Monthly Archives: October 2017
Medical Rationing in the UK
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 29th October 2017A sizable, but likely still a minority, of the population seems to think that the federal government should have sole responsibility for the funding and delivery of medical care in the US – ie, a single payer system. Many, if not, most people make up their minds about the provision of both medical care and…
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Kaufmann as Otello
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 23rd October 2017The Royal Opera House in London presented its new production of Verdi’s Otello last June. The show’s big attraction was the first performance of the opera’s title role by Jonas Kaufmann. The BBC broadcasted the opening night performance yesterday. The recording will available on its website for a month. Kaufmann’s dark voice prompted many to…
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Cielo e Mar
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 20th October 2017Amilcare Ponchielli (1834-86) is best known for his opera La Gioconda. This work is one of opera’s guilty pleasures. It’s libretto is so embarrassingly florid that Arrigo Boito who wrote it after a play by Victor Hugo couldn’t bring himself to put his name to it, so he rearranged the 11 letters of his first…
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CCleaner Trojan
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 19th October 2017Even looking at a computer from a distance no longer seems safe. The popular utility CCleaner distributed an update (Version 5.33) that contained a piece of malware – trojan.floxif. Ironically the company that makes CCleaner was recently bought by Avast the antivirus company. They distributed a post that describes their response to the problem. It…
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Don Giovanni’s Timeline
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 13th October 2017The time setting of the two acts of Mozart’s Don Giovanni has always puzzled me. Everyone, including I suppose Mozart and Da Ponte, seems to think that the action in Act 2 starts immediately after that of the first act. In other words, the action from start to finish is continuous and depicts the last…
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Norma in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 11th October 2017David McVicar’s new production of Bellini’s masterpiece opened the Met’s current season last month. It was telecast last Saturday, Oct 7. I was in one of American Airline’s iron maidens for most of that day and part of the next and missed the live show. So I took in the rebroadcast today. McVicar’s staging is…
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The 23 Psalm
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 10th October 2017I kept repeating the 4th verse of the 23rd Psalm as I made my 28 hour journey from Montreal to Lubbock. I’ve complained about the airlines before, so this brief post will just list the lowlights of my trip. We were supposed to return from vacation on a chartered flight. It never showed. We took…
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