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BlogSchnappshotsSelected Posts

Rick Stein and Vienna

On the recommendation of wpnewington, I spent a happy hour watching Rick Stein’s long weekend in Vienna (available here on BBC iPlayer).  Arriving at Schwechat airport, Stein points out the Figlmüller sign for Wienerschnitzel and says how much he’s looking…
Del
January 8, 2017
Blog

“Be not afraid of greatness”

… as the good bard said.  Twelfth Night, and the festive season draws to a close for another year. Hurrah! Normal service can be resumed. Twelfth night dates back to a time when Christmas marked the start of twelve days…
Del
January 5, 2017
BlogSchnappshots

Prosit Neujahr!

A new year … if the old adage ‘start as you mean to go on’ is true, then 2017 is going to be one of laziness and indecision. But it is Sunday.  And we did manage to get up in…
Del
January 1, 2017
BlogOpera

Oh bat, oh bat

Today’s choice is a rather obvious one, for which I make no apology, as we need to finish the year on a high. For the ultimate New Year jollity, there is nothing to beat Strauss’s Die Fledermaus. As my one…
Del
December 31, 2016
BlogOpera

I want to live in the dream that thrills me

A notable omission from the opera play-list, so far, is Gounod, but that’s being rectified as we speak with the addition of Maria Callas singing Je veux vivre dans ce rêvre qui m’enivre. The aria is from Romeo et Juliette.…
Del
December 30, 2016
BlogOperaSelected Posts

At the back of the holy temple

Or at the side of the holy church, as temples didn’t feature on our morning perambulation, whereas a church is easy to find as you’re never far away from one in Vienna. Today’s choices are two magnificent pieces from La…
Del
December 29, 2016
BlogOpera

This ball is unusual

Today we’re off to the underworld, which means we can add four tracks to the playlist thus filling in some of those gaps. Jacopo Peri (1581 – 1633) was an Italian, who wrote the first opera ever, so he definitely…
Del
December 28, 2016
BlogOpera

Endlessly intoxicating night of ecstasy

  An endlessly intoxicating night of ecstasy eh? The night is still young … I’ve chosen Nuit d’ivresse d'extase infinie for today’s track on the opera playlist because it is simply exquisite. This version sung by Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto…
Del
December 27, 2016
BlogOpera

What excels the pleasure of the chase?

Boxing Day and that British tradition - the meet of the hunt. I have no idea where we are in terms of the legislation on this, as there are so many loopholes, exceptions and workarounds, as well as artificial trails…
Del
December 26, 2016
BlogOpera

Beautiful daughter of love

No, not me … but Maddalena. I’m dedicating today’s post to my Dad - we still miss him so much.  His love of opera was instrumental in the acquisition of my own passion for the genre. When he lived in Vienna,…
Del
December 25, 2016
BlogOpera

Tell me faithful

Following on from yesterday’s post … The miserable Friedrich is going to punish anyone who participates in the carnival, all part of his plan to ban fun. And a bit of word association soon gets us from carnivals to masks…
Del
December 23, 2016
BlogOpera

The ban on love

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…
Del
December 22, 2016
BlogOpera

Have they gone?

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…
Del
December 21, 2016
BlogOpera

Then I’m the One

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…
Del
December 20, 2016
BlogOpera

I’ve made a vow …

‘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…
Del
December 19, 2016
BlogThe Phantom Pen

Ah! How sweet coffee tastes

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,…
Del
December 18, 2016
Blog

Who restrains me in such a moment?

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)…
Del
December 17, 2016
Blog

A little song on the breeze

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…
Del
December 14, 2016
Blog

Hojotoho

Well we’ve had a laugh and a giggle, but it’s time to get into the heavy metal of the operatic world, namely the Ring Cycle.  I have a somewhat mixed relationship with Der Ring der Nibelungen.  Wagner can be hard…
Del
December 13, 2016