Regular readers of this blog will know that from time to time I have a whine about regie opera, that strange European invention by which directors of opera inflict productions upon us the paying public which are little or no more than an expression of their own ego without regard to the composer's or librettist's original intentions. I have always found it perplexing that while I am not exactly a lone voice crying in the wilderness there does seem to have been a dearth of known figures in the opera world echoing my complaints. Until this week. A few days ago an interview with Lorin Maazel was published in Milan's foremost newspaper Corriere della Serra in which he had a few things to say. I particularly liked "I've had enough (of conducting at the Salzburg Festival) with weirdly provocative stagings of arrogant directors who think innovation means boring the audience using public funds" and "I feel like speaking up for the people who buy tickets and are subjected to the wrongheaded interpretations of great operas.” He then put it nicely in a nutshell: "They only care about scandals. But the audience are not offended they're simply bored.” He was particularly scathing about Peter Zadek's recent production in Hamburg of Verdi's Otello "...where a naked Desdemona was hung out to dry on a rope like laundry, her a** in the air. I have nothing against nudity. At the Lido or the Moulin Rouge beautiful girls look great with their t***s hanging out. But the only thing a lady with her vocal chords in order needs to expose is her voice. People go to the opera for that.” C'mon Lorin, don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel!

Now I know some of you saw today's title and said to yourselves, "No need for a question mark. The perfect pitch is a fast ball on the inside edge of the plate which when about four feet from the batter falls as though it's dropped off a table leaving the sucker swinging at air. That's the perfect pitch!" That group can go back to pondering 'Manny being Manny' and wondering whether the Yankees are going to miss the playoffs this year (they are). The rest of you should read on.

Operaman is delayed this week and will not be here until tomorrow.  He is working hard on appeasing the computer gods and looking forward to posting here within the next day.  In the meantime don't fall to pieces and go doing your imitation of Tosca or Lucia or some other dingbat.  Just be patient with me for twenty-four hours and come back then, okay?  Thank you.

A disturbing whisper is being heard emanating from the upper reaches of the Universal record label. I believe this whisper is destined to swell to a rumour before being categorically denied three times - a sure sign of an official announcement of its truth. The whisper is that there is to be another iteration of The Three Tenors. No matter who the tenors in question may be (Juan Diego Flórez, Jonas Kaufmann and Rolando Villazón are being mentioned) this idea stinks.

Actually the original idea stank too. And don't try and tell me how wonderful it was that Pavarroti, Domingo and Carreras dedicated their voices to bringing opera out of fancy houses where elitism ruled to share it with the public. The nasty truth is that they, their management and record label saw an opportunity to make huge amounts of money while expending a minimum amount of effort and money. The boys could just turn up at a stadium in time to do a sound check and begin counting the moolah. Rehearsal? What, to sing Maria from West Side Story and Memories from Cats? Gimme a break.

And no sooner are we enjoying Portland's balmy clime than the newspapers and stores tell us it's time to prepare for the kids to return to school! You know what that means, don't you? Any time now it's gonna be Jingle Bells time. I do so wish that manufacturers and vendors weren't constantly trying to hurry us to some event still months away. I caught the trailer of a movie this week and that movie isn't being released until March 2009! It's not as though I can buy tickets for that now even if I wished to. Waddya say we slow down, take a deep breath and enjoy what is here with us right now? I am so not ready to be done with Summer yet. The picture above was taken at last week's Farmers' Market.