It would be tempting to say that the Wagner dynasty has nothing on the Menotti family, except that it’s just not true. The generational intrigues of the descendants of the Meister (as detailed in Brigitte Haman’s Winifred Wagner: A Life at the Heart of Hitler’s Bayreuth), reflect the superhuman scale of Wagner’s musical vision. The squalid complaints of Chip Menotti, in contrast, offer about as much of substance as Maria Golovin.

Chip is, of course, the “widow” of Gian Carlo Menotti, though, in a twist of truly Menottiesque mawkishness, he is strictly speaking an orphan.  The two Menottis were recognized as companions for nearly a decade before Gian Carlo legally adopted Chip in 1974.  

Although he was ousted from his position as as director of the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto back in November 2007, it was not until today that Chip has managed to unburden himself to NYT sob sister Daniel J. Wakin. It is surely no more than coincidence that Menotti fils should finally muster the strength to defend himself just as the first post-Menotti Festival was in full swing.

In a deliciously ironic twist near the end of the interview, former figure skater Chip paraphrases Nancy Kerrigan: “I’m trying to figure out why, why, why is it like this?”

La Cieca thanks Our Own Krunoslav for alerting her to this fast-breaking non-story.