A Great Loss

I am a relative newcomer to opera. I have loved classical music since college, but was never able to enjoy opera until sometime over the last ten years. Part of the process for me understanding this beautiful form of music was listening to Met Opera broadcasts on Saturdays, specifically to hear Margaret Juntwait's insightful commentary. I made sure I caught up on missed broadcasts by subscribing to XM Radio and listening to past broadcasts. When Margaret gave her last broadcast back in December, of Lehar's The Merry Widow, I was not able to listen in. In fact, I was unaware it was her last broadcast. She passed away June 3rd after a long battle with ovarian cancer, the disease that also took my mother ten years ago.

The Met Opera mourns the death of our beloved radio host Margaret Juntwait, who passed away this morning. http://t.co/LhhoX1l1iO

— Metropolitan Opera (@MetOpera) June 3, 2015

Choral Music

Although I no longer attend church, I do miss the singing. I'm not talking about hymns, I'm talking about full on choral singing. I was fortunate to be able to spend so much time in choirs with excellent directors who had us singing some wonderful music. I am reminded of this each Sunday morning when I listen to The Choral Mix on WQXR every Sunday morning. This week's program put me squarely in the midst of the Christmas Spirit. Give it a listen.

Opera!

Excited to (probably) be getting a ticket to see Falstaff as part of the Metropolitan Opera's "Live in HD" series.

Ten Favorite Albums

I love music, and can't imagine a world without it. I listen constantly to a variety of genres , musicians, composers, and singers, but there are some that are my absolute favorites. I can't imagine a playlist without at least some of these on it.

Ok, I'm dating myself by even using the word "albums", but hey, you get the idea. Here are my top 10, in no particular order.






1. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
2. Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive
3. Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent, The E Street Shuffle
4. Frank Sinatra - Nothing But the Best
5. Grateful Dead - American Beauty
6. Pearl Jam - Ten
7. Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers - Conscious Party
8. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - So Far
9. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin (box set)
10. Indigo Girls - Indigo Girls

What are yours?

Music Streaming

I spend a lot of time sitting at a desk at work. It's also very quiet in my office. If it weren't for the music streaming capabilities of my iPhone, I would certainly go mad on those days I am stuck in the office. I often stream local public radio stations, but I have recently discovered Minnesota Public Radio's wonderful app. Contained within this little bit of digital goodness are seven separate streams - MPR News, Classical MPR, The Current, Local Current, Radio Heartland, Wonderground Radio, and Classical MPR Choral Stream.

All of the above streams are available on the internet, but if you work somewhere that doesn't allow streaming (like my office), and you have an Apple or Android device, I can't recommend this app enough. The content is varied enough to satisfy a wide variety of musical tastes. I've also found that even with a crappy phone signal (I'm looking at you AT&T) the stream runs smoothly. So what are you waiting for? Go get this FREE app now!

genesis

As if there weren't enough happening in my life already, I have set my sights on entering the blogosphere, quietly, without a thought as to where I'm headed. But that's the fun part, isn't it? The not-knowing of writing? Where will my subconscious take me today? I don't know. But I do know that my conscious and I just returned from Target. We decided to consolidate the 500+ CD's scattered about the house and put them into zip cases so we have more room. Every time we want to listen to something, the search for the CD begins. Invariably, we give up, disgusted with how disorganized we are when it comes to our music, and end up turning on the TV. So....I went to Target to get some cases. On a Saturday afternoon. In NJ where it seems EVERYONE goes shopping on a Saturday afternoon. Normally, that would bother me, but today I had been in the house all day, and it felt good to get out among humanity. I felt like an anthropologist amongst all the shoppers, watching what they were buying, who they were with. It felt good to get back home, as the sun set, knowing that dinner was cooking, and I could spend the evening curled up with a good book.