TruHart1

I sat next to Daniel Radcliffe in aNY Restaurant but. Never talked to him.
Actors actresses deserve privacy 

I didn’t realize that Patti played the tuba in Sweeney. They did a similar thing for the revival of Company (back around the same time, not the most recent revival) and there was an actress playing the tuba as well. 

Here’s a fun fact. Multiple actors needed tuba lessons because of this (to audition) and guess who they went to? Dirk Kaber the porn star. Yes, he was a tuba tutor before he was a porn star.

Impressive photography, @V_Marco!!!

AFAIK, Apollo’s work now mostly is as a personal trainer in Manhattan and doing gigs as a stripper at bachelorette parties on Long Island. Since I first met him as Logan through the now defunct Maximum Escorts, he’s kept in touch with me and has always accommodated me whenever I get to NYC. He’s not only one of most professional escorts I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, but he is always so enthusiastic both in bed and out when we get together!
TruHart1 😎

Here’s an article with both sides of the story:
Metropolitan Opera 2023-24 Review: Tannhäuser - OperaWire OperaWire
OPERAWIRE.COM In the middle of Act two of the opening night of “Tannhäuser” as Wolfram delivered his “Blick ich umher in diesem edlen Kreise..." TruHart1 😎

Here’s an article with both sides of the story:
Metropolitan Opera 2023-24 Review: Tannhäuser - OperaWire OperaWire
OPERAWIRE.COM In the middle of Act two of the opening night of “Tannhäuser” as Wolfram delivered his “Blick ich umher in diesem edlen Kreise..." TruHart1 😎

Impressive photography, @V_Marco!!!

AFAIK, Apollo’s work now mostly is as a personal trainer in Manhattan and doing gigs as a stripper at bachelorette parties on Long Island. Since I first met him as Logan through the now defunct Maximum Escorts, he’s kept in touch with me and has always accommodated me whenever I get to NYC. He’s not only one of most professional escorts I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, but he is always so enthusiastic both in bed and out when we get together!
TruHart1 😎

Years ago I was team-teaching a humanities course with an older female colleague. Part of my task was to provide appropriate music from 19th century composers, so one day I brought a recording of the "Liebestod" to play for the class. As we were listening, I saw my colleague become redder and redder in the face. After class was dismissed, I asked her if she was OK;  she said, "That woman was having a sexual climax!"

Thanks @Charlie for your expertise in German, and for keeping to the topic.
Although the protest at the MET was definitely political, I personally just found it interesting that they chose the Metropolitan Opera as a venue to stage it, interrupting a relatively long performance.
I certainly never thought we’d have a non-political joke naming a very politicized SCOTUS justice, though apolitically, both Scalia and RB Ginsberg were known to attend operas together often.
I also never anticipated a discussion of opera listener boredom in a thread on the forum created specifically for discussing the musical art! No one is ever forced to read any thread in any topic here, after all! Sometimes the way topics on the Company of Men forum discussions meander is fascinating.
LOL!!!
As for your German professor, he may have physically turned you off, but most of us want/need to be desired, so finding out about his “little Venusberg” parties later and feeling left out because you were never invited is completely natural.
TruHart1 😎

Last night I attended the JDF recital at the Sydney Opera House. The 2700 seat hall was packed to capacity. When he walked onto the stage the roar from the audience was almost deafening. A large contingent of local Peruvians waved the flag of Peru and called out words of encouragement in Spanish. I should add this was an evening in which usual concert decorum went out the window.
The main body of the recital consisted of well known arias by Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, Verdi, Puccini and Gounod. He was magnificent. A showman to his fingertips. 
 
As Marc from Cali reported for his encore he came onstage with his guitar and sang a number of Peruvian songs to the delight of the Peruvians in the audience and at times asked them to join in. 
 
I thought this was going to be the end but how wrong I was. He returned with the pianist and sang 6 encores including Ah mes amis from Daughter of the Regiment (with its 8 high C’s), La Donna Mobile, Nesun Dorma and Granada. After each number the audience reacted with increasing levels of delirium.
It would be the understatement of the century to say that this was a recital like no other.
 
 

In a word yes. JDF is drifting beyond the bel canto repertoire into for example some Verdi roles but I doubt he would ever sing Calaf in a full performance. However that one aria in a recital he coped very well.

I studied German with a German professor who loved opera, so he often incorporated it into the course. One semester Tannhauser was one of the works we studied. Long afterwards, I learned that he was gay, and that he used to throw parties at his home for certain male students. I felt insulted that I was never invited to his own little Venusberg, though I'm sure I would have been uncomfortable in that situation, since I found him physically repulsive.

The castrati were actually castrated as children, to keep their voices from changing as they matured. Castrating an adult male wouldn't turn him into a countertenor.

Reminds me of a story told by Clarence Thomas (not political, just giving names to show it was an actual conversation) ...
When Antonin Scalia asked Thomas if he wanted to go to the opera, Thomas declined.
Scalia asked, "Why not?  You don't like opera?"
Thomas responded, "I like opera.  But I don't like people who like opera."

The only thing worse than going to the Opera….
Is listening to people talk about going to the Opera.

The singers are responding to Landgraf Hermann's request that they explain the nature of "love." Wolfram sings first. The text is not exactly normal German speech--in fact, Wolfram's initial metaphor for love is actually an archaic term for a fountain or spring, which he praises in rhymed couplets--so translations into colloquial English are pretty variable. Wolfram says he wouldn't dare pollute the fountain by tasting it, i.e., having carnal relations, while Tannhauser responds that he wouldn't hesitate to cool his burning lips from the fountain, and in the ensuing interchange between him, Wolfram, Walter and Biterolf, he admits that he has been getting it on with Venus, who is an actual character in the story. If the demonstrators started during Wolfram's initial reference to the "spring" or "fountain," then they were jumping the gun. They probably didn't know German, and as soon as they heard the word "Bronnen" or "Brunnen," they thought that was the signal. They may not have even understood which singer was which character.

I feel as if this may have been chosen as a venue for protest because there was a large audience, all of whom would hear their yelled protests. Listening to the Sirius broadcast from last night’s performance, once the protesters began trying to express their reasons by yelling that there would be no opera on a dead earth, etc., I could hear a very large number of the audience begin booing and shouting loudly at the protesters to shut up and stop their disruptions!
A more up to date article reporting on this says, “In a statement, the protesters, ‘Extinction Rebellion,’ said the demonstration was timed to coincide with the main character’s declaration that ‘love is a spring to be drunk from.’” That seems incorrect, though, because, if I’m not mistaken, the character singing at the moment of the protesters’ disruption was Wolfram, the baritone, rather than Tannhauser, the tenor and main character!

TruHart1 😎
 

I feel as if this may have been chosen as a venue for protest because there was a large audience, all of whom would hear their yelled protests. Listening to the Sirius broadcast from last night’s performance, once the protesters began trying to express their reasons by yelling that there would be no opera on a dead earth, etc., I could hear a very large number of the audience begin booing and shouting loudly at the protesters to shut up and stop their disruptions!
A more up to date article reporting on this says, “In a statement, the protesters, ‘Extinction Rebellion,’ said the demonstration was timed to coincide with the main character’s declaration that ‘love is a spring to be drunk from.’” That seems incorrect, though, because, if I’m not mistaken, the character singing at the moment of the protesters’ disruption was Wolfram, the baritone, rather than Tannhauser, the tenor and main character!

TruHart1 😎
 

Whataburger, a Texas staple, is really good. Burgers are a tad better than the other fast food giants. But the service is always so friendly. I like how they come around to your table to offer you ketchup and sauces. And generally the place is really clean. They do a few things very well and focus on them, which of course is the key to any successful business: Find your niche and stay there.

I had a spine surgery in June - and they did something novel - they did the check-in with me sitting on the edge of the operating table and the surgeon standing next to me,  introducing the members of the surgical team. After that I sat chatting with the anesthesiologist for a few minutes, and she slipped into the converstation that she had just given me a sedative, and then I woke up in the recovery room.   It felt as though I had just gone to coffee with them. 

Yawn.
A boring "protest" at a boring opera. 
This isn’t news. 

Tannhauser was the first opera I ever saw--at the old Met on 39th St in 1961.

I am seeing this this opera on an upcoming Saturday matinee. Haven't been to New York City since just before covid