Author Archives: Neil Kurtzman
Rigoletto in Santa Fe
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 26th August 2015The Santa Fe Opera presented Verdi’s Rigoletto on August 25, 2015. The virtues of Verdi’s masterpiece are too well known to warrant repetition. The success of this opera depends on the interpretive powers of its three principals and the leadership of the conductor. But it is the baritone who sings the title role who carries…
› Read the full entry
Not All Schubert Program Closes 2015 Santa Fe Chamber Music Series
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 25th August 2015The 2015 Santa Fe Chamber Music series closed this evening at the Lensic Theater with what was supposed to be an all Schubert program. But alas the best laid plans of mice and musicians often go astray. Violinist William Preucil was indisposed which caused the program to be altered. “Indisposed” in the music business means…
› Read the full entry
Tutto Verdi: I Vespri Siciliani
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 15th August 2015I Vespri Siciliani is the least performed of Verdi’s mature works. It was written for the Paris Opéra to a French text by Eugène Scribe and Charles Duveyrier (Les vêpres siciliennes). While the opera is occasionally performed in its original French version, it is typically presented in its Italian translation. Verdi just sounds better in…
› Read the full entry
Vitamin D Treatment in Postmenopausal Women
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 7th August 2015A study just published in JAMA Internal Medicine examined the effects of placebo, low-dose cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3), and high-dose cholecalciferol on 1-year changes in total fractional calcium absorption, bone mineral density, Timed Up and Go and five sit-to-stand tests, and muscle mass in postmenopausal women with vitamin D insufficiency. This study was undertaken because “expert” advice…
› Read the full entry
Helge Rosvaenge
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 1st August 2015Helge Rosvaenge (1897-1972) was a Danish tenor whose career was limited to Europe, especially Germany and Austria. Trained as a chemist at Copenhagen’s Technical University, he also took private vocal lessons. He made his debut in 1921 as Don Jose in Carmen. His brilliant spinto voice and superb high notes soon brought him to Europe’s…
› Read the full entry
Die Große Sünderin: Das Lied vom Leben des Schrenk
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 31st July 2015Eduard Künneke (1885-1953) was a German composer of operas and operettas. His 1935 operetta Die große Sünderin (The Great Sinner) has a tenor aria that still finds its way into ther recitals and recordings of German tenors. Here are two recording of “Das Lied vom Leben des Schrenk”, the first by the late and greatly lamented Fritz…
› Read the full entry
The Medical Record – Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th July 2015The medical record has been a problem ever since Hippocrates, in a moment of spite, invented it. Until the advent of the electronic record it had existed on paper and was stored in a variety of inaccessible locations by the Department of Medical Records, or by a similarly named entity. Once entombed in the medical…
› Read the full entry
The Brooklyn Dodgers – A Personal Reminiscence
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 25th July 2015Below is a PowerPoint Presentation from a talk I gave today to the Lubbock Roundtable. It deals with the random nature of baseball – much more so than any other sport. It than discusses the Brooklyn Dodgers of the years 1947-56, the Jackie Robinson Years. It presents the key Dodger players of the time with…
› Read the full entry
More Cahen Opera Photos
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 24th July 2015Last year I published Robert Cahen – A Life in Opera which contained a link to a video that displayed hundreds of pictures by the renowned opera photographer. I’m delighted to present another video of Mr Cahen’s photographs. Here is part 2 of Cahen’s collected photos. They are in MP4 format and can be viewed online…
› Read the full entry
The Rashomon Effect and Medical Costs
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 18th July 2015The Rashomon effect is contradictory interpretations of the same event by different people. The phrase derives from Akira Kurosowa’s great film Rashomon, where the accounts of the witnesses, suspects, and victims of a rape and murder are all different. This effect is so ubiquitous that objective truth seems impossible. I just came across an example of…
› Read the full entry
