Monthly Archives: March 2011

Le Comte Ory Premieres at the Met

Last night the Metropolitan Opera gave its first ever performance of Rossini’s penultimate opera Le Comte Ory. It was broadcast on the Sirius network and streamed live by the Met. It will be telecast in HD on April 9th. I’ll comment on it then; but last night’s broadcast showed all three principals in outstanding vocal…


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Melchior and Gigli – March 20, 1890

Today is the birthday of two of opera’s supremely gifted tenors – Lauritz Melchior and Beniamino Gigli. Not only were they born on the same day, but in the same year. Below is Melchior singing Dio mi potevei scagliar from Verdi’s Otello. He sang the role at the Met only one time, and only it’s…


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Lucia Di Lammermoor in HD – Again

Today the Met brought back its production of Donizetti’s masterpiece Lucia Di Lammermoor. It was telecast just a little over two years ago with Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczala, and Mariusz Kwiecien in the principal roles. This time the opera had a new set of performers – Natalie Dessay, Joseph Calleja, and Ludovic Tézier. The production…


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Site Back Up

Yesterday the site was down for about 10 hours for reasons I still don’t know. But all seems OK now.


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Cancer survivors in United States increasing by hundreds of thousands per year

The above is the title of a story published by the AP. Why are there more cancer survivors? Here is the explanation offered by the story: More people are surviving cancer, in part, because of earlier detection and better treatment, they (health officials at the Centers for Disease Control) said. In 2007, there were about…


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Reform School

If you would understand why reform of our medical system is so difficult consider the case of the angiogenesis inhibitor Avastin. The drug had been used in combination with other therapies to treat metastatic breast cancer. “The FDA notified healthcare professionals and patients that it is recommending removing the breast cancer indication for bevacizumab (Avastin)…


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Recording of the Week – Martha Argerich

These two concertos, Rachmaninoff’s 3rd and Tchaikovsky’s 1st, were recorded in concert about 30 years ago. Martha Argerich is a pianist of astonishing virtuosity. Born in Buenos Aires, Ms Argerich has kept a low profile letting her artistry speak for itself. Rachmaninoff’s 3rd Piano Concerto is best known for its great technical difficulties. Originally dedicated…


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