A sign that we in the west need more culture.

[Locut0s]

On the eve of Pavarotti's death we need to be reminded that Pavarotti sang with such notables as "U2's Bono and Liza Minnelli". The greatest voice in modern Opera history needs to be linked with these contemporary pop stars for anyone to take notice on the day of his death.

http://www.cnn.com/

[saltpoint]

1. We don't like none of that opera shit. It's all in foreign talk and

they dress up funny, too.

[frazzled]

2. Sigh ...

I am not an elitist who rejects pop culture in favor of "high" culture. High and low and in-between are all fine by me. And Pavarotti apparently did not either (at least when it came to making a buck.)

But it is sad commentary that the media doesn't seem to think we can take our high culture without a spoon full of sugar (not that Liza and Bono aren't swell). It makes the case that opera (and by extension, theater, literature, classical music, etc.) are not in themselves pleasurable: something unique to Americans.

We really need to put music and art back into the curricula of our schools, and we really need to have an arts policy again in this country. Today's neutered NEA is a joke. No other first-tier nation in the world lacks a minister of culture. Our new artists, experimenting at the edges, get no support.

I'll never forget when members of the symphony orchestra worked at my son's elementary school for a semester: at the end, the kids put on the Triumphal Scene from Aida with great gusto. They made their own costumes, built the sets, studied ancient Egypt in their social studies class, and sang their hearts out. I dare say those 9-12 year olds got an appreciation for opera they might otherwise not have had.

[Telly Savalas]

3. We have plenty of culture in the West.

Why anybody would think that CNN is a barometer for it is beyond me.

[Autumn Colors]

4. "We in the west"????

How about trying "We in the United States" (because the USA alone is not "the west")??

I'm sure Europeans need no such pop star linking.