Author Archives: Neil Kurtzman
Mario Del Monaco in Recital
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd April 2025Mario Del Monaco (1915-1985) was the great Italian dramatic tenor of the last century. The dramatic tenor is a rare specimen. He is distinguished from the spinto tenor by the baritonal timbre of his sound combined with powerful high notes reaching to C5. It is the voice Verdi had in mind when he wrote Otello….
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Cancer Risk and Computed Tomography Imaging
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 18th April 2025Projected Lifetime Cancer Risks From Current Computed Tomography Imaging is a study just published in JAMA Internal Medicine. The study concludes: “That at current utilization and radiation dose levels, CT examinations in 2023 were projected to result in approximately 103,000 future cancers over the course of the lifetime of exposed patients. If current practices persist,…
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On Democracies and Death Cults – Review
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 15th April 2025Douglas Murray has written an analysis of the Arab-Israeli conflict that focuses on the war in Gaza as a starting point. As the title suggests, he believes the struggle is between a society committed to life and another that views death and martyrdom as the ultimate achievement of existence. The slender volume, it contains less…
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Maria Caniglia
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 11th April 2025Maria Caniglia (1905-1979) was a spinto soprano who sang at many of the major opera houses, though her career was mainly in Italy. She was a regular performer at La Scala and then at the Rome Opera House. She opened the 1938 Met season as Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello. After 14 performances during the 38-39…
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The Vulture Strikes Again
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 7th April 2025We’ve been traveling for the last two weeks and therefore haven’t been posting anything. Regular articles will now resume. The description below depicts our long journey home. I’ve written several times about the parlous state of air travel in the United States, but nothing since the COVID meltdown. The reason is simple. I’ve avoided the…
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Monkey Man – Review
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 10th March 2025Monkey Man is a film written (with two co-authors), directed, and produced by British actor Dev Patel, who also stars as the title character. Patel was the young star of Slumdog Millionaire, among other major credits. The movie is an action thriller in the same general neighborhood of the John Wick movies and many of…
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Postoperative Outcomes Following Preweekend Surgery
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 6th March 2025A paper just published by the JAMA Online (it can be downloaded below) shows a small but “significant increase in risk of complications, readmissions, and mortality compared with those treated after the weekend. Further study is needed to understand differences in care that may underpin these observations and ensure that patients receive high-quality care regardless…
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Radio Interview With The Front Row
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 4th March 2025Lubbock’s classical music station is KLZK 105.7. Its program “The Front Row is a weekday program devoted to coverage of the art and cultural community on the South Plains. Host Clint Barrick unpacks the musical, artistic, theatrical, and cultural events offered to the public and interviews the movers and shakers who create, sponsor, and provide…
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Gina Cigna
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 3rd March 2025Gina Cigna (1900-2001) was a dramatic soprano who was prominent during the interwar years. She was born in Angers, France to parents of Italian ancestry. She initially trained as a pianist studying with the renowned pianist Alfred Cortot. In 1921 she married French tenor Maurice Sens who convinced her to turn to singing. In 1927,…
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Finale 44 – Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 27th February 2025Beethoven’s C minor Symphony, built around the universally known four-note phrase, transitions quietly from its third movement to its fourth. The brief journey over the orchestra explodes in a burst of C major, unusual for a symphony that began in a minor key. The four-note figure occurs repeatedly in different guises as it does in…
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