It’s not every day that Metropolitan Opera legends like Susan Graham, Maestro James Levine and Renata Scotto get gussied up to break bread and sip wine, but that’s precisely who turned up for the 2014 Opera News Awards at The Plaza. The Sunday soirée honored singers Christa Ludwig, Nina Stemme, James Morris and Juan Diego Florez (sadly recovering from an illness) as well as paid tribute to director Patrice Chéreau who died last year. Joyce DiDonato and David Hyde Pierce made for entertaining hosts: “It was really my life line and my map to the beginning,” Ms. DiDonato explained about first discovering the opera music glossy.
When he sent away for his first issue, Mr. Hyde Pierce joked that he thought it was called Opera Nudes. “I was so excited because I thought: ‘This is the side of the opera that we never see!’”
“Which is not a bad thing,” his co-host warned.
“There wasn’t even a center-fold!” he gripped with disappointment.