Author Archives: Neil Kurtzman
La Forza Del Destino in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th March 2024Verdi’s La Forza Del Destino returned to the Met this season after an absence of 18 years. It was staged in a new production supervised by the Polish director Mariusz Trelinski. He moved both the time and places from the middle of the 18th century in Spain and Italy to sometime in the second half…
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A Crook in Crook’s Clothing
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 4th March 2024The title above eventually is apropos of any politician or legislator given a sufficient interval. But it doesn’t stop there. It spreads like the pox to anyone with even a whiff of authority. There’s a gene on chromosome 17, SKNK23a, that’s expressed in early childhood in all humans and amplified by experience that manifests the…
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Met’s New Forza a Dud
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 27th February 2024Last night the Met Opera presented its new production of Verdi’s La Forza Del Destino. Broadcast on its Sirius XM channel it will be telecast in HD on March 9. Staged as a vehicle for star soprano Lise Davidsen, the performance reached no higher than that encountered at a good provincial German or Italian theater….
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The Metropolitan Opera Announces its 2024–25 Season
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 25th February 2024The Met season opens September 23 with the Met premiere of Grounded by Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori, starring Emily D’Angelo as an Air Force drone pilot and conducted by Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. It features six new productions, including additional Met premieres of Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar, Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick, and John Adams’s Antony…
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Auto-da-fé : Two
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 21st February 2024An Auto-da-fé (Act of faith) was a ritual act of penance carried out in Spain, Portugal, and Mexico during the 15th to the 19th centuries. Imposed on apostates and heretics by the Inquisition (a religious body) its punishments including being burned alive were executed by the state. Two operas have an Auto-da-fé as part of…
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A Shortage of Physician-Scientists
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 17th February 2024Most people have no idea what a physician-scientist is or the job description for such a person. Many think that by definition medicine is a science and therefore an MD must be a scientist. Physicians get training in the rudiments of science during the first two years of medical school and may get a bit…
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Essential Services
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 11th February 2024A financial writer recently mused over the complexities of Jerome Powell’s job as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. He focused on the problem of interest rates. Lower them too rapidly and inflation may recur or worsen. Keep them high for too long and consumers will be priced out of the loan market and even worse…
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Ewa Podleś Dies
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 4th February 2024Ewa Podleś the great Polish contralto died on January 19 in Warsaw. Podleś was a contralto who while she sang a broad range of roles was especially known for the florid parts of Handel and Rossini. I’ve already written about her in a piece that contains numerous clips of her singing. Ewa Podleś – The…
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San Francisco Ballet Goes to the Dogs
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 3rd February 2024Some things are more eloquent than words. The brief video below serves no purpose other than mirth, though it shows that the dancers by the Bay have a sense of humor in posting the brief interlude. There’s always considerable risk when animals are assigned a part in a live performance. There is a great story…
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Carmen in HD – 2024
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 27th January 2024Bizet’s Carmen is so great a masterpiece that it can withstand anything a deranged opera company can throw at it. Opera is a fragile art form, particularly in the 21st century. But with productions like Carrie Cracknell’s staging of today’s HD telecast combined with the recent new operas that started this season’s series the company…
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