Dawn Upshaw (far left), Geof Nuttall (second right), and Peter Sellars (in yellow), and the rest of the 'Kafka Fragments' family at the rooftop garden at the American Academy in Rome after lunch

…and the rest of the American family-like team putting on the show ‘Kafka Fragments,’ (originally commissioned for Carnegie Hall in 2005, later performed everywhere from the Barbican in London to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and presented by Romaeuropa this weekend) came over for a lunch visit yesterday – and I can’t wait to see the production later this afternoon at the Palladium in the Garbatella zone of Rome which features Dawn Upshaw singing Gyorgy Kurtag’s explosive compositions while performing quotidian domestic chores – scrubbing floors, doing the dishes, ironing the laundry – accompanied by Geof Nuttall on violin – and staged by the brilliant Peter Sellars, who was part of the lively conversation at the New York Public Library marking the release of the first edition of the Edible Estates book in 2008. (Kafka Fragments at Romaeuropa)