Secret Confessions from Skitty

Skitty says, “I like Andrea Bocelli.”

Skitty purred when she heard that Bocelli sang at the Metropolitan Opera earlier this week. But the purring stopped when someone explained to her that he was only testing the acoustics. Bocelli, the blind pop star tenor whose reedy voice is much-maligned by classical music critics, is friends with Met general manager Peter Gelb. Bocelli might perform an out-of-season recital.

How bad can he be? Well, he’s no Elvis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btfBQQNk8Q8

Read on for miscellany.

I’ve just downloaded the 2002 album Tehillim / The Desert Music by Steve Reich. It includes 2 works by the American minimalist composer from the early 1980's.

On this album, Tehillim is performed by the Eastman ensemble Ossia, and The Desert Music is performed by Alarm will Sound and Ossia. I’m conducting self-experiments with minimalism and running -- check back for results next week. If I ever form a band, I’m calling it Perceived Exertion Chart. Also, a guy in Cape Town, South Africa, is working a new production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. He’s replacing the traditional orchestra with eight marimbas and a pair each of soprano, alto, baritone, and bass. Also, check out Jeremy Denk’s wonderfully inventive and graphic blog about his piano: http://jeremydenk.net/blog/2007/11/14/fiction/