About a month ago, opera lovers in São Paulo were in dismay. Rumor had it that the upcoming production of “Tristan und Isolde” at the Theatro Municipal de São Paulo was canceled. When that was confirmed by a post from the director Felipe Hirsch, a frequent collaborator of the opera house, my phone melted with group messages expressing frustration. The Wagner opera was certainly the most anticipated event of the season. Its tickets had sold out just hours after they went on sale.

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… is a literary scholar, opera critic, and telenovela aficionado currently residing in Boston, Massachusetts. He wrote his doctoral dissertation (Harvard) on melodramas.