Category Archives: Men and Women

OPERA IN WILLIAMSBURG’S DIE ZAUBERFLOTE: MUSICAL MAGIC

Bernard Shaw considered Mozart’s ZAUBERFLOTE, The Magic Flute, to be “the first oratorio of the religion of humanity.” On the other hand, opera historian Gustav Kobbe considers the libretto to the Magic Flute “such a jumble of nonsense that it is as well to endeavor to extract some sense from it.”[i] Nothing perplexes viewers as […]

May 10, 2019 – 3:17 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Current Events, Dance, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Music, Opera, Quotations, Theater | Comments (0)

THE MET’S DIE WALKURE: A SUBLIME RETURN TO THE HEART OF THE FIRST RING

With an opera production as overwhelming as Robert Lepage’s Die Walkure at the Metropolitan Opera, adjectives seem unable to capture the majesty and profundity of the experience. “Spectacular”? “Magnificent”? “Sublime”? All of those and more. And in the most difficult of all art forms. Opera has so many variables subject to personal disposition, physical strength, […]

March 31, 2019 – 3:46 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Books, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Movies, Music, Opera, Politics, Quotations, The Gospel of the Kingdom, Theater, Theology, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

THE MET’S LA FILLE DU REGIMENT: ALMOST PERFECT

With seven operas by the young upstart  Italian  composer opening within a year, the French composers of Paris had had enough. Speaking for his aggrieved colleagues, Hector Berlioz wrote, Mr. Donizetti seems to treat us like a conquered country; it is a veritable invasion n. One can no longer speak of the opera houses of […]

March 4, 2019 – 10:30 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Current Events, Dance, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Music, Opera, Theater | Comments (0)

REGENT’S DEAR BRUTUS: J.M. BARRIE’S MIDDLE-AGE MEDITATION

If you could live your life over again, would you do it the same way? This question has probably crossed everyone’s mind at one time or another. The Christian Church proclaims that one has many chances through repentance to enter the process of theosis. It certainly crossed the mind of Peter Pan’s author, the Scotsman […]

March 4, 2019 – 9:37 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Art, Books, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Music, Quotations, The Gospel of the Kingdom, Theater, Theology | Comments (0)

VIRGINIA OPERA OFFERS A RADIANT ELIXIR OF LOVE

I first heard about elixirs of love in 1959 when, through my transistor radio, I heard Jed Lieber’s words about that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth She’s got a pad on Thirty-Fourth and Vine Sellin’ little bottles of Love Potion Number Nine While a new idea to me at the time, the concept of a […]

February 9, 2019 – 11:25 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Current Events, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Music, Opera, Quotations, Theater | Comments (0)