The Barber of Baghdad

You probably thought this was going to be a political rant. Alas, no. This is an opera in two acts by Peter Cornelius. It is based on "The Tale of the Tailor" and "The Barber’s Stories of his Six Brothers" in A Thousand and One Nights. It is being aired on the Friday Night at the Opera program on CPR (Capital Public Radio) in Sacramento. I don't have time to write anything more than the fact that I am going to settle back and listed to this comic opera and try desperately not to think about that glorious voice belonging to Luciano Pavarotti that will most probably be stilled soon by a vicious case of pancreatic cancer. I have no where near enough of his recordings. It is said that his La Boheme with Mirella Freni is one of the best ever. That's the one I heard last Friday night.

Shhhh. Curtain going up.