Concerning the backlog of veterans’ benefit claims…

This has to be fixed immediately. I don’t understand why it hasn’t. There’s no argument AGAINST fixing it. The backlog just requires hiring some temporary workers to get caught up. There are plenty of out of work people with good clerical skills to fill those jobs. The funding would be minimal compared to so many things Congress wastes money on, and there would be no backlash against authorizing that funding. I’m baffled. Obviously the veterans just don’t have anyone bribing congress like the big corporations. Shame on every member of Congress for allowing this to go on so long. They’re all aware. They obviously just don’t give a damn.

Happy Anniversary to Le Sacre du Printemps!

100 years ago the musical 20th century began. A riot ensued. Those were the days!

In memoriam

In honor of Memorial Day, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa sings Duparc’s setting of Gautier’s poem Au pays ou se fait la guerre.

Happy Birthday, Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner would be 200 years old today. A great musician and awful human being. Happy Birthday in the style of Tristan und Isolde.

Opera Buff: Monteverdi

This is definitely not Monteverdi as it would have been performed in his lifetime, but I think this kind of staging works very well with this music. Trisha Brown’s choreography shown here is as beautiful as the music. It’s also far more interesting to watch than the stylized stand and gesture style that would be “correct” for this period. This is a good example or rethinking a work for modern audiences.

Faith in Science???

Of all the ridiculous things I hear people say, few are as absurd as the attempt to equate science with superstition.  Yes, our understanding of the world and how it works changes over time.  That is not a flaw in the scientific method.  New evidence and new understanding may change our understanding of reality.  “Science changes all the time.” is therefore a good thing, not a valid criticism.  One person used gravity as an example, as if my “faith” in gravity is necessary in order for object to fall towards the earth.  Faith is belief without evidence.  Science is the use of evidence to aid our understanding.  There’s no comparison between the two.  If that upsets you, then perhaps you should question how you view the world.

Opera Buff: Beverly Sills as Cleopatra

Yes, the staging is silly and the ornamentation is more Rossini than Haendel, but the sing is fantabulous!

Remind me some time to tell both stories about meeting La Sills.

Two Great Danes

Lauritz Melchior and Viktor Borge clown around on American television.

“Clearly, I…

“Clearly, I regret the email was quoted incorrectly and I regret that it’s become a distraction from the story, which still entirely stands. I should have been clearer about the attribution. We updated our story immediately.”

-Jonathan Karl, ABC News Chief White House Correspondent

Jonathan Karl passed his story off as accurate when in fact he made no serious effort to see the emails himself or to verify the accuracy of the information.  That’s not reporting.  It’s stenography.  Perhaps he was an innocent dupe, but incompetence is hardly an excuse for inaccurate reporting.  These so-called journalists like Karl, Judy Miller and the rest of the media dupes, should be fired and shunned from the industry.  Accuracy used to matter in journalism.  Now self-styled reporters simply regurgitate every rumor they here and speculate about what will happen next.  Never mind that they are almost always wrong.  This needs to end.  The truth should matter.  Facts should be verified before they are published or aired.  And most of all, there should be consequences for getting something this wrong.  For too long there haven’t been.  That needs to end, and it needs to end today.

Opera Buff: Jessye Norman sings the Liebestod

Yes, the voice is huge, but what’s most amazing about La Norman is her seamless legato and exquisite phrasing. The musicianship is impeccable. If there are any doubts about Bellini’s influence on Wagner’s vocal writing, listen carefully to this excerpt.