Correspondence

I have been a subscriber to The Opera Quarterly since its inception and have enjoyed many, many articles over the years. I was thrilled to see Jack Rokahr's article about his archive of opera scores. It was my great privilege and pleasure to meet Jack two years ago, just as he was about to box up the scores and send them to Nebraska. His collection was truly breathtaking to see. In that brief visit we were able to learn only some of the story of his collection. It was wonderful to get so much more of the story as set forth in his article, "The Rokahr Family Archive" [OQ, vol. 19, no. 4 (autumn 2003), pp. 670-81]. More power to The Opera Quarterly for including this most unusual aspect of the "opera world" and the people who make it tick.

Marty Bloom
La Jolla, California

At the end of Roger Pines's review of the Marston CD edition of the 1936 Buenos Aires Parsifal (OQ, vol. 19, no. 4 [autumn 2003], p. 816), the reviewer states that "Mr. Dillon [author of the booklet notes] identifies this performance as the first opera broadcast ever." Well, that is not true. My article in the printed booklet concerns the Parsifal broadcast conducted by Felix Weingartner from the Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires on 27 August 1920, which I do consider the first complete opera broadcast ever. The 1936 performance may be the oldest extant Parsifal on record, but of course it is not the first opera broadcast ever.

Cesar Dillon
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Haste may make waste—it also makes mistakes. In my CD review of Jussi Björling's Trovatore (OQ, vol. 19, no. 4 [autumn 2003], p. 808) I wrote that he "successfully takes a stab (even now, at age forty-eight) at the trill . . ." As the performance occurred on 26 January 1957, Björling was only forty-five at the time. While writing the review I must have glanced at the booklet's data for the Manon Lescaut bonus tracks on the second disc; the date of that performance was 1 November 1959, when the tenor was indeed forty-eight years old. My apologies.

Andrew Farkas
Jacksonville, Florida

Generally, I consider it a waste of time (and illogical) to argue with a critic on matters of taste or preference. However, in the case of William Ashbrook's review of the vintage recording of Faust with Léopold Simoneau and Pierrette Alarie (OQ, vol. 19, no. 3 [summer 2003], pp. 576-80), there is a valid reason to question his statement that they "are slightly overparted." When I read those amazing words, I pulled out my copy of the recording [VAI 1143-3], played it all the way through, and, once again, was impressed with the grace and dramatic believability that these artists delivered.

Gil Deane
San Anselmo, California

I am in the process of renewing my Opera Quarterly subscription, which expired a few years ago. So many periodicals, newspapers, and books were coming in that I didn't have the time or eyepower to do justice. [Some other periodicals] have become rather "shallow" in recent years, like an opera fan's version of People magazine. I had been able to pick up a copy of The Opera Quarterly at a bookstore, but lately this has become increasingly difficult.

Charles H. Hamilton, M.D.
Jaffrey, New Hampshire

The Editor responds:

I thank you for renewing your subscription, which now seems to be the best way to keep one's collection of OQ up to date. One can no longer depend on finding the journal in book and record shops, largely because of distribution problems that ended up costing the publisher money and because of the surge in Internet accessibility. This modern development no doubt deprives a good number of readers (and potential subscribers) of the old- fashioned pleasure of discovering OQ in a favorite bookstore and taking it off the shelf and fondling it before making a purchase. Plus ça change . . . plus ça change...