Mourning Lieberson

The death of 52-year-old mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson from cancer is hitting the music world hard. “No death in the classical-music community since Leonard Bernstein’s is likely to arouse such a sense of personal grief among those who heard but never knew her. Both artists tended to reveal their innermost selves in performance, and to do so passionately in the service of great art. She did so, however, in places where you might not think to find it: modern and ancient music.”