In Brief

Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to good things in Blogville and Beyond. (Illustration via Monotonous Forest)

• Having just spent much time last fall rehearsing and playing for a production of Bye-Bye, Birdie, this mash-up video of that musical with Wagner's Parsifal (!) caused flashbacks of the post-traumatic stress syndrome variety. It was made worse because at the time I was listening to Ian Bostridge sing Winterreise on my headphones, which was further mashed into the sonic abortion. [Parterre Box]


• Sieglinde has screen shots of Alex Ross's appearance on Charlie Rose, with a hilarious running commentary. [Sieglinde's Diaries]


• Via Boing Boing, some idiots dumped a few hundred thousand colored balls down the Spanish Steps in Rome. The video is one part whimsy and one part litter disaster. [decio]


• By drawing $26 million from its trust, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has paid off the mountain of accumulated debts and is back in the black. Ticket receipts under Marin Alsop are up, too. [Baltimore Sun]


• "I listened often to Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's recording of Bach's cantata Ich habe genug (I Have Enough), especially the aria Schlummert ein (Fall Asleep). It happens to be a glorious piece, but it's also an extraordinary performance -- one that is blessed, and that blesses us." Dawn Upshaw speaks about music that inspired her as she battled breast cancer. [Minneapolis Star Tribune]


• Is this a market trend? These stickers are usually reserved for cars, appliances or lingerie. I love a good culture sale. (Suggested by Mark Barry) [Flickr]


• George Loomis reports on a new exhibit for the Korngold Centenary, The Korngolds: Cliché, Criticism and Composition at the Jüdisches Museum in Vienna (through May 18). [International Herald Tribune]