Those whom the goddesses would destroy

Controversial diva Marina Poplavskaya is the subject of a profile in the current New Yorker that does not include any bloodhounds snappin’ at her rear end, but that’s about the only life experience omitted. Highlights include the soprano’s lugging a trolley full of luggage across 14 lanes of Buenos Aires traffic following a dispute with a hotel manager, marking up in a dozen different colors the orchestra score of the Verdi Requiem, and the bit where she runs out the stage door in full evening dress, hops on a motorcycle, and zips off to the airport. Believe me, this is worth subscribing!