Author

Neil Kurtzman

Andrea Chénier in HD

December 13, 2025

The Met added Giordano’s Andrea Chénier to its HD series today. The opera, the composer’s only hit, is a rousing four act distillation of the French Revolution. It has three demanding parts for tenor, soprano, and baritone. While the opera is considered a prime example of the verismo school of Italian opera, it requires singers […]

Program Notes for Falla, Márquez, and Lalo

December 8, 2025

The program notes I wrote for the upcoming Lubbock Symphony Orchestra concert (January 24, 2026) are below. Tickets can be purchased here. The Three-Cornered Hat Serge Diaghilev (1872–1929) was a Russian art critic, patron, and impresario who founded the Ballets Russes company in 1909. Over the next 20 years he commissioned some of the leading composers of his […]

The Disappearing Verdi Operas at the Met

December 3, 2025

This season the Met staged only one Verdi opera, La Traviata. Next season it appears there will only be two: A new production of Macbeth, which will open the season, and a revival of Aida. My subject is why the Met is steering away from the work of opera’s greatest and most performed composer. I […]

President Trump’s MRI

December 2, 2025

A White House memorandum from President Trump’s physician, Captain Sean P. Barbabella, stated that the MRI scan of the president’s heart and abdomen was “perfectly normal”. The memo, released in December 2025, explained that the advanced imaging was a preventative measure standard for a man of Trump’s age to assess his cardiovascular and abdominal health. The […]

There’s Little I in AI

November 28, 2025

I previously touched this subject several times; the last piece was a couple of years ago, but its ever-increasing shadow made me think an encore might be appropriate. Everybody is talking or writing about AI, though the level of comprehension about the subject seems inversely proportional to its ubiquity. You certainly won’t get any deep […]

Arabella in HD

November 22, 2025

Librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal finished the last of the six librettos he wrote for Richard Strauss in 1929 – the year of his death. The resultant opera, Arabella, did not appear until 1933. There are several reasons for this delay, but the biggest is likely the absence of Hofmannsthal to revise the libretto, as it […]

Oral Hygiene and General Health

November 17, 2025

Most physicians are content to note the condition of their patients’ oral hygiene and then leave its management to the dentist. But poor oral hygiene is a state of chronic inflammation with all the attendant ill effects that follow in its wake. It’s a very accurate forecast of serious health problems in the near future. […]

La Bohème in HD 2025

November 8, 2025

Two important announcements immediately followed today’s telecast of Puccini’s glorification of the quotidian. The first was that this show surpassed Graham’s number in frequency of performance. The second, and equally significant, is that from next season forward every show at the Met will be a staging of La Bohème – Puccini’s, not Leoncavallo’s. Casts may […]

Is the Met Opera Dead?

November 8, 2025

Is it a zombie? Animate but lifeless? It’s probably too soon to tell, but it’s well on its way to the six-foot trench. Is the terminal event linked to the Met alone or to the art form in general? A caveat, I’m not as good at predicting the future as was Yogi Berra, so you […]

Invano Alvaro

November 1, 2025

‘Invano Alvaro’ is the last of three tenor-bartitone duets that grace Verdi’s La Forza Del Destino. All three are excellent, but the final one is likely the best such duet ever written by the composer. It’s in the same class as ‘Quando al mio sen per te parlava’ from Act 3 of I Vespri Siciliani […]

Medical Reporting in the Lay Press

October 28, 2025

Relying on the lay press for medical advice can often lead to incorrect conclusions or misguided directions. The article linked below is a good example of how well-meaning but improperly thought out reporting can lead to conclusions not based on solid experimental design or reasoning. Drinking More Than 1 Can of Any Soda Daily Linked […]

O Tu Palermo

October 23, 2025

Of all Verdi’s mature works (ie, post Rigoletto), his The Sicilian Vespers in either its French or Italian versions is the least performed. This neglect is hard to explain as the opera is a splendid work exhibiting all the characteristics that make its composer the master of the lyric theater. The bass aria ‘O tu […]

La Sonnambula in HD 2025

October 18, 2025

Today’s telecast of Bellini’s soprano showcase revealed the numerous problems that have been afflicting the Met during the tenure of its general manager, Peter Gelb. Not that there was a problem with the show – which was fine, it’s issues surrounding the production that reflect the company’s difficulties. First is the need for a new […]

Chagas Disease

October 15, 2025

Chagas disease (also known as American trypanosomiasis) is a parasitic infection caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, transmitted primarily by triatomine insects (commonly called “kissing bugs”). It is endemic in Latin America, but cases are increasingly seen in non-endemic regions (such as the U.S. and Europe) due to migration and blood transfusion transmission. Because of […]

Neil Shicoff

October 12, 2025

Neil Shicoff (b 1949) is an American tenor who has attained great success both in America and Europe. A native of Brooklyn, he is the son of the cantor Sidney Shicoff. The younger Shicoff trained as a cantor as well as studying singing at Juilliard. He made his operatic debut in the title role in […]