Monthly Archives: March 2020
Corona Uncertainty
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 31st March 2020The country has slowed to the pace of a toddler’s crawl because of the coronavirus epidemic. We have decided to follow the advice of the federal government’s top medical experts. This decision has imposed an economic burden on the country that may cause more damage than the virus itself. Our handling of a very complex…
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Understanding the Implication of a Positive Test For COVID-19
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 26th March 2020The public and the press have little understanding of what a positive test for any disease means. Iceland has decided to test its entire population for COVID-19, which as can be seen from the data below is an act of well meaning folly. I’ll make this explanation as simple as I can. Any medical test…
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Two Pertinent Quotations
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 25th March 2020Madness is rare in individuals – but in groups, parties, nations, and ages it is the rule” – Friedrich Nietzsche America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between – Oscar Wilde Nietzsche ended up mad and Wilde went to jail.
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Back to Work by March 30: A Coronavirus Imperative
Written by Robert Luddy | 24th March 2020America has no choice if it is to avoid total disaster. China and Russia are open for business and working at close to capacity, as America shutters most all business and industry in states such as Pennsylvania, New York, California, New Jersey, and Connecticut. In many cases only select manufacturing companies are allowed to operate,…
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Scarpia Sings Again
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd March 2020Baritones are rarely heroes in opera. But they usually have at least one redeeming characteristic. Rigoletto loves his daughter, Macbeth accepts his fate with manly resignation, etc. Iago in Verdi’s Otello is 100% villain. There’s nothing remotely good about him. He’s the devil’s spawn. Puccini isn’t as generous to baritones as was Verdi. But he…
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Government Is No Match for the Coronavirus
Written by Robert Luddy | 21st March 2020The coronavirus is reminding everyone that you cannot rely on government and that ultimately it is the private sector that will provide the solutions. Many nonmedical government officials and members of the media are predicting massive cases of COVID-19 and death, when in fact no one can predict the outcome. What we do know is…
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Chamber Music By Opera Composers
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 14th March 2020Most opera composers are specialists. There are only four greats who are equally noted for both operatic and instrumental music – Monteverdi, Handel, Mozart, and Strauss. Chamber music is defined as: “Instrumental music played by a small ensemble, with one player to a part, the most important form being the string quartet which developed in…
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Recondita Armonia
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 12th March 2020Tosca has two great tenor arias. Everyone knows the third act’s ‘E lucevan le stelle’. ‘Recondita armonia’, the subject of this article, appears in the first act only minutes after the show has started. It requires a different approach from its more famous brother. It needs a full voiced sound without the filatura and pianissimo…
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The Question Nobody is Asking: How Many US Deaths From Flu This Season?
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 7th March 2020While we are obsessing about Covid-19, no one I know of is asking the obvious related question. How many Americans have died from the flu this season? The information is readily available on the CDC’s website. According to the Center (as of February 29): Nationally, influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses are now the most commonly reported influenza…
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Nilsson in Italian Opera
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 7th March 2020Birgit Nilsson (1918-2005) was one of opera’s miracles. If you heard her during her prime, which roughly coincided with the first decade or so of her 22 years at the Met, you heard a unique voice. At its fullest, it was a Jovian thunderbolt. No technical challenge was too much for her. Vocally, she could…
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