Letter from Prague

I am calling this a "letter from Prague" as when I wrote this blog, I was in rehearsal in Prague for a Philip Glass opera called " In the Penal Colony". Today`s rehearsal was in a shell of a factory and aptly named the "Fabrika". Everyone was late to the rehearsal so I realize that the Czechs ideas about punctuality are not as structured as the Germans. Peter the conductor asked me if I would like a coffee and I replied yes not realizing that it would be "Turkish" type in a glass and you had better wait a few minutes for the grounds to settle otherwise you will have a mouth full of what feels like sand. You had to be careful where you walked as there were puddles of water and other more dangerous debris. The three pictures show from top to bottom, the stage, public, and a break outside during the rehearsal.

I purposely did not bring my computer as I wanted to be free to study and work on the opera as well as intensively study Czech. The computer is like the TV...It sucks the interest out of the day and you simply waste time passively speaking. I was able to get slake my thirst for news by picking up newspapers in Czech as well as the Herald international Tribune...In the paper "Dnes" on Saturday the 27th of May was an article about Czechs being required to have visas to visit the States but the Poles are not. The writer of the article had a question and that was to do with "What do we need to do to get the preferred status of Poland"? One of the so called requirements is to be a member of the "Coalition of the Willing", in other words have more than 300 soldiers in Iraq. The Czechs have 100 soldiers in Iraq as well as soldiers in Afghanistan but this is not enough to grant a "no vias status". I also think that the amount of Polish relatives in the States compared with the little country of the Czech Republic and corresponding amount of relatives has as much to do with getting preferred status. Here is an article in the English language Prague Monitor about the situation. I cannot believe the Poles also are not guilty of overstaying their visit to America.

back again from Prague

I got back from Prague last night or should I say early this morning around 3 AM. The performance finished at about 9:30 at the "Fabrika" and I wanted to go back to where I was staying at the Student dormitory Kolej Kajetanka of the Charles University (one of the oldest in Europe, the university not the student dorm) but Ivan the manager had not counted the money from the ticket sales. He asked me to come back around eleven PM so I had to schlepp with subway, streetcar and bus to where my car was parked at the Pyramid Hotel .The reason I was not parked at the dorm had to do with the fact that my car was stolen last November out of the parking lot, so the Pyramid being a couple of blocks east has a guarded parking place costing about 11 dollars a day and worth the security. I can always take the train from Hof where I live to Prague and spare the parking cost. If I want to get back fast as possible, as in this case to my teaching at a local High School today, it had to be the car. I picked up the car, went to the dorm as quickly as possible to get my suitcase, cooking utensils etc. and sped off in the direction I hoped would lead me back to La Fabrica, the place where the opera took place but Prague is not so easy. I followed along the Vltava river but suddenly I could no longer go straight but had to cross over the river. Then I was completely turned around. I finally had to ask a taxi cab driver to let me follow him to my destination. If you look at the link and can find the word Hradcany which is the famous castle, then up to the word Holesovice in the northeastern corner before the river, you can see approximately where I had to drive. I had to simply get to holesovice to the north and on the map it looks simple but in reality.....


The 28th of May, having a bit of time after a morning rehearsal, I decided to check out a vegetarian restaurant in the old city part of Prague. It is called the Lehka Hlavna which means the "Light Head" in Czech. I chose the "Pesto ze susenych rajcat s olivym ocejem a pecivem" which is sun dried tomatoes pesto with olive oil and bread for the Antipasto and then not being very adventurous had the recommended ( I found the restaurant on a website) stir fry eggplant etc. with cous cous which was excellent with a good house red wine to accompany the meal. The entire bill came to about 12 dollars including a fresh fruit bowl with chocolate mousse "ovoce fondue s cocola dovou" to dip the fruit in. I walked the 2 miles or so back to my room to work off the dinner. The best thing was that I had no idea where the address of the place was having naturally left all my maps back in Germany so when I got to the old city part of Prague, I dropped into an internet cafe and viola! there I found it.

The environment

An interesting thought about ecology:

The naturalist Aldo Leopold wrote more than 30 years ago: "One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds," Leopold wrote. "Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen. An ecologist must either harden his shell and make believe that the consequences of science are none of his business, or he must be the doctor who sees the marks of death in a community that believes itself well — and does not want to be told otherwise."

Dr. Gibeau, ecologist, in reference to the proposed corridor for animals from Northwest Canada to the Northwest of the USA

"People who come here are just so awestruck by the scenery that they cannot understand its ecological problems" he said. "They say, 'How can there be trouble here?' But once you peel back the veneer, this place is like most other places, a human-dominated system."

We have a problem here now in Germany with a lack of bees due to the mono-culture of farms etc. I have not seen a single bee in my garden this spring which means that my apple trees may not produce any apples although they are blooming furiously....

recent review in German of a student of mine Steffen Schmidt

KONZERT IM GYMNASIUM Pianistin Elisa Prechtel und Sänger Steffen Schmidt begeistern Publikum

Festtagsfreude und Italien pur

Die MünchBürger veranstalteten jetzt in der Aula des Gymnasiums Münchberg einen Lieder- und Klavierabend, bei dem sich zwei junge Künstler aus der Region vorstellten: Elisa Prechtel, Klavier, und Steffen Schmidt, Bariton. MÜNCHBERG – Die Pianistin spielte sehr sicher und konzentriert, mit weichem Anschlag und, je nachdem es die Musik erforderte, sensibel, aber auch energisch zupackend. Gefühlvoll, jedoch ohne Sentimentalität trug sie Chopins Regentropfen-Prélude und sein Nocturne op. 9 Nr. 2 vor, bei diesem Aufhellungen und Verschattungen deutlich gegeneinander absetzend. Wechselnd zwischen zartem Träumen und leidenschaftlichem Aufwogen der Gefühle, die in der Musik liegenden Empfindungen als eigene verströmend, interpretierte sie Beethovens Mondscheinsonate. Die unterschiedlichen Stimmungen, die Joaquin Turina in seinen Miniaturas op. 52 schildert, die Ruhe eines schlafenden Dorfes, aber auch das Unheimliche nächtlicher Dunkelheit, dessen Schwinden bei Tagesanbruch, erste vorsichtige Schritte, dann sicheres, zügiges Ausschreiten beim Spaziergang und schließlich überschäumende Festtagsfreude ließ Elisa Prechtel ihr Publikum lebhaft mitempfinden. Über welche Vielfalt an Ausdrucks- und Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten sie verfügt, zeigte sie bei dem packenden, bewegten Vortrag der Stücke „Edgewater“ von Jim Brickman und „Manhattan Skyline“ von Jürgen Moser. Steffen Schmidt war sie eine einfühlsame, gut auf ihn abgestimmte Begleiterin. Der junge Sänger trug vor allem italienische Liebeslieder aus verschiedenen Epochen vor. Dabei zeigte er sich in der Tongebung sicher. Seine Stimme zeichnete sich durch Kraft, Volumen, Beweglichkeit und Modulationsfähigkeit aus. Letztere stellte er vor allem in der Arie „Ombra mai fu“ von Händel unter Beweis. Leicht, aber ohne die Töne zu verwischen, glitt sein Gesang in „Sally Gardens“ von Benjamin Britten die Tonskala hinauf und hinab. Die Ohrwürmer ,,Funiculi, funicula“ von Luigi Denza und „Santa Lucia“ von Teodoro Cottrau schmetterte er nicht einfach heraus, sondern differenzierte den jeweiligen Textstellen entsprechend in Lautstärke und Ausdruck. Diesen verstand er in jedes Lied zu legen, und zwar oft so, als gäbe er nicht die Empfindungen anderer, sondern eigene wieder. Dabei vermochte er sich im Laufe des Abends zu steigern. Die ganze Breite seiner Ausdrucksfähigkeit von verhaltener Melancholie und tiefer Sehnsucht bis zu starker Leidenschaft zeigte er in „Amarilli“ von Giulio Caccini. Am stärksten kam seinem Naturell die „Moritat vom Mackie Messer“ aus Brechts „Dreigroschenoper“ entgegen, deren Vortrag er durch Mimik und Gestik unterstützte. Das begeisterte Publikum applaudierte heftig, wofür sich der Sänger damit bedankte, dass er zwei Lieder als Zugabe wiederholte. Viel Beifall gab es für Elisa Prechtel und Steffen Schmidt.

multitasking and quiet

This is an interesting article in the NYT and it corresponds to what I have been thinking about lately. I need to get to a quiet place to really learn or read something. Get the computer off as well.

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May 21, 2006

Editorial Notebook

Let's I.M. as You Read This

By CAROLYN CURIEL

I have the television tuned to a news channel as I write this, my voice mail box is spilling its contents over the speakerphone, and I pause occasionally to flip screens on my computer to check e-mail messages. Still, something feels missing. I think of the executive who positioned his office computer above a treadmill, so he could walk constantly, keeping fit as he ran a business.

The pursuit of maximum moments drives many a multitasking life and an often-distracted mind. Cabbies chat away on the cellphone, even though laws in many places forbid it. Pedestrians text-message, leaving it to others to navigate around them.

Studies show that people may pack the equivalent of 31 hours of activities into a 24-hour day by doing several things at once. That's impressive, although I wonder if any study has figured out how to count the tasks still being tackled during sleep, as the strands of things done too hastily or inattentively deprive us of real rest.

We think of America as a sleep-deprived nation, but we are becoming deep-thought deprived, too. A closed door does not stop interruptions, because we are packing the weapons that can shatter concentration or quiet contemplation. Our fingers are always on a button.

Multitasking did not begin with computers, cellphones or other wireless technology, of course, although they have kicked it up to progressively new levels of complexity. Before those gadgets came along, the TV tray encouraged people to choose entertainment or the evening news over the dinner table and conversation. Radios were put in homes and then cars, helping to fill the dead air that can accompany housework and long rides. We seem afraid to be alone with our thoughts.

I have been a determined multitasker for as long as I can remember, insisting on doing my homework before the television. It did not seem to hurt my grades, but I will never know. Now I am loath to completely shut off connectors to those outside my immediate purview. I might miss something, or someone might miss me. And that would be disastrous. Wouldn't it?

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Back from Prague

Friday I took off to Prague to attend an intensive Czech language course. It normally starts in the afternoon till 5 PM and then Saturday for five hours in the morning and Sunday again for five hours. The participants are generally the same people from Germany and Austria. We have our little traditions such as on Friday evening after the first class we meet up and walk up to Kloster Shenk a restaurant that is situated in a Cloister for men that is still in service. I have not seen any monks but they tell me that they are there hidden from public view.
On the way back I stopped at a town called Krushevitze (phonetic spelling) which is a brewery town making the famous beer of the same name. The picture is of the restaurant I stopped at and had not only one but two types of dumplings, potato and bread that the Czechs are famous for. The other picture is of a tumble down house near the restaurant. You can see a sign on a stone post which says "na prodej" which means for sale. I just thought it looked interesting.

This morning I called up the reservations office of the student quarters where I usually stay as it is cheap and actually made a reservation in Czech without once having to speak English or German. Usually the people in the office can speak other languages so when they sense you are having a problem they switch. It is about time since I have been working on this language since 1999 and should have had it down long ago...

On wednesday I return to Prague and begin rehearsals for the Philip Glass opera "In the Penal Colony" which will have performances on the 29th and 30th of May.

an interesting website..friend of Tom Rebilas

This is a website of an interesting Australian soprano. take a look when you have a chance



angela denning

Review of "Lucia" Kennedy Center 1989 . Jerry Hadley as Edgardo and me as Arturo

The best thing that happened for me in this production is I was the cover for Edgardo and got to sing a couple of rehearsals before Jerry arrived with Ruth Ann Swenson

OPERA
Thoroughly Old-Fashioned `Lucia'
Washington's Season Starter, Relying on the Melodies
[FINAL Edition]
The Washington Post (pre-1997 Fulltext) - Washington, D.C.
Author:	Joseph McLellan
Date:	Oct 30, 1989
Start Page:	b.01
Section:	STYLE
Text Word Count:	991
Full Text (991 words)
Copyright The Washington Post Company Oct 30, 1989 Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" received a five-minute standing ovation Saturday night at the Kennedy Center Opera House, launching a Washington Opera season that was 97 percent sold out before its first downbeat. The audience was-properly-particularly enthusiastic for soprano Ruth Ann Swenson and tenor Jerry Hadley, who did the best singing and acting of the evening. Its applause was also-less properly-warm for baritone J. Patrick Raftery, a perennial favorite in Washington, and bass Eric Halfvarson, who began the evening singing and acting rather stiffly but rose well to his duties in the later scenes. The unquestionable popular success of this production, which will have five more performances through Nov. 12, is a victory for the old-fashioned concept of opera as a sort of concert with costumes and scenery. This is an unhappy departure from a principle that (despite occasional lapses) has brightened Washington Opera productions throughout the 1980s: the principle of cultivating strong theatrical as well as musical values in its productions. It may be argued that this is the best you can do with "Lucia." The opera is a feast of great melodies, with occasional outbursts of frenzied activity. But it also has long stretches of monologue or ensemble singing that lend themselves with fatal ease to static staging. If "Lucia" cannot be made to fit a company's production principles, perhaps "Lucia" should be left for other companies. On the other hand, many opera lovers now believe there is more in this Donizetti opera than pretty tunes, even if it was largely unrealized in this production. For more than a century, until Maria Callas began to probe its intense emotional and psychological implications, there was a general feeling that "Lucia" could be made to work without any serious theatrical dimension if its big moments were well sung. These include primarily the sextet, the mad scene and the duet "Verrano a te sull'aure" ("The breeze will bring my sighs to you"); and less urgently Lucia's "Regnava nel silenzio" ("Darkness and silence prevailed") and "Quando rapita in estasi" ("Transported in an ecstasy"), and Edgardo's "Fra poco a me ricovero" ("Soon the grave will shelter me") and "Tu che a Dio spiegasti l'ali" ("You who have taken wing to God.") All of these were quite well performed here on opening night. And all except the sextet depend only on the soprano and/or the leading tenor. One has to hire a chorus and supporting soloists, of course, and to rent scenery and costumes, but in this production such necessities seemed to be given only secondary attention. If Hadley had not made such a distinguished contribution, this "Lucia" might have recalled the formula once given by a prima donna's proud husband for a successful bel canto opera cast: "ma femme et cinq poupe'es" ("my wife and five puppets.") Raftery and Halfvarson were more than puppets, of course. Both sang well and produced appropriate gestures at the proper times, but neither acted with the kind of conviction that might have generated real involvement and suspense in this drama of a woman subjected to intolerable stresses that finally destroy her sanity. Raftery in particular, a singer of perennial charm and real magnetism, simply did not make a convincing villain in the role of Enrico. This character is a greedy robber baron and murderer, willing to use his sister ruthlessly as a pawn in his political machinations. He does not hesitate to put any kind of pressure on her, and he is motivated only by self-promotion and self-preservation. If he were played to be someone like Darth Vader, it would give more coherence and a kind of plausibility to a deeply melodramatic plot that lunges from one extreme situation to the next. But Darth Vader isn't here, and when Raftery twists Swenson's arm, forces her to her knees, towers over her menacingly and shouts imprecations, we see it but we don't believe it. Raftery probably should not be singled out, except that his role is the key to the plot and the emotional development. His problems of characterization would be more evident to the audience if the production were otherwise more focused or he were surrounded by highly skilled singing actors, but in this "Lucia" he comes up to the average performance standard and the opera simply wanders amiably from one big number to the next. Fortunately, Swenson and Hadley are there for the big numbers. Swenson's Lucia is still not fully developed; this is the first time she has sung a staged performance. But she has the music well in hand, give or take a couple of pinched notes at the top of her range, and her characterization is clear and attractive, if slightly understated in the mad scene. Hadley, who dominates the final scene and is alone on stage for most of it, manages to avoid a sense of anticlimax after the mad scene-no small accomplishment. As he has in the past, he comes across as an excellent all-purpose tenor, able to handle repertoire that ranges from Mozart and bel canto to Stravinsky and Bernstein with style and ease. Robert Baker and James Clark both filled small roles capably. Mario Bernardi conducted on opening night with a good pace and-despite occasional passages where voices were drowned out-a generally effective sense of ensemble and balance. The chorus sang lustily and generally stayed together. It spent a lot of its time standing still, watching the action and singing occasional comments when it might have been more effectively deployed, but one can hardly blame the singers for that. The scenery and costumes, rented from the Greater Miami Opera, are not likely to make anyone very angry or very happy; they are decent, generic Romantic opera production materials-nowhere near the best this company has used-and a sad reminder that despite its success at the box office, the Washington Opera still runs on a limited budget. Joan Sullivan's lighting was, as always, excellent. [Illustration] PHOTO CAPTION: Ruth Ann Swenson in "Lucia di Lammermoor." Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.

The present world of opera. NYT article

This speaks for itself. Jerry Hadley made his debut with me in 1979 at the age of 27. We sang together again in 1989 at the Kennedy Center in "Lucia di Lammermoor". Jerry was in great voice then and sang one of the best Edgardos I have ever experienced. My rendition of Arturo was not so spectacular but "capable".

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May 18, 2006

Critic's Notebook

Missing Opera's Lost Generation of Stars at a Gala for Volpe

By ANNE MIDGETTE

Galas are a big part of operatic tradition. You need to have one every few years. At the Met they have become practically part of the standard opera landscape. This Saturday's season-ending gala, a tribute to the departing general manager, Joseph Volpe, is being billed as a particular blockbuster. Yet, inevitably, people are already comparing it to another blockbuster gala in recent memory, the 1996 celebration of James Levine's 25th year at the house, which went on for more than seven hours.

Length is one measure of a gala, but the event rises and falls on the question of who is going to sing. Or who is not going to sing. At Mr. Volpe's gala, a whole generation of singers seems to be missing in action.

The point of a gala is to present a cross section of an era: generally, all the big current stars will perform, as well as a range of beloved elder statesmen and -women returning for a last farewell. The Levine gala represented the final Metropolitan appearances of James King, Bernd Weikl, Carlo Bergonzi, Ileana Cotrubas, Alfredo Kraus, Gwyneth Jones and Grace Bumbry. An august company indeed.

So it's interesting that Mr. Volpe's gala, celebrating a nearly 16-year reign that is being bruited (an inevitable accompaniment to the passing of the baton) as one of the Met's most illustrious, is focused so firmly on the present. Plenty of contemporary stars will raise their voices to Joe: Renée Fleming, Deborah Voigt, Susan Graham, René Pape, Dmitri Hvorostovsky. And there will be a few grand figures from earlier eras, including the redoubtable Plácido Domingo (still very much a part of the Met scene), Kiri Te Kanawa, Frederica von Stade and Mirella Freni. Luciano Pavarotti is tentatively scheduled, but health problems may prevent him from performing. There will be relatively few touching farewells. Most singers appearing on Saturday are still active; most are still fairly young. A perusal of the schedule reveals what could be called a generation gap. Ms. Fleming and Ms. Voigt are in their 40's. Mr. Pavarotti is 70.

Where are the singers in between: the stars of the 1990's, of the early years of Mr. Volpe's tenure? Where are the stars now in their 50's? There are precious few of them.

Where, for example, is Jerry Hadley, the tenor whose star burned so brightly in the 1980's? He appeared in the news last week, for his arrest on a drunken-driving charge. (He didn't actually start the car.) News reports said he was 54, awfully young to be a has-been, but a recent recording of Bernstein's "Mass" documents a voice that is not in great shape.

I don't mean to pick on Mr. Hadley. He is far from the only 50-something whose prime is past. It's true that you can point to a few prominent singers of this age: the ever-reliable Dolora Zajick, for example, will offer a gala contribution, as will Thomas Hampson, still a star baritone, and James Morris, growl and all. But when you look at the soprano and tenor voices, there is a yawning void.

Richard Leech. Sharon Sweet. Susan Dunn. Francisco Araiza. June Anderson. Cheryl Studer. Carol Vaness. An entire catalog of singers is absent from Mr. Volpe's gala, and from the Met in general. (Neil Shicoff sings there from time to time, but he won't be singing at the gala.)

The blight extends to some singers in their 40's, like Aprile Millo, once a Met fixture, or Dawn Upshaw, another former Met regular who has since moved away from opera to colonize her own, predominantly contemporary terrain. So what has happened? The fault is not Mr. Volpe's, although the problem is symptomatic of a kind of approach to opera that has dominated the Met and other houses during his tenure. Career development is not a high priority in today's opera world. What is a priority is finding the latest stars and getting them up in front of the public, in as many places as possible, and in as many attractive roles as possible, regardless of how well suited they happen to be to a particular role. Mr. Araiza is a perfect example of a fine young singer who sang himself ragged by trying to force his way into heavier roles.

And despite the Met's careful work grooming and encouraging the artists in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, its track record for helping its rising stars has been spotty. There are many examples of singers who were used a lot, then cast aside when they ran into trouble. It is easy to blame the rise of jet travel, which enables singers to take on too much work, for short-lived careers. But a more significant cause is a lack of proper education, not only about how to sing, but about which roles are appropriate for which voices and, equally important, how to say no.

Mr. Volpe's gala will be as long and as uneven, as occasionally exciting and frequently tedious, as such galas generally are. But what it will leave us with is not a picture of Mr. Volpe's tenure as much as a snapshot of the state of opera today: the state of a company that is not always as supportive of singers as it could be, and the state of a field that is looking anxiously to guardians of a tradition who seem, on Saturday's program, to be few and far between.

Ms. von Stade, Ms. Freni and Ms. Te Kanawa, whatever their vocal estates, can still deliver some serious wattage in the performance department. One wonders what, in 20 years' time, will be the state of future Met farewells.

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article in the franken post on thursday 11 may 2006

this is a link to the article again in German

visit from Wolfgang

Today my good friend Wolfgang Falkenhagen from Munich is visiting me or let us say using my apartment as a hotel while he visits friends in Hof. He is the former assistant director of the Hof Theater where I worked for many years.

students

this is link in german for Steffen my student in Muenchberg. It mentions that I am his teacher

Kurt Weill Concert in September 2005

This is a review of a concert that I did last Fall. I am repeating it at the Galeriehaus in Hof tomorrow, May 12. Hopefully a good review..It is in German, however. If you want to translate it fast and get the meaning of it then go to link

21.09.2005

DIE WELT VON KURT WEILL Auftakt zur Helmbrechtser Herbstkultur ging viel zu schnell vorbei

„Sprich leise. . .“ und gib laut Applaus

Besser hätte die Helmbrechtser Herbstkultur gar nicht beginnen können. Vor vollem Saal entführten Jutta Moser und Jim Clark ihr Publikum in die Welt des Komponisten Kurt Weill – amüsant, kurzweilig und viel zu schnell vorbei. HELMBRECHTS – „Sprich leise, wenn du Liebe sagst“, lautete das Motto des bunten Abends, der mit lautem Applaus ein Ende nahm. Zahlreiche Kulturinteressierte hatten sich in der Multivision des Textilmuseums eingefunden – so zahlreich, dass gar zusätzliche Stühle herbeigeschafft werden mussten. —————— Stationen einer Ehe —————— Doch es lohnte sich wirklich, dem Abend beizuwohnen, den Liedern und Texten von und über Kurt Weill zu lauschen. Weill, der auch Brechts „Dreigroschenoper“ vertonte, lebte ein bewegtes Leben mit seiner Ehefrau Lotte Lenya. Er – der besessene Komponist. Sie – die unstete Künstlerin. Und zusammen ein glückliches und unglückliches Paar, das in den Wirren des Nationalsozialismus auswanderte, um ein besseres Leben zu finden. Die Stationen ihrer Ehe zeigten Jutta Moser (Gesang) und Jim Clark (Gesang und Klavier) so eindrucksvoll, dass man sich fühlte, als sei man dabei gewesen während der Zeit des Paares in Berlin, im Exil in Paris oder später in den USA. Mit der „Seeräuberjenny“ eröffnet Jutta Moser den Abend gesanglich und gibt gleich eine Kostprobe ihrer wunderbaren Stimme. Kraftvoll und selbstbewusst besingt sie die Jugendjahre, wie es einst auch die gefeierte Lotte Lenya getan haben mag. Und Jim Clark bearbeitet sein Klavier, so dass man ihm den arbeitsamen Komponisten Weill gerne abnimmt. Und Stück für Stück werden Moser und Clark zu Weill und Lenya, sprechen sich gar mit Kurt und Lotte an und ziehen das Publikum immer tiefer in die Geschichte hinein. Und man leidet mit den Protagonisten dieser Geschichte, glaubt Lenya / Moser die verletzten Liebesschwüre, die sie in „Surabaya Jonny“ mal haucht und dann schreit, getragen vom stürmischen Spiel ihres Kollegen Clark / Weill. Doch auch zum Lachen bleibt Zeit, wenn Jutta Moser mit Textschildern bewaffnet das Publikum animiert, den „Gassenhauer Mäckie Messer“ mitzusingen – und aus dem Publikum damit jene Menschen der 20er-Jahre macht, die den „Gassenhauer“ tatsächlich mitgesungen und gepfiffen haben mögen. Mit den einfachsten Mitteln kommen Jutta Moser und Jim Clark aus, um die Geschichte des Ehepaares Weill-Lenya zu erzählen. Die roten Mädchenschuhe und der Schal weichen dem schwarzen Kostüm, als die Nazidiktatur das Paar ins Exil nach Paris treibt. Authentische Fotos im Hintergund sind die Kulisse, vor der Moser und Clark die Story ausbreiten, und schließlich Fähnchen schwenkend nach USA auswandern. „Je ne t‘aime pas“ – „Ich liebe dich nicht“ singt Jutta Moser an Lenyas Stelle , und doch folgt sie Jim Clark an Weills Stelle in die USA, in der Hoffnung, es möge alles besser werden. Und doch wusste Lotte Lenya schon damals, dass das Land der Träume, „Youkali“ nannte sie dieses Paradies, nur eine Fiktion sein kann – dass nichts wirklich gut werden wird. Und Jutta Moser singt diese Verzweiflung und Melancholie auf eine Art, die das Herz berührt. —————— Geschichte verdichtet —————— Lesungen aus Briefen streuen Moser und Clark zwischen die Songs, lassen einen kurzen Dialog folgen, schauspielern Entscheidungen – und verdichten so die Lebensgeschichte eines Paares, ohne sie zu verkürzen. Im Septembersong singen sie „days grow short when you reach september“ – „die Tage werden kürzer, wenn du den September erreichst“ und auch dieser Septemberabend geht viel zu schnell vorüber. Selbst wenn es eine gern gehörte Zugabe gab. Sollte dieser Abend tonangebend für den Kulturherbst gewesen sein, dann steht den Helmbrechtsern eine sehr angenehme Zeit bevor. tami Jim Clark und Jutta Moser als Kurt Weill und Lotte Lenya – eine bezaubernde Reise in die Vergangenheit.

variety.com review of Michael Nyman opera, Man and Boy:Dada

Posted: Sun., Jun. 5, 2005, 6:00am PT

Man And Boy: Dada

(Estates Theater, Prague; 639 Seats; Czk 1,000 ($43) Top)

A National Theater presentation of an opera in two acts with music by Michael Nyman, libretto by Michael Hastings.

Kurt Schwitters - James Clark
Michael - Karolina Bubleova Berkova
Michael's mother, et al. - Jirina Markova-Krystlikova

By LARRY LASH


In "Man and Boy: Dada," Michael Nyman takes a disillusioned German Dadaist exiled in post-war London and a young boy obsessed with train tickets and delivers an amusing, moving and ultimately harrowing look at the horrors of the Holocaust and the healing power of innocence.

In a fascinating libretto, as good on the page as it is in performance, Michael Hastings uses the true story of artist Kurt Schwitters as a jumping-off point. Schwitters split from the Berlin Dada scene and founded his own obscure school, which he called Merz. This consisted largely of painstakingly constructed collages of found objects ranging from small paper pieces to huge rooms, sometimes with the furniture hanging from the ceiling (Schwitters pronounced floors obsolete but admitted ceilings were inconvenient for pissing). During a visit to Oslo, Schwitters learned that his work had been appropriated by the Third Reich as part of the historic "degenerate art" exhibit that also categorized jazz as "nigger music." He remained in Norway.

When the Nazis came north, Schwitters escaped to the U.K., where he was interned in several refugee camps before gaining independence in 1945. He lost his wife and all existing examples of his work to Allied bombs (a Merz room in Oslo was destroyed by fire in 1951). He died in 1948 before beginning a Merz barn commissioned by New York's Museum of Modern Art.

Hastings places Schwitters in multiple encounters with 12-year-old Michael in which the two jostle for possession of used bus tickets: Michael needs them for his collection, Schwitters for a collage. A strange friendship is formed, and Schwitters becomes an odd fixture in Michael's household.

Complicating matters is a flirtation between Schwitters and Michael's mother, who also lost her spouse in the war. While the working-class widow never quite comprehends Schwitters' artistry, she is appreciative of the attention to both herself and Michael.

Schwitters, destitute and ill, is haunted by the past. When he assists Michael in breaking into a depot to obtain the last ticket needed to complete the youngster's collection, he is overcome by memories of the camps. He tells Michael it would be best to end their relationship, declaring himself a bad influence. But Michael persists, offering a solution simultaneously simple and profound, to the dark question that gnaws at the artist's soul.

Nyman is probably less known as a classical composer than as scorer of films such as "The Piano," "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover," "Gattaca""Gattaca" and "The End of the Affair." His operatic work is from the same sonic palette: jazzy sax riffs over a pulsing synthesizer.

But Nyman comes up short in the lyricism department. His jerky vocal lines seem to serve merely as a device to put forth Hastings' superb, absorbing libretto, so rich it probably could stand on its own as drama.

In the long run, Nyman does little more than set the mood and supply background accompaniment for the text. There are moments of great charm, such as when the composer turns to traditional British music hall fare when Schwitters seduces Michael's mum into a little tango at the local dance palace.

Peter WernerPeter Werner's set, itself a piece of chaotic Merz art, disappears into a grid pattern with some lighting magic, underscoring Michael's need for order in a world gone mad, exemplified for him by Schwitters' seemingly haphazard art.

Robert Tannenbaum directs with clarity and flare. James Clark, Karolina Bubleova Berkova and Jirina Markova-Krystlikova contribute endearing, committed and often humorous performances.

As opera it's negligible, but as a theatrical experience, it throws a punch to the gut softened by a million tickles.


Directed by Robert Tannenbaum. Conductor, Petr Kofron. Sets, costumes, Peter Werner. Opened Dec. 4, 2004. Reviewed May 17. Running time: 2 HOURS, 5 MIN.

review from last year in Prague Michael Nyman's Dada opera

Czech Business Weekly By: Marek Tomin, 11. 04. 2005


Make room for Dada

Minimalist opera deserves maximum exposure

With just three characters, Michael Nyman’s opera Man and Boy: Dada, set in postwar London, is a minimalist tour de force. Extraordinarily, however, since its Czech premiere four months ago it has gone largely unnoticed.

Written by Nyman while he was composer-in-residence at the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, Germany, the opera had its world premiere on March 13, 2004. Subsequent productions were staged at London’s Almeida Theater in the summer of 2004 and later that year in the United States. The English libretto by Michael Hastings is a quirky treatment of a particular segment of the life of Kurt Schwitters, one of the founders of the Dada art movement.

Wandering aimlessly around London after spending World War II in exile, Schwitters meets a boy on a bus as they both indulge their passion, collecting used bus tickets. While the boy seeks order by making a perfect collection, for Schwitters the bus ticket symbolizes yet another aspect of the chaos that is both his life and his art – those being, ultimately, one and the same. Throughout the two-act opus, Schwitters tries to confront the boy with his vision of life as art (and art as life), with sometimes disastrous and often hilarious consequences. As their friendship develops, Schwitters meets the boy’s mother, who lost her husband during the bombing of London, and reconciliation between Germans and Brits becomes another aspect of the story.

The Prague production, which premiered Dec. 4 and returns to the Estates Theater this week, employs the core of the Karlsruhe team, headed by American director Robert Tannenbaum and stage designer Peter Werner, but uses new vocalists. Karolína Berková excels as the boy, while American tenor James Clark puts in a capable performance as Schwitters. Jiřina Marková-Krystlíková, a professor at the Prague Conservatory, does a fine job as the boy’s mother, especially during the more comic moments.

The Czech modern-music ensemble Agon Orchestra, headed by Petr Kofroň, copes skillfully with Nyman’s eclectic score, which uses elements of swing punctuated by sudden mood changes and pulses of discord, emphasizing the plot without drowning out the vocalists. The stage design is simple but highly effective, employing Schwitters’ own dynamic collages and assemblages. Hastings' adroit, tender and at times extremely funny libretto makes brilliant use of colloquial English (capably subtitled in Czech).

While both the Karlsruhe and London productions opened amid much publicity and acclaim, Prague's National Theater did little to promote Man and Boy (relative to one of its “classic” productions, anyway). When I saw the opera’s third and most recent performance on Feb. 1 the magnificent Estates was not even half full. A work by one of the most popular composers working in contemporary music (Nyman did the score for The Piano and several Peter Greenaway films), especially one this well-crafted and invigorating, deserves better.

need to know

Man and Boy: Dada
Where: Stavovské divadlo
When: April 16 and 19, 7 p.m.
How Much: Kč 30-1,000
Info: www.narodni-divadlo.cz

Palm Beach Post review of Carmen

Opera Review: Carmen

By Sharon McDaniel

Palm Beach Post Music Writer

Friday, April 07, 2006

Carmen's popularity is so widespread, it easily qualifies as a household name. We cheerily whistle the Toreador song and hum the Habanera, each as recognizable as today's pop tunes.

But never far from mind is the opera's impact: Carmen hits like an emotional brick wall. A strong dramatic cast confirmed that Wednesday night at Wellington High School, despite working at a disadvantage.
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South Florida Opera Company staged Carmen as its big 10th season finale. But instead of enjoying a milestone, Artistic Director Francesco Pace found himself knee-deep in new problems.

At the first rehearsal with orchestra, it became clear to the cast, chorus and Pace that there was a serious problem. The orchestra of 12, contracted at union scale five months ago, simply could not measure up. That gave Pace less than 48 hours to find a pianist who could handle 200 pages of score and two hours of nearly nonstop playing. But singers and conductor agreed: a pianist was the best compromise.

The problems kept coming. Not all of the costumes ordered from New York arrived in time. Just one day before the opening, Pace still didn't have everything in place for a complete run-through, much less a dress rehearsal.

Yet Wednesday night, the cast, with pianist Nana Morimoto, managed to pull off the near-impossible. In front of the company's attractive, newly built sets, the 19 singers plus boys' chorus, gypsy dancer, conductor and pianist produced more than should have been possible.

Their convincing, enjoyable and lively Carmen drew out the fun and the foreboding. The singers' enthusiastic, can-do spirit and excellent French diction greeted you head on. Magnificent, familiar melodies did the rest.

As Carmen, New York mezzo-soprano Janis Eckhart battled vocal problems. Singing quietly, she could suppress the wobble in her big voice and focus the lower notes. She rallied for fine closing scenes, and also fleshed out the role with intriguing character details.

As her Don Jose was James Clark, a tenor of bold outbursts and the odd vocal tightness. But his Flower Song to Carmen was deeply touching. An hour later, he went murderously psychotic on us.

There were some terrific "finds" and reacquaintances, primarily Boynton Beach soprano Marie Ashley as Michaela, Don Jose's country girlfriend. Her tender Act I scene with him was an early bull's-eye; her later warm, full-voice solos were stirring.

Of returning guests, Michigan stage director Michael Gillespie dotted the "i's" with wonderful irony. California conductor Brian Asher Alhadeff kept the energy high.

The performer winning the most applause was excellent pianist Morimoto, who could make you forget there was no orchestra.

South Florida Opera Company repeats Bizet's Carmen at 8 p.m. today at Wellington High School, 2101 Greenview Shores Blvd., Wellington. For $30 tickets, call (561) 792-7473.

Carmen review Town Crier Wellington Florida April 7, 2006

Leonard Wechsler 14.APR.06
The South Florida Opera Company’s Carmen was a production designed to enthrall an audience. The costumes, the music, but most of all the voices were superb, ringing through Wellington High School’s Little Theater last week.

Artistic Director Francesco Pace is determined to ensure that residents of the western communities are treated to only the finest productions. Using his connections, Mr. Pace invites the best available talent to Wellington — and has succeeded again.

Carmen is one of the great classic operas. Originally considered a failure because of the seamier elements of the story of a soldier obsessed with a gypsy woman, it is now performed more often than any other opera in the classic repertory.

It requires a mezzo-soprano who not only has a glorious voice, but also can look the part of the ill-fated gypsy. Janis Eckhart not only is sexy and entrancing in terms of looks, she dances well, and her voice settles in your spine as she uses her wiles on the hapless Don José. She has performed the role around the world to great acclaim, which is clearly deserved. When Carmen is brilliant, the rest of the opera falls into line.

As Eckhart sings the famous “Habanera” and “Sequidilla” she demonstrates why she is so popular with audiences. The soldier cannot resist her, and every member of the audience understands the reason. She was in excellent voice, demonstrating how the mezzo range can be incredibly sexy.

Veteran tenor James Clark does an excellent job in the pivotal role of Don José. The character is in contrast to the typical tenor role, in which the man is always heroic and gets the woman. Don José is a man obsessed with his love for the gypsy while understanding throughout that she is totally wrong for him. Clark’s voice is smooth, rising to meet the high notes and mellow on the lower ones.

Soprano Marie Ashley demonstrated an ease with the music and an extraordinary voice in the part of Micaela, the young peasant who loves Don José but can never compete with the glamorous Carmen. Ashley is a Boynton Beach resident, and she is certainly going places.

Steven Rushing does an excellent job as Escamillo, the glamorous toreador. He gets the opera’s most famous number and uses his voice well to lead the rest of the cast in a number that is a second act highlight. He plays a more caring Escamillo than I have seen before, and it works well.

The company employs a large cast and director Michael Gillespie uses them well. This is not a “jewel box” ensemble with only the leads; there is a chorus and a good number of people in smaller parts. Jacqueline Pimienta and Joan Peitscher, two local singers, were excellent as Carmen’s gypsy friends. All of the singers were excellent and provided great support. A special cheer goes to the boys from Binks Forest Elementary School, directed by Karen LaFrance, who provided a light-hearted first act moment.

Instead of using players he thought might detract from the performance, Mr. Pace asked concert pianist Nana Morimoto to play from a score specifically written for the piano by Bizet. Her accompaniment was exceptional and won deserved cheers from the audience.

The South Florida Opera Company provides a wonderful service for our community. I have already reserved my seats for next year, and so should you. One of the friends who joined us at the performance had never been to an opera before; she is now a fan. Support this opera company; it is a true jewel of the western communities.

link to prague

This is a link to a newspaper Article on me done in December in Prague

http://www.praguepost.com/P03/2005/Art/1208/tempo1.php

Veteran voice

An American expat finds the dark notes in a creepy Kafka opera

By Frank Kuznik
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
December 07, 2005


RENÉ JAKL/The Prague Post
A classicist by trade, Clark has become a regular visitor to Prague by virtue of his ability to sing difficult roles in modern operas by minimalist composers such as Philip Glass.

James Clark has a headache, but it's not from the throbbing dance music suddenly flooding the Kino Lucerna café. He spent the train ride from southern Germany to Prague mentally rehearsing his part in the Philip Glass opera In the Penal Colony, a feat of musical dexterity difficult enough to tax anyone's brain.

"Actually, I'm more of a classical, Romantic guy," he says, then reels off snatches of arias from Italian and German operas. It's not an unusual moment in this musically rich city, but it's not what you expect from a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who once commanded a rifle company in Vietnam.

Though he's made a career singing classical opera, Clark, 64, is better known to Prague audiences for a pair of modern music productions he's appeared in here. He sang the lead role of Roderick in the hugely successful production of Philip Glass' Fall of the House of Usher at the State Opera several years ago. Last December, he was artist Kurt Schwitters in the National Theater's production of Michael Nyman's Man and Boy: Dada.

The Schwitters role was particulary difficult, packed with odd phrasing and atonal counterpoint, and Clark laughs with relief when he talks about his upcoming role as the Visitor in Penal Colony. "It's a hell of a lot easier than Nyman," he says. "I studied that role for six months and still couldn't get it to stick in my brain."

Born in Syracuse, New York, and raised in northern New Jersey, Clark went to Montclair State College, where he majored in instrumental music. When he graduated he went straight into the Marine Corps, where he spent a total of 23 years on active and reserve duty, including a year-long tour in Vietnam.

"When I got there they talked about giving me this easy job, but I said, 'I want to go where the action is,'" Clark recalls. He was sent to An Hoa, where the last commanding officer had just been killed, and put in charge of a rifle company. There are plenty of combat stories to tell, but Clark is a cool customer who talks about his military service as if it were a stint in a college fraternity.

In the Penal Colony

* A Chamber Opera by Philip Glass
* When: Dec. 14 & 15 at 8 p.m.
* Where: Divadlo Archa
* Tickets: 170–250 Kč, available at the venue

"My career was not exactly McHale's Navy [an American TV sitcom], because the Marine Corps is very strict," he says. "But the working title for the book I want to write is 200 Reasons I Didn't Make Lieutenant Colonel."

The high jinks mostly came later, when he was stationed at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., where he helped develop a data network project that later became the Internet. By then Clark was singing in opera productions at Wolftrap and the Kennedy Center and with the New York City Opera. His singing career was launched one afternoon in the late '60s when he and his wife were listening to a former college classmate of Clark's singing on a Metropolitan Opera broadcast and she looked at him and said, "You could always sing."

In fact, he could, once running a Marine Corps chorus that toured the Caribbean. But he had never developed his voice, studying violin at Montclair instead. So he enrolled in the Manhattan School of Music as a voice major. There he developed into a lirico spinto tenor, with a voice capable of both high, bright tones and a powerful delivery, suited for a variety of classical tenor roles.

Between teaching and performing, Clark was doing fine in the States. But eventually he wanted to devote himself full time to opera singing, and for that he felt he had to move to Europe. "Even the Met isn't a year-round operation," he says. "If you want to work steadily, you have to come over here. So in late 1991 I decided to move to Germany and see what I could do."

The Germans were impressed — within a couple months, he had a two-year contract with an opera house in Hof, where he still lives. He started freelancing in 1996, and in 1999 was invited to audition at the State Opera in Prague. It was there that he met Agon Orchestra conductor and composer Petr Kofroň, who cast him in House of Usher.

"It was a gas," he says of that production. "I had sung Glass before, with City Opera in New York, and I have to say I'm not a fan of minimalist music. But for Usher and Penal Colony, it really works. The tension builds up with that music, and it's very effective."

Penal Colony is a straight musical adaptation of one of Franz Kafka's most gruesome stories, about a visit to a prison that houses an incredibly intricate and exquisitely refined torture machine. There are only two main characters in both the story and the opera — the prison officer who explains and operates the machine, and an increasingly horrified visitor. The orchestra is equally small, with just five instruments. Most of the set will be in the form of video stills and animation.

"It's creepy," Clark says when asked about the tone of the opera. "Real sick. But I'm getting into it. Of course, my role is the visitor, and what the officer is doing seems barbaric to me. But ultimately I come to an understanding of why he does what he does."

Clark and Czech baritone Jiří Hájek, who sings the officer's role, nicely complement the international blend of the work — an American opera based on the work of a Jewish writer who lived in Prague. But Clark is enough of a pro to wave off any distinctions between performing here and in Germany.

"The only difference is, there I'm Herr Clark," he says. "Here I'm Pan."

Frank Kuznik can be reached at fkuznik@praguepost.com

Me in Florida being interviewed on Palm Beach NPR before Carmen Premier

may 7

Just a note to friends and family...A beautiful day here in Hof, Germany with the prospect of the rest of the week being friendly up at least till Sunday.. Took a long walk with members of a church group after a morning concert. I am getting ready for a Kurt Weill concert on Friday the 12, at the Galerie in Hof and then the following week to Prague for a language course over the weekend. I had any interesting conversation with a native Slovakian now living in the area, married with two children who are bi-lingual. Slovak is similar to Czech with certain sounds missing but I could understand most of what he said. I need to cultivate more Czech friendships in the area to keep up my abilities in the language. I will be in Prague from 24th on for rehearsals of Philip Glass's "In the Penal Colony" to be performed at the Archa theater. We premiered this in December and this will be the third performance. Agon Orchestra hopes to take this on the road throughout Europe as it involves a small ensemble both singers and orchestra. Less costs.

letter exchange with my old friend

This is an article I sent my friend and his response as well as mine...


Nytimes article was sent to you by JJ. His comment on the article was:

"An interesting article on health and socialized medicine...The Germans are also healthier and live longer than the Americans..Also socialized medicine"

HEALTH | May 2, 2006 see the article at this website http://www.examiner.com/a-95754~Middle_Aged_Americans_Sicker_Than_British.html


Older Americans Sicker Than the English, Study Says
By ALAN COWELL
The disparities could not be ascribed to the two countries' different health care systems, said one of the authors of the study.

Dear JJ

I look at the FAT youngsters we have today and wonder how long this nation of ours will last. I have terrible concerns for my grandkids.

I think back and realize that every older generation said the same thing about every younger generation for my whole life and they all worked it out in the end.

I know you think highly of the socialized medicine in Germany and I have always accepted that it works very well there. I haven't known anyone from the UK that has anything good to say about their medical care.

I believe longevity has much to do with life style and less to do with the quality of medical care. My doctor told me to stop smoking for years but I choose to employ cigarettes.

American choose life styles much different from Europeans and are willing to sacrifice much, including health, to attain those life styles. Larger homes, SUV's et al. They also choose longer work hours, less vacation time, higher stress and lower family quality time. Are we right? Probably not. Do we tell Europe they shouldn't take the month of August off for vacation? No one I know gives a shit.

So, if you're going to change all this, where are you planning to start?

Have a good one,

Your buddy











Dear ol´ Buddy

A good question! The only thing I can do about it is to make sure I am informed and have take a healthy dose of skepticism everyday. The next thing is to make sure as an American I take an honest look at the pros and cons of our society as compared with Europe stop thinking that we have a lock on morality and vision which we don't. Germany is the third or fourth richest nation in the world and most German workers get 6 weeks vacation. They have required military or civilian service for all young men. They also live longer and a lot drive big fast Mercedes. ( I have a Nissan).


I sent you an article I believe in which it is posited that the present administration has sqandered our good will in the world with go it alone, the hell with the rest of the world, we are the most moral nation in the world, therefore we can start wars, torture people, jail people without habeus corpus, eavesdrop without authority, condemn people to death just like the evil regime in China, presidentially disobey the law more than 650 times, spit on enviromental issues, politicize health so that condoms and family planning are not promulgated in the developing nations that need it, scorn the UN, and the list goes on.

Yes we are proud of ourselves and glad that we don't rate time to go on vacation or spend time with the family...

I did not realize that the Europeans are telling us to take longer vacations or work less hours. Have I missed something? Most Germans are fascinated with the USA and many would like to be able to come and work or live here. They do appreciate our sense of freedom, but I do not think the average American who is of European descent even thinks about what Europe much less the entire rest of the world is doing. Two thirds of American students have no idea where Iraq is.

I do agree that the quality of life is more important than simply living a long time but I want to fully enjoy what remaining years I have such the ability to move, play, work, travel without too many physical and mental restrictions. The sheer joy of a 30 or 40 mile bike ride is tantamount to any debilitating habit such as too much alcohol, tobacco, or whatever unhealthy habit.

In that vein, I want to read things that uplift more than discourage me so I take with a grain of salt any of the right or left wing ideological pronouncements and acuate the positive.

Yo! Have a good day

JJ
-----

may 1 workers of the world reunite

This is a correspondence with a friend of mine that is interesting from time to time. the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Part of his business is connected with supplying support to energy companies for one thing.

It started with this email to my friend.
Personal Message:
your "daily" energy briefing

More Lawlessness at EPA

BARELY A MONTH ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a stinging rebuke to the Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to rewrite federal clean air law to weaken rules concerning power companies upgrading old coal-fired equipment. This week, a cross-ideological panel of the...

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/26/AR2006042602343.html?referrer=emailarticle

To wit came a reply

Subject: Re: A washingtonpost.com article from: jj

dear JJ


I actually read this thing and I don't understand it. It starts off with energy credits used in the retrofit of older coal fired power plants and segues into pollution in the Anacosta from sewage washed into the river when it rises. If I didn't know better I would have thought they were talking about sewage from a power plant, and I never could figure out where the sewage they talk about comes from.

your friend


Hi old friend,

The tenor of the article ( and I don´t mean me as the tenor) is that the EPA attempted recently to weaken rules concerning upgrading old coal-fired equipment and was overruled by the U.S Court of Appeals. The second part of the article deals with a issue of sewer water that the EPA was trying to fudge through the language of daily versus annual measurements and was again overruled. The article is pointing out that within a short time the EPA has been again overuled. The article appears to say that the EPA is trying to protect us through politics and not responsible actions.


JJ

Dear JJ

must have really been out of it when I read the article last week.

The problem utilities face with older coal fired plants (and with plants being built today) is that you can't just shut down a billion dollar investment (pretty close to the cost of one unit in a plant which may have up to six or eight units) every time newer technology comes along. We often get newer technology before a plant in finished, and if you don't operate it for it's intended life cycle (typically 40 years) no one would be able to afford to turn on a light.

That's not to say that you can't or shouldn't install newer equipment to attempt to keep older plants as clean as possible. I have been in facilities, in fact most of the older plants, where new emission upgrades over the years have far exceeded the initial cost to build the plant.

However, there is a point at which a utility has to either raise prices which the public won't pay or go bankrupt.

From the end of the great depression until 10 or 15 years ago utilities were primarily owned by older folks who just wanted to protect their life savings and insure a modest return for their retirement. Termed widows and orphans stocks for their low returns (but with stability), the government mandated upgrades coupled with utility commissions not allowing the costs to be passed to the client (us) put a majority of the old time players out of business. Of course, it also killed the widows and orphans and retirees, but ?????

So it goes on without answers,

Your friend



Dear friend

The point of the article is not about the economics of energy plants but of the responsibilities of the EPA which does not stand for Energy Plant Association.

JJ



Dear JJ
Don't get testy on me now!

Your friend




Dear Friend

I would never never get testy..The issue is not about how difficult it is for companies to adjust to govt. regulations, it about is politicizing the EPA which is about everyone´s health and not the health of a particular business. I am sure you want the FDA to insure that the bulk of your medications are safe and not downgrading safety for the profit margin of the major drug firms. That being said here is an article that you and I agree 150 percent about http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/30/AR2006043000867.html


I don´t quite understand the problems of the energy business as it is entwined with govt. anyway which means it cannot be allowed to fail. The people who supported Bush`s folly in Iraq and the billions upon billions of dollars it has cost can reach in their pockets and bail out the energy industry. When the time comes to bail out this industry, the govt. will write a check or print some more money add some pork to the bill just like they are doing right now, deficit be damned. I do not see any problem. We need to reduce taxes anyway so prime the pump.

JJ


More to follow....