On a Passage in Figaro

by Daniel Brown It’s obvious that music can do a lot for words. Just last week I was struck, while watching a televised performance of La Bohème, by the way some of Rodolfo’s mundane, getting-to-know-you words to Mimi surge, swell, and soar beyond themselves with music-infused emotion. What words can do for music may not be quite as obvious, but it’s no less transformative. Mrs. Oscar Hammerstein made the point with exemplary concreteness... Read More