Salvador Dali, The Persistence of Memory As we anticipate the start of a new year, I do what I always do at the end of December: think back on the previous year's string of events- a history , actually- and marvel at the way time appears to be speeding by. Of course, these reflections are based on what I actually remember about the previous year. Now age 70, if I don't write something down in a journal, that something tends to evaporate from my brain. Honestly, I realize that my playing the...

Many of us have had the same pre-conceived notions when faced with an opportunity to consider the art of opera: "It's a lot of screaming." "It's too emotional." "The heroine always die in the end after a lot of yelling." That's the sort of determinist prejudice that I carried around with me for many clueless years. I was firmly grounded in my musical tastes- ABBA, Blondie, early 1960s girl-groups like the Ronettes and the Crystals- and I rarely strayed. Then I went to Mississippi to visit a...

A Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving Traditionally, families and friends gather around a groaning Thanksgiving table heaped high with bounty, giving voice to what each individual is thankful for. Responses vary from a succinct "my family" to lengthy reviews of the previous year's ups and downs. Both sides of my traditional Italian family never really indulged in these holiday voiceovers. Our thankfulness was measured by the velocity of how quickly we'd tuck into the day's offerings. Thanksgiving...