Monthly Archives: August 2004

Leonard Bernstein’s Mass dates from the fade-out of his years as an important composer. After 1971 there would be the pathetic operatic venture A Quiet Place, the failed Broadway project 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and its various spinoffs, and several inconsequential … Continue reading →

The film scores of Nino Rota constitute a body of lyric excellence that carries forward the dramatic vernacular of his Italian forebears into the medium of his own time. I say this, of course, with some trepidation; I have only … Continue reading →

Carlos Kleiber’s recent passing left no noticeable tremors on the musical landscape. He had suffered, the obituary notices read, from a “long-term illness,” but the world had suffered from his even longer-term absence; his last performances of any consequence were … Continue reading →

Photo by Decca/Andrew Eccles The sound of Renée Fleming in song belongs on that shortlist of amenities – sunset through the Golden Gate, dinner at Matsuhisa – that make life on this planet preferable to all others. Even through the … Continue reading →