La Cieca

Surely this is the zenith of the history of the footnote. 1. The truth about John Cage (1912-1992) is even more telling than Borstlap’s claim that he “never intended to be a serious musician.” As Torres and I have noted, Cage did aspire to a musical career, but he was hampered by lack of talent and devastated by poor reviews. His failure as a composer is what led him to abandon music entirely to engage in his anti-art shenanigans.

The Metropolitan Opera just announced that Mary Jo Heath, who has worked as a producer and guest host for the company over the past nine seasons, will become the fourth full-time radio host in the company’s history this September. Since the inception of the Saturday matinee broadcast series in 1931, the Met has had three full-time hosts: Milton Cross, Peter Allen, and Margaret Juntwait, who passed away in June.