Music: Making Love to the Public

There are three sexes: men, women and tenors. — Anonymous

Years ago, a leading New York tenor named Brignoli made a point of not being touched during onstage love scenes; that, he felt, would have been both indecent and unlucky. More recently, Soprano Beverly Sills went through an entire act of La Traviata with a tenor who never once looked at her. Conclusion: tenors as a group are still not only shorter and rounder than their heroines, but as adroit as ever at underwhelming them romantically.

A welcome exception is Tenor Placido Domingo, who...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!