Category Archives: Verdi
10th Anniversary
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd December 2017Ten years ago today, I published the first post here. Almost 900 articles have followed. To mark the date, here are three videos presented for no other reason than that they are beautiful and on topic. It’s no accident that liberty is at the core of all three. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUAsgHN__8E
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Toscanini: Musician of Conscience – Book Review
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 20th November 2017Harvey Sachs has made a career, well part of one, writing books about the eminent conductor. Sachs wrote his first Toscanini biography in 1978. Why a second one almost 40 years later? Sachs cites the additional material now available that was denied him during his first go around with the conductor. The book’s subtitle, Musician…
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Kaufmann as Otello
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 23rd October 2017The Royal Opera House in London presented its new production of Verdi’s Otello last June. The show’s big attraction was the first performance of the opera’s title role by Jonas Kaufmann. The BBC broadcasted the opening night performance yesterday. The recording will available on its website for a month. Kaufmann’s dark voice prompted many to…
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Si Pel Ciel – Otello Act 2
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 5th August 2017Verdi’s penultimate opera is a masterpiece of dramatic cohesion and inspiration. Set to one of opera’s greatest librettos, it reflects all that its composer had learned from a life spent in the the theater. The duet, ‘Si pel ciel’, that ends the second act is as rousing as anything Verdi had written 40 years earlier,…
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La Traviata in HD 2017
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 11th March 2017The Met brought back Willy Decker’s staging of Verdi’s masterpiece which was televised in the HD series in May of 2012. My gripes about this production are unchanged and can be read here. The opera’s entire premise is based on a 19th century view of the world, which is why moving it to the modern…
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Finale 12 & 12A: Aida Acts 2 & 4
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 19th February 2017This article will cover two finales, those to the second and fourth acts of Verdi’s Aida. Verdi’s Egyptian opera dates to the time when Benjamin Britten said Verdi had discovered the secret of perfection. The finale to the second scene of act 2, the triumphal scene, is a god-like demonstration of how to handle large forces. A…
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Nabucco in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 8th January 2017In a geriatric special, the Met televised its 2001 production of Verdi’s Nabucco featuring septuagenarians Placido Domingo and James Levine. The former in the title role and the latter behind the baton. This pairing of ancients would suggest that everyone should be eligible for a senior ticket. But everyone in my theater was already eligible….
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Finale 10 – Falstaff (Tutto nel mondo è burla)
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th November 2016This one is a triple finale. It’s the end of the 3rd act, the end of the opera, and the end of Verdi’s career as a composer of operas. Verdi had written only one comedy prior to Falstaff – Un Giorno di Regno in 1840. Thus 53 years separated it from Falstaff. Verdi’s final opera…
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Tutto Verdi: La Forza del Destino
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 12th November 2016Parma’s production of Verdi’s epic opera is one of the weakest in its march through all the master’s operas. Forza is often criticized as the weakest of Verdi’s latter masterpieces because of its episodic nature, its length (when given uncut), and because of its “dry” patches. In my opinion, none of these criticisms apply when…
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Recording of the Week – Birgit Nilsson 10 CD Set
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 5th September 2016Birgit Nilsson (1918-2005) was one of the vocal marvels of the 20th century. No recording, and she made many, can come close to the impact she made in performance. A voice of limitless power and reserve, she could be heard over the loudest orchestral din. Yet she could modulate her tone to whatever the score…
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