Monthly Archives: August 2025
The Catalog Aria From Don Giovanni
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 26th August 2025Don Giovanni needs no further praise from anyone; it is one of opera’s supreme masterpieces. It has been the subject of more interpretations than sin. Leporello, the Don’s put upon servant, is as interesting a character as is the Don. His Act 1 ‘Catalog Aria’ (Madamina, il catalogo è questo) is as famous as anything…
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Great American Composers – Aaron Copland
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd August 2025Aaron Copland (1900–1990) was born on November 14, 1900, in Brooklyn, New York, the youngest of five children in a Jewish immigrant family. His first musical experiences came from his older sister Laurine, who gave him basic piano lessons. By age fifteen, he had decided to pursue music seriously. He immersed himself in opera scores…
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Lubbock Chamber Orchestra – Ladder to the Moon
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 19th August 2025The LCO will present the three works described below at its inaugural concert of the season, scheduled for September 19, 2025, at the Crickets Theater. For tickets go here. Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings – 1st MovementPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was the first Russian composer to achieve fame outside his native land. Despite the success of many…
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Mario Chamlee
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 11th August 2025Every major opera company needs singers who, though they lack star power, can perform leading roles wth competence on a regular basis. They might not sell tickets, but when they’re on the bill with big attractions, they hold the show together and do so creditably and with some distinction. Mario Chamlee (1892-1966) was such a…
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Can Politics be Rational?
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 6th August 2025How can I, that girl standing there,My attention fixOn Roman or on RussianOr on Spanish politics,Yet here’s a travelled man that knowsWhat he talks about,And there’s a politicianThat has both read and thought,And maybe what they say is trueOf war and war’s alarms,But O that I were young againAnd held her in my arms. WB…
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Mikhail Alexandrovich
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 3rd August 2025Latvian tenor Mikhail Alexandrovich (1914-2002) was another 20th century cantor who sang more than liturgical music. Some of the others were Yossele Rosenblatt, Joseph Schmidt, and Richard Tucker. Born in Bērzpils, Vitebsk to a very poor family, his extraordinary vocal gifts were recognized when he was six years old. In 1920 he was enrolled in…
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