July 2006

I discovered the most wonderful website today: VivaLaVoce.com is a 24-hour internet radio station presenting classical vocal music in all its forms, from the Middle Ages to the present. VivaLaVoce.com is a product of Washington DC’s only all-classical radio station, WGMS (the top rated classical radio station in the country).

Every day at 8:00 p.m. Eastern (9:00 am, the following day for me) they stream a full-length opera, commercial-free, with an encore at 3:00 am (4:00 p.m.) for folks who are overseas. Of course the encore is too early for me during the week (until daylight savings time ends in October), but the timing is great for weekends and either presentation is convenient.

In addition to the “Opera @ 8,” they stream opera music 24/7. Right now I’m listening to Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro: Act II” recorded at The Metropolitan Opera in New York. There’s a schedule for what’s playing when, too!

“The station that sings!” Absolutely wonderful!

Due to his false portrayal in the movie “Amadeus,” Antonio Salieri is considered a mediocre composer and a malevolent, envious and petty man. Truth be told he actually achieved more fame in his day than Mozart and with regard to his ability as a composer, Cecilia Bartoli has set the record straight with “The Salieri Album,” a collection of Salieri arias.

Antonio Salieri composed his music during a time of dramatic change in opera. He witnessed the reformation of the opera style by composers such as Christoph Gluck who believed that Italian, French and Handelian opera was full of excess and a betrayal of opera’s true meaning–why it was created in the fist place. Gluck thought opera had become so extravagant, with excessive ornamentation by vocalists and overtures unrelated to the opera’s story, that it overwhelmed the drama of the opera itself. Of Antonio Salieri, Gluck spoke of him as his only true heir.

Salieri’s operas demonstrate the Gluckian ideal of dramatic truth and this is perhaps the reason why he is so misunderstood today. But listen to “The Salieri Album” and you’ll hear truth. Cecelia Bartoli, the beautiful mezzo-soprano, is absolutely wonderful. Her rich vocal tones and thrilling vibrato are breathtaking. My favorite piece is “Vieni a me sull’ali d’oro (Come to me on golden wings),” where Bartoli sings the expressive and noble minuet Salieri originally wrote for castrato Giuseppe Millico in “Armida.”

I doubt this will be as big a seller as Bartoli’s “Opera Proibita” or her Mozart and Vivaldi recordings, and that is unfortunate. “The Salieri Album” has certainly earned a place at the top of my list of favorite opera recordings!

I’m back in Korea and only 175 days until my assignment is complete and I can go home for good! My plane landed right on time and I caught the first bus to Kunsan. It’s raining, but not very hard and the temperature is about 73Ëš. The flight was a long one, but the time went by fairly quickly and I was comfortable. I was able to get 4-1/2 to 5 hours sleep which should help me tomorrow. I’m going to be getting to bed in the next few minutes, just as soon as I finish my tea.

I miss Cindy terribly and am looking forward to seeing her in Hawaii next month.

Today is the last day of my mid-tour leave. I’m the only one up right now, Jess has left for school and Cindy and Kameran are still sleeping. I’m watching Spielberg’s “Munich” starring Eric Bana; a good movie.

I don’t have much planned today. I need to wash some clothes, do some packing and I’d like to get a run in. Other than that, I’ll just enjoy my remaining time with Cindy. It’s always hard to leave, but every day we’re one step closer to all this being behind us. Of course, this half of the tour won’t be as bad because I’ll be doing some traveling. I have a conference in Hawaii in August and Cindy will be joining me. In October and November I’ll be coming back to the States for conferences and we’ll get to visit. In January, it’s done!

Now, I just need to get on the plane tomorrow to get the ball rolling…

My mid-tour is coming to a close…about one week before the long flight back to South Korea.

Last week we visited my folks and family in Virginia. They’s never met my grandaughter, Kameran, before and hadn’t seen Jessica in a couple of years. We had a great time there and Cindy always likes to visit the family (more than I do, I’m afraid). We spent the Fourth of July at my Aunt’s house poolside, took a trip into town on Wednesday and visited my grandpa on Thursday. We returned to Birmingham on Friday. Saturday, we drove to Montgomery to visit the boys and returned for shopping at the Galleria that evening. On Sunday we celebrated Jessica’s 21st birthday.

This week is going to be pretty quiet. We’re planning on going to visit Nick and Neil tomorrow, and meet their girlfriends. Other than that, we’ll be taking care of some odds-and-ends. I need to buy a timing belt for my Jeep. It’s time to replace it and I plan to get it done while I’m in Korea (should be an interesting experience).

It’s Saturday, Cindy and I are spending the weekend at the Bay Point Marriott Resort in Panama City, Florida. We drove down from Birmingham yesterday and will be heading back tomorrow afternoon. The primary purpose of our trip was to register Cindy’s car. I’m a resident of Florida and we plan to retire here, so since we’re so close decided to go ahead and switch the car over from New Mexico registration. Cindy’s tickled pink with her new Florida State Seminoles license plate (I suppose I’m gonna hefta get a Florida Gators plate for my Jeep now).

This morning we ordered room service. I had scrambled eggs w/ grits and ham; Cindy had Eggs Benedict. We just returned from the Marriott’s private beach. Cindy is happy with the sun she got, but I got a little too much for my comfort level. There’s a nice cabana near the beach and we enjoyed a wonderfully cool margarita.

This evening it’s seafood at Dirty Dick’s Crab Shack on the beach!