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Charlie Richards

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Through the Looking Glass

American composer David Del Tredici won a Pulitzer Prize for his musical adaptation of the work of Lewis Carroll, and on December 4 he will premiere his latest and gayest masterpiece, My Favorite Penis Poems. The 70-year-old talks to Advocate.com about his relationships with Allen Ginsberg and Aaron Copland and how he transitioned from children's literature to S/M ballads.

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Carmen Finds Her Spotlight

It's not very often that a lowly music critic gets the privilege of witnessing a glowing performance by a major new talent at the beginning of his or her career, but that is certainly what happened to yours truly on the evening of November 15 at the Los Angeles Opera. Viktoria Vizin, an astounding new mezzo-soprano making her L.A. Opera debut as Carmen this season, took my breath away.

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Howard Shore s Fly Opera Goes Splat!

Just what is opera? Is it merely a play set to music? It is that, certainly, but this definition seems hardly satisfactory. Is it merely a theatrical entertainment with good tunes? Some operas do fit this description, but this also seems to miss the mark. Opera, as an art form, is a dramatic entertainment in which the music should enhance the drama -- and that (sadly) explains the failure of Shore's new work.