Switching frequencies from opera's Luciano Pavarotti (Sept. 24) to rock 'n' roll's The Who--subject of this week's cover story--is not too much to ask of a music editor. But add responsibility for editing major stories on the movies' Kramer vs. Kramer (Dec. 3), television's Mork (March 12), ballet's Gelsey Kirkland (May 1, 1978), and the job calls for Martha Duffy. As senior editor of TIME's Cinema, Music, Dance, Show Business, Television and Theater sections for the past five years, she is in effect the magazine's performing arts expert.

Duffy, who was a TIME book reviewer for five years before taking on the cultural portfolio, grew up with a smattering of dance and piano lessons and a passion for the opera. "The Saturday-afternoon broadcast of the Met was the most important event of the week," she recalls. Today Duffy keeps a stereo and stack of classical records in her office. "I also listen to country-and-western," she says, "since editing a Merle Haggard cover five years ago.

Occasionally, and with great delight, Duffy ventures out to cover a music or dance story herself. Last March she accompanied Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony on their historic tour of China. "It was fascinating to see musicians there attempt to recover after the Gang of Four's efforts to dismantle Chinese culture," she says. "Instruments are few, scores even fewer, but there is no dearth of enthusiasm. In Shanghai, we watched a rehearsal of Swan Lake in a room so cold we could see our breath. The dancers, however, took no notice of the chill. They were simply pleased to be performing."

The coverage and concertgoing for this week's story were essentially the work of Reporter-Researcher Janice Castro and Contributor Jay Cocks. Castro, who had completed lengthy interviews with the four group members in November, rejoined them in Buffalo last week, shortly after eleven fans were trampled to death at a Who concert in Cincinnati. Cocks interviewed Lyricist and Guitarist Peter Townshend and wrote the story, which assesses the group's 15 turbulent years of tragedy, transformation and continuing success. "I've been a Who fan forever," he says. "Unlike many rock musicians, they are capable of discussing their music, its evolution and its objects with extraordinary candor and intelligence." That intelligence, as reflected in The Who's music and Cocks' story, has also made a fan of TIME's culture editor, though the conversion came relatively late. Concedes Duffy: "Back when The Who was being launched, I was in line at the Metropolitan, trying to get tickets for Birgit Nilsson."

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