You know that the financial crisis has already caused a lot of damage to the lives of everyday people, as companies go into bankruptcy and people lose their jobs and mortgages. The corresponding cultural damage is beginning appear as well: regional opera companies and symphonies are folding, while others are cutting back their projected seasons for fear of being unable to fill the house. The National Symphony Orchestra was recently able to secure a large financial gift to underwrite hiring Christoph Eschenbach as its new Music Director, but other arts organizations are losing donor pledges left and right. As Anne Midgette and David Montgomery have reported in the Post, one of the casualties is the projected complete performances of Wagner's legendary Ring cycle, planned by Washington National Opera for November 2009. more ›