only
elements of this release which enliven the work are those of the
production - and they are more often confusing or distracting than
constructive. Lloyd infuses some life into his character, but Beesley
is both vocally and dramatically subpar. D'Intino has some moments of
expression but they are not those most needed; the opening scene of
Act IV, for example, is flaccid. Studer, O'Neill and Agache sing all
the notes and none of the music. Many points in the score are marked
'a piacere', but the pleasure of the artists appears to be to do
nothing at all. The effect is altogether colorless - a grey and
pointless recitation of one of the most vibrant scores in opera.}}
"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
----------------------------
M-U-S-I-C OF THE FUTURE
Berg, Alban / Wozzeck / Marie
Cajkovskij, Pëtr Il'ic / Evgenij Onegin / Tatjana
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus / Così fan tutte / Fiordiligi
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus / Don Giovanni / Donna Elvira
Puccini, Giacomo / Manon Lescaut / Manon Lescaut
Puccini, Giacomo / Tosca / Tosca
Strauss, Richard / Capriccio / Gräfin 
Strauss, Richard / Salome / Salome
Verdi, Giuseppe / Ballo in Maschera, Un / Amelia
Verdi, Giuseppe / Don Carlo / Elisabetta
MORE M-U-S-I-C....REDIVIVUS 
Beethoven, Ludwig van / Fidelio / Leonore
Lehár, Franz / Lustige Witwe, Die / Hanna Glawari
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus / Idomeneo / Elettra
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus / Nozze di Figaro, Le / Contessa d'Almaviva
Strauss, Richard / Elektra / Chrysothemis
Verdi, Giuseppe / Aida / Aida
Verdi, Giuseppe / Otello / Desdemona
Wagner, Richard / Meistersinger von Nürnberg / Eva
AND YET MORE M-U-S-I-C
Strauss, Richard / Arabella / Arabella
Strauss, Richard / Ariadne auf Naxos / Primadonna/Ariadne
Strauss, Richard / Frau ohne Schatten, Die / Kaiserin
Strauss, Richard / Rosenkavalier, Der / Marschallin
Wagner, Richard / fliegende Holländer, Der / Senta
Wagner, Richard / Lohengrin / Elsa von Brabant
Wagner, Richard / Tannhäuser / Elisabeth
Wagner, Richard / Walküre, Die / Sieglinde
----------------------------
"The dangers of life
are infinite
And safety is among them."
--- Goethe

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