Category Archives: Poetry

HANDEL’S MESSIAH: TWO GIFTS THIS YEAR

Experiencing the Apollo’s Fire rendition of Handel’s Messiah brought to mind the title of Rod Dreher’s important new book, Living in Wonder, because that was what was occurring to the audience, whether they realized it or not. During the performance all were living in wonder, as Beauty, a characteristic element of God’s essence, was “calling […]

December 16, 2024 – 7:50 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Art, Books, from Paul, History, Music, Poetry, Quotations, The Gospel of the Kingdom, Theater, Theology, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

MET OPERA OFFERS RONDINE, PUCCINI’S FRAGILE BITTERSWEET DELICACY

The invitation from Vienna to create an opera based on a sketch by Alfred Maria Willner, Franz Lehar’s librettist, tested Puccini’s stated dislike of the operettas with spoken dialogue . “It is the usual slipshod, banal operetta, the usual contrast between East and West, ballroom festivities and opportunities for dancing, with no study of character […]

April 22, 2024 – 10:52 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Art, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Music, Opera, Poetry | Comments Off on MET OPERA OFFERS RONDINE, PUCCINI’S FRAGILE BITTERSWEET DELICACY

ELIJAH STILL SPEAKS THROUGH MENDELSSOHN’S GLORIOUS MUSIC AT CSO

  “Elijah is the peak of religious music between Beethoven’s Christ on the Mount of Olives (1802) and Wagner’s Parsifal (1882).” –Eduard Jacob Heinrich Elijah (1846), the second oratorio by Felix Mendelssohn, pays tribute  to Mendelssohn’s love and championship of the oratorios of Handel and Bach. Elijah is Mendelssohn’s reaffirmation of his Jewish heritage and […]

April 12, 2024 – 10:27 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Current Events, from Paul, History, Music, Poetry, The Gospel of the Kingdom, Theater, Theology, Uncategorized | Comments Off on ELIJAH STILL SPEAKS THROUGH MENDELSSOHN’S GLORIOUS MUSIC AT CSO

GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY: A HYMN TO THE HUMAN SOUL

Conor McPherson, the world’s greatest English-language playwright asked Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan  if he would be interested in using his songs in a theater piece. The result is the magnificent folk-opera Girl from the North Country, which we saw in October 0f 2018 at New York’s Public Theatre. Since then, director McPherson has been […]

February 14, 2024 – 1:30 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, from Paul, History, Music, Poetry, Quotations, The Gospel of the Kingdom, Theater | Comments Off on GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY: A HYMN TO THE HUMAN SOUL

The Met’s NABUCCO: Verdi’s Beautiful Prayer for those in Exile

On February 23 of last year, Naomi Wolf,  author, feminist and former advisor to Bill Clinton and Al Gore published a remarkable essay, “Have the Ancient Gods returned?” In it she quotes Jonathan Cahn’s book The Return of The Gods[i]           “Having accurately traced the lineage of pagan worship and pagan forces, Cahn makes the […]

January 11, 2024 – 1:11 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Art, Books, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Music, Opera, Poetry, Quotations, Theater, Theology | Comments Off on The Met’s NABUCCO: Verdi’s Beautiful Prayer for those in Exile