Classical Notes: April 22, 2006 Archive

Beethoven, Puccini AND Rodney Dangerfield

Posted at 9:25 PM on April 22, 2006 by Bob Christiansen

I just saw "Fidelio" for the first time, in an impressive performance from Covent Garden, stretched over a couple days, inbetween walking the dog and cooking up a mean Kung Pao Pork. If you haven't yet made the jump to an online movie rental service yet, let me give you one more good reason: operas (and operettas). Who said you have to be limited to Caddyshack and The Crimson Pirate...I've recently gone through almost all the Gilbert and Sullivan available (don't miss the Canadian performance of Mikado) and I"ve got "Idomeneo" and "Tosca" in my queue (also Caddyshack and The Crimson Pirate, but we'll talk about those another time). Bernstein's "Candide" and "Trouble in Tahiti" are coming up as well. I mention this because opera is so much a visual medium, and I'm delighted with all that's available with the click of a mouse. I may not be ready to iPod, but I can Netflix with the best of them!