Certainly City Opera's glorious 2002 production of Il trittico and OONY's superb 2004 Fanciulla made me rethink my frosty relationship with brother Giacomo, but the thaw had started even earlier. I remember revisiting Tosca in the theatre seven or eight years ago and marvelling at its blessèd terseness: How refreshing, how professional, how *respectful* compared with the longueurs of, say, Don Carlos, Parsifal, or Cenerentola (all of which, mind you, I adore).

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