Shameless Self Promotion

-
I work in an office with lots of very talented individuals. One of those individuals is Dr. Nicolas Reveles, the Geisel Director of Education and Outreach. That's a long title and I'm a busy man so I just call him "Dr. Nic". After all, that is the name of the hack of a quack on The Simpsons and this is cool enough to begin with, but it gets even cooler when you shout "Hi, Dr. Nic" and he responds "Hi, everybody." This is something I suggest you do when you see him in public buying groceries, or filling up his car, or while waiting on his table when he is trying to have a quiet dinner.


Don't know what Dr. Nic looks like? You should.


Dr. Nic is host of our television show OperaTalk! with Nicolas Reveles. He's incredibly intelligent, charming and well spoken. He also has a face for television (which probably explains why I'm the one sitting here behind a computer writing this blog). Each of his OperaTalk! programs focus on one opera and covers the history, plot and music. They're short as well, coming in under half an hour. I watch them often and repeat the things I learn from the show. This is good because it makes me seem smarter than I really am.



If you haven't watched an episode of OperaTalk! there's really no excuse. We have pages of pages of these programs online at YouTube. I've also (hopefully) included an episode of OperaTalk! Madama Butterfly below because I'm learning to use the "embed video function" of this blog and thought I'd kill two birds, or butterflies, as the case may be, with one stone.

Enjoy!

-- Edward

Comments

Anonymous said…
We love OperaTalk and Nic's podcasts all the way from Riga. Please come to Latvia which you will find beautiful. Thank you for sharing this with the world.
August 25, 2008 at 3:02 PM
Anonymous said…
Hi askolds1! I'm proud to say that I've already been to Riga...I was the pianist for Mikhail Baryshnikov when he had his triumphant return to Riga in the late nineties. While there, I saw Tchaikovsky's "Iolanthe" performed at the opera house on a night when we were still in rehearsal. I have fond memories of Riga (especially the seafood) and hope to return one day! All best, Nic
August 27, 2008 at 10:04 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pop Star to Opera Star

-
Image
We here at Aria Serious are torn by the news that ITV in the UK is filming a new reality series called "Pop Star to Opera Star" where pop stars will tackle the operatic repertoire while being mentored by Katherine Jenkins and Rolando Villazon. While we here at Aria Serious love to see our favorite art form on prime time TV, we're also concerned that this lowers the artistic standard. In a Company that prides itself in attracting the best talent possible, do shows like this undermine our work or is it a much needed breath of fresh air? One thing the show has going for it - Meatloaf (the singer, not the leftovers in your fridge) will be a judge. You can read about it here .
Read more

Five Things About La boheme You Don't Need To Know But Will Be Glad You Did

-
Getting ready with Dr. Nic last week for a TV interview he came up with five tidbits about La boheme to be used on air. Live TV being what live TV is, not all of them made it onto the show, but I thought they were interesting enough to be recycled here on the blog. Besides, I'm busy hammering away at the 2011 press release so pressed for time today. 2011 press release you say? You betcha. But, faithful readers, here's a tidbit: a certain married couple returns to us next season in another opera by Gounod. Without further ado, five things about La boheme you'll be glad to know 1) Giacomo Puccini’s opera La boheme is one of the three most popular operas ever written but it wasn ’t always that way. It was not an immediate success. An opera by a rival Italian composer, Ruggiero Leoncavallo, on the same subject (and also named Le bohème ) premiered about a year after Puccini’s and was quite successful. It’s possible that, in fact, Puccini actually stole the idea ...
Read more

Allez Cuisine!

-
Image
It is lunch time and I'm hungry. This of course leads to thoughts of food. Since this is an opera blog my thoughts are drifting to Peche Melba , that classic dessert of peaches and raspberries combined with ice-cream that was named after Australian singer Dame Nellie Melba . It was even presented to her in a ice-sculpture of a swan, inspired by a performance of Lohengrin Escoffier had seen. Nellie sure got around, also having toast named after her. I like to think you haven't truly made it in the world until you have a dish named after you. I also think it might be fun to have a dinner comprised entirely of opera inspired dishes. So below you will find a list of dishes inspired by the world of opera with recipes on the links where I can find them. Buon appetito! Eggs in a Mold Bizet - the Carmen composer had this dish named after him which consisted of eggs cooked in molds lined with minced pickled tongue, served on artichoke hearts. He also had a consomme named after him w...
Read more