Monthly Archives: April 2011
Il Trovatore in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th April 2011Verdi’s Il Trovatore is the transcendental Italian opera of the first half of the 19th century. It is the culmination of that style of operatic writing introduced by Rossini and further advanced by Bellini and most importantly for Verdi’s development Donizetti. That Verdi was moving in a new direction was shown by Rigoletto (1851). That…
› Read the full entry
Leonard Warren’s 100th Birthday
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 25th April 2011Leonard Warren was born April 21, 1911. No baritone within living memory has matched him in the great Verdi baritone roles Below is the big second act aria from the most challenging of Verdi’s baritone roles – the title character from Rigoletto. He sang this part 89 times with at the Met both in New…
› Read the full entry
Capriccio in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 24th April 2011Richard Strauss’ final opera, Capriccio, was broadcast over the Met’s HD network on Saturday April 23. This production was a revival of the company’s 1998 staging featuring Kiri Te Kanawa as the Countess. The opera had never been performed by the Met before 1998. Strauss’ valedictory to the theater has an odd and trivial subject considering the state…
› Read the full entry
Everybody Wants to be Somebody Else
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 20th April 2011I just wrote a short piece on the young American tenor Michael Spyres. Mr Spyres has an alter ego who has delusions of bassness. See the video below. Of course, Spyres is not the first tenor to masquerade as a bass. Enrico Caruso sang the Coat Song from La Boheme during a performance in Philadelphia on December 23,…
› Read the full entry
Michael Spyres – Young American Tenor
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 17th April 2011Michael Spyres is a young American (born in Mansfield Missouri) tenor who is just coming to international attention. He has a rich lyric tenor that is bright and focused. Spyres has just about the rarest gift that can be bestowed on a tenor; he can sing softly with full vocal support. The next few years will be critical…
› Read the full entry
Medical Costs and Wrong Assumptions
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 13th April 2011Bob Duffy Director of Ipsos Social Research Institute, is a true believer in governmental social planning. In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal he opines that people are now ready for the government to help us make the “right” choices that will benefit our health. He’s particularly interested in getting people to stop…
› Read the full entry
Le Comte Ory in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 10th April 2011Rossini’s penultimate opera, Le Comte Ory, received its first staging at the Metropolitan Opera this season. This is a charming work that is Rossini just below his best – which means that it’s very good, indeed. The opera needs three virtuoso singers well versed in the bel canto style. In Juan Diego Flórez, Joyce DiDonato,…
› Read the full entry
To Be or Not to Be
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 3rd April 2011To those looking to the federal government for the solutions to life’s problems, reality is is a constant lance in the side. Retirees have been told that there was no inflation in 2010 which is why there was no cost of living increase in Social Security benefits for 2011. Yet seniors have been hit with…
› Read the full entry
