I promised you something off the beaten political path (about which I have much to say but am holding my "gunpowder" so to speak). So, here it is. For those who love and know anything about opera, this piece, originally written in 2008, was about a very special evening in Manhattan, one which honored a great opera singer: Marilyn Horne.

I was once very lucky when I was asked to contribute to NPR's program "At The Opera," run by Lou Santacroce, the most excellent of opera mavens and interviewers. I often got free tickets to the opera at the Met but more importantly, I got to enjoy time with him, on the air, talking about my particular view of an opera. Once, alas, after I'd talked about my view of Tristan Und Isolde, I was followed by the great Jane Eaglen, who'd just delivered a spectacular performance of that very opera. Our views were wildly divergent, and this embarrassed me to high heaven. I think I said: "Ah, her interpretation of Isolde and of Wagner's opera rule--I could never deliver such a sublime performance as she just did."

I was so sorry to see Eaglen retire. But then I also mourned the departure of Kiri Te Kawana, Renee Fleming, and the deaths of Luciano Pavarotti, Renate Tebaldi, Renata Scotto, Joan Sutherland, Jessye Norman, Dmitri Hvorostovsky--and now Marilyn Horne herself as well as my own Maria Callas.

Link: https://phyllis-chesler.com/articles/marilyn-horne-an-evening-with-an-american-legend