Fall in New York means more than the beginning of the classical-music season: it's also the beginning of party season.(On the Beat)

Fall in New York means more than the beginning of the classical-music season; it's also the beginning of party season. In early autumn, I attended two wonderful events. The first, on September 23, was "Diamonds in the Rough," a bash at Cipriani Forty-second Street to launch a new model of Rado watches. A lineup of muscle boys in hard hats and tank tops, "mining" the diamonds, greeted the guests. Special guest for the evening was RENATA SCOTTO, and there were performances from cast members of the BAZ LUHRMANN La Boheme, which closed on Broadway last summer.

Scotto looked magnificent, and apparently she's been an inspiration to her daughter, LAURA ANSELMI, who was recently made over--partly at her mother's prodding--on the popular TLC show What Not to Wear. Scotto cheered on the Boheme singers (about to take the show to Los Angeles). At one point, she excused herself from the table. Someone asked if she needed anything. "Oh, no, no," she said, with a lascivious grin, "I just want to get another look at those miner boys."

Then, on October 13, there was a swell party at San Domenico, the climax of a month-long celebration of the toed and wine of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. This festival was the joint initiative of the Chamber of Commerce of Udine and FRED PLOTKIN, noted author of books on music and Italian food, including La Terra Fortunata: The Splendid Food and Wine of ...