I am bugged by...

This morning I read that and regret that in times when people grew taller and - yes - heavier (even if the  weight grows because of the height), they have to be tortured when they need, or want, to fly.
As a person of mumble years in age, I remember when...waxing nostalgically, ;-) although I did not make use of this when I flew over the Atlantic multiple times in the 60's and 70's. But I do remember dressing up, dining off real china with real flatware and sipping excellent cognac from real snifters! Even in Loftleidir, THE low cost line then! So what, we stopped in Keflavik to refuel, so what it went only to Luxembourg, and from there I had to take a - THEN direct - train to Vienna (which in 1. class was super.. had a compartment all to myself, pulled the two benches together and - voila - I had a queensize bed)! Plus Luxembourg was lovely little place to visit for a few hours after or before flying!
Ah, the GOOD old days... at least when flying ;-).







And then there is: myths and truths about healthcare here pre-ACA and elsewhere:


Here's what the United Nations International Health Organization says.
The Lancet study of a couple years ago is even more extensive.
Percentage of men and women who survived a cancer five years after diagnosis:
U.S. 65%
England 46%?
Canada 42%
Percentage of patients diagnosed with diabetes who received ?treatment within six months:?
U.S. 93%?
England 15%
Canada 43%?
Percentage of seniors needing hip replacement who received it within six months:
U.S. 90%
England 15%
Canada 43%
Percentage referred to a medical specialist who see one within one month:
U.S. 77%
England 40%
Canada 43%
Number of MRI scanners (a prime diagnostic tool) per million people:
U.S. 71
England 14
Canada 18
Percentage of seniors (65+), with low income, who say they are in "excellent health":
 U.S. 12%
England 2%
Canada 6%
And now for the last statistic:
National Health Insurance
U.S. NO
England YES
Canada YES?
Now these numbers seem to speak volumes, or do you believe UNIHO and Lancet lied?






And another thing that gets my goat (lol) - the  belief of "young ones" that they are the only ones to go green (lol) and this making the rounds on emails says it succinctly, at least IMO, but then per the young ones: "What does that "old fart" know!"  So I kept this which had been making the rounds some time ago via email:


Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older
woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags
weren't good for the environment.
The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing
back in my earlier days."
The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did
not care enough to save our environment for future generations."


She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to
the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and
sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and
over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing
back in our day.
Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused
for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags,
was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books.
This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our
use by the school) was not defaced by our scribbling. Then we were
able to personalize our books.

OR as I did with Oma's hand crocheted string bag-similar to this one,

and used newspaper to fashion cornucopias for carrying fruit, eggs and more!

But too bad we didn't do the green thing back then.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every
store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't
climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two
blocks. And over there we used a carpet beater not a vacuum to clean rugs. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.  And where I grew up, we washed clothes by hand and and boiled the whites in a kettle over a fire, then wrung them out- also by hand- and carried them up 5 flights to the drying attic.. in winter the clothes were frozen flat! And needed little ironing!

But that young lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.


Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every
room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief
(remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. 


And over there a B/W TV set was a luxury..very few had one in the fifties.
We read books, and papers (which we also put to good use for many things-lining drawers, in the WC(yes, really-hint never use glossy papers!), cleaning windows, etc),
not kindles, we saw LIVE performances.
We met and had discussions, not stared at cell phones!

In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have
electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile
item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion
it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up
an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower
that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to
go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.
But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.


We drank from fountains or faucets when we were thirsty instead of using a cup
or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled
writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the
razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just
because the blade got dull.
But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Streetcar Vienna 1960's

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their
bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour
taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire
bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a
computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000
miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.
And some of us over there made our own "Hausmusik"


But isn't it sad that the current generation laments how wasteful we
old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Feel free to  mention this to another selfish old person who needs a
lesson in conservation from smart  (really?) young people

Murder at the opera

Yes, it is the new book by Pamela Cramer: Murder at the Frankfurt Opera.

Written in a crisply simple way (a bit Hemingway-esque methinks) it's a quick, interesting read. Written with a sense of humor which will make you chuckle.

Sprinkled among the pages are photos of the author in her various operatic roles, alongside some pen and ink drawings by Angela Cramer, the younger daughter.

A pointed lead-in says a lot about what opera can, and will do, by no other than the GM of the Frankfurt Opera.

The reader learn all about what's going on behind the curtain.
How singers sing, or not.
How voices develop, and are classified.
How one gets a job in Germany.
How unions order what and when things happen.
How one eats, sleeps and shops over the big pond.
How costumes and made, conductor conduct and sets work.
It is a veritable "How to book" about opera.
With details, that may surprise event the most fervent opera fan.


How mishaps happen.
And how a seeming mishap turns to murder.
More I shall not disclose-go ahead and read it!

Drifting..

Lately, it seems that we have become drifters.

Both my Better Half and I are catching ourselves drifting off to nod 5-10 minutes after lunch, maybe late in the afternoon, and most certainly after dinner. And again about 10 PM.

So you think the problem is solved by retiring to bed earlier, sleeping a full 6-8 hours or whatever our so learned doctor researchers recommend?

Bah humbug.

Take: BH he retires at say 10:30 PM, wakes after 2 AM, but then sleeps till 8 or 9 AM. And maybe drifts off after breakfast, too.

And yours truly, I hang on till 12:30 or so - having learned the bitter lesson that going earlier just means tossing and turning for hours.

So, even though at around midnight or a bit after, I start to drift off whilst reading which tells me to march in to retire, as soon as my head hits the pillows (fluffy soft feathered ones) eyes pop open, brain starts churning and, guess what - I still toss and turn. Then I sleep for an hour and a half or maybe 2. Then it's up and marching around to preclude or get rid of cramping legs, drinking some water, back to bed, toss and turn, fall back to sleep; only to repeat this a second and even a third time, before finally getting up to take the one pill 1 hour before taking the others! And , yes, after taking pill #1 I drift off  for the requisite one hour, in my rocking chair.

And that, chers readers, leaves me befogged and bewildered.

It seems going against all that good ? advice by our learned friends, the scientific researchers!

.

A Coffin in Egypt

That was a fabulous tour de force by veteran Mezzosoprano Frederika von Stade, For 0ne hour and a half she alone kept the audience spellbound.
Yes, there were 4 others at various times on stage with her, two were actors in speaking roles, two had silent roles. David Matranga and Carolyn Johnson are actors. Cecilia Duarte and Adam Noble were the two silent players.

Plus there was a chorus of 4 gospel singers, who provided vocal accompaniment in quite superb manner. Cheryl D Clansy, a ringing bell-like soprano; Laura Elizabeth Patterson , alto; James M Winslow, tenor and Jawan CM Jenkins, bass.

Von Stade with Cecilia Duarte as silent companion

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Ricky Ian Gordon's music played by just a select few (8)of the HGO orchestra under the guidance of Timothy Myers was at times strident, at time very lyrical but each fitted the words and action on stage. Von Stade's voice soared powerfully in youthful spirits, other times she sounded like an old 90 year old woman, which she played, actually. But
whatever the cause, the thoughts, the remembrances she sings/talks about she truly mesmerized by her presence and voice.
Leonard Foglia directed and wrote libretto, based on the play by Horton Foote.  Myrtle Bledsoe (Von Stade) at 90 recalls events in her turbulent life, and a real drama it was. At the end she comes to grip with it and feels free of hatred, and love. 
Set and costumes by Riccardo Hernandez were simple: a porch in Egypt, Texas, a red caftan and shawl for Myrtle.
The mood lighting reflecting spring, summer, fall and so much more designed by Brian Nason.
It being a World Premiere, there are no clips. YET


But Ricky Ian Gordon also composed The Grapes of Wrath

(seen in a production by Moore's school of  Music U of H some time ago).


Sadly, chers readers you will have only ONE more chance to see this on
MARCH 21!

Werther..from The Met via The cinema.

Yes indeed.
Clip from the French production Kaufman/Koch

I went with great expectation!
Clip: Massenet's Ouverture to Werther

After all Opera heart throb tenor Jonas Kaufman was Werther with a fabulous French pronunciation, and the 'Sturm and Drang' emotions of a German. What more could one ask?
Well, Kaufman delivered as promised.

Kaufman and Koch. Photo:Ken Howard

And so did French Mezzo Sophie Koch, his Charlotte.
As one would expect from a French speaker  she sang the French words beautifully.
Both really can act as well, which is very important in this opera, especially this production.

All along I felt this is the Movie of the Opera Werther!
Was it because the director Richard Eyre is better known as movie director?
Was it because of Rob Howell's cluttered sets?

Photo: Ken Howard

Or because there was so much projection.. birds (crows maybe) during the opening which showed Charlotte's mothers' death and funeral? And leaves fluttering and falling later?
Or those horrendous close ups down the throat of Kaufman?
 Amusingly, the end (due to satellite transmission failure?) appeared as a silent movie.
And, chers readers, as much as LOVE opera, sitting there in the movie theater watching close ups of mouths looking like guppies on dry land gasping for air - with surtitles - had me quietly in stitches.
I know, I know, what an irreverent thought (or two!). But yes, it was funny! And irritating, since one missed the death throes which went on and on..
As one knows (?) Werther shot himself near the heart, so death was protracted, and allowing him and Charlotte to sing some lovely duets of where and how he is to be buried, or so I surmise... no sound, remember.
Now having dished on the "show" per se, I wish to rave a bit about the principal singers.
Kaufman's thespian talent coupled with a very good looks and A voice, was WERTHER to the core.
YES!
One cannot understand why Charlotte does not fall in love with him on first sight!!! But then if she had, the rest of the opera would have been superfluous. Goethe just wanted to make hay with  Romantic Love (writ large) which when denied leads to suicide. Kinda like the gimme, me, me generation nowadays. Or am I too cynical?
Koch was right there with him, when it came to acting, looks, and voice. She is billed as a Mezzo, IMO, a light and high Mezzo. But sang superbly.
Lisette Oropesa as her sister, next in age, was suitably chipper and used her clear soprano to good avail. And I really liked her - almost better! So there!
David Bizic as Albert was adequate and stiffly honorable, and yet jealousy did make him have Charlotte send the pistols to Werther, who had been talking (a lot) about death because of unfulfilled love. Did he really wish Werther to kill himself?
And Charlotte's father, the Bailiff (I forgot who it was) did not impress too much. A bit of a comic turn was provided by two of the Bailiff's drinking buddies (names of role and singers escapes me, too) with their paean to Bacchus!
I liked the costuming which showed off both Koch's and Oropesa's slim builds very nicely, thank you. Alain Altinoglu, French conductor of Turkish descent, methinks, did very well indeed, it seems to me, that Massenet was a bit ahead of his time in the use of the saxophone!
Massenet's music was certainly far reaching in scope, he really dug  the "Sturm and Drang" period of German romanticism ... and yet, I, for one, had no tears in my eyes...and I always sniffle at Mme Butterfly and La Boheme, go figure.

Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin

In an eerie deja vu kind of way.....
This afternoon I saw Prince Igor (Live from The Met) on the day the Russian Army invaded Crimea, on command of a modern day"Prince" ;-) Vladimir Putin. And the end will certainly be, as in the opera, devastation and death!

In the opera, whose plot is a bit difficult to follow, especially for non-Russian speakers (despite the excellent subtitles). In olden day's Prince Igor Syvatoslavich, bassbariton hunky Ildar Abdrazakov leaves wife Yaroslavna, soprano extraordinaire Oksana Dyka, and folks, behind in Putivl to attack the marauding Polovtsians and their Khan Konchak in the company of his son Prince Vladimir Igorevich, sung by Sergey Semishkur (video clip below). He entrusts the people and his wife to care of his brother-in-law Prince Vladimir Yaroslavich Galitzky. and acts like Mikhail Petrenko (with Semishkur in video clip)

Petrenko as Galitzky abusing Dyka as his sisterYaroslavna

Who, with his Svengali-like (in this production) musicians Skula (Vladimir Ognovenko) and Yeroshka (Andrey Popov), abducts maidens, drinks to excess,  and behaves abhorrently towards all, as well as his sister, the Princess. Proclaiming himself the proper successor to Igor is next on his agenda, but the arrival of the conquering Polovetsian hordes puts an end to that, and him!
But, by golly, we love a villain, especially if he sings and acts like Petrenko does...

he reminded my a bit of a former Aeros goalie-Anton Khudobin

 Yes, he did, a bit, at first. This is Mikhail Petrenko. So what do you think, cher reader?

The Khan (Kocan) offers a pact to Igor

Dyka and Abdrazako-in a dreamsequence?

Igor is defeated and captured with his son by the Khan, sung by Stefan Kocan, who treats him well, offering him to share the rule over all of Russia. Igor refuses and escapes with the help of baptized Polovtsian Ovlur sung by Mikhail Vekua, (I had to google this because it is not overt in the opera) to return to a Putivl, devastated by the hordes of Khan Gzak, whilst his son Vladimir stays behind with his lover. the Khan Konchak's daughter Konchakovna, mezzo Anita Rachvelishvili..

The famous Polovetsian Dances - you expected Russian and Asian costumes perhaps? - are danced by semi-naked boys and white clad maidens amidst fields of red, red poppies. This section has a dreamlike feel to it, a misty, hazy feel. But the music just asks for it (Strangers in paradise-remember?) We are confused, is it real? Or a figment of Igor's battle crazed mind? Well, whatever it is meant to be, one thing is sure.. most do love the sleek bodies of the limber dancers, and the Maiden solo was performed by Houston Opera Studio Alumna Kiri Deonarine.... brava! Dmitri Tscherniakov's direction pointed the way to a more in depth treatment of battle with the use of projections in black and white - like in silent films. Gianandrea Noseda led orchestra, huge chorus and supers beautifully! And he is NOT Russian. But then, some of Borodin's music is just so lyrically romantic. Now, I was quite enthralled with the quality of the singers, all Russian speakers, even if born in Georgia (Rachvelishvili), Ukraine (Dyka) and Slovakia (Kocan), or Bashkortostan (Abdrazakov), Kirov (Semishkur), and St. Petersburg (Petrenko). If you love deep manly voices this opera is for you. There are only 2 tenors, all others are basses, bass baritones. I, for one,  love that sound!!
And the icing on the cake:
Bass Eric Owens (another HOStudio alum) was the sonorous sounding Master of Ceremony with perfect diction! He reeled off all those names with complete ease!
Brava! Bravo!...I just like seeing/hearing our HGO studio alums.

Tempo fugit.....

and flies and flies.
Sochi is past, medals have been collected. 
No medals collected, well there is always something/one to blame. Snow too slushy. Wax too sticky. Suits too (?) aerodynamic? and so on and so forth! 
Memories enhanced by selfies and other camera work.


Meanwhile there are riots in various parts of the world.
Meanwhile the killing goes on...
not on the stock exchange, well, perhaps some is happening there as well....
but ...


Laws are proposed and vetoed, at least in Arizona.
And the list of "what the hell IS going on in this miserable world" is going on and on!


But hark, the RODEO barbecue cook off is on and the air's full of aroma!
And the tickets are selling.






And the prize (hoped for anyway) steers and calves and hens and roosters and goats and sheep and, and, and.....are being groomed and pampered and fed and, well, you all know!

Sochis' Electronic performance

The 2 voices in my head had a heated discussion last night whilst watching Sochi's Opening ceremony. There was Warm Fuzzy (WF) versus Sneering Cynic (SC).
WF: Aw, how sweet to see athletes represent that (what was it now) Country, where his/her mother/father was born, even though he/she is now American.
SC: Yeah, sure, wouldn't you, too, fly under that foreign flag if you are a soso athlete who' never had a chance to get into the USA team?


WF: And isn't it so nice that that guy took 4 weeks off to train just to be able to come here?
SC: Must have a real generous employer to let him off during these economic hard times. Right!


WF: But those beautiful presentations of Russia throughout history. So impressive.
SC: They sure did gloss over the nasty parts (Killing off the Romanovs, The Gulag,  Stalin's purges, etc). But hey, it was all 'done with mirrors' Which, btw, reminded me very much of MOBY DICK's electronically enhanced opera performance in Dallas! Maybe that's where they got the idea of those projections so enthralling you!


WF: But those dancers and the music.
SC: I grant you the music. How could they not use that. After all the world knows Tschaikovsky, swan lake. But did they have to make it look like electrically charged sea anemones?


WF: I admire the dancers they must have practiced for months.
SC: You know, I have the sneaky suspicion  these were real red army soldiers who are so used to drill, and tight formations, as when they used to strut on Red Square to proclaim the power of Russia, just now put into theatrical costumes.


WF: But you did like Anna Netrebko?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=d56MMagyMXs
And the male chorus backing her up- yes?
SC: You have me there, she was great... except for a second or two I thought that it was a robot made to look her, the way her face seemed immobile, but then she belted out the anthem and moved, slightly. Yes, the male chorus was a nice touch, to emphasize her statuesque beauty, perhaps.
WF: I was soo excited because I think I recognized one of the singers in that chorus, a former HGO Studio member.
SC: Oh sure, but only if that smaller chorus was culled from the larger army chorus where BD is supposed to sing.


WF: So nice that the camera showed all those politicians clapping for their country's teams.
SC: Hmm, I did not see the any from the USA, and some other countries, but maybe those clapped during the infernal commercials and so were missed by the camera, do you think? And Putin's smirky countenance with limpy handclapping when not applauding Russia's preferred countries, what did you think of that WF?
WF: Aw, come on SC, maybe he was getting tired of clapping hard. He has had so much on his mind before these weeks.
SC: I guess so. Masterminding the transformation of a sleepy palm tree lined village on the beach to an "internationally" attractive destination in winter, could not have been easy even if spending so many millions over budget on it to end up with slip/slapshot results.
(Clip: the marching in of the athletes +)

WF: I was soo excited because I think I recognized one of the singers in that chorus, a former HGO Studio member.
SC: Oh sure, but only if that smaller chorus was culled from the larger army chorus where BD is supposed to sing.


WF: So nice that the camera showed all those politicians clapping for their country's teams.
SC: Hmm, I did not see the any from the USA, and some other countries, but maybe those clapped during the infernal commercials and so were missed by the camera, do you think? And Putin's smirky countenance with limpy handclapping when not applauding Russia's preferred countries, what did you think of that WF?
WF: Aw, come on SC, maybe he was getting tired of clapping hard. He has had so much on his mind before these weeks.
SC: I guess so. Masterminding the transformation of a sleepy palm tree lined village on the beach to an "internationally" attractive destination in winter, could not have been easy even if spending so many millions over budget on it to end up with slip/slapshot results.
Well, there you have it. It was a stunning productions, technically and electronically well done overall.
But moving, it was not, at least not form the stand(lol)point of sitting at home and seeing it with the eyes/lenses of cameras.
It seemed cool in the real sense sort of impersonal.
Perhaps being there IN person would have given a warmer feeling. May the games be successful for all! Go Austria, Go USA, Go... whoever you are!

Maledizione.. strikes again

After numbers of RIGOLETTOs seen and heard, Verdi's musical power never fails to draw me in, wring me out and leave me wanting MORE. And so it was last night at HGO.
I am sure you all know the story by now.

Amoral Duke dishonors females. Revengeful jester plots to have him killed, which is foiled by another female who saves the Duke first, then by jester's daughter, still enamored despite all, who dies in his stead! That's it in a nutshell.
However, perhaps due to my encroaching age, and past life experiences (lol) I found a "new"? insight. Did Verdi mean this a morale?
The Bad shall not go unpunished? Sadly, it turns into "The Good shall be punished".
Or, women in love act irrationally?
Or, do curses really work? 
If so, I sure would really love to curse some drivers. Yes, those that cut in whilst texting, yapping, or even putting on make-up ON THE highways and byways! ;-) But I digress.

Back to the HGO production, which, if I recall, has been around a few times before, and seems a bit tired, to me, despite the big red splashy opening scene with Rigoletto.

Alexyuk, McKinny-Photocredit HGO

BTW,
HGO alum Ryan McKinny made his debut as the jester, and did it well with sonorous sound and gestures. He just looks a bit too young even make up did not age him sufficiently to cover his charmingly youthful face.
On the other hand, his daughter Gilda, sung with crystal clarity and meltingly haunting voice by Studio Member Uliana Alexyuk (Einspringer for the scheduled Gilda who left - for personal reasons) was stunning and so teenager. That singer is one to watch, and conquer other opera houses soon!
******************
I heard others as Gilda, the ones most securely anchored in my memory are: more recently,
Maureen O' Flynn (HGO) and, prior to that, Edita Gruberova...but Alexyuk comes very close!
*******************
Now on to others in the cast.
Despite a pre-curtain announcement, that Stephen Costello felt ill, he sang the Duke seemingly without signs, perhaps not quite full out, but getting stronger as the night wore on.
Robert Pomakov's Monterone was a bit less imposing than previously heard Monterones;
Dimitri Belosselskiy (Debut at HGO) did not quite come up to expectations as Sparafucile...that cold, yet "honorable?" viciousness in the voice seemed lacking;
Carolyne Sproule as Maddalena (HGO Studio) decked in shawls like a Carmen (early ads for the coming 'Carmen'? tee hee) was adequately sultry with Rastafarian curls..
Other comprimario roles were also taken by current studio members.

Marullo=Reginald Smith

In this production, the naked woman (prudently (lol) holding a dress just in front) flashing across the stage in the first act (a well remembered 'rearview' ;-) from the previous show 2009) was omitted.
Thus, a sense of supposed deep depravity of this court was - well - NOT sensed.

Patrick Sommers coaxed grand Verdian sounds from the orchestra with his usual verve.

The Production was well done, but.....

Not sure what exactly was missing, something seemed to be - at least to me!

Still it's an entertaining musical event, which does allow one to go away whistling, humming

or - if so talented - singing catchy tunes, which after all is rather good!

A splendid weekend, with Hockey, in San Antonio

The weather could not have been better [made up for the be-fogged and be-rained one earlier ;-)], but sadly the Rampage lost to the Rochester Americans 3-2. BTW I really like those read-white-blue jerseys, but I do like the Rampage warm up jersey more-muy caliente

!!!Of course, it was not a BAD game, but a loss is a loss for Rampage fans of which there were over 6,000, although there seemed to be more.
Noisy ones, at that!

The first period started, as did the one the last game we saw, with an early goal by Rochester by -of all people - Johan Larsson- Second Star of the game

Crabb shadows Gillies

with Colton Gillies ( both ex Aeros) and Irwin in just a hair over 2 minutes into the period. On a power play, yet, thanks to Megan.
Rob Madore

Rob Madore standing as tall as 5'10 (176 pds) can be Third Star of the game

Nathan Lieuwen

was in goal for Rampage,  Michael Houser was recalled to be backup, due to Markstrom's injury (?)  earlier.

Nathan Lieuwen for Rochester at 6'5 (186 pds) played Goliath to Madore's David (lol). Since Rampage played (to quote seat mates) like 'girls hockey' (they did root for Rochester - I may add!) the scene in front of Madore frequently was like this:

Madore did acquit himself rather well stopping 34 of 37 SOGs throughout the 3 periods.
Rampage managed one goal on the 2. A power play goal by Janik, Gilroy and Martindale

Janik Goal in 2.period

and 1 in the 3. by Howden with Shaw.
Both teams had 2 penalties each, and a power play goal each. Penalty kill was adequate.
Called up by Rampage, Wade Megan played quite aggressively,  perhaps too aggressively. Megan sitting for hooking allowed the first PP goal for Rochester.
Especially in 1. and 2. there was some sloppy passing and stupid mistakes by Rampage players. Although they picked up some speed and managed to shoot 3 more SOGs (8) then in the 1. (5).
Only in the third did they seem to have found their rhythm with 15 sogs. And every time I looked Kilroy (oops) GILROY # 97

"was here" defending (he also did a get an assist).

But it just wasn't enough to carry the evening.
Rochester out shot and out scored them - albeit just by one, a, PP goal by Tardif (First star of the game), Adam and - again - Larsson.
Lieuwen had a few close calls,

Close call-but no goal

but managed to  stop all but the 2 of 28.

Two more ex-Aeros were present, Drew Bagnall

Bagnall-Nr.4 the C

sporting the C was on the ice seemingly all the time.

Hackett still Nr. 30

 And Hackett as BUG skated during warm ups and later to help the team celebrate its win!

Hackett congratulates Team and Larsson!

The Passenger-a searing musical portrait of (in)humanity

This co-production of Bregenz, Warsaw, ENO, Madrid is currently being performed at HGO.  It is a new(ish) work, composed by Mieczyslaw Weinberg, libretto by Alexander Medvedev which David Pountney translated rather well into English. It is performed with surtitles.  But IMO they are rarely needed, since the enunciation of most singers is outstanding and 96% understandable. I was privileged to attend the final dress rehearsal, which went smoothly. Opening night is Saturday 1/18. I'll be out of town then so am publishing it this morning.

A brief description of its plot: Fifteen years after the end of the war, a German diplomatic couple (Walter and Liese) are on a liner for Brazil where he is to take up an embassy position. On the ship there, too, is a mysterious veiled woman. Liese seems to recognize her as one of the inmates in Auschwitz where Liese (aged 22) served as a camp guard.
Several acts are devoted to camp life.
Female prisoners from all over Europe are found there, each one reacting in her own way to the horrors around her. One apparently has gone mad, another teams up with a very young girl in lieu of her own daughter. Their nationalities are: Czech, Polish, Russian (a partisan), French and Tessalonikan. One is identified as Jewish, some others seem to be catholic, especially Bronka.
The heroine, Marta (that mysterious passenger), by chance, encounters her finance Tadeusz, who, we learn is involved in the camp underground and in touch with Katya, the Russian partisan.
The plot gets a bit thicker. Liese wants Marta to become her confidante vis-a-vis the other prisoners, and offers Marta and Tadeusz a chance to meet. Both are resolved not to give Liese any hold on them.
While these flashbacks to camp life take place, on an upper level we see Walter and Liese attempting to participate in ship's social life. Liese has told Walter now all about her camp life. And Walter, after an initial revulsion, has accepted it and excusing it now supports her.
But then the "Passenger" asks the band (on a 3.level) to play a waltz.
And Liese breaks down completely. It is the waltz the camp commandant has demanded Tadeusz play for him on the violin, which Tadeusz does not do, and so is sent to his death. As - it seemed - is Marta.
The opera ends with the 'modern' Marta's demand 'never forgive nor forget'!

Now the cast requires some very strong performances by 9 female voices.
And HGO found them, voices with convincing acting prowess.

Michelle Breedt -above - (HGO debut) sings Liese with a flexible Mezzo and seemingly personal conviction in the world she inhabits on stage.
Melody Moore is Marta with strong and confident delivery.
Victoria Livengood - quite excellent as the madwoman.
Yvette, the French youngster, is sung with a clear high soprano by Uliana Alexyuk (HGOStudio).
Vlasta is sung by another HGOStudio member, Carolyn Sproule.
Krystyna is performed by Natalya Romaniw (Studio member).
Bronka, the older woman adopting the youngster Yvette is sung with moving expression by Kathryn Day.
Agnieszka Rehlis (debut) sings a few lines as the Jewish girl (is she the one from Tessalonika?).

Kelly Kaduce - above - (debut) whom I have seen and heard in  Anna Karenina, Tan Dun's Tea and as Margaret Garner, sings Katya with complete confidence and beautiful phrasing.. her solo, unaccompanied for the most part by orchestra, of the Babushka song is truly stunning!
Cheryl Parish (also seen in Show Boat at HGO) is the senior overseer who has just a few lines as well.
All other characters, in camp, and on ship, as well as in the, all MALE onlookers in modern dress (why they are there is still, IMO, a mystery, they do not really do much for the plot - perhaps they are to be us, the audience, but why only males?), are taken by chorus members with no solo lines, some are even silent.
As you can see, the females are dominant in this work.

Joseph Kaiser - above as Ravenal in HGO's Show Boat - Walter, is convincing and uses his suave voice well. 
Morgan Smith - debut (of Starbuck fame -Moby Dick seen by me in Dallas) sings Tadeusz with feeling. His orchestra double actually plays the violin.
James Maddalena has 2 cameo roles with a few lines, mostly just spoken.
Robert Pomakov as the first guard, and
Peixin Chen and Kevin Ray (both Studiomembers) as 2. and 3. guard acquit themselves quite honorably.
I am not sure who plays the Commandant, whose brief appearance in scene 5/act 2 is the cause for Tadeusz' death.

 I have searched for some videos.. and found this of another composition by Weinberg

Now to my personal impressions. Not being a musician, I cannot write about the difficulties which lie in the score. I have been told that some seems almost impossible. And yet the orchestra and the singers do it real justice.
It is above all a great theatrical drama with hugely excellent singing.
Maestro Summers knows the score and guides the team well.
Music: mostly accessible, sometimes overwhelming, sometimes very lyrical. IMO, it paints musical pictures of the horrors, but of beauty as well.
Staging and set are impressive, sadly I fear, people in balcony and high Grand Tier seats will not see the third level (orchestra) and maybe even part of the second level. The set is built very tall! Lighting is appropriate to action and scenery. A bit of stumbling around the camp ground makes the prisoners' exhaustion even more plausible.

Was I moved? Yes, to some extent I was, mostly due to the truly superb acting singers.

But having studied this period in history, and read as much as is available in English and German, I was somewhat disappointed. Or maybe, like so many of us, I have become desensitized to violence and horrors by what is thrown at us daily on television and the web. Perhaps.

Did I think the piece biased?  Not really.  The composer, IMO, tried his best to tell the story as seen from the standpoint of a younger Liese, whose experiences must be taken in context of the times.
Befehl ist Befehl - order is order!
And yet, nothing is ever just pure black and white.
But still, it should be seen as grave warning to humanity.  If it works in these days of increasing insensitivity to suffering, of spontaneous killings may they be government sanctioned, or acts by crazed (?) individuals, I simply do not know. And who really can?
Maybe...at least I hope it will open some eyes and hearts!

And here some comments, overheard on the way out:
"High drama but not really an opera".
"Would have liked it better as a ballet."
"How P.C. is that, before HGO is doing Wagner."
"I am surprised that it did not affect me as much."

Well, best you see it yourself. 
I can guarantee the singing and acting is fantastic.

Saying Goodby is hard to do

This weekend  two people  I loved, admired and am happy to have known, left for a better place=heaven. (that is if one believes in heaven - and unless someone belies it, I do believe).

The first was one whom I loved like a sister even though she was ONLY a cousin, and a much older one, indeed.  When I was small, I called her auntie, because she was almost 20 years older than I, the oldest daughter of my father's older brother. Later as I matured (;-) we went to calling us by first name. She was THE one, who kept up a faithful correspondence (snail mail!) to keep me informed about the lives of my extended family in Wien! I shall miss her dreadfully. I am afraid, this red threat to my kin over there will snap, as I do not see any of her kids or grandkids or great grandkids taking up the slack to continue, snail mail (what's that?) and even email may not serve. SADLY.

I am so happy I was privileged to have seen her once more last spring on our 2 months stay in Europe. R.I.P. Lotte, dearest cousin!

The second - about whose passing I have just been told - was a person whom I admired much. He was a fighter for freedom during WWII, in Austria.
He wrote books, published others.
He nurtured thoughts that seemed impossible to attain in this world of 'selfies'. And more! Yes, he was opionated at times, but only because he cared so much! 
Fritz, it was a joy to have met you and experienced your passion for what IS right and what ought to done to change and better it!
This is how I shall remember Fritz -  especially anytime I re-read his books (in German) and I will. 
This is how I want to remember Fritz, not like the photo in the Wikipedia article, even IF it is the latest.

For more details read this: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Molden

And in an other vein...the demise of blogs!
Seems several bloggers whose posts I have enjoyed reading over the years, have vanished from the blog scene. 
And I do wonder why? Have they, too, died? Or have they just lost interest. 
Perhaps they have  gone on to the next fad?  Which I am not au courant with!
Nor do I want to?
Or have the gone to Twitter? If they are, well,  OK for them. I will not tweet or read tweets. Tweets are simply not sufficient for my thirst for news! 
They are not on Facebook.
Well one, that I know, is! Others are not found .. and I have tried.
So farewell to you, too!

Countdown to action-the new vacation plans!

Where, have we gone wrong?
After reading several articles in today's WSJ I am asking myself, what ever happened to relaxing and resting when on 'vacations'?

Why did the first article never suggest just going somewhere
pleasant, take a good book (in whatever form one prefers) and just veg out?
Why is it that everyone seems to be bent on working harder at vacations than, perhaps, at one's job?
Is it the craze for being on the move?

Google search - photo

The need for constant faster speed?
Getting a rush? Moving, moving, moving!
Because staying still and using one's little grey cells just doesn't do it in the quest for 'living on the edge'?

Do we really have to proof that we are still alive by hiking strenuously up into the stratospheric heights of

Or spending 8 hours days digging into the past at excavations, then falling onto cots exhausted?

Roman ruins in Malaga-photo by artandhockey

These are just 2 examples the WSJ article suggests as THE ULTIMATE in vacations for couples and families.

Yes, of course, it is interesting. Of course, it would teach kids hands on history, or would it? IMO as a child I rather played in the rivers or lakes when on vacation, maybe hiked the woods to search out, and eat, wild berries.

And mushrooms, which we also dried in the crisp mountain air to take home for use in sauces during the year, rather tasty reminders of a lovely, relaxing and refreshing vacations. During which, we also took time to read a book or more lazing in the high mountain meadows while the sun shone and the bees "zummed" (maybe like this?)

 at Mesa Verde by artandhockey

around the myriads of wild flowers.
And usually we were able to get a jar of 'wild flower' honey from the farmers around us to take home, too. And milk still warm from the cow which, if left out for a while, turned into real buttery buttermilk, naturally! Of course, nothing was pasteurized, then.

So, I think, between hiking to get fresh milk, gathering berries and mushrooms, we did get enough exercise paired with periods of pure rest.

google photo

Or when paddling downriver in our faltboats, first from the pier of the riversteamer we took up to Engelhartszell, then down to, and later from, the camping grounds back home! And even there .. there was plenty of activity: digging latrines, climbing up to the dismal ruin on the ridge high above the Danube which was, once upon a time, occupied by a Raubritter-Austrian robber baron old style ;-). You can see the steep climb quite well on this picture of the Schloegener Schlinge-below.  Mostly we bathed (yes, indeed) in the Danuberiver, walked to the farmers' to watch (help?) with the churning of butter (reward: a medium, very yellow, butter ball to take back to Vienna with us). Or 'supervised' the haying, milking. Going on hunts with the farmer - out on an early morning, climbing up and sitting perfectly still in the blind.

Schloegener Schlinge-google photo

And always enjoying lots of reading, for fun, not school, I must add!

 

 ***********************************************************************

The second article that caught my eye, was about a man who opened a REAL bookstore after he retired from a hectic business life! 

He really did, what a lot of us bookworms would love to do!

QM2 library by artandhockey

So, I salute him for living his dream! YOU DID IT!

Another MODERN Parsifal...BUT one that works - really!

all Photocredit to C. Barda

Sitting 5 hrs and 15 minutes (plus 2 15 min intermissions) through this intriguing take on OLD Richard's opus did require a strong gluteus maximus. And munchies from home.

Having seen a 'modern' version ala Robert Wilson at HGO some years ago, which did not impress me nor my fellow Parsifal goer today much, about which best said as little as possible (Kundry knoedelte her way in that one whilst mostly crawling around the floor..NOT), this one DID work very well.
As a matter of fact, I felt it clarified what Wagner tried to say about a wicked world which can be redeemed by a 'reiner Tor' pure fool. And another thing I liked about this presentation: limited backstage stuff during the pauses, which allows adequate time for stretching, moving about,  and visiting the facilities :-).
Sadly at the ROH (Royal Opera House) one could see champagne being sipped in the background, none available at ROT (River Oaks Theater)  ;-), for us water was it!

Although the lighting by Paul Pyant was basically dark except for the grail; and the design by Alison Chitty (seen her work at HGO in past years) a most unusual geometric (based on the cube) as well as drab costume colors, the feel was of cleanliness and clarity, IMO.

Sure, the flower maidens provided some bright color and glitz, as well as the chirping of  sweetly 'normal' female voices....the main attraction was for sure the singing of the principals.
And I found some of them well represented on YouTube, inserted below.

What a slew of strong male voices - singing in German which most did remarkably well, such as

Gerald Finley (of Dr. Atomic fame)-Amfortas; histrionically well done, voice ditto.

Rene Pape - Gurnemanz; IMO, he was THE best of those fabulous, stirring male voices; suave, sincere, easily understood, beautifully enunciated German (natural for him, I know..OK... OK) with the right shading in every instance!

Robert Lloyd - Titurel; as expected a still rich and sonorous sound -sadly just a short appearance-live that is, later he is seen dead :-)
.

Willard White -Klingsor; wow, a true sound, great stage presence..scary to say the least, as the evil Klingsor.

and Simon O'Neill- Parsifal, big stage presence, beautiful clarion type voice, a Heldentenor as one feels a Heldentenor ought to sound.

The strongest performance of all, IMO,came from Angela Denoke as Kundry, what power, expression, acting, artistry and looks...IT WAS the a-one icing on an already fabulous cake.

Directed by Stephen Langridge and conducted by Antonio Pappano who understood the Wagnerian notes, and there were a lot of them, amazingly well. The orchestra and chorus came up to expectations.

For more on ROH, and coming screenings worldwide visit www.rohuk.org/cinemas

I much recommend getting the DVD when available.. you will NOT REGRET it!

Richard Tucker Gala-seen on PBS 1/10

So, I was NOT there in Avery Fisher Hall that November 17, last year, to have enjoyed first hand the dazzling array of world class opera singers with their beautiful voices. Yes, indeed...over the decades I rarely missed any telecasts of this event.

Of course, there was a review the day after, which, I may add, I DID not read, until just now, when I posted this link.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/19/arts/music/richard-tucker-gala-at-avery-fisher-hall.html?_r=0

With which I mostly agree.

Of course, I am a bit biased towards all former Houston Grand Opera Studio alumni (Greer Grimsley, Eric Owens, Joyce DiDonato), but having heard and admired ON STAGE at HGO several others (Fleming, Graham, Perez) as well, it sure felt like a glorious reunion for which I have waited so long (all of 3 months) to see telecast.
To select which singer made the deepest impression is darn hard. Yes, really!

BUT to me Joyce DiDonato, the current (2013) Award winner Isabel Leonard, both mezzi, but with a difference; and powerhouse soprano Angela Meade simply bowled me over! Could not help but yell BRAVA after each of their performances.
DiDonato with Tanti affetti, followed by Angela Meade with Tu al cui sguardo onnipossente and a sample by Isabel Leonard-enjoy them all:

 

Rereading the review, it seems to me that the telecast was a shortened by a few songs or was it? Because, cher readers I WAS there at 9 PM sharp, almost salivating in advance of the smorgasbrod of talent and sounds.