Disordered thoughts from a life in disorder

As I sit here amongst boxes, papers and oh so many CDs, I thought I'd jot down a few thoughts, before I depart for at least a week of spotty internet access.

• I can only be grateful for Placido Domingo. Period. He is certainly not perfect and I've heard an occasional spotty performance from him, but for someone to maintain his level of achievment for this many years is remarkable. The Proms Walküre is just the latest. Although the performance may not be as great as the one I heard at the Met this spring (he was in slightly fresher voice), it is still pretty fabulous. And with a slight caveat, the performers in London are on a higher level than those in New York. I have a preference for Dalayman over Meier as Sieglinde and Gergiev's first act surpassed all others in my experience, but Terfel is a vast improvement over Kit as Wotan and a good first stab that will only get better. Gert has documented this well on her blog (which freed from my prior employer's firewall, I can now read more regularly).


• I belatedly note with sadness the passing of Piero Capuccilli. I never saw him live (he avoided NY after an initial Met appearance), but certainly his recordings of Macbeth and above all Simon Boccanegra, under Abbado are benchmarks. He was certainly not as individual as Gobbi or as wonderfully endowed as Bastianini, but he held up the baritone end of performancees with honor and there are few (if any) like him today


• The controversy over Marin Alsop in Baltimore is sad. She is certainly a very capable musician and I find it hard to understand the fuss. Let's hope she and the orchestra make peace and beautiful music.