Out & About
Playing Arias for Laughs
Letterman, Leno: it's time to book some opera singers as guest talent. Their comic skills were on display at an awards dinner Sunday presented by the magazine Opera News, a publication of the Metropolitan Opera Guild.
"He started as a boy soprano, and worked his way down," the lyrico-spinto soprano Martina Arroyo said of German bass René Pape, an honoree.
The helden-tenor Ben Heppner, an honoree, said of front-page coverage he received for a concert in his native British Columbia. A photograph of him singing ran next to a story with the headline "Big Wind Blows Down Power Lines."
Italian soprano Renata Scotto explained how she changed when she came to America: "In Italy I was a prima donna. Here I became a professional."
Emcee Thomas Hampson announced an auction for the chance to see honoree Deborah Voigt in the now-famous little black dress, which she did not fit into for the production of "Ariadne" at Covent Garden.
The women singers all mentioned, giddily, the number of times they'd been Opera News cover girls, while the Met's maestro, James Levine, told guests that he has read every issue of Opera News since he was 8. That was when he saw his first opera, ‘Carmen,' performed outdoors at the Cincinnati Zoo. "The animals chimed in, of course," he said.
Women & Wine From Napa
Forget "Sideways." The next big lure to the Napa Valley is destined to be its intelligent, passionate women vintners — at least the ones I met at a fundraising tasting at Bayard's last week.
Cathy Corison discovered her love of winemaking at a biology major at Pomona, then earned a master's degree in Enology. After 30 years of working for others, she founded Corison Winery in 1987, where she makes a highly acclaimed Cabernet Sauvignon.
Julie Johnson of Tres Sabores invited three winemakers to produce Zinfandels from her grapes. "I wanted to find the taste of the vineyard," she said. This month she introduces a a marinade made with wine, pomegranates, lemons, and persimmons — all grown on her organic farm.
April Gargiulo poured a 2004 Aprile, a red wine named after her. But that's not all she's contributed to Gargiulo Vineyards: she has also designed its logo and labels.
Mary Rocca, who poured the Rocca Vineyards blend Bad Boy Red, told of her four children who pick a crate or two of grapes at harvest. She be happy to host visitors if they're willing to pick a few more than that.
