Heh. For a name with a "ball" double entendre that may possibly have had a chance of getting past the propriety police, someone just suggested "Testy."...

Davetroy, it was definitely disappointing. Bullock has also come in for some criticism in other places in recent years, even from British critics (!), so this is not exactly surprising. It may have so...

Actually, "Elektra" was only about 1 hr 45 min on opening night. That makes it shorter than "The Flying Dutchman," which was just over 2 hours. I myself have no trouble sitting through either opera wi...

Sorry to miss the Tuesday cantata -- thanks for the reminder. Also for Mother's Day, I should have mentioned the screening of the Plácido Domingo 40th Anniversary Gala Concert (May 11, 2 p.m.), from L...

FYI, see my review of the second cast of Rigoletto in today's Post....

The obvious question that needs to be asked is who did the man on the cell phone think was the shit of concert pianists? Lang Lang, Yundi Li, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Alfred Brendel?...

Agreed. Dawn Upshaw can even sound pretty good when she is trying to sound ugly, as in her recording of Golijov's Ayre....

Uh, yes, quite right. Sorry to give the impression that you could just walk in at 6:30 and find a seat. You should think 6 p.m. instead. I did correct that impression somewhat in the final paragraph. ...

I can so believe that about Nathan Gunn. If you end up throwing fruit, which does not seem at all likely, don't say you got the idea to attend the recital from me....

The link above has an extra slash in it and does not work properly, but the video is something you must watch: Hallelujah Chorus on Kazoos Thanks, Mike!...

Look, I love Handel and Messiah is a brilliant work. It has its problems, most notably because Handel was not very good at setting English to music, which shows in some of the parts of Messiah that he...

Thanks for that. I should also have mentioned the free concert at the National Gallery of Art (December 9, 6:30 p.m.), in connection with the Norwegian Christmas Festival. Bjarte Engeset will conduct ...

A correction: the Sunday concert at the National Gallery (November 25, 6:30 p.m.) just got a lot more interesting. It will now feature the ArcoVoce ensemble, with soprano Rosa Lamoreaux, tenor Wolodym...

No, no, no! You broke my heart there for a second, but if you check the site carefully, you will see that it is the November 30 concert (Mark O'Connor with Roseanne Cash) that has been cancelled (due ...

The problem is definitely connected to the fact that Page sent the e-mail from his WaPo account (my post did not imply that it was from another account). It was not a mistaken send either, as if he hi...

EmoEmu, I guess I did not make my irony drip as overtly as intended. I agree with the comments so far that this is a non-issue. The Post is probably just covering itself by placing Page on leave....

I've written about this before, but I should have mentioned it again. WNO has made a few $25 tickets available through the Access to Opera Tickets program. You can buy them only at the box office, onl...

It has just come to my attention tonight that Anne Schwanewilms has canceled her VAS recital on Tuesday. She will be replaced by Elaine Alvarez, who made news recently by replacing the fired Angela Gh...

It is an incredible deal. And the more that young music lovers take advantage of it and buy tickets, WNO and other organizations will realize that it is probably the best way to renew their audiences....

Your apprehension is understandable. However, "Don Giovanni" is a kind of myth, the universal seducer who somehow manages to get away, every time but the last time, that is. And, let us not forget, th...