Herbert Breslin, Pavarotti’s brash and profane manager, dies at 87.

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, master singer of German art songs, dies at 86.

Herbert was one of the more controversial figures in a field that sees its share of controversy. Reviewing our book, The King and I, in Opera News, Brian Kellow said something along the lines of, “I’d always thought of Herbert Breslin as a foul-mouthed, money-hungry old windbag. Now that I’ve read “The King and I,” I think he’s a lovable, foul-mouthed, money-hungry old windbag.” Leave off the “lovable" part and you have a good idea of how most of the field felt about a man who routinely screamed expletives into the telephone before slamming it down, cut various financial corners, and made gleeful use of his star client’s fame to manipulate journalists and other artists. When in 2002 an offer to write a book with this character fell into my lap and I began sounding out people in the business about it, I started to get the impression that he was universally hated.

Edited to add: Another view from Charles T. Downey on Ionarts.

Katherine Boyle wrote a wonderful profile of Scribner in Sunday’s Washington Post.

Tom Huizenga heard a Concerto Köln performance that went on in spite of visa problems that kept the group’s concertmaster stuck in Germany.