Delicious

I've been to two straight conferences, and I've got a lot of things to say, but I'm also tired. So, one quick hit about something both refreshing and fun. This is the start of Allan Kozinn's review of a Turandot performance at the New York City Opera, which appeared in The New York Times on November 3:

Listeners of good will may differ, perhaps violently, about why Puccini's "Turandot" has tenaciously held its place in the standard repertory. It has an uncommonly dim libretto, even by operatic standards, and a paucity of great arias nestled amid two and a half hours of brass-heavy, faux-exotic scoring and purposeless pageantry.

Still, if your idea of a stimulating evening is watching a beefy and clearly none too intelligent prince devoting himself single-mindedly to winning the heart of a creepy harridan - and, O.K., singing "Nessun dorma" along the way - the New York City Opera's venerable production is back on the boards at the New York State Theater.

Delicious! Doesn't matter if you agree with Allan or not (and I like the opera, myself). It's just wonderfully refreshing to see a classical music critic speaking his mind, saying something offbeat and personal, and doing it in plain language.