Monthly Archives: August 2014
Robert Cahen – A Life in Opera
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 28th August 2014The great opera photographer Robert Cahen will soon retire after 60 years of photographing virtually every major opera singer of that period. He has assembled a a slide show that presents some of the photos he has taken over his career. I have transferred the slide show to an MPEG-4 video. The link to it is…
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Breakfast – Just Another Meal
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 25th August 2014Almost every dietary manipulation that the public has taught to hold onto like a sacrament is based on weak or even non-existent scientific evidence. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eat breakfast and you’ll have more energy and keep your weight down is the supposed reason. Where did these beliefs one come from? Well…
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Don Pasquale in Santa Fe
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 23rd August 2014Donizetti’s comic masterpiece received its final performance of the season by the Santa Fe Opera on August 22, 2014. Laurent Pelly’s production is a collaboration with Barcelona’s Liceu and the San Francisco Opera. Pelly set the action in Post World War II Rome rather than the Rome of 100 years earlier. The time change was…
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Beethoven in Santa Fe
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd August 2014On Thursday evening August 21 the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival presented and all Beethoven program at the Lensic Performing Arts Center. The evening began with the last of Beethoven’s sonatas for cello and piano – the 5th in D Op 102, #2. Written in 1815 along with the 4th sonata, it was dedicated to…
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Ivan Kozlovsky
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 20th August 2014Ivan Kozlovsky (1900-93) was one of the great stars of Russian opera. He appeared in over 50 operas during his years at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater – 1926 to 1954. The Ukrainian tenor was an intimate of Stalin and performed regularly at private gatherings for the Soviet dictator. He also had a friendly rivalry with the…
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Commentary on Deuteronomy 8:3-4
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 16th August 2014Verse 3 contains the universally accepted truism “That man does not live by bread alone.” In its fullest manifestation this characteristic is unique to our species. It explains all that is wonderful about mankind – poetry, art, music, science, mathematics, and much more. But there is an evil side to needing more than sustenance –…
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Survival Outcomes After Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 14th August 2014The practice of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) has increased in woman with unilateral breast cancer. This highly invasive approach to the management of breast cancer has been done without hard evidence that it conveys a survival benefit. Survival Outcomes After Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy: A Decision Analysis by Pamela R. Portschy, Karen M. Kuntz, and Todd M. Tuttle just published in the Journal…
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Renée Fleming to Open Lubbock Symphony Orchestra’s 2014-15 Season
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 8th August 2014The Lubbock Symphony Orchestra opens it 2014-15 season on September 9th with Renée Fleming as guest artist. Music Director David Cho conducts.
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Another Reason to Hate your Cable Company
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 6th August 2014Sounds pretty good, right? Like so much in life examination shows that Comcast’s “gift” to its subscribers is less than it seems. PC World which reported the story seems not to understand its implications. Comcast like most of the cable companies has data usage limits. In Comcast’s case it’s about 250-300 GB a month. Thus…
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