Monthly Archives: August 2018
Rake – Season 1 Review
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 31st August 2018Rake is an Australian Broadcasting Company program that is into its 5th season, four of which are available on Netflix. That this show is sent out over the air rather than via cable shows the profound difference in what the Aussies will tolerate versus their English speaking American cousins. The title refers to the series’…
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The Hard Bargain – Book Review
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 28th August 2018Richard Tucker (1913-75) was the greatest operatic tenor America has so far produced. He had three sons. David (b 1941) was the second child and the only one who aspired to take up his father’s profession. He ended up in medicine as an ophthalmologist. The Hard Bargain is his account of how he went from…
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Strauss Sonata in B min and Alkan
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 21st August 2018Richard Strauss (1864-1949) needs little introduction here. One of opera’s great composers, his career lasted from the last two decades of the the 19th century until the middle of the 20th. He was, along with Monteverdi, Handel, and Mozart, equally adept at instrumental and non-operatic vocal music as he was at opera. All the other…
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Not in Our Stars
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 20th August 2018…history;which is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind. Edward Gibbon In a vein similar to Gibbon, Mark Twain allowed that the worst that could be said about anyone was that he was human. Prior to Twain, but after Gibbon, James Madison declared that no laws would be…
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Tutto Verdi – Falstaff
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 12th August 2018The curtain descends, everything ends, too soon, too soon Ogden Nash Verdi’s valedictory opera was performed by Parma’s opera company as part of their complete survey of the Master’s operas. The show was presented at the Teatro Farnese di Parma instead of the Teatro Regio for reasons unknown to me. I’ve written a lot about the…
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No Time For Patients – ICD 11 and the Banality of Evil
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 8th August 2018Talk to your doctor and ask about how much time is spent on the 21st century’s version of paperwork. Also ask about the sense of satisfaction he gets from spending more time in front of a computer than he does interacting with his patients. Having just been confronted with with ICD 10, which contained an…
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Stars of America Ballet in Santa Fe
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 5th August 2018Daniel Ulbricht is a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. He is also the founder and director of Stars of American Ballet a touring ensemble “devoted to presenting high caliber dance performances, as well as education and outreach programs.” The company which had performed in Portugal earlier in the week presented two programs…
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Donner and Blitzen in Santa Fe Plus L’Italiana in Algeri
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 4th August 2018On Thursday August 4 there was a terrific thunderstorm over the Crosby Theater of the Santa Fe Opera. The show, appropriately Dr Atomic, continued even though the stage and surrounding area were drenched. The following afternoon an even more explosive storm hit the central area of Santa Fe causing a prolonged blackout. So we went…
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Stravinsky, Dohnány, and Schubert in the Afternoon
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd August 2018The Santa Fe Music Festival gave a short concert starting at noon today. The first piece was Stravinsky’s Octet for Winds. An ensemble conducted by Lawrence Foster gave a lively reading of the 1923 score. Listening to Stravinsky after The Rite of Spring is like reading Euclid for his entertainment value. I have at least…
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Schubert and Tchaikovsky in Santa Fe
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd August 2018Schubert was not touched by God; he was embraced by Him as was no other composer. This recital by the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival started with his youthful string trio, the only one he wrote. This work is obviously not in the same class as his late chamber music masterpieces like the final three…
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