[contextly_auto_sidebar id="AkwrwxM6eGKNL3GVzj0NAKOSml0rfK6D"] YOUR humble blogger came out of a performance of Duke Bluebeard's Castle yesterday reminded of what a bloody genius Bela Bartok was -- and I mean that just about literally. The production at Los Angeles Opera is brutally sharp, filled with sexual menace. The swelling, at times astringent music itself offered a dark kind of beauty to … [Read more...]