Marriage of Figaro was the radio treat from New York today. The applause went mostly for the soprano, but speaking as someone who prefers baritone to tenor, it should all have gone to Juan Diego Florez. His singing was agile and beautiful, with every word understandable. I'm so glad I heard it. My favorite performance, though, is still the one at the Capitol Playhouse, now Ruta Maya, a performance in the round mostly by students, playing to an audience on bleachers, and sparsely accompanied, by two pianos, I think, though perhaps just by one. The Times Literary Supplement has a letter from Austin by its former editor, now conducting research to be used in a book about V. S. Pritchett. The piece immediately catches the eye because it's accompanied by a photograph of the colored-cup flag set in a fence near Kash Karry/FreshPlus.