STill no highloights . . . but in other news. . . .

We haven't posted our usual Saturday highlights here in quite a while, partly because we have been away (when we travel we are on one computer, and then generally with only a slow, dial-up connection). And three weeks ago the hard drive on our laptop died. It took over a week to get a new drive and load everything back onto it. We are again traveling this week, so we did not have time this morning for the highlights posting. But do expect the highlights next week.

In other news, we understand that stagehands at Bayreuth are planning a strike over better wages and overtime (apparently Wolfgang Wagner had cut some sort of sweetheart deal with the union (called the "Verdi" union, can you believe?) to keep wages low and with no overtime payment required. But with Wolfgang gone, all bets are off. We hope things can be resolved before July 25th, when the Bayreuth Festival begins.

Also, Joyce DiDonato has posted all about her onstage accident during her first performance of a run of Barbieres at Covent Garden and subsequent wheelchair performances with a broken leg. She writes wonderfully, so her blog is always worth a read, but this week has been more than a little unusual for her.