Home of the world’s best opera company
My absolutely favorite place in Frankfurt am Main is the opera house. No, I don’t mean the Old Opera House. I mean the real opera house on Willy-Brandt-Platz, where they Read More ...
Sixty-three opera houses in Germany
Up to now I have seen performances in sixty-three German opera houses, and I hope to get around to the other twenty-three in the next few years, before their funding Read More ...
The Theater City
Meiningen is a small city in southern Thüringen which advertises itself as “The Theater City.” It has an impressive theater building with six Corinthian columns, dating from the year 1909, Read More ...
R&R in Hong Kong 1965
As an American soldier in the 1960s I was entitled to five days of “R&R” about three-quarters of the way through my one-year tour of duty in Vietnam. R&R stood Read More ...
Saint Bénezet’s eclipse and bridge
Probably all French children learn the song “On the Bridge of Avignon” at a tender age, and most people learning French anywhere in the world also have to learn it Read More ...
Why the Dutch don’t wear bicycle helmets
For a conscientious helmet-wearer like me, it was shocking to see that hardly anybody in Amsterdam wears a bicycle helmet, not even the children. After asking around a bit, I learned Read More ...
Arrival in Tân Ba 1964
From October 1964 to March 1965 I was the lowest ranking member of a five-man American “advisory team” stationed in a small Vietnamese village called Tân Ba on the bank Read More ...
The Opera House in Amsterdam
In the entrance hall of the Amsterdam Opera House this statue of a violinist seems to be erupting through the floor from some forgotten world below the surface. My impression Read More ...
The triumph of cars over people
The Arc de Triomphe was commissioned by the Emperor Napoléon I in 1806 to celebrate the triumph of his armies over the rest of Europe in the early nineteenth century, Read More ...
About me
Hello, my name’s Don. I’m an American living in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, where I teach, ride a bicycle and go to the opera. I became an opera fan at Read More ...
Frankfurt OperaTalk
If you speak English, live in or near Frankfurt and are interested in opera, be sure to sign up for Germany’s only English-language opera appreciation course, Frankfurt OperaTalk, at the Read More ...
Opern-Gespräche
Seit 1999 leite ich einen Kurs namens „Opern-Gespräche“ an der Volkshochschule Frankfurt. In diesem Kurs reden wir (nicht nur ich!) mit fachkundigen Gästen aus dem Opernbetrieb über das reichhaltige Frankfurter Read More ...