July 21, 1998

Third and last article in series Here and There, on modern immigrants who straddle two worlds in varying degrees, unlike Europeans in early part of century who fled war and persecution and abandoned homelands forever; while every migration story is psychodrama of family and its aspirations, for many Latin American and Caribbean immigrants it is also story of a town or global village in most literal sense whose expatriates have negotiated double life grounded in intimacy of their communities; many modern immigrants, such as those from Chinantla, Mexico, straddle border abetted by newly inexpensive air fares, international phone cards and by new Mexican law that allows them to retain Mexican nationality as American citizens and even confers it on American-born children; even though its 2,500 residents live lives divided between Chinantla and New York, they consider themselves one group, and even though town has been bled of its working-class population through half-century of migration to New York it has not faded but flourished--kept alive by those who consider place state of mind, affair of heart and their spiritual anchor; photos; map (L)

Anthony Tommasini reviews EMI Classics' now completed Maria Callas Edition of compact disks, which includes every recording she made with EMI (and some live performance recordings it acquired rights to); notes special, remastered, insightfully annotated series of more than 70 disks represents significant financial commitment for EMI; says it also contributes invaluably to something that major record companies typically think little about these days: musical posterity; first installment in Callas Edition, 20 complete opera recordings, was released last August in conjunction with 20th anniversary of soprano's death in Paris at 53; photos (L)

Comment on use of computers and high technology to help design America's Cup challenge boats; challengers hoping to capture America's Cup from New Zealand in 2000 have already begun extensive research and testing directed toward designing and building fastest sailboats in their class; months, even years, before construction begins on boats, teams of naval architects, designers, computer scientists, model builders and engineers engage in a technological competition to create machines that can complete a two-hour race a few minutes or seconds ahead of rivals; designers build as many as 50 scale models of their most promising computer designs and take them to David Taylor Model Basin at Naval Surface Warfare Center in Bethesda, Md; photos; drawing of computer simulation of air movement off forward sail of typical America's Cup yacht (M)

New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, responding to harsh election-year attacks on Assembly Democrats, says he will convene Assembly for special session within week to pass Gov George Pataki's proposal to limit parole for violent felons; move represents significant shift for Assembly leaders, who have been blamed by Republicans for failure of Pataki's proposals in last legislative session; is intended to neutralize contentious issue that Democratic lawmakers from conservative and moderate districts fear could jeopardize their seats in Fall 1998 elections; Silver acknowledges that since regular legislative session ended in June, he has been under pressure from rank-and-file lawmakers to pass Pataki's proposal to restrict parole for first-time violent felons (M)

New $95 million Grand Teatre del Liceu is close to completion in Barcelona, Spain, following destruction by fire of old one on Jan 31, 1994; legendary opera house has been heart of Barcelona's social life for close to 150 years; on its stage, generations of Catalan singers launched their careers, not least Victoria de los Angeles, Montserrat Caballe and Jose Carreras; if all goes as planned, Liceu will be reopened by King Juan Carlos at gala next July; renovation or reconstruction of a European opera house is often delayed by political struggles, financial crises or bureaucratic inertia; description of problems attending renovation or reconstruction of Bastille Opera in Paris, Teatro Real in Madrid, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in London, and La Fenice in Venice; photos (L)