CATS IN ART
SUSAN HERBERT STUDIED at the Ruskin School of Art. She worked and painted for the English National Opera and, more recently, has turned to prints of theatrical animals. Like me, … Continue reading
PLAYING WASABI FUTURES PART 2
YESTERDAY, MY THREE PHOTOS of fresh wasabi prices doubling over 2014 to 2022 got me interested in the futures market of this nostril-thrilling Japanese spice. So, what’s the deal: fresh … Continue reading
PLAYING WASABI FUTURES PART 1
I CAN’T SAY I didn’t see this coming: Back on March 28, 2014, I was shopping at Mitsuwa, my local Japanese market, and marveled at the price/lb. of fresh wasabi: … Continue reading
“LEGITIMATE POLITICAL DISCOURSE”??
COME ON, REPUBLICAN leadership! How incredibly bat-shit crazy can you be?? As reported by ABC News, The New York Times, The Guardian, and other news outlets, “In an extraordinary move, … Continue reading
CABIN(S) IN THE SKY
RESEARCHING SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY, I came upon an interpretation of African American life with an all-black cast, but composed, directed, and set by three Russian guys. This Cabin in the … Continue reading
FUN AT WORK
EONS AGO, IN A summer intern during undergraduate school, my boss advised, “Don’t expect to enjoy your work; that’s why they call it work.” What with teaching at the College … Continue reading
CARUSO AND THE EXTORTIONISTS
IN HER BOOK A Mad Love: An Introduction to Opera, Vivian Schweitzer offers fascinating tidbits about famed tenor Enrico Caruso. One is that “… when Caruso sang the aria [“Vesti … Continue reading
DON’T LOOK BACK 1.0, 2.0, 2.1, AND 3.0 PART 2
YESTERDAY WE ENCOUNTERED the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and its Gluck Opera. Today in Part 2, we see a Don’t Look Back 2.1 variation and an envisioning from … Continue reading
DON’T LOOK BACK 1.0, 2.0, 2.1, and 3.0 PART 1
ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE is a myth with legs. Or, to crib computer parlance, there’s a 1.0, sorta its beta; 2.0, an early operatic rendering; 2.1, a later operetta; and 3.0, … Continue reading
STAGING CELEBRATED; VIVALDI VINDICATED
A RECENT OPERATIC happening celebrates a 40-year-old production. Another rectifies a 282-year-old injustice. Here are tidbits on these two gleaned from several sources. The Zeffirelli La Bohème 40th. In “Enduring … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 