News and notes

I’m going dark for the next week because I’m running my own production, of an opera I’ve been describing as “like Parsifal, only chattier.” Here’s some stuff to read in the meantime:

• The Arts Blogger Challenge marches on, without me. Thanks for your support in the first two rounds and you can read and vote on the remaining contestants at that link. I encourage you to consider the excellent Seated Ovation.
• I’m not sure why Jonas Kaufmann has an interview in the odd surroundings of The New York Review of Books, but classy, Jonas, classy. And worth reading.
• The Opera Cake has some DVD recommendations for you, as well as some things you can watch from the comfort of your computer (some still available as of April 8).
• I lied when I said I’m going dark--I will be after I report on today’s Anna Caterina Antonacci recital. You can read Zachary Woolfe’s profile of her in the Times here.
• MORE Rusalka! There is no end to the Rusalka! JJ has written about the Herheim one at Musical America.

I'll be back soon to cover Traviata and Ring Cycle 2 at the Met (the first two parts, at least).