text:
10 Fillings for Egg Roll Wrappers
If you're looking for a quick snack or weeknight meal, don't forget about the humble egg wrapper! Did you know you can bake egg rolls? It's easy and far healthier than deep frying, and the filling options are almost endless. Here are a few favorites:
1. Reuben Sandwich Filling: This classic combo can be easily wrapped up and dipped in Thousand Island dressing instead of including it inside.
2. Pie Filling: Brush with butter before baking and possibly a little cinnamon sugar for that sweet crunch.
3. Cordon Bleu: Add chunk chicken, a little cheese, and ham and you're all set.
4. Does It Go On A Pizza? Add cheese and pizza toppings and dip into marinara!
5. Does It Go In A Burrito/Taco? Treat these wrappers as mini burritos or tacos and bake up your favorite meats and cheeses. Plate with fresh vegetables on top.
6. Patty Melt: It's the diner classic without the griddle clean up. Fill with burger and cheese and bake!
7. Chili: No really! You know how cooled chili is more a solid food than liquid? Spoon it into the wraps and bake. Dip in cheese sauce or take for lunch. Easy to eat without a bowl and reheats like a champ! (Likewise, thick stew also works.)
8. Macaroni & Cheese: Add leftover meats or vegetables before baking.
9. Omlette Fixings: Scrambled eggs, cheese, vegetables, sausage: If it goes in an omlette or morning scramble it can work here.
10. Just Cheese: Think of them as adult cheese sticks without the restaurant atmosphere.
Related: 5 Uses For Wonton Wrappers
(Image: Flickr member katerha licensed for use by Creative Commons)
10 Comments
I make buffalo chicken rolls all the time and they're a huge hit. It's just shredded chicken mixed with buffalo sauce, add a little blue cheese and something crunchy like shredded carrot or broccoli slaw. Yum!
I love these ideas for eggroll fillings, but how long would you bake them for and under what temperature?
I'm more of a wonton wrapper gal, but it's the same idea! One of the best things I've ever made ... crispy beet and caper wontons with port wine sage sauce
And I've also made sweet and spicy soup with red bean wontons...
I can't remember exactly but mine said on the label.
I make avocado egg rolls and bake them. If I put some salt on the outside they become crispy - almost like pretzels.
Do you think you could use a drier filling and pre-wrap the eggrolls, then bake in time for a party? Looking for plan ahead food that don't require a lot of in the moment prep.
julienned: pork loin, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, cabbage, and then mung bean sprouts..! that's a chinese filling.
raquelwelch - You can absolutely do that. They will want to be covered with a plastic wrap however to keep them from drying out. Just keep in the fridge and pop them in the oven! (350 for 20 minutes usually does the trick with most things)
Another great suggestion (this was a big hit), is thaw out Boca burgers and some julienned carrots and scallions, cut them into bite-size pieces, wrap with won ton or egg roll wrappers and bake in the oven. Serve with soy sauce!
As a working collage student for the heck of it I wanted a desert. I filled some with strawberries and some with blueberries. They were so good!! basic sugar over the berries, mash them a little to get the flavors mixing, let them sit in the refrigerator over night. DRAIN WELL!!! if you don't drain well you'll have juice all over the place and than they don't freeze well. Freezing things for a working collage student is a life saver.


text:
We've probably all experienced some level of fear at various points in our life—the fear of starting a new job (or new school) and not knowing a sole or how the team dynamics work and wondering if you will fit in, the fear of not being able to pay a bill, the fear of being laid off, the fear of losing a loved one, the fear of being reprimanded or disgraced in public, and the list goes on. I am familiar with all of these fears and many more. But I have never experienced the fear of being bullied and abused on an ongoing basis, day in and day out. I am grateful for that. I never realized how crippling this kind of fear can be, how it robs its victims of any real quality of life. My Coyote Creek provides a view into the life of the tormented in a manner that is truly eye opening. The fact that Vivian could sense her victimizer's return home 15 to 20 minutes before he arrived is eerie, yet it gave her the time she needed to mentally and physically prepare for what might lie ahead. She had time to make sure the children would be safe in their bedroom, time to turn on the radio so they would not be exposed to loud, angry voices if they awoke, time to pretend to be asleep in hopes that she might escape physical violence.
In spite of all that Vivian endured, she gracefully managed to provide an idyllic childhood for her three kids. How was she able to keep the secret from them for so long? To protect them from their own father? I admire her courage, bravery, and creativity.
I can't imagine living this way for so many years but I am learning that there are many men and women who feel trapped in similar situations. They may not have a job or the finances necessary to pull up stakes and move on. They may not have the self confidence that they can make it on their own. My Coyote Creek gives us hope. Furthermore, there are many more resources available to people who find themselves in a similar situation today compared with what existed 60 years ago. In those days, most people turned a blind eye even if they were aware of the unfathomable going on beneath their very nose. Not any more, thank goodness.
Have you experienced or are you currently enduring bullying or abuse? Share your story and how you have or are managing your way back to the quality of life you deserve. Remember also that God is with us, that He loves us, that He promises to provide for our needs, and that prayer is extraordinarily powerful.
Karen Arnett, Jeff's wife

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Okay, time for a confession. Certain members of the ONM team like nothing more than a good game of chess. Yes, we know. It's not hip, it's not cool, but we care not; it's everything a game should be. However, it's got to be done the right way. It needs to be played late at night in front of a roaring fire. Players must be wearing tweed, be nursing an enormous glass of brandy and slowly stroking their bearded chins. Silence is mandatory - a suspicious stare and the occasional raised eyebrow are all you'll need.
You see, chess is all about atmosphere, so forgive us if we approached the decidedly vanilla Wii Chess without a great deal of enthusiasm. The presentation is, at best, no frills, at worst, drearily basic. Don't expect chessboards populated by Mario and friends or any oddball mini-games here. But you know what? That's fine. This is chess. It's sacred. You don't mess with it.
En Passant!
While it lacks character, there's no denying it plays a mean game. There are 10 difficulty levels to choose from. We're reasonable players and demolished Level 1 in about four minutes, were beaten by Level 5 after a tense half hour and were reduced to tears by Level 10 after about five moves. Whatever your ability, there's something for you here. Should you be struggling, there's the option for a 'hint' (you're only cheating yourselves people) and after the game you can go back and analyse where you went wrong. Win games and you unlock different boards and themes.
Wii Chess does absolutely nothing wrong. Frankly, however, it's not nearly as fun as playing with a real board. Where it does score points though is with its online mode. The option to boot up WiFi Connection and take on players from around the world is a nice selling point. However, it's worth noting there are countless websites out there that do the same thing for free.
If you're a bone fide chesshead, this is easy to recommended. It's slick, easy to use and boasts extremely well-implemented online play. If you're of the opinion that it's a slow, stuffy, old-fashioned game, however, there's nothing here that'll help change your mind.


text:
Minute Maid to relocate HQ inside Houston
Company selects Sugar Land for relocation, will take 115K-s.f. of new office building
Coca-Cola North America recently announced plans to move its Houston-area Minute Maid Business Unit headquarters to Sugar Land Town Square, a project that will bring more than 250 jobs and several million dollars in new capital investment to the City.
The Minute Maid unit will occupy 115,000 square feet of the new 200,000 square-foot, Class A office building currently under construction at 2150 Town Square Place in Sugar Land Town Square directly across from Sugar Land City Hall. To attract the company, Sugar Land offered an incentive package which included a direct cash incentive from the Sugar Land Development Corporation of $240,000 per year for 10 years.
"We are extremely excited by this announcement and look forward to a long and mutually-beneficial relationship with Minute Maid and Coca-Cola North America," said Sugar Land Mayor David G. Wallace. "Coca-Cola and its Houston-based brands like MinuteMaid are internationally recognized names and organizations of exceptional quality with similar core values to our City. They are a great fit and a welcome addition to our community. I thank both Coca-Cola and Planned Community Developers for their consideration and commitment. This project is another great example of how Sugar Land is able to aggressively utilize its economic development resources to create a win-win public private partnership."
"This great new location in Sugar Land will provide our employees with great amenities and a great office environment," said Michael Saint John, Senior Vice President of Coca-Cola North America and General Manager of the Minute Maid Business Unit. "We are looking forward to being a part of the Sugar Land business community. The economic incentives provided by the City of Sugar Land were a key factor in our decision to select this site."
Planned Community Developers is the developer and owner of Town Square and the office building where Minute Maid will relocate.
"Sugar Land Town Square is an excellent corporate home for Coca-Cola North America and other businesses looking for easy transportation access, a strong labor pool and an environment uniquely focused on convenience for its employees," said Les Newton, president of Planned Community Developers. "Town Square is pedestrian centered,with tremendous dining and shopping options."
Minute Maid will occupy 56 percent of the new office building.
About Coca-Cola North America
Coca-Cola North America is a unit of The Coca-Cola Company, the world's largest beverage company. Along with Coca-Cola, recognized as the world's most valuable brand, the Company markets four of the world's top five nonalcoholic sparkling beverage brands, including Diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite, and a wide range of other beverages, including diet and light beverages, waters, juices and juice drinks, teas, coffees, energy and sports drinks. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the Company's beverages at a rate exceeding 1.4 billion servings each day. For more information about TheCoca-Cola Company, please visit our website atwww.thecoca-colacompany.com.
About Planned Community Developers, Ltd.
Planned Community Developers, Ltd. (PCD) is the developer of the 9,700-acre First Colony master-planned community in Sugar Land, Texas, located southwest of Houston. PCD is also currently developing two other major projects: River's Edge, a new 370-acre community in Richmond, Texas and Lake Pointe Town Center, a 190-acre, mixed-use development at the intersection of U.S. 59 and Highway 6. PCD continues to oversee the phased development of the 32-acre Sugar Land Town Square, located at the intersection of U.S. 59 and Highway 6. Phase One of Town Square is complete and includes a 300-room full-service Marriott hotel and conference center, a new 82,000 square-foot City Hall for Sugar Land, 167 mid-rise residential condos, 200,000 square feet of office space, 200,000 square feet of upscale Main Street retail and restaurants and a 1.4-acre pedestrian plaza. The next phases of development will include an additional 188,000 square feet of Class A office space and 50,000 square feet of retail space and is projected to be complete within 18 months.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- Next Page »


text:
ABC Open Broken Hill
User Stats
Profile Images
User Bio
Hi there! I'm the ABC Open Producer for the Broken Hill region.
Here, you'll find videos of the region's unique landscapes, characters and tales. There's so much to discover and it's a real pleasure to pursue this through videography.
I'm looking forward to seeing your contributions added to the local video collection as well. If you have an idea and need help, please email me at email@example.com.
Jenia :-)
External Links
Related RSS Feeds
Recently Uploaded+ See all 30 videos
Recent Activity
ABC Open Broken Hill followed Clare Lewis


text:
How Fort Carson Failed its Special Forces Soldiers
By Joel Warner
Jeffco Superintendent Speaks Up on Protests
By Michael Roberts
By Alan Prendergast
How Pot Will Destroy Your Life
By Michael Roberts
By Michael Roberts
Marijuana Enforcement Division vs. Edibles
By Amber Taufen
By Patricia Calhoun
MMJ Patient Numbers Near Record High
By William Breathes
At 81, Ted Alexander has every right to be picky about what sort of piano student he accepts. He is down to five now, and most will stay with him for the foreseeable future. Over the years, though, nearly 800 musical hopefuls have taken instruction from him in the room off the carport of his east Denver home that everyone calls "the studio." One-quarter of the 800 were "professionals," Alexander says. "They had the propensity. Maybe they were some guys who just blew in from Albuquerque, and the trio they were playing with broke up, and they wanted to learn some more about harmony and improvisation. Or maybe their mother or father called me and said, 'Look, I think my son wants to be a professional.'"
The way Ted Alexander says it, professional is a nice word. If you are a piano player, it means this: You sight-read like a dream, know your music theory inside and out, have not just been "taught," but "trained" by a handful of even-more-professionals, and when you are at a gig, even if it's a society evening full of women who smoke cigars, chatter through your solos and rest their drinks on the piano case, you stay serious and thoughtful about the music.
But there are strata even higher than professional. If you practice hard and listen harder, maybe you'll grow into someone like Bill Evans, Alexander's longtime friend and hero. "He was a flat genius," Alexander recalls. "There was no one who played like him." Occasionally, however, another flat genius comes along, so Alexander stays alert.
Kay Ambrose, who teaches piano to kids, is sitting in the studio now, playing Alexander's bright-toned, upright piano. "She is going to be one of the best," Alexander says, after she leaves. A flat genius? Only the next four years will tell.
The student who constitutes the opposite of flat genius--"I think he cares more about football than music," Alexander will say of such a person, or "maybe he just wants to go with his girlfriend or something"--is someone Alexander strenuously avoids. Nor does he have patience for the lackadaisical kids who can't find time to practice, or those who simply lack the propensity. Or perhaps--and in this case there are no hard feelings--their musical interest lies in a genre other than the one Alexander evoked when he wrote his 1950s textbook and called it The Ted Alexander Method of Advanced Perfection in Ultra Modern Piano Playing.
Here's what Bill Evans said about the book, in a scrawled note on its cover: "Ted--you've got the basic vocabulary organized and presented very well here--which is all you can give except for inspiration--perhaps." When Evans wrote this, he was sitting in an after-hours pancake house with Alexander, who had come to see him play at the Senate Lounge on East Colfax Avenue. A few years later, Evans inscribed an eight-by-ten glossy for Alexander: "Ted, you're a genuine artiste!"
Which is exactly according to the plan set in motion by Alexander's mother on the day he was born. Pregnant with Ted in 1918, she saw a vision--"a real vision, not a dream"--of hands playing and heard tantalizing music. When Ted turned five, he began classical piano lessons, which he continued for a decade, until..."I had a job as a busboy," he remembers, "and I went by a nightclub in Boise, and this marvelous piano playing was coming out of it. I went in and saw a black man with a big cigar--he was the one playing--and he said, 'Come on in, boy.' I played him some Chopin, and he taught me some stride piano like Fats Waller played."
More than fifty years later, Alexander continues to practice Chopin every day. "But what I teach," he says, "is improvisation, and that encompasses a lot of things."
Alexander learned this in Hollywood in the 1940s, when he studied arranging and harmony with Spuds Murphy and played with big bands that occasionally made it into the movies. Traveling the country in a tour bus, not sleeping in a bed for nine days at a time, "and getting something like French fries to eat for breakfast, which ruined my health," he played the hot venues in every major town across the country. But his wife, a fellow Greek Orthodox whom he'd met in Denver, was ultimately unimpressed.
"She thought California had too many crazies," Alexander explains. "She didn't want to raise children there. She didn't like the life of a musician--drinking, running around with women, being into dope, which they were, even back then. And I kind of agreed with her, if you want to know the truth. She said, 'You are either going to be a gypsy or a scholar,' and since my forte was teaching, I thought I'd start up a studio back in Denver."
A few months later he was sharing teaching space in the old Tabor theater downtown with "a guy who had everything sewed up as far as society piano playing--though to tell the truth, he was a Liberace.
"I didn't know he was an alcoholic," Alexander says, "but when he didn't show up for lessons, I ended up getting most of his students."


text:
Domestic Surveillance Topics
Democracy Now! stories, posts and pages that relate to Domestic Surveillance
Newly leaked Pentagon documents have confirmed the military has been monitoring and collecting intelligence on anti-war groups across the country. Peace protests are being described as threats and the military is collecting data on who is attending demonstrations. We speak with William Arkin, the former Army intelligence officer, who obtained the secret Pentagon documents. [includes rush transcript]Dec 15, 2005 | Story
We speak to anti-war activists in New York, Florida, California, Iowa and Ohio who organized protests listed as threats by the Pentagon. [includes rush transcript]Dec 15, 2005 | Story
An Impeachable Offense? Bush Admits Authorizing NSA to Eavesdrop on Americans Without Court ApprovalPresident Bush has admitted he secretly ordered the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans without ever seeking court approval. Famed constitutional attorney Martin Garbus and former intelligence officer Christopher Pyle both say it is an impeachable offense. We also speak with investigative journalist James Bamford about the history of the NSA. Plus, The New York Times exposed the story, but why did they hold it for more than a...Dec 19, 2005 | Story
Gore Calls For Special Counsel on Eavesdropping, Civil Rights Groups File Lawsuits Challenging Bush on NSA WiretapsFormer Vice President Al Gore gave a major speech in Washington Monday accusing President Bush of "repeatedly and persistently" breaking the law by authorizing the NSA wiretaps. We play an excerpt of the address and the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union are filing separate lawsuits challenging President Bush's order for the NSA to conduct domestic spy operations without legally-required...Jan 17, 2006 | Story
EXCLUSIVE...Bush's Law: Eric Lichtblau on Exposing the NSA's Warrantless Wiretapping Program and How the White House Pressured the New York Times to Kill the StoryIn a national broadcast exclusive, we speak with New York Times reporter Eric Lichtblau about his new book, Bush's Law: The Remaking of American Justice. Lichtblau won the Pulitzer Prize for exposing the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program in December 2005. He reveals the inside story of the New York Times's decision to delay publication of the story for more than a year after intense lobbying from the White...Apr 01, 2008 | Story
The administration has asked lawmakers to extend powers allowing the government to collect a wide range of financial and personal records, as well as monitor suspects with roving wiretaps. The methods were authorized under the USA PATRIOT Act and are set to expire at year's end. The call for renewing the PATRIOT Act provisions comes as Democratic lawmakers and civil liberties groups want to revisit its broader powers. Democratic Senator...Sep 22, 2009 | Story
A new investigation by the Associated Press reveals how, after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the New York City Police Department decided it could no longer trust other agencies to prevent terrorism and started expanding its own intelligence gathering. In the process, it became "one of the nation's most aggressive domestic intelligence agencies," targeting ethnic communities in ways that would run afoul of civil liberties...Aug 25, 2011 | Story
A new report by the Center for Investigative Reporting reveals that since 9/11, local law enforcement agencies have used $34 billion in federal grants to acquire military equipment such as bomb-detection robots, digital communications equipment and Kevlar helmets. "A lot of this technology and the devices have been around for a long time. But as soon as they have, for instance, a law enforcement capability, that's a game...Dec 27, 2011 | Story
The whistleblowing website WikiLeaks has published an internal email from the private intelligence firm Stratfor that suggests the U.S. Justice Department has obtained a sealed indictment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The email is one of around five million obtained from Stratfor's servers by the hacker group, Anonymous. "Somehow you have a private intelligence company, Stratfor, a 'shadow CIA,' as people have...Feb 29, 2012 | Story
By Amy Goodman with Denis MoynihanMar 01, 2012 | Columns & Articles
WikiLeaks, the whistle-blower website, has again published a massive trove of documents, this time from a private intelligence firm known as Stratfor. Among the emails was a short one-liner that suggested the U.S. government has produced, through a secret grand jury, a sealed indictment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Show for Oct 21, 2014
Cuba Sends 91 More Health Workers to West Africa, Offers to Work with U.S. on Ebola
CDC Unveils New Health Worker Protocols for Ebola
U.S. Continues Bombardment of ISIS Near Kobani
Indonesia Inaugurates Joko Widodo as President
Australian Police Drop Probe into 1975 Murder of 5 Journalists by Indonesian Forces
Oscar Pistorius Sentenced to 5 Years for Girlfriend's Killing, Likely to Serve 10 Months
Reports: Ukraine Used Cluster Munitions in Donetsk in Possible War Crime
Philippines: After Murder of Transgender Woman, Protests Target U.S. Forces Agreement
U.N. Warns of "Rampant" Sexual Violence in South Sudan
Man Suspected of Killing 7 Women in Indiana
WTO Rules Against U.S. Meat Labeling Requirements
U.N. Officials Condemn Water Shutoffs in Detroit
Report: U.S. Spent Millions on Social Security Benefits for Nazi War Crime Suspects
Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard Indicted for Corruption
NOAA: 2014 Poised to Be Hottest Year on Record
Climate Change Whistleblower Rick Piltz Dies After Cancer Battle


text:
"Anyone unfortunate enough to have a Nintendo device in the house will be familiar with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who star in one of the most insidiously addictive Nintendo games. The turtles live in the subways beneath Manhattan, where, exposed to radiation, they have grown into teenager-sized, intelligent creatures, and have absorbed such items from the culture as surfer jargon.On the Nintendo screen, the turtles leap, spin, cartwheel and eat pizza. Everything they do is accompanied by the same maddening music, which plays over and over again until it drills itself into the tooth of your mind. There are said to be many levels to the video game, but I succeeded in penetrating only to the second before I realized I had to abandon Ninja Turtles that instant, or risk permanent psychic damage."
-Roger Ebert, March 30th, 1990
Well said, Roger Ebert. You and me both, man. You and me both.


text:
Ms. Susan K. Conrad
Cardiovascular Disease, Heart Institute
- 1615 Pasadena Ave S Ste 300
South Pasadena, FL 33707
- 2 Office Locations
- Email a Friend
- (727) 490-3030
Ms. Susan K. Conrad is a practicing physician. Ms. Conrad practices medicine in South Pasadena, FL and 1 other location and specializes in Cardiovascular Disease. Ms. Conrad is affiliated with Palms Of Pasadena Hospital, Bayfront Medical Center, Northside Hospital, Saint Petersburg General Hospital and Edward White Hospital. Ms. Conrad speaks English and Spanish.
Gender: Not Available
Years in Practice: Not Available
Languages Spoken: English, Spanish
Medical School: Not Available
Graduation Date: Not Available
Hospital Affiliations: Palms Of Pasadena Hospital, Bayfront Medical Center, Northside Hospital, Saint Petersburg General Hospital, Edward White Hospital
Specialties: Cardiovascular Disease
*This physician has multiple office locations. See Appointments for details.
©2005-2014 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
WebMD does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information.


text:
Going up in the world
6 March 2006
Related Articles
Clifford Chance prioritises finance and Asia in 21-strong promo round
23 April 2014
Berwin Leighton Paisner names DLA's Bob Charlton as Asia head and Hong Kong MP
17 September 2014
Space, the final frontier
22 August 2014
Canary Wharf bondholders do battle over Clifford Chance HQ sale proceeds
25 June 2014
China Life to buy Clifford Chance HQ for £780m
12 June 2014
Clifford Chance's Peter Charlton is the man credited with handling the biggest logistical exercise in the history of the world's largest law firm. Some claim. As London managing partner of the magic circle firm, he oversaw the move of more than 2,500 staff from Aldersgate Street to Canary Wharf. Now Charlton has a different challenge on his hands. Last summer he swapped the London managing partner role for that of global corporate chief.
Charlton says leading the global corporate practice brings different challenges from those he handled when running the London office. "That's what attracted me to the job," he enthuses.
Charlton succeeded managing partner elect David Childs as global head of corporate following a contested election against Italian chief Nick Wrigley last June. Following soundings among the partnership, Charlton's name was the only one to emerge. But a week before the deadline, Wrigley declared his intention to stand - effectively pitting the London and Continental Europe constituencies against one another.
Charlton, who has a sizeable following (notably in London), plays down the level of support he received during last summer's election. "One of the things I've learnt about Clifford Chance elections is that that you can't be sure of success," he says modestly.
As revealed by The Lawyer (13 June 2005), Charlton's election manifesto underlined the corporate group's target of increasing revenue by at least 10 per cent every year. It focused on building synergies between Asia and the rest of the firm's global network, as well as growth in the Middle East. Since taking the helm, Charlton has added the US to his list of "growth hotspots".
Clifford Chance's original intention was to be a top 10 corporate firm in the US. Although Charlton argues that the firm is now in a reasonably good position in New York, he concedes that it must be realistic. Clifford Chance has now "toned down" its expressions of ambition in the US, he says.
In his manifesto, Charlton ended with a plea to partners to talk more to each other. Indeed, he is leading by example and has spent considerable time travelling between offices to meet partners so as to get them working more closely with each other.
Clifford Chance's global corporate turnover has hovered around 27 per cent of the firm's total in recent years. But Charlton wants this to increase to 30 per cent by 2009. "Three per cent doesn't sound like much, but in the context of Clifford Chance it's an additional £30m of revenue," he points out.
It is undeniable that the corporate group had a storming 2005. According to Thomson Financial, Clifford Chance claimed first place in the global rankings for M&A league tables for the first time last year after advising on 444 announced deals worth $490bn (£280.72bn). The firm's success was helped by a return to the top of the European league tables for 2005 with 286 deals, cracking the e300bn (£205.34bn) barrier and bumping Linklaters from the top spot.
But according to Mergermarket, Clifford Chance's European edge over Linklaters was reversed in the UK market as it slipped to third spot and under the e100bn (£68.45bn) mark with 104 deals, whereas Linklaters handled 110 transactions worth e122bn (£83.51bn).
"It's not as if we've fallen off the cliff. We're still in the top three. That's not the sign of an unsuccessful practice," argues Charlton.
But M&A league tables are just one way of measuring a corporate department's success. Examining a firm's client list is equally important.
While Clifford Chance's London corporate practice is known for its stellar private equity practice, the firm has not made the same inroads into the FTSE100 as its rivals.
According to research conducted by Hemscott, Clifford Chance has four FTSE100 clients. In stark contrast, Slaughter and May and Linklaters have 32 and 20 FTSE100 clients respectively.
"It's clear we haven't got the FTSE100 client base that some of the other big City firms have," concedes one Clifford Chance insider.
But a rather bullish Charlton insists that the corporate group acts for at least half of the FTSE100, even if the firm might not be listed as the companies' primary corporate adviser. "The FTSE100 is not just what it's all about - it's wider than that," he claims.
It is undoubtedly more difficult to pick up listed companies as clients because many of their relationships date back years. Clifford Chance has therefore focused on strengthening its relationships with investment banks and building relationships outside the UK with clients such as Axa, Carrefour, Deutsche Telekom and Siemens.
And to be fair, this strategy is paying off. In recent months Clifford Chance has advised on several big-ticket cross-border M&A deals, including advising Endesa, which is currently the target of two separate takeover bids, and Copenhagen-listed TDC on the $12bn (£6.87bn) recommended takeover by a private equity consortium - the largest private equity deal announced in Europe this year.
Meanwhile, last summer the corporate group advised BPB on its defence against a hostile, but ultimately recommended, £3.9bn takeover bid from Saint-Gobain and Denmark's Moller-Maersk on its E2.3bn (£1.57bn) takeover of Koninklijke P&O Nedlloyd.
Charlton and his predecessor Childs have a close working relationship, and it is no coincidence that their policies are quite similar. As one partner puts it: "Peter's a very energetic guy. He's reinvigorated the role."
Charlton's handling of the move to Canary Wharf highlighted his ability to rise to any task, no matter how big. With the upturn in the M&A market, who would bet against him achieving his goal?


text:
The University of Florida Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation, is offering a means to dispose of a retired aircraft in an environmentally friendly manner and in a way that benefits the university's goals.
Geography of the United States
Immaculate Flight launched aircraft cleaning and detailing services today at six new airports in the greater Detroit and Toledo metro areas. These include Toledo Express, Detroit Metro Wayne County, Coleman A. Young Municipal, Ann Arbor Municipal, Willow Run (Ypsilanti) and Oakland County International Airports. The additions mark the company's second regional location in Michigan, while also adding Ohio as the company's 11th state where it provides service. With these openings, Immaculate Flight's network now exceeds 80 locations in the U.S.
Boeing has issued requests for proposals to more than a dozen potential sites for assembly, parts fabrication, paint, delivery and wing production of the new 777X widebody, the company confirmed to AIN last week. The release of the RFPs comes barely more than a week after Boeing's machinists union voted down a proposed contract extension described as critical to locating the work in the Puget Sound region of Washington state.
The crash of a King Air C90 near Springdale, Ark., on Friday killed both the 72-year-old pilot and his passenger. The Part 91 flight was en route in VMC from Pine Bluff to Bentonville, Ark., when the pilot asked ATC for a closer airport because he was low on fuel. The controller advised the pilot he was four miles from Springdale (Ark.) Airport. After reporting to Springdale that he had the airport in sight and restating he was low on fuel, he was cleared to land. A few seconds later, the pilot reported he was not going to make the airport.
The fallout of the Hawker Beechcraft bankruptcy continues to settle as Little Rock (Ark.) Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport prepares to seek a new tenant for the former Wichita OEM's completion and MRO facilities. The Little Rock facility was shut down by the former Hawker Beechcraft (now Beechcraft) earlier this year as part of a decision to exit the business of building business jets.
While total industry billings increased by nearly 25 percent during the first three quarters of the year compared with the same period last year, business jet deliveries overall continued to slide, according to numbers released today by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA).
Intertrade, a Rockwell Collins company that supplies recertified used aircraft parts, expanded its product offerings to include engine parts. Intertrade's primary market focus is material for the CFM56-5B, CFM56-7B, V2500-A5 and PW4000, among other next-generation engines. The company offers customers a variety of support options, including consignment and outright sale. Intertrade's new engine division will be located in Boca Raton, Fla. The company has appointed Jeff Plas, an engine expert and industry veteran, to lead the business.
Dallas Airmotive plans to expand its support services in the northeastern U.S. The company will add regional field service representatives and a mobile response vehicle capable of on-site inspections, repair work and carbon seal replacements at Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y., one of the region's most popular sites for business and general aviation aircraft. Additionally, the company is adding field service representatives throughout the region to improve response time and reduce ground time for repairs.
Outreach and education is a key component in growing the aerospace industry, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America (MHIA) showed its commitment to the future by sponsoring an aviation education night for more than 400 students at Las Vegas Rancho High School during NBAA 2013.
NBAA is all about promoting the reality of business aviation, its advantages for the companies that understand and avail themselves of it, and the complications of communicating the critical nature of its activities to the U.S. Congress and regulators. When a reporter from outside of aviation writes a story that helps NBAA in its mission, the organization is quick to recognize that individual with its prestigious Gold Wing Award for Journalism Excellence.


text:
This is the same reason that dish washers and washing machines and dryers damage the stability of apartment buildings.
Do they expect even Koreans to believe this? But then, if you believe that sleeping with a fan left on can kill you…
To "Really?"
This is a scientific experiment done live, with reporters witnessing the results. It's not like we're talking about the World Trade Center and its aftermath, with everyone just speculating next to the rubble. Here the results can be replicated, analyzed. Gee, that's awfully stupid; I can't believe how naive and stupid Koreans are… not like wise and intelligent Americans, especially those on Fox News.
There is a lot of things that canot be explain,but you know what you have a bunch of washers and driers and heaven know what else is making vibration on a tall building,that resonates a pretty big wave.As for that idiot that called Koreans stupid,tha shows how stupid you are and insignificant you are.What a low life.
The thought of a relatively small number of people able to make a building move to the point of feeling like an earthquake makes me wonder about the engineering standards – and of the shortcuts likely taken in the construction. If I'm one of the camera / computer sellers in the lower floors, I'd be thinking twice about renewing my lease.


text:
Already a Bloomberg.com user?
Sign in with the same account.
Don't have an account?
Sign up.
Help! I can't access my account.
Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Russia is set to offer investors shares in OAO Alrosa, expanding access to the world's biggest diamond producer as the government seeks to revive asset sales.
Ryan Chilcote reports on Bloomberg Television's "Countdown" with Anna Edwards and Mark Barton. (Source: Bloomberg)
On Air Now
Watch Now
On The Move
©2014 Bloomberg L.P. All Rights Reserved. Made in NYC
Ad Choices


text:
Let us help you find the right one.
Call 954-759-7400 for assistance, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Broward Health Imperial Point's Man Van is taking men's health screenings across Broward. Find out more »
Broward Health offers a wide range of programs to improve the health of the people of Broward County, including: lectures, screenings and outreach, senior services, maternal and child health, school health, HIV/AIDS care, homeless services and more.
Read More
» Watch some of our top physicians perform cutting-edge surgeries
» Improve your health. Find classes & events
» Browse our KidsHealth library
Back to Document
If you have a gynecological infection, it's important to see your health care provider. He or she can figure out the type of infection and offer treatment.
Gynecological inflammations and infections can start in either the lower or upper reproductive tract.
In the lower reproductive tract, common infections include:
In the upper reproductive tract, common infections include:
Pelvic inflammatory disease
Listed below are links to other information on these gynecological conditions.
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)


text:
America cannot do enough to acknowledge firefighters, law enforcement officers, and paramedics who sacrifice day in and day out to uphold and protect the ideals of our great nation. They are truly our American heroes.
Rasmussen College is honoring their sacrifice and supporting their efforts in a very unique way: helping them to continue their education, and providing them with the tools and resources to grow, develop, and excel in their roles as America's protectors.
Call 888-5RASMUSSEN to speak to a program manager or complete the form below.
|Criminal Justice
Investigation/Law Enforcement
Client Services/Corrections
|Criminal Offenders
Homeland Security
Law Enforcement
Human Services
Law Enforcement
Rasmussen College offers Bachelor's and Associate's degrees, Diplomas, and Certificates from seven schools of study:
|School of Justice Studies
School of Technology
School of Design
|School of Health Sciences
School of Nursing
|School of Education
School of Business


text:
The tip to end all tips
I'm a bit of an advice junkie. Addicted to giving it, as my very patient friends and family will attest, but also addicted to receiving it. When I walk into the self-help section of a bookstore or face a wall of magazines at the newsstand, I get a little buzz of happiness, like the solution to all my problems is only a paragraph or bulleted list away. How often these hopes are dashed by the time I've finished the last chapter or perused the final tip. But the allure always returns.
Much of the advice out there focuses on personal productivity. I myself am always searching for the system that will produce the maximum amount of effectiveness in my life with the minimum amount of effort. I thought I had reached personal productivity nirvana when I read Getting Things Done by David Allen. The promise of the book is that if you set up Allen's system to the letter, your mind will be free of stress and tasks will practically complete themselves.
But four years later I have yet to implement the sweeping changes Allen insists are necessary for the GTD approach to work. My tickler file sits unused. Stacks of paper in my office still harbor the gremlins of unfinished projects. My label maker's batteries are dead. In the end, the system was too complicated—who has the time to implement Getting Things Done when you're busy getting things done?A few weeks ago I read a tip that I thought was probably closer to the mark in terms of helpfulness: Put only three things on your to-do list on any given day. This is a good one for me because I could easily spend a whole morning painstakingly crafting a comprehensive list of things I need to work on without actually working on any of them. By keeping my list short and simple, I can channel my energy into doing those things and experiencing the joy of crossing them off—all three of them.
But as great as the three-item list rule is, there's one I've found that's even better for enhancing personal productivity. Tackle the most difficult project first. Or, as a friend of mine said she learned in volleyball camp, "Do the hard thing and the power will come." That's the thing that's nagging at the back of your brain, the one you've been putting off for weeks, the worry that keeps you awake in the wee hours.
When you grit your teeth and dive into this unpleasant task, whether it's making a difficult phone call or writing that proposal or having that no-fun conversation, I'm not going to lie to you—it sucks. At first. Your stomach churns and your palms sweat and, if you're like me, you lay your head down on the desk and close your eyes and long for it to be over. But eventually, you get through it. It's over. You're free. And that's the golden moment. Compared to that awful task, everything else on your list is a cakewalk. You skip through those items, spreading flowers and sunshine in your wake.
So there you have it: the key to personal productivity, courtesy of a junior high volleyball coach. Do the hard thing and the power will come. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have two more items on my to-do list.
Hot topics on dvm360
Dog of Dallas Ebola patient will not be euthanized, authorities say
Health officials have quarantined and will monitor dog and amid concerns surrounding deadly virus.
Video: How to perform a belt-loop gastropexy
Prevent GDV in your at-risk patients with this simple technique.
Stretch your skills to earn more in veterinary practice
Finding new tasks could be the key to generating more income for your practice—and boosting your pay.
Veterinary community stunned by Sophia Yin's unexpected death
Prominent veterinary behaviorist died of suicide Sept. 28.
Study shows sustained salary slump for veterinary support staff
Since 2009, technicians paid by the hour have experienced a bump in pay, but pay for other team members has stayed stagnant, according to data from the 2014 Firstline Career Path Study. Here's a look at changes in team pay from 2009 to 2013.


text:
Member since Nov 2012
2 Curated Comments,
3 Total
What could it buy? Hmm... Lets see... The government would probably turn around and waste it along ...
With this logic, we need a nuclear holocaust. Imagine how great that would be for the economy!
The way Goldman see's it. Everytime your family member gets cancer, thats a good thing. $$$$$. Everytime a ...


text:
I Love It (Feat. Charli XIX, Cobra Starship Remix) - Icona Pop
I hear the original of this ALL THE TIME in Sweden, but this is a dope remix.
(via maisoncetacea)
I Like What You Say by Nada Surf
I decided to re-watch John Tucker Must Die for no reason, and then I remember that this movie had a great soundtrack. This soundtrack is basically my music taste from freshman year of high school.
The con - Tegan and Sara
I am rediscovering this album at 10pm and it is so great. Why did I ever stop listening to T&S?!?!
Connie takes Sweden: Sounds of Sweden playlist »
- Mingus - I'm from Barcelona
- The Worst Taste in Music - The Radio Dept.
- Just For Fun - Alpaca Sports
- A Postcard to Nina - Jens Lekman
- Bastards Don't Blush - Pelle Carlberg
- Tony The Beat - The Sounds
- Refridgerator - Action…
I obviously had a super productive morning.
Pop as pop can get, but I like them.
Prayer circle that I get to study abroad, y'all.
(via flipsideofamemory)
I think there's something wrong with my last.fm account. It says that I listen to Dominic Dierkes more than Rilo Kiley, which definitely isn't right.
Wake Up, Sleepyhead
a playlist.
1 hr, 20 songs
- Wristwatch - Hungry Kids of Hungary
- Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare - Matt & Kim
- Crown On The Ground - Sleigh Bells
- Black Tongue - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- Riot - The Sounds
- Middle of Nowhere - Hot Hot Heat
- One More Minute - Locksley
- No You Girls - Franz Ferdinand
- The Hunch - Rooney
- Nighttiming - Coconut Records
- Perfect Situation - Weezer
- Cousins - Vampire Weekend
- Heartbeat - Tahiti 80
- Reckless - Liam Finn
- Since U Been Gone - Tokyo Police Club
- Bohemian Like You - The Dandy Warhols
- Animal - The Suzan
- Second Chance - Peter, Bjorn, & John
- You Only Live ONce - The Strokes
- You Sleep Alone - Hellogoodbye
Jeez, I am a repeat offender. I think I have included the bands Hungry Kids of Hungary, Sleigh Bells, Liam Finn, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and The Dandy Warhols on all of my mixes so far.
Please note how I put the Schwartman brothers next to each other on my playlist. I also put The Suzan next to PB&J since Bjorn discovered them on MySpace and is their producer.
This mix is more "rock" than my other mixes.
Okay, homework time.
Music that I got from some lady's in labor playlist.
She has dope music taste.
I'm on an Asher Roth kick right now as I wait for one of the reserves textbooks to get off of hold.


text:
Comparison Shopping
Jemsite Blog
Find Reviews and Compare Prices for:
All Products
Guitar Effects
Add a review
Line 6 ToneCore MS1 Echo Park Delay Pedal
The Line 6 Echo Park ToneCore pedal is based on Line 6's award-winning DL4 Delay Modeler. Echo Park is loaded with unbelievable sounding models including analog, tape, and digital delay, all easily adjusted with the Tap Tempo feature. Different delay patterns such as slap, ping pong, swell, and sweep can be adjusted with the twist of a knob, and the Mod dial can be...
$0 to $0
Compare Prices
at 0 stores
Member Reviews
Compare Prices
Product Spec
Send to a friend
Line 6 ToneCore MS1 Echo Park Delay Pedal
in Reviews
You must log in to review or
click here to register
Remember Me?
Delay that goes from mild to wild
Ease Of Use
This is an excellent delay pedal that has a ton of great sounding delays on tap. It's based on the their DL4 and is basically the same pedal in a smaller package with a few less features. It's tap tempo and has 11 different delay types from simple slap to multi taps, swell, ping pong, reverse and ducking (my favorite). It's stereo in and out. You can switch it for a soft analog, crisp digital or fluttery tape type tone. Each delay type has it's own unique modulation effect which you can control with the mod knob (analog/vibrato, digital/chorus, tape/wow & flutter). It's also got a switch to select if you want the tails on after switching it off or not. Easy to operate and great sounding.
I'm currently using it in the loop of my 2266 Vintage Modern. It replaced my DE7 (which is a surprisingly good digital delay for a low cost pedal) The Echo Park just has many more delays available and tap tempo which is a big plus.
I'm not sure because I've only had mine for a few months I bought it used and it has a few battle scars and is still going strong. I don't expect any problems because it's built like a tank. The thing is in a VERY THICK cast case that must weigh 5 lbs.
Customer Support
Never called them.
Liked about it
It's got a lot of tone features in a small package.
Didn't like
It weighs a ton. Seriously, you could crack a skull with this thing. You certainly wouldn't want too many tone core pedals on your board. It might be a challenge for the velcro. Some people have complained that it is very noisy and has a buzzing sound, here's a hint, you have to run it on it's own power supply. It's dead quiet when you do that. It takes a standard Boss style power supply which is what I'm using.
Overall satisfaction:
Feb 26, 2011
Last updated: March 05, 2011
Ask Riffraff a question about this item.
Was this review helpful to you?
Report this review
$0 to $0
Compare Prices
at 0 stores
Something wrong in this page?
Let us know!
Related products:
More Delay & Reverb Guitar Effects
Other Guitar Effects
internal use: spec31 spec261
Contact Us
Privacy Statement
Powered by CASPION


text: Greetings. Well we had our first Cour d'Amour planning meeting. Only 2 of our event coordinators showed. We did get some decisions made and will be holding another meeting in a few weeks, as well as site/feast token making parties. Until then I ask that each activity/competition coordinator please forward (soon) to Lady Natalia any/all info. you have pertaining to the activity you are coordinating so that it may be added to the event web page. Also if you are coordinating an activity that requires some advance notice to those who may participate (ie. brewing) now is not too soon to place messages out on the lists to advise folks of your activity and it's details, rules, requirements etc. Ta for now, Serin --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: /pipermail/gatesedge-ansteorra.org/attachments/20040806/63f21613/attachment.htm


text:
There are few greater thrills for a fan of any art form than discovering a hitherto lost classic, either an entirely new discovery or a long-forgotten favourite. For many fans of music, film, theatre, painting or sculpture; finding works, artists, and composers new to us is what stimulates our appetite for art.
For opera fans, the art form's 400 year-long history offers plenty of opportunity for rediscovering works, attested to by regular news reports of newly-unearthed works or alternative versions, swiftly dusted off and performed for the first time in centuries.
Look a little closer and even works and composers that are now mainstays have been through the process of rediscovery:
Perhaps the most famous example of the change in fortune of an entire section of a composer's oeuvre is that of Gioachino Rossini's forgotten operas. Upon his death, Rossini was one of the most famous composers in history thanks to a string of comic hits including Il barbiere di Siviglia. With his passing, however, his more serious operas including Guillaume Tell and La donna del lago experienced a wane in popularity, only finding favour again in the mid-20th century.
Johann Sebastian Bach, who alongside Rossini is one of today's most popular composers of the modern day, also experienced a decline in popularity. His Baroque style was regarded as old fashioned in the years following his death and it took another composer - Felix Mendelssohn - to bring him back into performing repertory. Mendelssohn's 1829 performance in Berlin of Bach's oratorio St Matthew Passion was a landmark in the composer's reputational rehabilitation.
Bach's decline and rise again is symptomatic of the trend among wider Baroque and early music composers. L'Ormindo, the Francesco Cavalli opera so memorably staged by The Royal Opera at Shakespeare's Globe's Sam Wanamaker Playhouse last Season, was neglected for 323 years until Glyndebourne presented it in 1967. Monteverdi's Orfeo – now widely regarded as the first great opera – suffered a similar fate, neglected from the 1650s until its first public airing two and a half centuries later in 1904.
Though the aforementioned waxings and wanings of fortune have occurred over entire centuries, shorter time-frames also offer scope for flux: Leoš Janáček was well respected during his own lifetime in his native central Europe but his music became better known internationally through the championing of Australian conductor Charles Mackerras; and Weill and Brecht's opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny has proved a stellar example of nominative determinism in action. The opera, first performed in 1930,was not staged in the United States - the country whose ideals it critiques so sharply - until 1970. The anti-capitalist undercurrent of the work no doubt contributed to its stint on the operatic sidelines during the Cold War.
Such changing fortunes aren't only in the past, just take a cursory look at sites like Operabase or the programmes of recent BBC Proms programmes. Early 20th-century British works by composers like Ralph Vaughan-Williams and George Lloyd are currently enjoying a revival, and central-European composers like Król Roger composer Karol Szymanowski are finding new audiences following the fall of the Iron Curtain.
Of course, historic works are only one side of the coin. For any opera company - and indeed for the art form to advance creatively - it's important to commission and programme new works too. This is an approach taken by the Royal Opera House with a commitment to new opera that has included Written on Skin and Through His Teeth. The staging of Søren Nils Eichberg's 'robot opera' Glare, a work that - within the framework of an established artistic tradition - explores current issues through a contemporary sound-world.
It's this fusion of classic and contemporary which has led to The Royal Opera teaming up with publishers Pushkin Press. They will be giving away specially-selected books from their catalogue at performances of Glare, placed on the seats of lucky audience members. Like The Royal Opera, an important part of Pushkin Press's work is rediscovering previously-unknown masterpieces, alongside exciting new works. Among other authors they've been instrumental in championing the work of Stefan Zweig, the writer whose work inspired Wes Anderson's film The Grand Budapest Hotel. So, if you're going to a performance of Glare, make sure to look on your seat before you fix your gaze on the stage; both book and performance will reflect the importance of past as well as present in the artistic experience.
Glare runs from 14-22 November 2014. Tickets are still available.
The production is generously supported by the Friends of Covent Garden.
Venice: city of corruption, sickness and decay – not to mention a great tourist destination. You've heard it all before, from Don't Look Now to Casino Royale. But the city has also played a crucial role in the development of opera – perhaps more than you might expect, given that we tend to consider the city's golden age to have ended with the 16th century. Venice has been home to countless opera premieres; it has provided a home for some of the most prolific Italian operatic composers; and its reputation of putrefying glory has directly inspired several great operas.
Claudio Monteverdi arrived in Venice in 1613 as the maestro di cappella of San Marco. He had already created opera's first masterpiece, Orfeo, in Mantua in 1607. In Venice he wrote the only two other of his operas to have survived, Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (The Return of Ulysses to his Homeland) and L'incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea). The latter was probably his last work, written when he was 76 and first performed in 1643. It glorifies the ruthlessly ambitious Nerone and Poppea in their triumph over the forces of good and offers a compelling psychological insight into the pair, anticipating opera's greatest anti-heroes.
Venice would see a host of major world premieres over the following centuries as it played a central role in the development of Italian opera. Venice-born Antonio Vivaldi had 30 operatic premieres in the city, including his Orlando furioso. Christoph Willibald Gluck wrote Cleonice and Ipermestra for Venice's carnival. Gioachino Rossini wrote ten operas for Venice, including Tancredi, L'italiana in Algeri and Semiramide; Vincenzo Bellini wrote two, including I Capuleti e i Montecchi; Gaetano Donizetti wrote five, including Belisario; and Giuseppe Verdi's Ernani, Attila, Rigoletto, La traviata and Simon Boccanegra were all first performed at the famous La Fenice opera house.
After all this activity, Venice more or less disappeared from the musical map towards the end of the 19th century – though the Italian premiere of Der Ring des Nibelungen was given there in 1883, the same year in which its composer, Richard Wagner, died in the Palazzo Vendramin. The founding of the Venice Biennale in 1930 revived the city to the operatic world. The many major opera premieres that have taken place under its wing include Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw, Sergey Prokofiev's The Fiery Angel and works by Luigi Nono, Brian Ferneyhough and Salvatore Sciarrino, to name just a handful.
And what of the operas in which Venice itself plays a role? Composers have delighted in exploiting not only the (assumed) atmosphere of degradation but also the music specific to the city, particularly the gondolier's barcarolle. Rossini's Otello is set entirely in Venice, and the offstage gondolier's serenade 'Nessun maggior dolore' ('There is no greater sorrow') just before Desdemona's dreadful demise is one of the opera's most effective moments. Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia, on the unfortunate (if rather silly) death of the title character's long lost son at her own hands, was one of the great successes of his career. And both Donizetti and Verdi sought inspiration from the Venetian doges – particularly the conflicting demands of duty and familial love – in Marino Faliero and I due Foscari respectively.
Amilcare Ponchielli had his great hit with La Gioconda, in which the evil Barnaba has a malicious barcarolle 'Pescator, affonda l'esca' ('A fisherman awaiting the tide'). Jacques Offenbach set part of his fantasy triptych Les Contes d'Hoffmann in Venice, writing arguably the most famous operatic barcarolle in 'Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour' ('Beautiful night, night of love'). And Britten's Death in Venice paints a breathtaking portrait of the city: the fruit-sellers and their cholera-carrying strawberries; youths frolicking on the Lido; affluent tourists laughing at a bawdy song in Venetian dialect; and most of all the lilting call of 'Serenissima', at times languid, at others a cruel taunt of lost youth and spent passion – the perfect encapsulation of the dreams and desires this city has inspired.
I due Foscari runs 14 October–2 November 2014. Tickets are still available.
The production will be broadcast live in cinemas around the world on 27 October 2014. Find your nearest cinema.
The production is a co-production with Los Angeles Opera, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, Valencia; and Theater an der Wien and is given with generous philanthropic support from Mrs Aline Foriel-Destezet, Mrs Susan A. Olde OBE, Costas and Evi Kaplanis, Colm and Ella Kelleher and Mrs Philip Kan.]]>
Rossini was a genius at usurping the conventions of his day for his own dramatic ends. He managed this with such aplomb that his operas won fantastic popularity – in fact with such success that his operas are now considered archetypes of their genres. Perhaps most acclaimed of all is Il barbiere di Siviglia, a key example of opera buffa (Italian comic opera).
By Rossini's time it was a long-established convention that the first-act finale of an opera buffa should be come at a height of imbroglio (part of the genre's debt to French farce). This finale was the composer's opportunity – indeed, obligation – to take the various plot lines and tangle them all up, leaving characters and audience hopelessly confused. The Act I finale of Il barbiere is actually not one of Rossini's most complicated – try Il turco in Italia if you really want to twist your brain in knots – but it doesn't do a bad job.
The lovelorn Count Almaviva is attempting to woo Rosina, ward of the jealous geriatric Doctor Bartolo (who intends Rosina for himself and keeps her locked away). On the advice of Figaro the barber, Almaviva has inveigled his way into Bartolo's house disguised as a drunken soldier in search of lodgings. The aim (admittedly slightly contrived) is for Almaviva to give Rosina a letter, while using his pretended drunkenness to bewilder Bartolo.
From the immediately preceding scene we have an idea that Bartolo might not be so easily foxed: his furious aria 'A un dottor della mia sorte' ('To a doctor of my standing') – in which he rails against Rosina's disrespect – is a masterful depiction of a self-important, pernickety bully. So when Almaviva staggers onto the stage to an orchestral melody of barefaced impudence, we have an unmistakable signal that the flood of imbroglio is on its way.
Bartolo does not respond well either to Almaviva's impertinent melody, or to his imposition, or to his insouciance: ('What was the name? Balordo (stupid)? Bertoldo (blockhead)?'). Bartolo's agitated outbursts do nothing to deter Almaviva's confident melody. Rosina's arrival makes it worse, as Bartolo (rightly) suspects the two to be secretly communicating. Confusion deepens when the servant Berta and the music teacher Basilio enter – and finally Figaro too, with a warning to Almaviva that he may have been over-zealous in his performance.
It turns out the police have been called, and soon enough there's an entire brigade on the doorstep. The officer's enquiry launches the patter song 'Questa bestia di soldato' (This beast of a soldier). The patter song is a recurring type in opera buffa: very rapid, text-heavy music, usually sung by a baritone. Bartolo, the opera's buffo baritone, accordingly sets this one of; but then he's joined by another baritone, Figaro; and then by all the others – so we have a patter song, usually difficult enough to understand when sung by one person, sung in imitation by all six principals. That the officer can reply to all this with a simple 'Ho inteso' ('I understand') is almost more ridiculous than the song itself.
In a daring key change, Almaviva evades arrest by showing his aristocratic insignia to the officer, who deferentially steps back. There follows another ensemble, of a form often referred to as the 'largo concertato'. Rossini was an expert in using these a slow ensemble section with minimal accompaniment, to ratchet up the tension. Rosina begins this section, marked 'quadro di stupore' (as in a stupr), frozen and breathless, describing how she's so shocked she can't move. She is joined one by one (in very elegant imitation) by the other characters, as we build towards the stretta.
The stretta, a common feature of finales of this period (defined loosely as a fast closing section), is here made by Rossini into a huge continuous crescendo – a form he was so fond of it's even earned the generic term 'Rossini crescendo'. Starting the final vivace section sotto voce (in a quiet voice) and in unusual unison, the cast agree how terribly confused they are – matched brilliantly in The Royal Opera's production by the entire set seeming to take leave of its tethers and rock dementedly about. It's a thrilling, bewildering, ridiculous ending, and one that shows Rossini at the height of his comedic powers.
Il barbiere di Siviglia runs 19 September–5 October 2014. Tickets are still available.]]>
No critic in Rossini's lifetime espoused a neutral view of the composer, especially in Paris where 'Rossinistes' and 'Anti-Rossinistes' waged a war of words that kept his name in front of a gossip-thirsty public. Enthusiasts praised the abiding freshness of his music, its wit and dazzling vocality. But detractors eyed Rossini's immense popularity with suspicion, accusing the composer of being facile, superficial and excessive: 'theatrical' in the worst sense of the word.
The situation was fuelled by the composer's often shameless recycling of his own music, including the famous overture to Il barbiere di Siviglia (1816), originally composed for Aureliano in Palmira (1813) and then re-used in Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra (1815).
While Rossini surely took the expedient route on occasion, he was also quick to offer a penetrating justification for his choices. In an 1836 conversation with his friend Antonio Zanolini, he ruminated on the relationship between words and music, stressing music's role as the abstract 'moral atmosphere that fills the place in which characters of the drama represent the action'.
Another way to look at Rossini's artistic decisions is through the lens of the Italian theatrical infrastructure, which was deeply tied to commerce and in the service of both pockets and egos. An opera composer under contract to theatres had little autonomy; he was expected to churn out multiple works each season in a continuous stream of novelties that were immediately fed to publishers who marketed piano-vocal scores barely after the last musical echo died out in the opera house. But the astonishing successes that emerged from this framework defy the seemingly low regard for artistry that such mass production could engender.
The challenge for Rossini (and any of his contemporaries) was to work within this system; respect a capricious audience (which had no compunctions about expressing its reactions spontaneously and loudly, as the composer found at Il barbiere's 1816 premiere); and preserve his ideals. Rossini was a deft player of this game, especially in Naples, where he composed ten operas that memorialized their singers in a succession of virtuoso roles. He was lauded as a superb dramatist who could maximize the potential of any given text; his 'theatricality' a product of complete engagement with all the materials, processes and opportunities that the musical stage had to offer.
With Il barbiere di Siviglia, Rossini turned to a subject that fellow composer Giovanni Paisiello had already set to music in 1782. Comparisons were inevitable, and Stendhal, firmly in the Rossini camp, offers a pungent rebuttal to the expected claims about Paisiello's superiority: 'If Rossini was deficient in some of the virtues of Paisiello, he was also completely deficient in the dullness which too often afflicts the latter's style.'
The alleged weaknesses may have originated in Paisiello's ingenuous fidelity to Beaumarchais, especially in the opening scene where the composer translated, perhaps too literally, the playwright's pair of monologues into two discrete musical numbers sung back to back by Almaviva and Figaro. Rossini took a quite different approach, transforming the succession of solo pieces into a hilarious ensemble parody of a stock balcony scene, complete with serenade.
It is just before dawn as Fiorello (Figaro) urges his large band of musicians to be quiet. Could the absurdity of beginning an opera with shushing also be a 'futile precaution' to the often very noisy and inattentive early 19th-century audience? Instruments are tuned and Almaviva hopes to awaken Rosina with gentle song: 'Ecco ridente in cielo'. Here Rossini mocks his own gifts for vocal display in what amounts to a superficial expression of chivalry and little more. What kind of man, intent on wooing a woman (who is still sleeping, no less), hires an orchestra for such an intimate task? Answer: a painfully naive one, who thinks that more is more. But the real punchline of the scene is Rossini's whimsical homage to theatre itself: Rosina, who continues to sleep despite the noise, is no Juliet and does not appear at the window.
This is an extract from Helen Greenwald's article 'Gioachino Rossini, Man of the Theatre' in The Royal Opera's programme book, available during performances and from the ROH Shop. Helen's article is the first in a series of three written to accompany the three Rossini operas performed this Season. The next article, on Rossini and comedy, will be printed in the programme for Il turco in Italia.
Il barbiere di Siviglia runs 19 September–5 October 2014. Tickets are still available.
The Story Begins…
Count Almaviva has arrived in Seville to woo a beautiful woman he glimpsed in Madrid. But, unbeknownst to the Count, Rosina is due to be married to her guardian, Doctor Bartolo, the next day. Can Figaro, the quick-witted town barber, bring about a happy ending?
Second Time Lucky
Gioachinio Rossini's Il barbiere is the earliest opera to have remained constantly popular on the international stage. But its premiere, in Rome on 20 February 1816, was a disaster. Licking his wounds in a letter to his mother, Rossini said: 'My opera was solemnly booed'. But by the second night the audience had changed their mind and the composer had to acknowledge their applause five or six times.
A Creature of Society
The first version of what would become Pierre Beaumarchais's play Le Barbier de Séville was called Le Sacristain and included musical movements. When it was rejected by the musical theatre of Paris in 1772, Beaumarchais rewrote the work as a spoken social comedy. Rossini and his librettist Cesare Sterbini then transformed Beaumarchais's neighbourhood schemer into a quick-witted facilitator who's at the heart of the town's secret affairs.
A Feast for the Eyes
Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier's Technicolor take on Rossini's masterpiece of comic opera revels in the work's farcical fun, from the bold colour of Agostino Cavalca's costumes to the delightfully surprising set designed by Christian Fenouillat – including a rather rocky finale to Act I!
Vocal Fireworks
Il barbiere is peppered with show-stopping arias that let the opera's performers flex their coloratura muscles. The most famous, is Figaro's opening aria – the fiendishly fast 'Largo al factotum' from Act I scene 1. It follows quick on the heels of the elaborately decorated 'Ecco, ridente in cielo', with which the Count unsuccessfully serenades Rosina's window. No less impressive, though, is her 'Una voce poco fa' from Act I scene 2 in which she lets the audience in on a secret or two. One of the highlights of the opera, though, comes in Act II scene 1, when the successfully united couple spend so long singing a love duet, their ladder has gone by the time they try to escape through the window.
Il barbiere di Siviglia runs 19 September–5 October 2014. Tickets are still available.]]>
Opera has long been a vehicle for decidedly dark comedy, from nasty practical jokes to decidedly ambiguous happy-ever-afters. Here, we take a closer look at five of our favourites:
Così fan tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1790)
Mozart referred to his third and final collaboration with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte as an 'opera buffa', and it's habitually labeled a comedy – there are plenty of laughs to be found amid the confusion, chaos and mistaken identity of this meticulously crafted masterpiece. But at heart, this opera is about two sisters (Dorabella and Fiordiligi) who are tricked into swapping lovers and falling in love with each other's fiancé, which leaves a decidedly bitter aftertaste to the 'happy-ever-after' final scene, for all Mozart's wonderful music. In the libretto the two women swap back to their original partners, but modern directors have found ingenious ways to deal with the tricky ending, sometimes having the women swap partners yet again.
Il turco in Italia by Gioachino Rossini (1814)
Rossini's light-hearted comedy Il turco in Italia is as bright and breezy as they come, but this operatic candyfloss is still spiced with some of life's darker elements. Shortly after the start of the opera we meet Zaida, who has had to flee her dashing lover Selim and life she led in a Turkish harem because of death threats from jealous rivals. Then there's the unhappy marriage of Geronio and his much younger, fickle wife Fiorilla, whose eyes seem to rove to every many she meets. Even Rossini's famously labyrinthine plot twists don't quite manage to leave everyone happy: it's only right at the last minute, and after Fiorilla has lost much of her joie de vivre, that the couples are (at least temporarily!) happily reunited.
Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi (1893)
Verdi's larger-than-life drunken knight, taken from Shakespeare's Henry IV parts I and II and The Merry Wives of Windsor, is a comic delight – he chases after young women, runs up a huge bill at the Garter Inn and is tipped into the Thames from a laundry basket. But, as in Shakespeare's original, Falstaff is as much an object of ridicule and pity as he is the bringer of laughter. In Verdi's opera, Act III in particular has a vein of darkness running through it, from Falstaff's opening aria bemoaning the wickedness of the world ('Mondo ladro' – 'Thieving world!') to the scene in Windsor Great Park in which the followers of a fake 'Queen of the Fairies' pinch and punch the portly knight before the final fugue concludes 'Tutto nel mondo è burla! ('All the world's a joke!').
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Kurt Weill (1930)
This unique opera is the largest work to spring from the iconic partnership of Weill and dramatist Bertolt Brecht. When the opera opens, Fatty the 'attorney', Trinity Moses and Leokadja Begbick are on the run from the authorities for a clutch of crimes. They decide to found a new city dedicated to pleasure, greed and excess. Weill found inspiration in jazz and cabaret music but also - more unexpectedly - in Mozart's The Magic Flute, with its mix of comedy and tragedy, and speech with singing. The opera is bitingly satirical and uses the darkest of black humour to hammer home its critique of the excesses of capitalism. But, as always with Weill and Brecht, they put on a top-class show while making their political point.
Anna Nicole by Mark-Anthony Turnage (2011)
Mark-Anthony Turnage's controversial opera, a Royal Opera House commission and revived for the first time in September 2014, takes the story of model, ex-stripper and film star Anna Nicole Smith and charts her meteoric rise (and fall) from single mother and supermarket worker to household name and widow of an octogenarian billionaire. Turnage himself has said 'three-quarters of the piece is comic' and throughout the work Richard Thomas's deeply acerbic libretto mines comedy from the bleakest situations – Smith's first job in a fried chicken restaurant, her decision to pay for breast enlargement, the arrival on the scene of her husband-to-be in the strip club where Smith works and his sudden death at one of Anna's wild parties. It's only in the second half of the opera that the comedy gives way to an ever-growing sense of tragedy.
Anna Nicole runs from 11–24 September 2014. Tickets are still available.
The first performance is a student-only production with tickets priced £1–£25. Find out more about ROH Students.
ROH Students is generously made possible by the Bunting Family and Simon Robey.
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny runs 11 March–4 April 2015. Tickets open for general sale on 27 January 2015.
Il turco in Italia runs 11–27 April 2015. Tickets open for general sale on 27 January 2015.
Falstaff runs 6–18 July 2015. Tickets open for general sale on 31 March 2015.
I have been happily exploring the relationship between food, wine and opera for most of my life. The way composers and singers are inspired by food and wine makes a fascinating topic for study, although one must expect hunger pangs as a side effect!
Every opera character is nourished by something, whether we see them consume it or not. Violetta thrived on champagne. Puccini's Bohemians starved. It begs the question - does Madama Butterfly, who lives in Japan but sings in Italian, eat soba noodles with pesto (the kind of gastronomic fusion trend that's increasingly popular among foodies)?
The most infamous fusion of food and drama in opera is seen in Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, in which lead character Katerina poisons her father-in-law with rat poison and mushrooms!
It's not just the characters that like their food - composers and singers have favourite dishes and entrenched beliefs about what to eat. Mozart loved sweets, Wagner dabbled in vegetarianism, Verdi was a farmer who grew his own food, Rossini cooked risotto while he composed (and was almost as lauded for his recipe compositions as his musical ones), Caruso ate spinach and chicken livers for strength, and Luisa Tetrazzini ate everything!
The audiences too - from one place to the next - are distinct in what they eat and drink before, during and after a performance. Each opera house I go to has its own traditions. In Amsterdam, almost the entire audience has soup, sandwiches and wine at the interval. In Munich they drink sour cherry juice. I love that the restaurants of the Royal Opera House often serve dishes connected not only to the seasons but also to the operas currently in repertory!
Fred Plotkin will be exploring the connection between the operatic and the gastronomic at an upcoming ROH Insight event - Pleasure and Inspiration - on 28 March. Tickets are still available.]]>
The Royal Opera's La donna del lago will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 at 6pm on Saturday 15 June.
Based on Sir Walter's Scott's poem The Lady of the Lake, Rossini's La donna del lago is a passionate love story set in the turbulence of the Scottish Highlands in the 16th century.
The opera, which had its premiere in 1819, is considered to be one of Rossini's most lyrical works. John Fulljames's production, which starred star mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and renowned tenor Juan Diego Florez, was said by critics to 'contain some of the most spectacular singing to be heard at Covent Garden'.
Update: Listen now via BBC iPlayer:
Joyce DiDonato as Elena and Juan Diego Flórez as Uberto in La donna del lago © ROH / Bill Cooper 2013
Daniela Barcellona as Malcom and Joyce DiDonato as Elena in La donna del lago © ROH / Bill Cooper 2013
A story of nationhood
The story follows Highland beauty Elena, who, amid the turmoil of Scottish independence, is caught between her love for warrior Malcolm and her duty to marry Highland chief Rodrigo.
John Fulljames's production, set in both 16th and 19th-century Scotland, explores themes of national identity and myth-making. Read more about John Fulljames's interpretation of Sir Walter Scott.
The staging of La donna del lago coincided with a season of programmes about Sir Walter Scott on BBC Radio 4, including a documentary entitled 'The Man who made Scotland' presented by James Naughtie, currently available on BBC iPlayer.
Watch John Fulljames and members of the cast introduce the characters of the opera:
Musical highlights
Of the many musical highlights, one is Elena's opening aria 'O mattutini albori!', among Rossini's most beautiful melodies. Find out more about the piece as a whole in our Opera Essentials article.
Review the show
Read audience reactions to the opening night and the live cinema relay, and add your own review.
The production is sponsored by the Peter Moores Foundation and the Friends of Covent Garden with generous philanthropic support from Celia Blakey, Hélène and Jean Peters, Judith Portrait and Susan and John Singer. The Production Director is generously supported by Hamish and Sophie Forsyth.]]>
Our next cinema relay is Gloriana live on 24 June. Find your nearest cinema.
The Royal Opera House Cinema Season is sponsored by the Bank of America.]]>
Music plays a big part in the first impression of any new character in an opera. The clues to Elena, the heroine in the title of Rossini's La donna del lago, are all there in her first song. So what does 'Oh mattutini albori' tell us about this Lady of the Lake?
Rossini's opera La donna del lago is based on Sir Walter Scott's poem The Lady of the Lake. We first encounter Elena (Ellen in the poem) as she rows a small boat across Loch Katrine from the island where she lives to the shore. As she rows she sings a lovely lilting song, 'Oh mattutini albori!' ('Oh morning rays of sunshine'). Each morning she is aware another day has passed in which she has been separated from Malcolm, the man she loves who is away fighting for the Scottish Highlanders against King Giacomo V (James V).
Elena's song is a barcarolle, so called after the easy rocking rhythm and flowing melody that is meant to suggest the gentle undulation of the waves as a boat glides along. Barcarolles are most associated with Venetian gondoliers and what they sang as they worked. You can hear this type of measured pace, rhythm and smooth melody in the well-known folk song 'The Skye Boat Song'. Sharing associations of country and conflict with La donna del lago, 'The Skye Boat Song' recalls Flora MacDonald rowing the escaping Bonnie Prince Charlie over to the Isle of Skye following his defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
For Rossini's audience, 'Oh mattutini albori!' does three things. First it establishes the landscape through the rocking 6/8 rhythm – early audiences would have known the convention that this style of music meant a boat song. The simplicity of the opening bars of the melody also indicates something naive, honest and rural (in this case, the Scottish Highlands).
Second, it gives the singer of the role the chance to make an impact with her first number. There is a long introduction for us to get used to the style of the music and also get some of the melody imprinted on the ear. When Elena begins to sing we can relax to listen – and also notice just how difficult the part becomes for the singer. This is music to let you know how not just who the character is, but also how good the performer is: the straightforward melodic outline is made very elaborate with decorative flourishes that must be performed effortlessly.
The third thing Rossini did was to have Elena sing offstage to begin with, as though she is on the lake and gradually coming towards us - a common device in opera. Before we see Elena, we have already decided how lovely she is from the music alone.
But there is one more thing about this aria. When Elena reaches the shore she meets Uberto, who is really Giacomo V in disguise. He has lost his hunting party, and she offers him shelter with her family in her island home for the night. As she rows them back they both sing the barcarolle tune, taking turns on the lines. In the final act of the opera, Elena has to go to the King, whose armies have now defeated the Highland rebels to which her father and her lover belong. She wants to plead for their lives. Offstage she hears that barcarolle, and thinks it is Uberto. The shared tune identifies the man she rowed across the lake at the start of the opera. But then she realizes that everyone else treats him as Giacomo V – and his true identity is revealed. So, Rossini's simple boat song tells us the setting, introduces the character of Elena, and is an essential part of tying up the loose ends of the plot. Not bad for just one little boat song.
Joyce DiDonato as Elena and Juan Diego Flórez as Uberto in La donna del lago © ROH / Bill Cooper 2013
Daniela Barcellona as Malcom and Joyce DiDonato as Elena in La donna del lago © ROH / Bill Cooper 2013
La donna del lago runs until 11 June. Tickets for the performances at Covent Garden are very limited but the opera will be relayed live into cinemas around the world on Monday 27 May.
The production is sponsored by the Peter Moores Foundation and the Friends of Covent Garden with generous philanthropic support from Celia Blakey, Hélène and Jean Peters, Judith Portrait and Susan and John Singer. The Production Director generously supported by Hamish and Sophie Forsyth.]]>
La donna del lago runs until 11 June. Tickets at Covent Garden are no longer available though the performance on 27 May will be relayed live into cinemas around the world.
The production is sponsored by the Peter Moores Foundation and the Friends of Covent Garden with generous philanthropic support from Celia Blakey, Hélène and Jean Peters, Judith Portrait and Susan and John Singer. The Production Director generously supported by Hamish and Sophie Forsyth.]]>
The Story Begins…
The Highlanders seek to maintain independence from the rule of the King of Scotland. Elena, daughter of the rebel Duglas, is in love with the young warrior Malcom, but her father is determined that she will marry the Highland chief Rodrigo. Will Elena choose love or duty? And who is the handsome stranger Uberto, who seems so interested in Elena?
Homage to History
John Fulljames celebrates Scotland in this production: both Scotland at the time of Sir Walter Scott and Rossini (when fascination with Scots history was at its height) and the historic Scotland in which the opera is set. The production highlights the beauty of Scottish landscape, of which the heroine, Elena, is a symbol, while not forgetting the struggles and battles that feature in all retellings of Scottish history. Read John Fulljames's thoughts on Sir Walter Scott's appeal.
A Musical Feast
La donna del lago is both intensely dramatic and full of lyrical beauty. Highlights of the opera include Elena's opening aria 'O mattutini albori!' – one of Rossini's most beautiful melodies – and her triumphant rondo 'Tanti affetti in tal momento', which closes the opera; Malcom's ardent 'Elena! O tu che chiamo!' in Act I; and several large-scale ensembles and choruses, including a Chorus of Bards at the end of Act I, scored for male voices, harp and pizzicato violas, cellos and double basses.
From Political Drama to Romance
Rossini and his librettist Andrea Leone Tottola based La donna del lago on Sir Walter Scott's hugely popular narrative poem The Lady of the Lake. Scott's poem deals with themes of perpetual fascination for Rossini: romance, politics, nationalism and the conflict between love and duty.
An Exciting Rediscovery
La donna del lago was first performed at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples, in 1819. It was enormously popular and was soon being performed around Europe. However, after the early 1850s it all but disappeared from the repertory for a century. Interest in the opera was revived from 1958, the beginning of the 'bel canto revival'. Since then, the opera has increasingly become part of the repertory, with key productions including those at Covent Garden (1985), La Scala (1992 and 2011) and Paris Opéra (2010).
La donna del lago runs until 11 June. Tickets at Covent Garden are no longer available though the performance on 27 May will be relayed live into cinemas around the world.
The production is sponsored by the Peter Moores Foundation and the Friends of Covent Garden with generous philanthropic support from Celia Blakey, Hélène and Jean Peters, Judith Portrait and Susan and John Singer. The Production Director generously supported by Hamish and Sophie Forsyth.]]>
What did you think of La donna del lago?
La donna del lago runs until 11 June. Tickets at Covent Garden are no longer available though the performance on 27 May will be relayed live into cinemas around the world.
The production is sponsored by the Peter Moores Foundation and the Friends of Covent Garden with generous philanthropic support from Celia Blakey, Hélène and Jean Peters, Judith Portrait and Susan and John Singer. The Production Director generously supported by Hamish and Sophie Forsyth.]]>
Rossini's La donna del lago is something of an underperformed gem: John Fulljames's new production, which opens on 17 May, is the first time the opera has been performed by The Royal Opera since 1985.
The opera is based on The Lady of the Lake, a poem by Sir Walter Scott, whose work has inspired more than eighty operas.
'I've become fascinated by the world in which Walter Scott was writing,' explains John. 'I hope that, when the curtain rises on La donna del lago, you will enjoy seeing how this giant of Scottish literature has inspired The Royal Opera.'
Set in the atmospheric surroundings of the Scottish highlands, the opera explores themes of landscape, kingship and nationhood.
'Landscape is essential for understanding this piece,' says John. 'The emotional impact of the highlands is central to the story. In the opera, landscape is personified in the character of Elena. She is the landscape, she is Scotland.'
To find out more about La donna del lago, watch the model showing, in which John discusses some of his ideas behind the design of the production. John also recently wrote an article about the appeal of Sir Walter Scott. Read the full article here.
Let us know what you think of the trailer, and if you'll be seeing the production on stage or in cinemas.
La donna del lago opens on 17 May 2013 and runs until 11 June. Tickets are available here. La donna del lago will be relayed live to cinemas around the world on Monday 27 May.
The production is sponsored by the Peter Moores Foundation and the Friends of Covent Garden with generous philanthropic support from Celia Blakey, Hélène and Jean Peters, Judith Portrait and Susan and John Singer. The Production Director generously supported by Hamish and Sophie Forsyth.]]>
Giacomo Meyerbeer was also, or had once been, Jacob Liebmann Beer. If the composer was the inaugurator of grand opera – those massive machines of spectacle and mega-orchestration that crowded the 19th-century stage and had fans baying for bigger, louder, more everything - then Meyerbeer's life also described another operatic drama: that of a particular, middle class culturally-aspirational bourgeois of the 19th century cities who imagined that could live, unproblematically both as Jews and Germans (or French "Israelites"). If only they would trade in their obsession with distinctiveness, marked by the corkscrew sidelocks, beards and long gabardines for the frock coats and high hats of the rest of the citizenry. If they would replace their Yiddishy gibberish for the polished German of proper bildung, then they would, so the theory ran, they be treated like everyone else: enjoy equal civil and political rights and be fully welcomed into the national community.
To which bright hope, Meyerbeer's protégé-turned-furiously paranoid foe Richard Wagner would respond in his essay Judaism in Music, "fat bloody chance". Die ewige Jude - the eternal Jew - whether barbered to a semblance of respectability, could never eau de cologne himself into true champion of volkish culture. He would always be what he was: a vessel of cultural poison, a walking or rather crawling, money bag, "a swarming colony of insect life" and the personification of contaminating vulgarity. Meyerbeer, the internationally successful composer who had made opera hot box office was not just the epitome of crass commercialism but a deadly threat to the mystical sublimity of authentically German music.
The idea was (and is) beautiful, nonetheless: that one could live, not just nominally but fully as a Jew, and yet just as completely, in the society of others.
The trajectory of the Beer dynasty from money to music was the usual German-Jewish success story. A first generation came up with the money needed by some pumpernickel princeling to fund his vanities, architectural and military. The second generation, represented by Meyerbeer's father Judah Beer, moved up to the big players, of which (in at least its greed for military funds), there was none bigger than Hohenzollern Prussia. Judah's numbers came up in the lottery – literally – administering the Prussian State Lottery for a hefty slice. He bought and ran sugar mills and got himself a handsome house on the Spandauer Strasse, right by the Brandenburg Gate.
There Judah and his wife Amalie held a salon for the literary, philosophical and musical lights of the city, who (spellbound by Lessing's Nathan), were prepared to see higher things in the Jews. Amalie rose to the cultural opportunity, campaigning for a modern Judaism fitting for the urban enlightenment. The Beers had their own house synagogue in which services were held in German, and organ music and choirs (a bitterly controversial innovation for the orthodox) featured too. The prodigy Jacob wrote vocal pieces for the shul. It was in such synagogues that the first crossover between cantorial emotionalism, deep rooted in Ashkenazi Judaism, and operatic melodrama was consummated - go to any Ashkenazi synagogue on the High Holy Days and you will still hear a kind of belcantorial result
So if the first generation was about court service and hard cash; the second about military bankrolling varnished with enlightenment graces; the third was bound to be pure culture. The three boys were Michael, 'My Son the Playwright' (and very successful too); Wilhelm 'My Son the Scientist,' astronomer and first cartographer of Mars and the Moon, and Jacob, 'My Son the Musical Prodigy', who on inheriting a nice chunk of his grandfather Meyer's fortune became Meyerbeer, to which in 1817, he added cheekily his claim to be the new Rossini by swapping Jacob for Giacomo.
Aside from the shameless orchestration mitschlag, it was no accident that Meyerbeer hit the jackpot in a way no other opera composer other than the great Rossini, had yet managed (though his co-religionist Fromental Halévy would run him close). For it was precisely because his cultural heritage stood outside the mystical raptures of medieval Christian history and Gothic folklore, that Meyerbeer - opera's answer to Walter Scott - knew that knights and martyrs, demons and debauched nuns were less the vehicles of metaphysical transformation than fabulous romances, unembarrassed about their capacity to entertain. He is perhaps to be thought of in the same way as the early geniuses (many of them Jewish too) of silent and not so silent movie Hollywood, the impresario-confectioner of mass spectacle, swashing and buckling his way to a smiling, roaring and cheering audience. It was not music as church draped with the sacred cobwebs of dreamland, but it was a hell of a night out.
Graceless, churlish, supremely gifted, morally repellent Wagner, whose breakthrough with Rienzi would probably have never happened without the persuasiveness of Meyerbeer, made his mentor pay for his kindness by demonizing not just him but his religion and his people as intolerable aliens in German culture. The toxin that crystallized in the alembic of his attack on "Jewish music" would be hideously fateful and destroy more than just Moses Mendelssohn's and Judah Beer's fondest dreams.
Perhaps it irked Wagner especially, that unlike the baptized Felix Mendelssohn and so many other epigones of the German-Jewish enlightenment, Meyerbeer, however he felt the difficulty (and he did), remained true to his religion. He died in it, and after the grandiose public sendoff including the Chief Rabbi of France from the Gare du Nord, his body was borne to the Jewish cemetery at Schaumseestrasse where it rests. Gioachino Rossini, who evidently did not feel threatened by Meyerbeer's renown, was in charge of the musical arrangements and is said to have responded to a nephew who composed a march for the occasion. "Excellent" said the wicked Rossini, "but you must admit, it would have been better if you had died and your uncle had written the march."
Robert le diable runs from 6 - 21 December 2012. Tickets are still available.]]>