Speaking of accordion fetishists (ENO post above), Haaretz runs an immense, revealing profile on young Israeli conductor Omer Wellber, which delves into everything, really, everything -- including this:
What other kinds of responses have you gotten for being so young and Israeli?
"After I conducted 'Tosca' at La Scala in February and I got the kind of reviews I'd never had before, it seems there were some people who couldn't abide that and they started a rumor that I was conducting at La Scala because my family donates millions to the Opera House. They said I was Barenboim's illegitimate son from a lover in Israel and only now when he learned that I was talented did he take me in ..."
