Paintings on opera themes
When I go to art museums I am always glad to see paintings on themes that I ‘know’ because they have also been made into operas. I noticed four of Read More ...
Don Pasquale at the Opéra Garnier
Donizetti’s Don Pasquale is a funny opera that is full of lovely music and also serves as a timely reminder to all us older men that we shouldn’t get any Read More ...
Dionysian frenzy
In addition to the permanent exhibition of coins, medallions and antiques, the French National Library (Site Richelieu-Louvois) often hosts prestigious temporary exhibitions. When I was there in the summer of Read More ...
Berlin Citadel with discarded statues
Although I am not a military buff (my own military service cured me of that), I do enjoy looking at 16th and 17th century citadels, particularly since I have visited Read More ...
University of Bern
In the summer of 1961 I suddenly and unexpectedly became the beneficiary of funding which would allow me to study for two semesters at a European university of my choice. Read More ...
Hôtel du Nord: the place, the book and the film
The novel L’Hôtel du Nord by Eugène Dabit (1898-1936) tells the story of a working-class couple — the author’s parents, in fact — who ran a small working-class hotel in Read More ...
The ice cream girls
There were three intermissions during the Aida performance, two during Carmen and one during Madama Butterfly. Before each intermission (‘interval’ to you) there is a ritual in which the singers Read More ...
A musical comes home
For nearly two centuries Salzburg’s big tourist draw was Mozart. The great eighteenth century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg in 1756 and lived here — when he Read More ...
Rainy days in Copenhagen
In the middle of my visit to Copenhagen I was treated to one of their famous Baltic low-pressure areas, which brought thirty-six consecutive hours of drenching rainfall. This had a 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 ...