A favorite art song performance from Erika Baikoff A favorite art song performance from Erika Baikoff

What I love most about Sergei Rachmaninoff‘s “Lilacs” is how beautifully it captures the quiet intimacy at the heart of art song.

Green grow the lilacs Green grow the lilacs

Eastern Long Island remains surprisingly verdant even into the early fall.

We’ll always have Paris (or maybe not) We’ll always have Paris (or maybe not)

The revival of Don Carlo(s) which opened on November 3 restored the translated Italian text and the cut 1882 four-act revision not seen at the Met since Rudolf Bing’s last season in 1972.

Midwinter marriage Midwinter marriage

Despite having lost its announced Cherubino, conductor and Count (the latter in the midst of rehearsals), the season premiere of Le Nozze di Figaro Saturday afternoon proved to be one of the most enjoyable Met Mozart performances I’ve attended in ages.

A wig and a prayer A wig and a prayer

A snarky commentator might dub last night at the Met “Boris of the divo hair flip” but that would do a disservice to a serious, often effective performance of the challenging original version of Mussorgsky’s masterpiece.