Janos writes: >Somebody should let Rockwell know that the wretched "Matrix" sequel has >all the floor-length trench coats to satisfy even the most rabid fans of >SchlockOpera. I don't know why "vibrancy" requires phallic prosthesis and >the like, but if that's the choice, give me that old-time "sensuous bath >in vocal timbre." You know, given the correspondence between composers and their librettists, I strongly doubt that composers think about that "sensuous bath" more often than they think of the drama. I suspect that the choice isn't between old-timey vocal calisthenics and Schlockopera. For me, the problem with the Met is that it hasn't originated a dramatically interesting production of *any* style in a very long time. When opera fans - that is, fans of opera, rather than of singers and set designers - talk about interesting productions, it's usually Bayreuth, San Francisco, Lyons, Glyndebourne, Aldeburgh, or even Chicago Lyric or directors like (I hear the snorts now) Sellars and Miller. For the record, I hated the Matrix Reloaded as well, but fortunately I don't have to choose between that and the latest Robin Williams weepie. Steve Schwartz