Monthly Archives: March 2014
March Birthdays
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th March 2014The photos below are, as usual, by Robert Cahen.
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Die Tote Stadt in Dallas
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 27th March 2014On March 26, 2014 The Dallas Opera presented the third of its five performance run of Erich Korngold’s opera Die Tote Stadt. First performed in 1920 when the Viennese composer was 23. The opera was simultaneously premiered in Hamburg and Cologne. Korngold is most famous for his movie scores. He had first gone to Hollywood…
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Il Tabarro
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 23rd March 2014Here is a complete performance recorded more than a half century ago of Puccini’s realistic one act opera Il Tabarro. Robert Merrill heads a cast that could not be matched today. This opera and its two partners will soon be 100 years old. Originally dismissed as a Grand Guignol thriller with little substance. It has gotten…
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Commentary on Leviticus 10:1-2
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd March 20141 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took each of them his censer, and put fire therein, and laid incense thereon, and offered alien fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. 2 And there came forth fire from before the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord….
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La Sonnambula Returns to the Met
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 19th March 2014When I was studying music at Williams College my professor Robert Barrow, the chairman of the department and a figure of magisterial austerity, said that whenever he went to the Met to hear Wagner he always demanded a seat behind a post. I can’t remember if the old Met really had a seat behind a…
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Werther in HD – Greatness and Catastrophe
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 15th March 2014Massenet’s Werther was telecast today in theaters around the world. Let’s begin with the end. It was mute. Shortly after Charlotte entered Werther’s room in the final scene of Massenet’s opera the sound was lost. It wasn’t found until after the curtain fell. I’ve already heard from a viewer in San Francisco that the sound…
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Son Lo Spirito Che Nega
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th March 2014This aria, from the 1st act of Boito’s Mefistofele, captures the essence of Goethe’s Mephisto. Of course, the opera is one of many musical works based on Goethe’s monumental play. Mefistofele is the spirit that denies. The words to ‘Son lo spirito che nega’ are below in Italian and English. Every great bass (or a…
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Recording of the Week: Mefistofele
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 7th March 2014Arrigo Boito (1842-1918) was a polymath without genius unlike Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) who was equally (or even more) versatile, but who had genius. As a composer Boito’s reputation rests solely on his opera Mefistofele. It was premiered at La Scala in 1868 under the direction of the composer; he had very little experience as a conductor…
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Tribute to Donald Seldin
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd March 2014Click the link below to view a tribute to Donald Seldin the greatest academic physician since William Osler. It will give the reasons that support the statement I just made. http://swmedical.org/archives/1401
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