Delos Diary

Beware all classical music lovers who play their favorite CDs in their cars at maximum volume. A news report in the Miami Herald details a recent relevant court case. A Miami man who violated a county noise ordinance by blasting his car radio in South Beach was judged guilty and given a choice of sentence. He could either pay a $456 misdemeanor fine or sit quietly in chambers and listen to a complete recording of La Bohème* — all 113 minutes and 35 seconds — in silence. This may have been misery for the guilty party, but it sounds like a pretty pleasant way to escape punishment to me. But there is a "what if."
What if I were caught by a zealous sheriff while blasting Strauss' Alpine Symphony or Respighi's Pines of Rome on my car CD player? In Miami I could be accused of violating the same ordinance as the man mentioned above. I might be assigned to a youngish judge brought up on Rap or Heavy Metal. He might sentence me, God forbid, to listen quietly to two hours of Tupac or Metallica. I'd never survive. I promise to monitor my volume control forevermore.

*(p.s.: The Bohème recording mentioned above was the recent one featuring Andrea Bocelli as Rodolfo. According to most reviews we've read, a dedicated opera fan might classify listening to this version as "extreme punishment" and prefer to pay the $456 cash fine.)