Mark Rylance in 'Farinelli and the King' on Broadway: Can opera save your sanity?
NEW YORK - With "operatic" now a synonym for excessive grandiosity, and the demanding diva de rigueur for any opera, it is easy to forget the primal, visceral nature of the early years of the art. To paraphrase what is said in the fascinating new Broadway play "Farinelli and the King," which opened here Sunday night, opera once was a much dirtier business.
Not so much galas, donors and elitism as candles, sweat
