sundry items

Vivaldi's Catone in Utica, with Ann Hallenberg, Roberta Invernizzi, and Anett Fritsch (soprano Caesar, yo) is here tomorrow (Feb 6) on Radio 4 Netherlands at the, for some of us, somewhat ungodly hour of 6am ET, but possibly archived here for a week. h/t Dr T for the headsup.

The operacentric trend in literature continues with Alexander Chee's new novel The Queen of the Night. You can read the first chapter here, and then pick it up from somewhere other than Amazon, if you feel so moved and if such a thing is still possible by the time you read this.

Rokia Traoré has a new album out and you can stream the whole thing for a limited time courtesy of NPR First Listen

Catone Approximately Thirty Miles Southeast of Utica (As the Crow Flies)

Wasting no time whatsoever, Glimmerglass has announced its 2015 (and 40th anniversary) program here. Psyched for the return of baroque opera, the return of Eric Owens, the return of Melody Moore, and the return of John Conklin. Also psyched for the opportunity to hear more from Jacqueline Echols, and reasonably enthused for the idea of getting The Magic Flute lost in the woods.

plastering pro bono

We've noticed only recently the conversion of SoundCloud to record label marketing tool. But it's Harmonia Mundi, and Lucy Crowe, so what the heck, let's embed that thang.