Julia Werthimer wrote: >... But Puccini seems to suffer a special fate: his work is so popular >and tuneful that many CM buffs turn up their noses at it. A la Tchaikovsky, whose praises I have sung many times on this list. I'm sure most Listers have read those postings, so I will exercise restraint and not quote myself. But don't forget: "Tchaikovsky -- Why the Snobs are Wrong." >At present I don't feel I want to hear or see Boheme or Tosca for quite >a good while - but he was a superb craftsman, no doubt about it,IMHO. Julia is a master of understatement. Next year marks the centenary of Tosca. It is being staged at the Kennedy Center with Gorchakova (I think). I have already told my wife that we will be there (general groans around the dinner table). Mitch Friedfeld