Monday Morning Reads

Richard Dyer, in his final column as a staff writer, argues for the staying power of classical music. Jeremy Eichler, Dyer's replacement, reviews the Handel and Hayden Society's collaboration with the English National Opera on "Orfeo."

It's worth reading Hilton Kramer's interview of Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Philipe de Montebello in the New Criterion. Instead of grilling him with antiquities questions, Kramer's approach is more open-ended, giving the Met's opinionated boss a chance to define the tone. In his first answer, de Montebello is asked what has changed since he started at the Met in 1977. He answers, in part, "knowing everything I know, were I offered the job again I’m not sure I would take it."

Apparently, the spread of "Everybody's Talkin'" has reached trend levels. If only Fred Neil were here to cash in on it.