The novel opens with a lengthy discussion of the opera in the format of an email from an opera lover to a less-enlightened friend, and characters are forever discussing the opera, saying things like “You don’t ‘check out’ Tristan. You become it.”
Our Own Gualtier Maldè reports:
The Met’s orchestra and audience have found a new conductor to love: Daniel Barenboim.  The debutante conductor got a huge ovation before he even lifted his baton. Lots of applause for Danny B. all night from an adoring audience including a generous amount at his final bow. There was lots of touchy feely with the orchestra during his travels to and from the pit. He conducted from a chair, like Levine does, sometimes leaning back against the wooden partition of the orchestra pit and laying his head on the railing as if to bask in Wagner’s orchestral beauties. At the end of the show the orchestra stayed in the pit and gave him a standing ovation while he blew kisses from the stage. Read more »
Cher Public