Monthly Archives: January 2011
Margaret Price – RIP
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 31st January 2011Welsh soprano Margaret Price (1941-2011) died suddenly on January 28 at her home in the village of Moylegrove. Best known for her interpretation of Mozart and Verdi roles she had a luminous voice tied to a placid persona or perhaps it was shyness. I heard her sing in both New York and Chicago. At the…
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Magdalena Kožená
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th January 2011Magdalena Kozena is a Czech mezzo-soprano who was born in 1973. Her repertoire is based on baroques and classical music. She also sings Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande. As far as I know she performs no 19th century roles. Active mostly in Europe she made her Met debut in 2003 as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze…
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Educational Thoughts of the Day
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 26th January 2011The first mistake of public business is going into it. In rivers and bad governments the lightest things swim at top. Old boys have their playthings as well as young ones; the difference is only in the price. Tis against some mens Principle to pay Interest, and seems against others Interest to pay the Principal….
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Spyware Doctor – Malpractice
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 23rd January 2011I have a relatively new computer which two days before Christmas started misbehaving. Shortly after turning it on it would freeze. I could only get it to work by doing a cold reboot – ie, I had to turn it off using the on-off button and then restart it. I paid no attention to this problem until…
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Sentimental Education
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 18th January 2011Along with almost every student of literature I think Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary to be one of the West’s greatest novels. Somehow until now I never got around to reading Flaubert’s last novel Sentimental Education. Many informed readers consider the work at least the equal of its more famous predecessor. So I finally read it. I’m afraid…
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La Fanciulla Del West in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th January 2011Puccini’s La Fanciulla Del West does not enjoy the popularity of the rest of the composer’s mature works. It never will. It’s a wonderful piece that utilizes the orchestra to a greater degree than any other of Puccini’s operas. The orchestral writing is magical. One great melody follows another; they come and go in total sync with…
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The Obesity Paradox in Patients on Hemodialysis
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 4th January 2011I don’t wish to appear fixated on fat, but another paper on the relationship between obesity and survival has appeared. This one is easier to understand than those that have preceded it. The Obesity Paradox and Mortality Associated With Surrogates of Body Size and Muscle Mass in Patients Receiving Hemodialysis examines if an increase in…
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