Category Archives: Uncategorized

LAZARUS PATH: A FILM FOR OUR TIMES

Father Stephen Freeman considers Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, whom Jesus raised after four days in the tomb, to be a sign of the “universal entombment. Even before we die, we have frequently  begun to inhabit our tombs. We live our life with the doors closed (and we stink). Our hearts can be […]

October 10, 2024 – 10:55 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Current Events, from Paul, Movies, Music, Quotations, The Gospel of the Kingdom, Theology, Uncategorized | Comments Off on LAZARUS PATH: A FILM FOR OUR TIMES

MAZZOLA, BIRNBAUM, AND SINGING ACTORS OFFER A BRILLIANT RIGOLETTO TO OPEN OPERA SEASON

For the past several years one couldn’t find a production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto outside of a “new and improved interpretation”, usually set in a time and place closer to our own. The reasoning was that such a reinterpretation made it easier for the  “boobus Americani” to see how the themes of the work relate […]

September 15, 2024 – 11:59 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, from Paul, History, Music, Newspapers, Opera, Quotations, Theater, Uncategorized | Comments Off on MAZZOLA, BIRNBAUM, AND SINGING ACTORS OFFER A BRILLIANT RIGOLETTO TO OPEN OPERA SEASON

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

Michelle Bradley is Lyric Opera’s AIDA, Chicago’s Favorite Opera

Not long after Aida premiered in Cairo on Christmas Eve of 1871, Verdi’s opera was playing in Chicago, first in April 0f 1885 and then in December 0f 1886. The first Chicago Grand Opera Festival under the sponsorship of the Chicago Opera Festival Organization, J.H. Mapleson manager, was billed as “Music for the People! The […]

March 14, 2024 – 9:47 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Dance, from Paul, History, Music, Opera, Quotations, radio, Theater, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Michelle Bradley is Lyric Opera’s AIDA, Chicago’s Favorite Opera

VERDI’S THE FORCE OF DESTINY AT THE METROPOLITAN OPERA

The Force of Destiny was a Verdi opera unknown to me. I began my usual pre-performance routine. I read about Verdi’s life as he began writing the Force of Destiny . I read the play upon which the libretto is based. I then read the libretto and listened to a few audio recordings. I would […]

March 11, 2024 – 9:40 am | By Jake P | Posted in Acting, Books, Current Events, from Paul, Guest Opinion, History, Magazines, Music, Opera, Quotations, Theater, Uncategorized | Comments Off on VERDI’S THE FORCE OF DESTINY AT THE METROPOLITAN OPERA