Monthly Archives: August 2019
Stories Used By More Than One Composer – Faust
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 29th August 2019You’d think there were enough good stories available so that composers didn’t need to recycle them. But there are a number of operas that are based on tales that have been around the operatic block more than once. This article is the first of a series examining operas and related musical works based on the…
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Sid Caesar’s Spoof of Pagliacci
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 28th August 2019I realize many of you may not have a clue as to who Sid Caesar (1922-2014) was. He was a major comic during the early day of TV. This video is 64 years old and shows the kind of stuff he performed. Amazingly Carl Reiner is still with us. At age 97 he’s still going…
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Korngold Documentary
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 27th August 2019Between Two Worlds is a documentary about the life and career of Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957). It’s very well done and worth the roughly one hour it takes to view. It seems strange that the film never mentions why Korngold was forced to move to Hollywood. The piece is in English, but has computer generated…
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Opera As A Village During the Vietnam War and Other Atrocities
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd August 2019A recent article in the Washington Post says, “But to really save opera — and classical music in general — we have to let it die.” In a semi-coherent way it’s on to something. Without new works that the public wants to hear, the opera house will become a museum. Many people like museums. I…
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Operas in Which Everyone Dies
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 19th August 2019Death in opera is a frequent event. But there aren’t that many operas in which everyone goes to the final reward. I’m defining everyone as all of the principal roles. Here are five. I’m sure if I dug a little deeper or thought a little more effectively I could find more. In addition to this…
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Dietary Research
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 14th August 2019Fat is one of the side effects of capitalism and freedom. Humans evolved under conditions where the search for food was constant. Accordingly, we were programmed to be always hungry. Now that food is available in many parts of the world in almost limitless quantities and at low cost, many of us are too heavy….
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What is Drug Addiction?
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 10th August 2019The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) believes that drug addiction exists, while the psychiatrist’s handbook, the DSM 5, doesn’t use the term. The public and their political representatives believe addiction to be a major problem. Though there’s no reason to think they understand the issue any better than the doctors who make a living…
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Jenůfa in Santa Fe
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 3rd August 2019Leoš Janáček (1854-1928) was music and opera’s greatest late bloomer. Jenůfa, his first masterpiece for the stage, was premiered when he was 50. Virtually all of the music for which he is remembered was written in the last third of his life. Last night the SFO performed Jenůfa in a new production directed by David Alden. This…
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Haochen Zhang Plays Debussy and Schumann
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 1st August 2019Haochen Zhang the young Chinese virtuoso gave a solo recital this noon consisting of two stalwarts of the piano literature: Debussy’s Images Series I & II and Schumann’s Fantasie in C Major. Debussy’s music is full of interest and delicate effects. It has earned its place among the finest in Western music. So here am…
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Shostakovich and Korngold in Santa Fe
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 1st August 2019Two major works by Dmitri Shostakovich and Eric Krongold were presented yesterday evening by the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. They were preceded by a bit of fluff by Alfred Schnittke – Mo-Zart for Two Violins, after Mozart’s K 416d. For the carnival season of 1783 Mozart wrote some music for his family’s use. Most…
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