Author Archives: Neil Kurtzman
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 21st May 2012Dietrich Fisher-Dieskau, who died May 18, was a unique performer. In a very long career he managed to sing and record almost anything that a classically trained baritone could possibly sing. While best known as the foremost interpreter of German art songs he appeared almost as often in the opera house as in the concert hall. The facts…
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Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Dead at 86
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 18th May 2012The great baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (1925-2012) died Friday, May 18 at age 86. I’ll have a longer post about this great artist in a short while. Here is his interpretation of a work by a composer who was likely closest to his heart – Franz Schubert. Der Erlkönig, written when the composer was 18 years…
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Income Mobility in the US
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 14th May 2012Below is a study from the US Treasury Department -Income Mobility in the U.S. from 1996 to 2005. It presents some very interesting data. We are used to hearing how income disparity in the US is increasing. This conclusion is reached by comparing the difference between the lowest and highest groups of earners. Unless you believe that…
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Warren Buffett’s Prostate Cancer
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th May 2012Warren Buffett was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. The 81 year old investor released the following statement about his disease: To the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway: This is to let you know that I have been diagnosed with stage I prostate cancer. The good news is that I’ve been told by my doctors that my condition is not…
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Screening for Cancer
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 5th May 2012Below is the PowerPoint presentation of the talk Screening for Cancer that I gave today to Spring Cancer Conference sponsored by the Lubbock-Crosby-Garza County Medical Society. A related presentation can be found here. Screening for Cancer
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La Traviata in HD – The Rerun
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 3rd May 2012Unable to attend the live telecast of the Met’s performance of La Traviata, I went to the replay on May 2, 2012. The production was first staged by German director Willy Decker last season. Decker sets the action in an indeterminate (but approximately modern) time on a mostly empty stage rimmed by a semicircular wall. There’s some pretty…
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All of Jussi Björling’s Commercial Recordings on the Web
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd April 2012New posts will resume next month. In the meanwhile visit this site which contains all of the solo commercial recordings made by the great Swedish tenor. There are a few excerpts with other singers, but most of the material is solo.
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Doing Nothing – New Revised Edition
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 8th April 2012A new Edition of Doing Nothing has been released. I can be purchased at Amazon as either a paperback book or in a Kindle edition. Go here for more details. Below is a new review of the novel: Kurtzman, Neil DOING NOTHING CreateSpace (708 pp.) $23.35 Paperback $9.99 e-book January 6, 2012 ISBN: 978-1461096535 Kurtzman’s debut…
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Manon in HD – Crazy Stupid Love
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 7th April 2012The Metropolitan Opera transmitted its penultimate HD telecast of this season - Massenet’s Manon – on Saturday April 7, 2012. Manon is the most French opera I can think of. It’s almost like an opera Debussy would have written had he been able or inclined to write boffo arias and duets. This new production was staged by Laurent Pully who…
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La Muette de Portici Premiered at Opéra-Comique
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 5th April 2012Daniel Auber’srarely performed opera La Muette de Portici was stage by the Opéra-Comique in Paris yesterday. It featured the rising young American tenor Michael Spyres. The opera was a success at its premiere in 1828, but then disappeared from the repertory and is known, if known at all, as the first Grand Opera – a genre dominated by Meyerbeer, but which reached…
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