If you’re going to the Metropolitan Opera, Wayne Koestenbaum, author of the iconic exploration of opera queendom, The Queen’s Throat, is the best guide one could hope for. After dinner at Rosa Mexicano across from Lincoln Center, we sauntered across Columbus Avenue to a performance of Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov.” For both of us, it was the first time since the pandemic began. Koestenbaum showed me where Susan Sontag used to loiter in the lobby, and how to take in the scene and people-watch. Afterwards, we spent a while talking about how it felt to be back at the opera, where we watched the action from the highest tier, peering over the stage.
Sacred Time
A return to the opera with Wayne Koestenbaum
