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Netrebko

L’Elisir d’Amore in HD

October 13, 2012

The first of this season’s Metropolitan Opera’s TV broadcasts was transmitted around the world today. Donizetti’s Elixir of Love is in my opinion one of the five best comic operas ever composed. The other four are two by Rossini and one each by Verdi and Puccini. Donizetti’s take on comedy tends towards the sentimental whereas Rossini takes […]

Manon in HD – Crazy Stupid Love

April 7, 2012

The Metropolitan Opera transmitted its penultimate HD telecast of this season – Massenet’s Manon – on Saturday April 7, 2012. Manon is the most French opera I can think of. It’s almost like an opera Debussy would have written had he been able or inclined to write boffo arias and duets. This new production was staged by Laurent Pully who […]

Tales of Hoffmann in HD

December 20, 2009

Bart Sher’s new production of Offenbach’s masterpiece was broadcast today (December 19, 2009) in HD. Sher’s mounting of Rossini’s Barber a couple seasons back was very successful. This time around wasn’t as fortunate. His problem was that everything was almost invisible. His scenes were dark, darker, and darkest. When you could see what was going […]

Lucia Di Lammermoor in HD

February 8, 2009

[For the 2011 telecast go here.] The Met’s HD transmission (February 7, 2009) of Donizetti’s romantic melodrama Lucia Di Lammermoor showed both the best and worst of what this medium (televised opera) offers. Both result from the audience seeing what’s happening on stage. Let’s get the worst over with right away. Mary Zimmerman directed this […]

About the Editor

Neil Kurtzman

Physician. Professor. Writer.

Neil A Kurtzman MD is the Grover E Murray Professor Emeritus and University Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Internal Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock. He has combined careers in clinical medicine, education, basic research, and administration for more than 40 years.