"It's about this whale..."

Preternaturally boyish composer Jake Heggie is putting finishing touches on his orchestration for his opera Moby-Dick. The cetacean tuner, “huge strings” and all, is set for an April debut in Dallas. [KERA]

In less jolly news, Los Angeles Opera is beginning to wonder if this is the best of times to launch a Ring cycle with a price tag of $32 million. [LA Times]