Epinions Recent Reviews for smorg

McMullen's Cry of the Panther: An Endless Obsession of a Self-Loathing Stalker

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:44:36 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - James P. McMullen's Cry of the Panther: Quest of a SpeciesThis thickish paperback sporting a handsome close up shot of a female panther on its cover lured me from the library book sale stand and I thought that I had made a steal in scoring...

Joyce DiDonato IS Handel's Alcina

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:25:35 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Taken from cantos 6 & 7 of Ariosto's famous epic poem, Orlando Furioso, Georg Friedrich Handel's Alcina tells the story of the rescue and restoration of the knight Ruggiero from the magical enchantment...

Halivy: La Juive: Fromental Halevy's La Juive at Vienna State Opera: Shicoff and Stoyanova can carry any show

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:20:52 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Based on libretto by Eugene Scribe, Jacques Fromenthal-Halevy's La Juive (composed in 1835) is a heavy opera that deals with a timelessly heavy issue - what happens when people puts their religion before everything else, the well-being of their...

Obsessed With Being Armenian: Michael J Arlen's Passage to Ararat

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:27:02 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Perhaps I should be familiar with Michael Arlen (born Dikran Kouyoumjian), the noted Armenian-British novelist... but I'm not. So I approached his son, Michael J Arlen, 's book without much expectations, thinking it a travel essay of some sort (after...

Cavalleria Rusticana from Munich in 1954: Verismo of Wagnerian Proportion...

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:41:39 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Myto Label CD: Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana (Munich 1954) Sawallisch/ Hopf, Varnay, PeaseSet in hot-blooded Sicily, Italy (you know, home of Vito Corleone and such) on an Easter Sunday, the curtain of this Mascagni opera rises to the...

History Isn't Dead: Why 'The Guns of August' Should Be Required Reading Everywhere

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 01:23:34 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - When I first read Barbara Tuchman's ‘The Guns of August' back while I was in college in the late 90's, I found it an entertaining and educational read. This past week I revisited the book again and am compelled to add another adjective to...

A Happy Case of Sadko (Rimsky-Korsakov's Sadko from St. Petersburg 1996)

Mon, 8 Dec 2008 17:33:40 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Rimsky-Korsakov is more famous for his bewitching and alluringly Asiatic orchestral suites (i.e; Scheherazade), though he was also a prolific composer of operas. In fact, even non-opera fans are familiar with many tunes from them without knowing about...

The Quintessential Hochdramatische: Astrid Varnay Sings Wagner, Beethoven, Verdi, Halevy

Sun, 7 Dec 2008 02:29:53 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Known as one of the greats of the Wagnerian Golden Era (roughly 1920-1970), Astrid Varnay was astonishingly under-represented...

Sonorously Borodina (Olga Borodina: Arias)

Mon, 1 Dec 2008 05:21:08 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Even though there is an embrarassment of richness in the current crop of lyric mezzo sopranos, a solid dramatic mezzo soprano who can do the Verdi and the dramatic French repertoire justice is hard to come by. Among the not so many gracing our operatic...

Who Needs Faust and Mephistopheles When We Can Have Rusalka and Jezibaba?

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:17:43 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Dvorak's Rusalka at ENO 1986 (Elder Hannan, Treleaven, Macann, Howard)< b>Most American audience would be more familiar with the story of this 1901 opera from the very popular Disney animation film, The Little Mermaid< i>. They are both...

Lorca/Fortner Bluthochzeit (Blood Wedding): Sanguine Enough To Chill Your Blood

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:46:54 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Wolfgang Fortner: Bluthochzeit (Blood Wedding) opera DVD (Stuttgart 1964)Most people (at least those who are familiar with Spanish literature) are well familiar with Bodas de sangre (Blood Wedding) (1932) as the first of the trilogy...

Sento Brillar - Vesselina Kasarova: Sento Brillar: Vesselina Kasarova Sings Arias Made Famous By Carestini

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 06:43:04 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Vesselina Kasarova: Sento brillar (RCA Red Seal CD) "Händel could express the whole cosmos of humanity with his music. He had a passion for opera. The fascinating thing is that, like Mozart, the most profoundly and intensely dramatic...

Tristan et Isolde (Bohm/Nilsson, Vickers, Berry) A Must Have Regardless of Quality

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:08:19 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Orange 1973: Böhm/ Nilsson, Vickers, Hesse, Berry) Although I'm not a Wagner fanatic, I must admit that when performed well, his Gaelic-myth-based opera, Tristan und Isolde, is a magnificently beautiful...

Pavarotti in excellent voice as Verdi's Ernani

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:11:30 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Giuseppe Verdi: ERNANI (Met 1983) Levine/ Pavarotti, Mitchell, Milnes, Kraft, Raimondi The story of this rarely staged 4 acts opera (premiered in 1844) is based on Victor Hugo’s dramatic play Hernani. Set in mountainous Aragon in...

Nuguri Udon Spicy Noodle: From Japan With Kelp

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 14:13:50 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Nong Shim Nuguri Udon Instant Noodles, 4.23 Oz Packages The first time I opened a package of Nuguri instant udon I was actually intimidated by the size of the circular brick of the noodle. I looked at the solidly sturdy thing mesmerized...

Beethoven's Fifth and Seventh by Ashkenazy and Philharmonia Orchestra: Resilience Rules!

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:01:28 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Beethoven's Fifth and Seventh Symphony (Decca CD) by Ashkenazy and Philharmonia Orchestra You would need to have been born deep in a jungle and die young to not be familiar with the opening chords of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. And though his...

Rodenbach's Bruges la morte: Of Love for the Living Dead

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:25:05 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Georges Rodenbach: Bruges la Morte Georges Rodenbach was a 19th Century Belgian lawyer, novelist, and poet, in whose time the Flanders city of Bruges (Brugge) was a gloomy ghost of a metropolis that practically suffocated to death when the...

Count Me In For A Korean Kalbi

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:16:40 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Noh of Hawaii: Korean Barbecue Seasoning Mix (Kal bi) I am a lousy cook. There I said it! I am next to useless in the kitchen... Though when there is the prospect of having Korean kal bi barbecued short ribs for dinner for less than $10...

Dick Feynman's Certainly Uncertain Talk About The Meaning of It All

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:29:32 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Non-Fiction Paperback: Richard P. Feynman: The Meaning of It All Richard Feynman didn’t write this book. He spoke it. This is a transcription of his series of three rather informal lectures given in 1963 at the University of Washington, two...

Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce: The Sweeter Way To Treat Your Fried Chicken

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:11:39 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - This Thai sweet chili sauce is the ideal taste enhancer of fried, roasted, barbecued, or broiled chicken. It is a thick (laden with unrefined palm sugar), mostly transparent with yellowish tinge liquid with lots of chopped flakes of peeled chili bits...

Walk About: A Simple Little Book About Many Things

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:38:52 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - James Vance Marshall’s Walkabout (paperback) Two young American kids, thirteen years old Mary and her younger brother Peter, having survived a plane crash unscathed in Australia’s Northern Territory while en route...

Mama Pad Thai: Cooked and Eaten, Not Stir-Fried

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:27:33 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Mama Pad Thai Instant Noodle: Stir Fried Flavor Pad Thai stir-fried rice noodle is, bar none, the most popular dish ordered at Thai restaurants around the world. This instant noodle version of it by Mama won’t replicate the...

Mom Doesn’t Cook For Me Anymore, So I Have The Spicier Mama For Dinner Instead

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:03:45 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Mama Tom Yum Shrimp Instant Noodles This is Thai style instant noodle... exactly as they have it in Thailand (they sell the same stuff there, though you won’t likely find it at restaurants in Thailand). Mama is the brand...

J.S. Bach: Matthaus-Passion (St. Matthew's Passion) - Nikolaus Harnoncourt: Harnoncourt's Fresh Third Take on Bach's Passion of St. Matthew

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:10:09 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Johann Sebastian Bach: Matthäus-Passion (The Passion of St. Matthew) BWV 244. Nikolaus Harnoncourt 2001 Teldec CD Composed for the Easter celebration of 1727 (traditionally performed at vesper on Good Friday), the Passion of St...

Jenufa (Munich 1971): Jenufa (Munich 1971): The Terrible Love of Kostelnicka Varnay

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:19:41 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author smorg - Leoš Janáček: Jenůfa (Její pastorkyňa) - Munich 1971 (Kubelik/ Varnay, Hillebrecht, Cochran, Cox) Premiered in 1904, this opera (actually called 'Její pastorkyňa' or ‘Her Stepdaughter’ by the...