What an awful year (and it's not over yet)

I sometimes dwell on the obituaries too much (a friend says he reads the obituaries first, makes sure he's not there, and can then go on with his day).

But this has been an awful year for opera notables leaving us.

• Giuseppe Valdengo
  
• Gary Rideout
  
• Luciano Pavarotti
  
• Jerry Hadley
  
• Regine Crespin
  
• Beverly Sills
  
• Teresa Stich-Randall
  
• Richard Bradshaw
  
• Rose Bampton
  
• Colin Graham
  
• Edgar Baitzel
  
• Gian Carlo Menotti
  

I just hope we're done for this year at least.