Monthly Archives: October 2017

VIRGINIA SYMPHONY: THE BEST OF WAGNER’S RING

The Virginia Symphony presented THE BEST OF WAGNER’S RING CYCLE, conducted by JoAnn Falletta, narrated by bass-baritone Jake Gardner. ” Entry of the Gods into Valhalla” from Das Rheingold, “Ride of the Valkyries” and “Wotan’s farewell & Magic Fire Music” from Die Walkure, “Forest Murmurs’ from Siegfried, and “Siegfried’s Rhine Journey” and “Siegfried’s Death and […]

October 23, 2017 – 9:51 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Art, Current Events, from Paul, History, Mini-Review, Music, Opera, Quotations, Theology, Uncategorized | Comments Off on VIRGINIA SYMPHONY: THE BEST OF WAGNER’S RING

Metropolitan Opera’s MAGIC FLUTE: Saved by the Singing

During the Civil War, President Lincoln was criticized for attending the opera so often. He replied, “I must have a change, or I will die.” No opera that he saw was as different from everyday life, even wartime life, than Mozart’s MAGIC FLUTE. Mozart scholar, and a former director of the Glyndebourne Festival, Myer Fredman […]

October 15, 2017 – 3:39 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Books, from Paul, History, Music, Opera, Quotations, Theater, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Metropolitan Opera’s MAGIC FLUTE: Saved by the Singing

The Metropolitan Opera presents A NORMA for the Ages

The term “Dream Team’ was first used in 1992 to describe the United States Olympic basketball team, comprised of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, Chris Mullin, Clyde Drexler, John Stockton, and Christian Laettner. “It was,” said Coach Chuck Daly, “like Elvis and the Beatles […]

October 8, 2017 – 3:26 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in from Paul, History, Interviews, Men and Women, Music, Opera, Quotations, Sports, Theater | Comments Off on The Metropolitan Opera presents A NORMA for the Ages

VIRGINIA OPERA PRESENTS RARE SAMSON AND DALILAH

The occasion of the Virginia Opera’s production of Camille Saint-Saens’ 1877 SAMSON AND DALILAH underscores the fact Camille Saint-Saens’ work is one of only a handful of operas based on Biblical stories. Why is that? Many historical factors account for the phenomenon. First, during the late sixteenth century, when opera was being developed, the Pope, […]

October 4, 2017 – 9:30 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Current Events, Dance, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Music, Opera, The Gospel of the Kingdom, Theater, Theology, Uncategorized | Comments Off on VIRGINIA OPERA PRESENTS RARE SAMSON AND DALILAH