Prima Donna

"I have friends there, I work there, but I find it really hard to like ... It's trying to be the New York of the Midwest." So how should these conflicting statements be interpreted? "I think that, with any artist, there's a level of unpredictability," says Chris Lorway, Luminato's artistic director, who met with Wainwright in the U.K. and listened to a first read-through of Prima Donna recently before acquiring it for the festival. "You just don't know what they're going to say at any given time. "As well, his comments were taken somewhat out of context,"

Read more: A new tune for Rufus? | In this article: Rufus Wainwright, Toronto, New York, Duplicity, and National Post

"I'm planning at the moment -- and I really want to stick to this -- that the album will just be a solo piano/voice, just sitting in the studio alone and making it about the music," Wainwright tells Billboard.com. He says it's a reaction to the big production of his latest releases -- 2007's "Release the Stars" and "Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall" -- as well as his forthcoming opera, "Prima Donna." "After all that, it's an opportunity to have this slight moment of intimacy with me -- which I know everybody wants,"

Read more: Rufus Wainwright scaling back the sonics | In this article: Rufus Wainwright, Billboard.com, Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall, Release the Stars, England, and U.S.

"Prima Donna" material at his shows. "No, no, no ... 'Prima Donna' is an opportunity for me to sit in the audience and enjoy my own brilliance -- with a certain perspective," he says. "It's the one chance for me to not be on stage."

Read more: Rufus Wainwright scaling back the sonics | In this article: Rufus Wainwright, Billboard.com, Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall, Release the Stars, England, and U.S.