More correspondence:
“Say what you will about Caruso, Bjorling, Tucker, none of them is recorded as having made a backward leap from a standing position onto a table top which, it shall be noted, Ben Bliss did not once but twice at Rake’s Progress. That plus a deep yoga-worthy toe-touching curtain call bow. And all while also producing lovely head voice in the last pathos-filled scene to great emotional effect.
And when I ask where do all these singers come from, what of course I mean is where have I been not noticing these wonderful singers. Perhaps it is the Gelb publicity machine emphasizing a bit too much the staging and not enough the gifted singers. Perhaps the audience wants voices to adore as much as clever staging.”