Monthly Archives: June 2014
William Tell in Munich
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 29th June 2014Yesterday the Bavarian State Opera streamed a telecast of its new production of Rossini’s William Tell. The production team, lead by Antú Romero Nunes, was booed during their curtain calls. This was a show was best audited with the picture off. The time was moved to what could have been that of the Nazis. There…
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John Wayne – A Biography
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 25th June 2014John Wayne: The Life and Legend by Scott Eyman 672 pages Simon & Schuster – 2014 Why a new 574 page biography (this total does not include the notes and index) on a movie star who died in 1979 and who likely made more bad films than any other actor in the history of the business? Because…
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Il Tabarro at the Met 1981
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 21st June 2014The video below presents the telecast of Puccini’s Il Tabarro. The performance by the Metropolitan Opera was on November 14, 1981. The cast is also below. The recording was apparently made from a home TV. The sound and picture quality are marginable, but just north of acceptable. I doubt the Met will have YouTube take…
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La Traviata at Masada
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 17th June 2014If you’re looking for opera at an exotic location check out the presentation of Verdi’s La Traviata at Masada in Israel. Alas, the last performance was today. I’ll try to list next year’s show (if there is one) earlier. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-lD9151Nv8 La Traviata Opera Event 2014 Dates: Thursday 12.06.14 21:30 Saturday 14.06.14 21:30 Monday 16.06.14…
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Why is Medical Care So Expensive?
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 14th June 2014The PowerPoint presentation below contains the slides I used today to accompany a presentation on the above subject to the Lubbock Roundtable. It is just an outline to my remarks. The quotation below belongs to slide #36. Its from The Obamacare Crisis by Thomas B Edsall in the New York Times November 19, 2013. The…
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Aida – Judgement Scene
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 13th June 2014The first scene of Act 4 of Verdi’s Aida, the Judgement Scene, is one of the Italian master’s supreme dramatic constructions. The entire 20 minute scene consists of dramatic exposition. There are no arias or traditional ensemble pieces. There’s not even a melody typical of what one expects in an Italian opera. But every note…
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Heat Injury and the NBA Championship
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 6th June 2014Rod Thorn, President of Basketball operations for the NBA and apparently a medical expert as well, said of the first game of the NBA championship series: “It was the same for both teams.” It being the heat. The air conditioning at San Antonio’s AT&T Center failed last night causing the temperature on the court to…
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Dutch Tulips
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 1st June 2014In April we went to the Netherlands in search of the country’s fabled tulips. Luck was with us and we got there at the precise peak of the tulip season. We stayed in Amsterdam at the Conservatorium Hotel. The hotel is only a few years old and was built inside the walls of the city’s…
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