Author Archives: Neil Kurtzman
Hantavirus – A Primer
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 15th May 2026The recent outbreak of Hantavirus infections aboard the Dutch expedition cruise ship MV Hondius, which had been sailing from Ushuaia through the South Atlantic toward the Canary Islands, combined with the painful memory of the COVID pandemic, has raised public awareness and fear to levels probably beyond the boundary of reality. Below are a few…
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The Berlioz Revolution
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 11th May 2026No composer embodied the 19th-century romantic movement as did Hector Berlioz (1803-1869). Everything about him seemed excessive: his passions, his literary imagination, his orchestral ambitions, his loves, hatreds, and disappointments. He was one of the great revolutionaries of nineteenth-century music, yet during much of his life he was misunderstood in his own country and forced…
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More on Capecchi and E Sogno
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 5th May 2026I’ve previously written about both Renato Capecchi and Ford’s aria from Verdi’s Falstaff. But I came across some material that was so good that I decided to revisit both the baritone and the aria. In 1961, he appeared as Ford in a Naples production of Verdi’s valedictory opera. The cast was remarkable for its all-around…
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Eugene Onegin
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd May 2026I was unable to get to the theater today to catch the live in HD transmission of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. I’ll go to the encore presentation next week and post a full review then. I was able to listen to the audio broadcast of the opera. Here are a few thoughts based on an audio…
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Michael Tilson Thomas Dies
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 28th April 2026Conductor, composer, and educator Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) passed away on April 22, 2026, at age 81 at his San Francisco home, following a battle with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain cancer. As the San Francisco Symphony’s music director laureate, he was celebrated for his transformative 25-year tenure (1995–2020), which established the orchestra as a…
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Finale 45: Beethoven Symphony No. 7
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 24th April 2026Composed between 1811 and 1812, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 emerged during a turbulent yet creatively fertile period in the life of the composer. Europe was in the throes of the Napoleonic Wars, and Vienna itself was marked by political uncertainty and shifting alliances. Beethoven, increasingly isolated by his advancing deafness, retreated during the summer of…
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The Melding of Science and Art
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 21st April 2026If one believes that the great artist ranks higher in the cultural scale or possesses a unique skill or insight into the human condition superior to that of the great scientist, the reason for such a view is likely as follows: The work produced by a great artist is unique to that artist. If Beethoven…
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Music for America’s 250th Birthday
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 13th April 2026The program notes for the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra’s May 23, 2026, concert marking America’s 250th birthday are below. Tickets can be purchased here. American Salute Composed in 1942 at the height of World War II, American Salute by Morton Gould stands as one of the most exuberant and enduring expressions of American musical patriotism. The…
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A Photon – Time and Space
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 7th April 2026The subject of this post is off topic by a lot, but it’s interesting enough for a few comments. I’m a physician, not a physicist, so please check my presentation for accuracy. From the perspective of a photon, the concept of time as we experience it effectively ceases to exist. This phenomenon is a direct…
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Tito Gobbi
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 3rd April 2026I’ve been writing a lot about great baritones of the past century, while I’ve mentioned him a few times, this is the first post devoted exclusively to Tito Gobbi (1913-1984). A major figure of 20th-century opera, Gobbi combined vocal distinction with an acting ability rarely equaled among singers of any vocal category. His career, which…
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