I realise that if I’m going to get the playlist finished by the end of the year, and if it’s going to be representative of opera through the ages, then I might need to start adding more than one track…
DelDecember 24, 2016
Today’s track is from a little known opera by Wagner. The purists dismiss it as trivial, but being a trivial sort of person, I don’t mind admitting I like it; in fact, I like it a lot. The justification for…
DelDecember 22, 2016
As it is the shortest day, I had intended to add something from the shortest opera to the playlist. Research shows that the honour of writing the shortest opera belongs to Peter Reynolds and his four minute opera The Sands…
DelDecember 21, 2016
I always feel terribly excited when I see the first fall of snow. I don’t know whether the excitement is rooted in childhood memories of sledging and snowmen or whether it’s just how different the world looks - there’s often…
DelDecember 20, 2016
‘Richard Strauss’ and ‘comic’ are not normally heard in the same sentence, but when it comes to Der Rosenkavalier, they are. There isn’t really a back story to today’s post, apart from the fact I love this trio. And I did…
DelDecember 19, 2016
I did say yesterday that despite transport and heating problems, life had not been one complete operatic like misery this week and promised the highlight in today’s post. Well, here it is ... This is my deliciously scrumptious wonderful cake,…
DelDecember 18, 2016
The year was 1989 and it was the year of the Scottish autumn. In September, I saw Verdi’s Lucia di Lammermoor at the Wiener Staatsoper (with Tichy and Gruberova). On returning to Blighty, I bought the record (Pavarotti and Sutherland)…
DelDecember 17, 2016
As London continues to sink under its festive consumption, I stumbled across a lovely little find in Chelsea called The Good Place. And as redemption against some of the excesses, or just a relaxing, friendly place to shop, TGP is…
DelDecember 14, 2016
There are many ways of compiling a playlist – sometimes the track just has to be included, sometimes the photo of the day cries out for a certain track and other times it’s the story of the day. Today, it…
DelDecember 12, 2016
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. (1) My Facebook stream is full of appeals for money for cat charities, which I assume is because so many of my FB chums are cat lovers and surfing things like ‘help a…
DelDecember 11, 2016
Eins, zwei, drei, vier … drei-und-vierzig, or cuarento-y-tres, to change tongues, as it were. One of 43 reasons to thank Jonathan for his great kindness and cheer this week – or should that be cheers? Today’s post title needs no…
DelDecember 9, 2016
Two of my Facebook friends are mentioned in despatches today for inspiring tonight’s blog post. Monica Mertz and Wilcey, both fine examples of kindness and spreading good cheer. Monica brightened up my morning with her video share. What fun the…
DelDecember 8, 2016
Today’s blog post is dedicated to Sara Coward, who plays Caroline Sterling in the Archers, in support of her SM:)E campaign. Battling the last stages of cancer, Sara has launched a campaign “to help spread kindness and make people more…
DelDecember 7, 2016
Tonight’s choice should really have been something from Boheme, as my tiny hand is frozen owing to a misunderstanding between the boiler and the heating. I’ve also run out of logs, so was on the verge of burning the manuscript,…
DelDecember 6, 2016
Indeed, but that’s a story for the memoirs and to be honest, it’s not deadly. And I don’t think it’s even bitter, just irritating and inconvenient. The big question today, though, is: Caballe, Callas or Sutherland? For me, there’s only…
DelDecember 5, 2016
I watched the film Florence Foster Jenkins last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Hugh Grant plays himself, as usual (you’ve got to love him for it though), Wolowitz, from The Big Bang Theory, does a jolly good supporting role as…
DelDecember 4, 2016
I couldn’t have an opera play-list without Fritz Wunderlich and so today’s track is Wenn es abend wird from Kalman’s Gräfin Mariza. And yes, the countess is operetta rather than opera, but my rules are flexible. There are a whole host…
DelDecember 3, 2016
No exciting escapades to report today. In fact, since I’ve finished THE NOVEL, life seems rather quiet and mundane. The highlight of the day was opening one of my old shoeboxes and finding these – Milan c.2005, I think. Actually,…
DelDecember 2, 2016