In the near-silence of a horribly outclassed American media -- with few exceptions, among them Baltimore's Tim Smith, always the perfect gentleman, who broke the news last week -- soprano Anne Brown, the original Bess in Porgy And Bess's first production, passed away on March 13.
America loses one of her greatest sopranos -- certainly, with Callas and Ponselle, our soprano of the greatest historical significance because no, sorry, Porgy And Bess is not just another opera -- and the reaction -- in the media and in a usually bandwagon-happy political world -- seems to be, at most, one of utter boredom (Opera Chic also loves to look at paparazzi photos of Lindsay Lohan shopping for pudding at the supermarket, but still).
We had to wait for a Brit -- Norman Lebrecht -- to state the obvious -- that in this occasion the President himself might want to say a few words about Ms. Brown, that fellow breaker of barriers.
Since class is something one is usually born with and it cannot truly be taught, or absorbed via the Internet, Opera Chic tends to forgive this sad case of American amnesia.
But, more simply, Opera Chic wishes that since crooked politicians (for example, Anchorage) or quite mediocre diplomats (DC, International) and even Hollywood celebrities (DC, National) have had major airports named after them, the City of Baltimore -- Ms. Brown's native city -- should name Baltimore International Airport after her: just rename BWI as "Anne Brown International Airport, Baltimore" OK since the airport's taken, the City of Baltimore should name something after Brown -- the Norwegians are like, beating us at this game!
