Divamensch

I had a little "I Want Candy" moment on my recent trip to Spain. I'll save that story for my travelogue! Here's the song as recorded by Bow Wow Wow, always sure to get me on the dance floor: I read some of the comments on YouTube and was surprised to learn that it's not an original by Bow Wow Wow, it was a cover of a song written by The Strangeloves. Anyone heard of them? I'm sure my brother Howard has. Their original version is pretty fabulous, it made me want to hear it don

I just read in The Times about the death of the Romanian soprano Ileana Cotrubas (age 87). She had retired by the time I started going to the opera but I know a bit of her work from recordings and telecasts. Here she is in one of her signature roles, as Mimi in La Bohème. She was known for playing fragile, wounded characters. There was something sincere and heartbreaking about her performances. Or so I've heard. There was a funny story in The Times obit about La Bohème. They