Heilige Kunst

What, you ask, is “Kunst?” I’ll tell you what Kunst is. Kunst is appearing on the stage of the Paris Opéra at the age of 53 wearing ballet flats, mom jeans, a Wal-Mart top, and a wig from the Evelyn Lear “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” wash ‘n’ wear collection. That’s what Kunst is.
(Waltraud Meier as Marie in Wozzeck, production by Christoph Marthaler. Via AFP.)
Javier, I get what you’re saying. A friend recently told me that she found German opera easier to listen to than Italian opera because German more closely matches English, so she’s better able to follow the words. With Italian, she finds the language “too” musical and loses the words amidst the music. We saw a performance of “Tosca” recently (in SF), which she really enjoyed. I guess her preference is for German opera, but she likes it all. I don’t share her preference, but her explanation seems logical to me.
the first rule of great lieder singing..Smile More.
Noel: I always thought that was: Pick out the right dress.