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Hiya MZ & Vasilis (Reply to this comment)
by smorg
Thanks for stopping by, mates!
Hey, a thought MH is worth just as much as an actual one in my book. Thanks a bunch! :o) Gotta leave some rooms for improvement, tho. Don't want Smorg to get smug, ya' know. ;o)
MZ: I'll be sure to keep you in my thoughts - I hope that works out great for you, Smorgy! :)
Hey, thanks, MZ! I'm looking forward to coming off it, really. This no ice-cread diet is inhumane!!
Thanks again for dropping by, mates! Hope your weekend is a lovely one!
Cheers,
Smorgy :o)
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Apr 15 '07
12:35 pm PDT
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I really... (Reply to this comment)
by lammet
don't know how it is possible a piece like this to not be rated MH galore. Yeah, I know all about the rule that an item needs a number of reviews before one of them gets the top mark but rules are meant to be broken. Of course, like Churchill said, it takes a wise man to know when to break the rule.
Exemplary job smorg. As expected.
-Vasilis
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Apr 14 '07
4:11 pm PDT
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Re: Hiya A, MZ, & Melissa! (Reply to this comment)
by milena_zepeda
"First of all, my head is too big for one that I'll look funny and my cat will start mistaking me for Jack -(PingPongHead)-in-the-Box and demands to be fed burgers instead of the cheaper cat food... That'll totally wreck my budget."
ROFL, LMAO, Scaring MY cat! 8) Seriously! (8
"And second, I haven't got time to do that job properly. Can hardly keep up reading the folks on my notifiers as it is. I'm always a day or two (or more) late even on my favorite authors like you guys! Hate being late to the parties all the time."
I know how that is! It is tough to keep up here as it is w/o a hat! I don't know how these dedicated hatted folks do what they do day in & day out.
"Hopefully I'll get some pep back after I get off this recent prednisolone boost."
I'll be sure to keep you in my thoughts - I hope that works out great for you, Smorgy! :)
Have a fantastic weekend,
MZ
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Apr 13 '07
2:57 pm PDT
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Hiya A, MZ, & Melissa! (Reply to this comment)
by smorg
A: I looked at the images about halfway through reading this review --- It would be truly stunning to see this live though as by default to see a work of art like this on DVD would take away greatly from it.
It really is a cool production, mate! :o) Very imaginative and works wonderfully. I wish they had included more of Elettra's scenes in the photos. She really is the show's highlight. That final Mad Scene is like watching a terrific high-speed car crash in slow motion... Mozart really loved nutty women. I wish he could have lived to see/hear Anja Harteros' Elettra. Divine madness!!
A: Speaking of Salzburg, have you ever been
O, not during the Summer Festival, mate. I'd love to, but as you say... as expensive as the place is, it gets really budget-busting during the Festival months. :o( But if you live in Austria, Germany, or Switzerland, then you can just commute by train and probably can attend the opera there without having to go hungry for the rest of the year. ;oP
I just passed thru quickly then, tho. Would love to hang there a bit longer next year when I'll invade Europe in the summer. Would love to drop in at the Mozarteum, too (as if there isn't already too much Mozart stuff in that town!).
That concert at the church sounds wonderful, mate! And $17 is a bargain for anything in Salzburg, I guess. I still haven't been to an opera at the Met yet (tho went to a concert performance of one at Carnegie Hall last November). Maybe I'll get lucky and can fit a performance in on my way to Europe. Keeping my fingers crossed. :o)
Thanks for sharing, too! It is ALWAYS a pleasure reading and re-reading your reviews, A! Travel and restaurants and high-performance cars... and even the liquors! And I don't even drink!! :o)
I bet I know a lot more about taquilla and a few other drinks than my drinking buddies now from having read your stuff. Really enlightening without feeling like reading an academic paper. Don't know how you do it. I love Fitz's Finest Orange Soda (from Fitz's Restaurant and Brewery in St Louis), but I doubt that I can fill more than 2 or 3 paragraphs reviewing the thing. Learning a lot from your reviews. Thanks, mate!! :o)
MZ: The the photos that you linked to were also amazing - they definitely lined up with the images that you painted with your words. Beautiful! :)
Hey, thanks, MZ. It really is a wonderful production of this opera! Visually and musically. I'm so impressed by the Herrmanns for it. Such a bare and minimalistic set, and they used it so innovatively and effectively. Wonderful!
Glad to hear I'm not too far off describing it, too. :o) That's always the tricky part for me.
MZ: Also, I agree with Mel - I hope to see a blue Music hat upon your head really soon - you certainly deserve it! 8)
Melissa: Hats are going out soon, you should get one in the music category! Faw shaw!
Oy! Don't give 'em that idea, maties! I can't handle a hat, really.
First of all, my head is too big for one that I'll look funny and my cat will start mistaking me for Jack -(PingPongHead)-in-the-Box and demands to be fed burgers instead of the cheaper cat food... That'll totally wreck my budget.
And second, I haven't got time to do that job properly. Can hardly keep up reading the folks on my notifiers as it is. I'm always a day or two (or more) late even on my favorite authors like you guys! Hate being late to the parties all the time. Hopefully I'll get some pep back after I get off this recent prednisolone boost.
Thanks for your votes of confidence, tho, sisters! Hope things are goin' well your way!
Cheers,
Smorgy :o)
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Apr 13 '07
12:42 am PDT
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Stunning production (Reply to this comment)
by bettega
I looked at the images about halfway through reading this review, but then went at it again tonight and tried to see if I briefly could identify what characters were whom. It would be truly stunning to see this live though as by default to see a work of art like this on DVD would take away greatly from it.
Speaking of Salzburg, have you ever been? It's amazing. Wow, is it ever intense, picturesque and pretty. It can be a tad pricey to be there, but it all depends on how much research you do. There are usually three music and/or opera shows a night, a "good", "better" and "best". Usually an opera is the best and would be what you described. It's a full dress up affair costing hundreds of dollars that I unfortunately coulnd't afford. I just went to the "good" showing of some classical music played in a baroque church. On the other hand, those acoustics were so good that the 17 dollars I paid for that concert seem to have gone farther than a lot more at even some of the more decent shows in places like NY etc.
Thanks for sharing, this was another great contribution. I am also flattered of your continued encouragement, especially for my travel reviews.
Best Wishes
A
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Apr 12 '07
8:05 pm PDT
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Hey, Hey, Smorgy! (Reply to this comment)
by milena_zepeda
Always something fabulous from you! The the photos that you linked to were also amazing - they definitely lined up with the images that you painted with your words. Beautiful! :)
Also, I agree with Mel - I hope to see a blue Music hat upon your head really soon - you certainly deserve it! 8)
Cheers,
MZ
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Apr 12 '07
4:49 pm PDT
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Hats (Reply to this comment)
by dimeuhday
are going out soon, you should get one in the music category! Faw shaw!
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Apr 12 '07
7:31 am PDT
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Re: ^ (Reply to this comment)
by smorg
Der Ring des Nieberlungen is the Wagner colossal indeed, George! ;o) I'm only a fan of a few recordings of it that feature Birgit Nilsson, Astrid Varnay, Hans Hotter, or Wolfgang Windgassen, tho... The darn thing is so long. 5 hrs a piece and there are 3 of them plus a prologue called Das Rheingold. It'd probably sound awesome hearing them in live theater.. but sitting for 5 hrs straight on those uncomfy theater seat and limited numbers of bathrooms... DVD is the thing for me for a Wagner opera. ;oP
Thanks for stopping by again, George! Hope the week is going well!
Smorgy :o)
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Apr 11 '07
2:58 pm PDT
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Re: Re: ^ (Reply to this comment)
by George_Chabot,  in Movies
Unquestionably the Germans have it down. You must be a great fan of Richard Wagner and his "Ring des Nibelungens" or whatever the heck they call it.
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Apr 09 '07
6:51 pm PDT
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Re: Was your review (Reply to this comment)
by smorg
Hey Mike,
There's nothing like a long rambling by a caffeine-overloaded Smorg with vision and voice of the insanely marvelous Anja Harteros stuck in my brain, I guess. ;oP
Honestly,... as much as I revere Natalie Dessay's Mad Scene from Thomas' 'Hamlet', Frau Harteros' 'D'Oreste, D'ajace' is just as inspired... and it is an truly angry music (whereas Orphelie's mad scene is more... self-delusion). Wouldn't want to date any of these gals, but can't get enough of them going spectacularly ga-ga onstage. ...I know, demented, arent' I? ;oP
Thanks again for stopping by, Mike!!
Cheers,
Smorgy :o)
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Apr 09 '07
11:40 am PDT
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Was your review (Reply to this comment)
by henry_thoreau
unequalable and unparagoned?
Indubitably!
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Apr 08 '07
10:28 pm PDT
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Re: ^ (Reply to this comment)
by smorg
T: You - the sea monster - can't have enough carotenoids in one's diet...but then again, you can, as witnessed by an acquaintance who turned a dusky orange from drinking carrot juice all day for weeks.
Rofl Haha! I wonder if your orange acquaintance would make a good extra on Star-Trek: The Next Generation with that carrotish skin color! ;o) You know, my mom was always insisting that I eat more tomatoes because she wanted me to have cutely red cheeks. It was a good thing I had a dog that loved tomato. ;oP
Thanks again for stopping by, T. Hope Easter is a fun one your way!
Don: As always, your reviews are a true pleasure to read.
Thanks a bunch, Don! It's always really cool getting kudos from ya'. Hope your Easter is going well! :o)
George: Super job, as usual Smorgy! Idomeneus, IIRC, was one of the fighters in the Trojan War. Those Italians really butcher the names Elettra = Electra, Nettuno = Neptune, etc.
Thanks, George! ;o) Yep, they do mess with all the names indeed. I had quite a time deciphering which god is which when I first started out listening to opera, too. By Jove... er.. Jupiter, I like the German spelling best, tho. Elektra looks a bit more biting than Elettra or Electra.
Happy Easter, mates! Thanks again!
Smorgy :o)
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Apr 08 '07
4:24 pm PDT
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^ (Reply to this comment)
by virtuelle2
Geez, can't you write anything that doesn't throw me into fits of laughter? (You - the sea monster - can't have enough carotenoids in one's diet...but then again, you can, as witnessed by an acquaintance who turned a dusky orange from drinking carrot juice all day for weeks.)
Splendid review, smorgy! You have such wonderful, painterly prose that conjures up such vivid imagery. Loved every word (and joke).
Shall see if Blockbuster has this one, too.
Merci beaucoup,
~ T.
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Apr 08 '07
10:50 am PDT
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Wow! (Reply to this comment)
by Don_Krider
As always, your reviews are a true pleasure to read.
Don :)
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Apr 08 '07
7:46 am PDT
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- (Reply to this comment)
by George_Chabot, in Movies
Super job, as usual Smorgy! Idomeneus, IIRC, was one of the fighters in the Trojan War. Those Italians really butcher the names Elettra = Electra, Nettuno = Neptune, etc.
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Apr 08 '07
4:55 am PDT
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