Monthly Archives: May 2025
The Barber of Seville in HD – 2025
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 31st May 2025Rossini is life. Nowhere is this vitality as evident as in his Barber. The 24 year old composer was already a veteran when he composed his paen to mirth and human folly. Bart Sher’s production dates back to 2006, but still works. The Barber is so good that it can survive almost anything thrown at…
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The National Pastime
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th May 2025Wasting time. I know I’m stretching the title’s definition as it’s not agreeable, but it’s how we spend most of our waking hours. At least, those that don’t involve a screen. It’s waiting. And much of screen time is spent waiting for the desired screen to appear, receiving error messages, clicking on dead links, or…
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Limited vs Lethal Prostate Cancer
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 24th May 2025Former President Joe Biden’s diagnosis of metastatic prostate cancer may cause a lot of frightened seniors (>70) to react inappropriately. Some may ask their doctors for a PSA (prostate specific antigen) test despite the US Preventive Services Task Force’s recommendation not to screen for prostate cancer in men older than 70. The problem with PSA…
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The “Experts” on Biden’s Prostate Cancer Diagnosis
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 19th May 2025The press is quoting a bevy of “cancer experts” pontificating on how it’s inconceivable that the former president Biden didn’t have a PSA test while he was president. They seem to think that the PSA test is an infallible guide to the diagnosis and subsequent successful treatment of prostate cancer. The use of routine PSA…
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Salome in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 17th May 2025The Met’s new production of Strauss’s Mach 2 one-act opera was telecast today. Director Claus Guth, who made his Met debut in this production, placed the location in a dark building in some hard to place time. It certainly wasn’t biblical Galilee or Perea. Before I get to the performance, a word about inflation. Up…
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Opera and Prisons
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 15th May 2025The subject is operas with prisons or prisoners as part, or all, of their story. I’ve got a dozen of them here. There are more, but 12 are enough. They’re not in chronological order, but rather as seems logical to me. The ultimate prison opera is of course Beethoven’s Fidelio. The entire work take place…
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Joint Concert by Israel Philharmonic and Munich Philharmonic
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 13th May 2025Last week on May 8, the Israel Philharmonic and Munich Philharmonic performed a concert on the 80th anniversary of “Liberation Day.” In 1945, the day marked the unconditional surrender of Germany and the official end of World War II in Europe. Israel Philharmonic Music Director Lahav Shani led the performance of works by Tzvi Avni…
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A Few Serenades
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th May 2025A serenade, as its name implies (‘la sera’ is Italian for the evening), was originally a song in praise of a loved one sung in the evening. It gradually morphed into orchestral versions still retaining a hint to the original praise and its object as well as a vocal piece. Below are 10 plus 1…
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More on Error
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 4th May 2025I’ve written about my old friend error before. Regardless of whether I acknowledge her presence or pretend she’s somewhere else, she’s always by my side ready to hurl the qui vive? when I stray from the path of accuracy, which alas is embarrassingly often. She has billions of sisters who are spread into every corner…
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