Britain, The Netherlands, India, Spain, Norway, Slovenia ... the Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts has put our town on the world map as a mecca for the hottest performing talents and visual arts that the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust could possibly telescope into 16 exciting nights ('til Oct. 25).

And so to Germany, my little strudel, for a One Night Stand with Berlin's Max Raabe & Palast Orchester, a charming baritone and his big band who lit up the Benedum Center stage with their versatility and talent. With comic asides that basted the mostly German musical passages together from the '20s and '30s, crooner Raabe delightfully segued from joyous jump tunes to ballads to a hilarious send-up of "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" and Britney Spears' "Oops! I Did it Again." Everyone agreed they were wunderbar