Matthew B. Tepper wrote:
> Josep Vilanova appears to have caused the
> following letters to be typed in
> news:C3082212.6BA8%josepvilanova@hotmail.com:
>
> [quoting david7gable@aol.com]
>
> >> (It may surprise you to learn that there is a silly and vicious anti-
> >> Domingo cabal that refers to him scornfully as Topless, because, for
> >> this particular audience, an effortless upper range the like of which
> >> Domingo never really had is the essential requirement in a tenor.
> >
> > I met several people from that cabal (that seems to be spread across
> > several countries) and was also surprised by the silliness of the whole
> > concept. They seem to be completely oblivious to the sheer dramatic force
> > of his performances. They make me think of circus-lovers, rather than
> > followers of an art. It's like if the fact of reaching some particular high
> > note has for them the same thrill of seeing someone on a trapeze doing a
> > jump. It may be also the case, but there are also other considerations,
> > some as basic as 'beauty' in the singing, that seem to be secondary to
> > them.
>
> The anti-Domingo cabal long ago took firm hold in rec.music.opera; during the
> years I spent trying to fathom that cesspool, any mention of this great
> Spanish tenor could be counted on to bring forth jeers of such a spiteful
> nature you'd think that the subject of their rage was Russell Watson.

Watson's not so bad. Domingo is a fine tenor. Those turkeys must all
be wankers.

> One of the A-D cabal, a Holocaust survivor with a profound and deep knowledge

Ah, typical. Damn Nazis always seemed to miss the real targets.

> of opera-singing tenors of the last century, said that one of his choices for
> a tenor "superior" to Domingo was Chris Merritt, a hooting monstrosity who

Merritt? A0L!

> sound sets my teeth on edge. Another cabal member regularly waged attacks on
> Domingo's character for having supposedly slighted Richard Tucker, whom this
> aficionado regards as little short of Moshiach. And so on. Incredible.

Who's that tenor from New Zealand?