And Sir Paul McCartney wrapped up proceedings with a jaunty crowd participation version of Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.

BBC: Stars shine on The Queen at Jubilee concert

La cambiale di matrimonio - The marriage contract - was streamed from Vienna's Kammeroper theatre on Sunday.

BBC: Live online opera debut in Vienna

When I turned out for La Biennale di Venezia my worst fears were confirmed as to the disenchantment of mid-career artists with the political and economic milieu they faced.

FORBES: My Leading Indicator Is Art In Venezia

Yet literally thousands of wineries around the world, large and small, luxury-priced and plonky, either own such devices themselves or send their wines out for a little laundering. (One outfit alone, ConeTech in Santa Rosa, claims more than 600 confidential winery clients.) It is kind of like winemaking in the Land of Oz--"A snip, snip here, a snip, snip there and a couple of la-di-dahs"--without the cheerful Munchkins.

FORBES: Faking It

Six months after the Belfast performance, Pavarotti landed a role covering for Giuseppe di Stefano in La Boheme in London's Covent Garden.

BBC: Pavarotti: 50 years since singer's forgotten UK debut

We decamp to the country, to lovely villa La Paolina near the remote Castello di Donnafugata.

BBC: Postcard from Southeast Sicily

The house also has designed costumes for a production of "Lucia di Lammermoor" at La Scala starring Luciano Pavarotti and Luciana Serra.

NPR: Patriarch Of Fashion Brand Missoni Dies In Italy

The days when La Scala opera stars like Maria Callas and Giuseppe di Stefano were international celebrities have passed.

BBC: NEWS | Entertainment | Italy facing opera funding crisis

Readers are introduced to dishes such as A Pie of Carrots and Other Roots, Luxury Bread and Brioche, and Fried Artichokes with Bacon and Cream, as well as pivotal epicurean characters like Taillevent (a 14th-century cook to the court of France), Olivier de La Marche (the Duke of Burgundy's master of ceremonies) and Maestro Martino di Como (cook to the papal court).

WSJ: Bits & Bites: News You Can Eat