Tag Archives: Mozart
Don Giovanni’s Timeline
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 13th October 2017The time setting of the two acts of Mozart’s Don Giovanni has always puzzled me. Everyone, including I suppose Mozart and Da Ponte, seems to think that the action in Act 2 starts immediately after that of the first act. In other words, the action from start to finish is continuous and depicts the last…
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Finale 11 – Don Giovanni Act 1
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 7th February 2017Don Giovanni is one of opera’s greatest works, but it’s on the long side. So when the finale to act 1 finally arrives it’s always welcome, especially as it’s so good. Giovanni is supposedly a great seducer, but he fails at every amatory attempt, resorting to attempted rape at the conclusion of act 1. His…
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Il Mio Tesoro
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 20th January 2017Don Ottavio,the tenor in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, is opera’s biggest nebish. After being alone in a bedroom with Giovanni, a life with Ottavio seem worse to Donna Anna than 100 flights on American Eagle. I think after more than two centuries Ottavio’s still waiting for her to agree to marry him. But he has two…
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Don Giovanni in HD 2016
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd October 2016This telecast could serve as the imprimatur of what’s wrong with opera in the 21st century. This is said not to criticize the Mozart/Da Ponte masterpiece which, of course is one of opera’s greatest works. Rather, it’s a swipe at the management of today’s opera houses in general and the Met’s in particular. These telecasts…
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Le Nozze di Figaro in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 18th October 2014Mozart and Da Ponte’s opera Le Nozze di Figaro was telecast in HD today. The opera is utterly unlike any that proceeded it. Its depth of characterization, complexity of ensemble writing, and dramatic propulsion moved opera to a new and higher level of artistic expression. Figaro’s dearth of recitatives allowing one number to flow into…
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Così Fan Tutte in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 26th April 2014Mozart’s discourse on infidelity in the guise of an opera was presented as the penultimate broadcast of this season’s HD telecasts from the Met. Much was made by Renée Fleming in her introduction and interviews about how to regard this opera about the inconstancy of women in the 21st century. It seems to me that in today’s…
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The Queen of the Night’s Aria
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 14th April 2013Now for something completely different. Here is a portion of the Queen of the Night’s aria sung by the late Menino. She (?he) does it better than some sopranos I’ve heard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo6tb6kj8MA Here’s Diana Damrau singing the aria.
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La Clemenza di Tito in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd December 2012Yesterday’s telecast of Mozart’s opera epitomizes the dilemma facing the Metropolitan Opera and other major opera companies – how to offer the public something new that it will accept. Because no opera has entered the standard repertory in more than half a century and because writing great operas that command a large audience seems a lost art The Met and…
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Mozart, Verdi, and Heart Transplantation
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 27th March 2012This observation appeared just five days ago. It sounds like it belongs in the Journal of Irreproducible Results rather than the Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery. Nevertheless, here is the paper’s abstract : Auditory stimulation of opera music induced prolongation of murine cardiac allograft survival and maintained generation of regulatory CD4+CD25+ cells Masateru Uchiyama, Xiangyuan Jin, Qi Zhang, Toshihito…
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Don Giovanni in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 29th October 2011Mozart’s iconic masterpiece received a completely satisfying performance this afternoon. Every part of it was A level or above. The new production of the opera was staged by British theater director Micheal Grandage. The sets and costumes were by Paule Constable. What was most remarkable about the production was that it was traditional. The action was set…
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