A great man once said, or he didn't, or whatever -- the point is that we tend to criticize those who we love the most. Which is why we've been wondering what's up with the soggy pity-party that Italy's thrown for its most famous opera hero, Giuseppe Verdi, in his bicentennial birth year? Read about it here for Sinfini Music, cutting throught classical. It's like, yeah, the country that churned out geniuses like Dante & Brunelleschi & Da Vinci & Fellini is holding the elevator for that bearded opera dude? COME ON!
Then head over to Grazia.it for OC's review of the new, minimalist Teatro alla Scala Daniele Abbado Nabucco (co-production of the ROH, LOC & the Liceu) with the stellar Verdi baritone Leo Nucci and the rock-solid musicianship of Nicola Luisotti.
Then grab March's Opera Now (with Montserrat Caballé on the cover) to read reviews of the December 2012 season opening La Traviata starring Carmen Giannattasio at Naples' Teatro di San Carlo and the January 2013 season opening Lohengrin at Dresden's Semperoper with Christian Thielemann on the podium.