Author Archives: Neil Kurtzman
A Short Medical Update for the NFL
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 15th December 2015The Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback, Andrew Luck, has been sidelined with a traumatic lacerated kidney. When he will return is uncertain. The quotation below comes from an article about his injury. The Colts are handling Luck as carefully and cautiously as possible, and with good reason. Doctors know that Luck cannot risk elevating his heart rate…
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Verdi Chords
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 12th December 2015One of the most distinctive characteristics of Giuseppe Verdi’s operas is his use of chords to resolve or punctuate the moments of greatest emotional and dramatic tension as his story reaches a crisis point. This simple device would seem within the grasp of almost any composer, but Verdi’s use of it is unique. Below are five…
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More Good Medicine From the Government
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 6th December 2015A couple of items. For about 25 years I’ve been saying and writing that routine PSA screening was a bad idea. For much of this time I was the sacrificial nay sayer at meetings devoted to the subject. You can read the several posts on this issue that I have written over the past 8 years. Finally,…
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Finale 6 – Nabucco Act 1
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd December 2015A few days ago I mentioned the resemblance of the act 1 finale of William Tell to Nabucco. Here’s the part of Nabucco that seems very much like the Tell finale. It too occurs in the finale to Act 1. This number is constructed the same way as the Tell piece. An adagio concertato followed…
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Finale 5 – William Tell Act 1
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 29th November 2015William Tell is an Italian opera; no matter that Rossini wrote it to a French script. It’s as Italian as mozzarella. The finale to act 1 sets a model for many of the Italian operas which followed Rossini’s final work. This version of this finale is taken from the performance of Tell in 2013 at the…
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Lensky’s Aria
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 28th November 2015The only reason that impresarios can convince leading tenors to take the part of Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin is the second act aria ‘Kuda, Kuda’, hereafter referred to as Lensky’s aria. Even then tenors dislike playing a character who dies in the second act. This was why Richard Tucker dropped the role after 1957-58….
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Lulu in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 21st November 2015Attending a performance of Alban Berg’s opera Lulu is like going through Marine Corp boot camp. While you’re doing it you wonder why on earth you ever attempted such a stress filled enterprise. When it’s over you feel proud of yourself and are glad you don’t have to do it again. Lulu is an opera that…
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Quotation of the Week – Predictions
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 19th November 2015The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable. John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Also true of forecasting in general.
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Finale 4 – Macbeth Act 2
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 17th November 2015The finale to Act 1 of Verdi’s Macbeth is not the only great one in the opera. Like the previous one this finale is untouched by the 1865 revision. Macbeth has become unhinged by Banquo’s ghost whom only he can see. The ghost is a party crasher. Obviously his presence ruins the evening. Of course,…
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O Don Fatale
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 15th November 2015A supremely gifted mezzo-soprano can make a career out of singing the the great Verdi mezzo roles – Azucena in Il Trovatore, Eboli in Don Carlo, and Amneris in Aida. Eboli presents a an especially challenging role for the singer who portrays the spurned princess – the second of these three great mezzo parts. Eboli has…
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