Name That Tune, Dave

It's been many months since I've managed to stay up late enough to watch Letterman. But since I didn't get around to dinner till about 10:30 last night, I wasn't in any hurry to rush to bed. (For me, sleep too soon after a meal always leads to nightmares involving Susan Sarandon, a giant squid and the Code of Federal Regulations. Just don't even ask.)

I was a very early Late Night fan, zealously watching Dave back in the 80's when he was, (gulp) younger than I am now. And like many such fans, I've been disappointed with his gradual dehipification, as it were. I'm not suggesting that a guy now in his mid 50's ought to be acting like he's still a 38 year old maverick, but I miss the old "edginess" and wish he could have found a way to preserve it better.

Last night's show was rather strange. I actually dozed through the first part of it - an interview with Pierce Brosnan. But I woke up in time to see Dave being very rude to some extremely twitty chef who was on to make a fried cod dish and flog a new cookbook. It was quite entertaining, in an extremely childish way.

But the really strange thing was that the last guest of the evening was Renee Fleming, who came on to sing an (unidentified) Handel aria, complete with chamber group accompaniment. I have no idea what prompted Dave to book her or what prompted her to accept. Either Letterman wants to burnish his respectability a bit - a preposterously misguided goal IMHO, or else there is a larger audience for sophomoric humor combined with Baroque music than I had previously imagined. (Okay, I fit that demographic, but there can't be that many like me around.) As is usually the case with this kind of act on Dave's show, the audience response was interesting - they applauded heartily, but you could tell they were doing so because they thought they ought to, not because they had any particular taste for the music. (I'm guessing not many of them went round the corner to Tower Records afterward to stock up on Handel CD's.)

Anyhoo, the main reason I even wanted to post about last night's show has little to do with Dave Letterman and more to do with Renee Fleming. (Helm, disengage Gratuitous Musickal Posting (TM) cloaking device!) She sang the Handel piece very well. But I find myself increasingly put off by anything more than the slightest hint of vibrato in a singer's voice. As long time readers know, I am in love with Emma Kirkby, the single purist soprano I've ever heard in my life. I also love other such true-note singers such as Evelyn Tubb and Alison Hagley. Given that, it's become very hard for me to appreciate members of what might be called the Diva Class, however meritorious their performances.

Just in case you were wondering.