Things Come in Threes

When it comes to obituaries, there is a belief that when one noted individual in a particular field passes away, say an entertainer, then another two similarly noted, or nearly as well-noted entertaineres, will shortly follow.

Somewhere, there may be an official record of Obituary Trifectas, but I don't really know where it might be except in someone's memory. The best I can offer however is that there must be something to this linked threesome theory when you realize that in the last three days, three sopranos of noted stature have passed away.

This is not to lead anyone to believe that the cast of the show 'The Sopranos' is now leaving earth because the show is no longer running as an original. No, these were operatic sopranos who sang with renown, and not figures in bad fitting clothing singing to DAs.

In Wednesday's NYT we had Galina Vishnevskaya, a noted soprano and Soviet dissident, who passed away at 86, in Moscow. She was married to the noted conductor and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Accompanying her obituary is a 1961 picture of her performing in Aida at the Metropolitan Opera that bears a striking likeness to my neighbor, who I will pay a little more attention to the next time she drags the garbage cans out to the curb.

On Thursday, the NYT informed us that Lisa Della Casa had passed away at 93, in Switzerland. There is also a picture of Ms. Della Casa, but I have to admit she looks and dresses like no one in the neighborhood, even on Halloween.

At two, I'm already thinking three, somewhat like what happens when someone wins the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. Will we have a Triple Crown of occupations who shuffle off?

Yes we will. Today, Friday, the NYT tells us that Gloria Davy, a Brooklyn-born soprano who became the first African-American to sing Aida at the Metropolitan Opera, has passed away at 81, in Switzerland.

So, things do seem to happen in threes, and perhaps even fours if tomorrow's paper brings us more of the same. Operatic sopranos would seem to live longer lives than real Sopranos; they can come from Brooklyn; they have a chance to spend their remaining days in Switzerland by the lake; singing in 'Aida' may promote longevity.

Or, none of this has anything to do with anything.

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