THE BARONESS OF DADA
TALK ABOUT a great book blurb: MIT Press described Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven as “a neurasthenic, kleptomaniac, man-chasing proto-punk poet and artist.” Gee, I’ve got to learn more about this Baroness … Continue reading
BEEN THERE, SORTA
MR. AND MRS. Dinesh Rathod, both police officers in Pune, Maharahstra, India, claim to have climbed Mount Everest. As proof of conquering this 28,028-ft. peak, they offer a photo showing … Continue reading
A MURAT FAMILY BUSH
LEARNING A LITTLE recently about Murat the Younger and his Turkish Abductions of Icelanders, I felt compelled to search out Murat the Elder and others sharing this moniker. Pirate, admiral, … Continue reading
RED BURGUNDY HEIRLOOM OKRA
ALTHOUGH I CANNOT find it, both Wife Dottie and I remember a cartoon showing a guy lazily leaned back in his office chair, his feet on an uncluttered cob-webby desk, … Continue reading
ARG! THEY BE RAIDING ICELAND! OPERA TO COME
FOLLOWING THE TRAIL of a newly translated book leads me to learn things about Barbary pirates, Iceland, a Mozart opera, a possibly fallen woman and my surname. Today’s tale is … Continue reading
MEDITATIONS ON CBS RADIO WORKSHOP
THE CBS RADIO WORKSHOP teamed famed journalist Edward R. Murrow and other commentators with the music of Norman Dello Joio in an epic broadcast on June 23, 1957. Murrow opened … Continue reading
ANTHONY NELLÉ—DESIGNER OF DECO STAGE
MODERN MULTIPLEX theaters have choices, but little glamor compared with movie theaters of the 1920s and 1930s. It wasn’t just the times that made movies all the more glamorous. For … Continue reading
THEATRICAL TIDBITS OF EMANUEL SCHIKANEDER
I KNEW the name Schikaneder only vaguely: librettist of Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute and also a bit character in the Mozart biopic of sorts, Amadeus (Director’s Cut). I’m gleaning a … Continue reading
AN OVERTURE IN BASALT
GEOLOGY AND MUSIC seemed like a strange mix. Until, that is, I learned more about Felix Mendelssohn’s Opus 26, The Hebrides, which is also known as Die Fingalshöne, Fingal’s Cave. … Continue reading
BOHEMIAN LEGS, OPERA-WISE
WHILE LISTENING to the Metropolitan Opera’s Mary Jo Heath commentate on Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème, I got to thinking about operatic legs. Today an operatic mainstay, this tale of bohemian life … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 