Monthly Archives: September 2024
General Maurice Gamelin and 20 Million Dead
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 25th September 2024Maurice Gamelin (1872-1958) was the French Chief of the Army Staff from 1931 until 1940. While there is a surplus of blame that can be laid on the corpses and reputations of battalions of French and British officials, journalists, and many if not most of their citizens, Gamelin is a prime example of how a…
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Insieme – Opera Duets
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 19th September 2024Jonas Kaufmann and Ludovic Tézier recorded nine tenor-baritone duets, released on a Sony Classics disc in June 2022. Insieme translates from Italian as together. The two singers are friends who have often performed together hence the title. The master of the tenor-baritone duet was Verdi. Accordingly, seven of the selections are by him. The CD starts with the…
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Ah, La Paterna Mano
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 17th September 2024Verdi’s Macbeth was his 10th opera. It was his favorite of these 10 and the first of his three operas based on Shakespeare’s plays. It is clearly the masterpiece of his pre-Rigoletto works. The tenor role of Macduff is a minor part; he has little to do except sing the great aria that is the…
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Great American Composers – Charles Ives
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 11th September 2024Charles Ives (1874-1954) was a remarkable American who made his distinctive mark in two unrelated fields. A major force in the US insurance business he is one of the founders of financial planning. At the same time he was making a fortune as a businessman he was also a pioneering composer of genius. It is…
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Law, Lawyers, and Other Fables
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th September 2024“No one is above the law” is a bit of thick BS that usually comes from the mouth or pen of a person of malign intent whose goal is to deprive others of their liberty or property. Unspoken is their self-exemption from the principle which seems to have no real use save as a cudgel….
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Elektra – Streamed by The Dallas Opera
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 4th September 2024The Dallas Opera is currently streaming a performance of Richard Strauss’s one-act opera Elektra from its last February run. The telecast will be available until the end of October. The full cast and video are below. This opera is the composer’s deepest dive into modernism. It is commonly asserted that he backed off from the edge of…
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