Opera appreciations and discussion

[InBangkok]

10 hours ago, Steve5380 said:

And here you of all persons, find this rubbish,  you who enjoy opera houses AND gay saunas, as you have said repeatedly.  I hope for your good that you also perform live in gay saunas, where you should not worry about your age as long as you take steps to remain somewhat attractive,  and you could also sing arias there since you know their melody.

I fail to understand how an outright lie about a poster can be humorous or lighthearted! It is at the very least a deliberate attempt to undermine and discredit that poster. 
 

I have written in 1 or 2 threads on the main forum about attending Rairua in the early 2000s. Just after it closed in April 2005, I once tried another one in Chinatown. I added I did not enjoy it and that I had not been to a Singapore sauna since.  I also wrote in another thread that I had not been to any sauna in 15 years. I have a partner and I have had no interest in going to saunas since then.

 

I do not go to saunas! Since you have lied that I “enjoy gay saunas” and compounded that lie by expressing your hope “that I perform live in gay saunas”, will you now kindly unreservedly apologise to me in your next post. And do not lie about posters' private lives in future without first checking your facts!

 

Unlike you, I take this subject of “live” opera performances, to quote the TS, seriously. That anyone could possibly consider a comparison with a “performance” in a gay sauna is utterly ridiculous! Equally ridiculous is an attempt to relate that to the use of the word "queens" in the thread title. You know perfectly well what the TS meant. But you prefer to twist everything in a genuine thread.

 

if you wish to start a thread based on lighthearted gay sauna performances, go ahead. Stop doing your best to destroy this one started by a sincere and experienced lover of live opera of which you have had no experience and no interest for at least a quarter of a century (your words).

 

PS: You did not even bother to hear Nathan Gunn when he appeared at the Houston Grand Opera 5 years ago, 

Edited December 31, 2020 by InBangkok

[InBangkok]

12 hours ago, heman said:

There are many interpretations of this very melodious aria. However as for me nothing beats the vocal interpretation by Lucia Popp. I find this Dvorak opera a little boring frankly for the story line is not strong . 

I have never heard the opera, only a few extracts. What I find strange is that I love his Symphonies 5, 6, 7 and 8, the Violin and Cello concertos. Rusalka was written at least 5 years later yet the music seems to come from an earlier time in his career.

[Steve5380]

1 hour ago, InBangkok said:

I fail to understand how an outright lie about a poster can be humorous or lighthearted! It is at the very least a deliberate attempt to undermine and discredit that poster. 
 

I have written in 1 or 2 threads on the main forum about attending Rairua in the early 2000s. Just after it closed in April 2005, I once tried another one in Chinatown. I added I did not enjoy it and that I had not been to a Singapore sauna since.  I also wrote in another thread that I had not been to any sauna in 15 years. I have a partner and I have had no interest in going to saunas since then.

 

I do not go to saunas! Since you have lied that I “enjoy gay saunas” and compounded that lie by expressing your hope “that I perform live in gay saunas”, will you now kindly unreservedly apologise to me in your next post. And do not lie about posters' private lives in future without first checking your facts!

 

 

 

I would not have thought that you were so malevolent of accusing me of an "outright lie"  for having posted earlier my assumption that "you enjoy gay saunas as well".   THIS IS NOT A LIE!

 

Had you corrected me for having a wrong assumption, then perhaps I could apologize, but your malevolent insult to immediately call me a liar is obvious sign that you have a problem.  I don't take your insult.  I am perfectly satisfied that I had grounds for my assumption.  

 

I remember reading more than once that you attended saunas.  I never read that "you don't enjoy them" (why would you attend saunas more than ONCE if you don't enjoy them?) I have never read that you have not been in a sauna in 15 years. You don't interest me so much that I will make an investigation, but I quickly found a post of yours in a thread "remembering old sauna in Singapore"  from  May 3d, 2020.  It reads: 

 

Guest InBangkok

• 
• Guests

 

Posted May 3

Agree totally about Rairua. A great sauna, excellent staff, always very clean. Almost like a club. Am I right in remembering it had the first all nude area in Singapore?

 

This does not sound like "I did not enjoy it",  and your post does not say any of that. But you found it great, excellent staff,  always clean, and...  remembering the first all nude area?    ANYONE reading what I remembered reading would assume that you enjoy gay saunas.  Now, I don't think you deserve that anyone remembers what you enjoy or not enjoy, but when I wrote what I wrote I definitely was not OUTRIGHT LYING.   In the first place, you don't deserve that I commit an "outright lie" about you.   I don't lie, and surely not for such cheap reason!  I think that you should apologize to me for your malevolent groundless accusation.   (this emoticon is only to give you an idea;  I am not angry, but disillusioned for having initially thought of you as a friendly person. 

 

 

 

 

[InBangkok]

39 minutes ago, Steve5380 said:

I would not have thought that you were so malevolent of accusing me of an "outright lie"  for having posted earlier my assumption that "you enjoy gay saunas as well".   THIS IS NOT A LIE!

 

I remember reading more than once that you attended saunas.  I never read that "you don't enjoy them" (why would you attend saunas more than ONCE if you don't enjoy them?) I have never read that you have not been in a sauna in 15 years. You don't interest me so much that I will make an investigation, but I quickly found a post of yours in a thread "remembering old sauna in Singapore"  from  May 3d, 2020.  It reads: 

Guest InBangkok

• 
• Guests

 

Posted May 3

Agree totally about Rairua. A great sauna, excellent staff, always very clean. Almost like a club. Am I right in remembering it had the first all nude area in Singapore?

 

 

This does not sound like "I did not enjoy it",  and your post does not say any of that. But you found it great, excellent staff,  always clean, and...  remembering the first all nude area?    ANYONE reading what I remembered reading would assume that you enjoy gay saunas

Your comment remains a LIE. As is so often the case you fail to acknowledge your action and try to wriggle out of a comment you have made. 

 

You stated: "I remember reading more than once that you attended saunas." That is correct. The operative word here - since you so often correct others regarding matters of grammar - is "attended". But that is not what you first wrote. You very clearly stated: "you who enjoy opera houses AND gay saunas, as you have said repeatedly" First you wrote "enjoy" and then you wrote "attend" - i.e. both present tense. Look up your on-line dictionary. That means "a tense expressing an action that is currently going on or habitually performed, or a state that currently or generally exists." 

 

What you wrote is a LIE.

 

You then state: "ANYONE reading what I remembered would assume . . ."  You have absolutely zero right to assume anything, the more so when you "remembered" incorrectly. I wrote of experiences more than 15 years ago. So, according to you, that is an action that is "currently going on . . . or generally exists"? You merely "assumed" based on an historical record from 15 years ago and an inaccurate memory. Your "assumption" was wrong.

 

I am the opposite of being malevolent when another poster lies about me. I tell the truth when the poster who has lied did precisely that - lied! Who is being malevolent?

 

"Remembering" to an ageing mind means nothing unless you provide proof. In this case, your memory failed you and your assumptions were malevolently inaccurate. Either provide evidence.  Or revisit your inaccurate "memory" and inaccurate "assumptions" and apologise in this thread for YOUR LIES.

 

Finally you also state: "I have never read that you have not been in a sauna in 15 years. You don't interest me so much that I will make an investigation." So you make assumptions once again on a failed memory - or perhaps you just conveniently decided not to remember? There is a perfectly good search engine in this forum. It takes a few minutes to check what I say is true.  

Edited December 31, 2020 by InBangkok

[InBangkok]

I wonder how many interested in live performances happened to see a 1995/6 six-part series titled "The House". This was an effort by the relatively new General Director Jeremy Isaacs to open up all the workings of The Royal Opera House to a wide television audience, most of whom would never have attended opera or ballet before.

 

It was a mistake by Isaacs of breathtaking proportions. This was strange as Isaacs had come from a television executive background and was responsible for some classic British television historical and current affairs series. As General Director of the Royal Opera House he was a disaster. And his disasters were seen by an almost unbelieving public. He of all people should have realised that television can expose a lot of what you do not want exposed.

 

To be fair it was a particularly difficult time for the House. It had been badly managed for years although very little of this was seen by the public. It also had to close for two and a half years for massive renovations to the stage and backstage areas and extensions to the front-of-house. He was tasked with finding a new venue where the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet could perform during the closure starting in July 1997. This was going to be a hugely expensive exercise. As becomes clear Isaacs simply cannot make up his mind until it is too late and instead of performing in one theatre, the entire company had to become itinerant. It was another disaster.

 

Major problems become obvious in virtually every department of the House. There are the two barmen in the elegant first tier Crush Bar who have refused to speak to each other for more than a decade. In many ways the programmes illustrate how not to run an opera house and how not to run its individual departments. But it makes for fascinating viewing. This is the first hour-long episode. The others are equally interesting and are on youtube. Just type in Royal Opera House documentary

 

 

[heman]

7 hours ago, InBangkok said:

Cello concertos

Dvorak's cello concerto is a miraculous composition. Never had any composer ever write such a beautiful, almost symphonic cello concerto. Even Brahms mentioned Dvorak's cello concerto is far superior than his double concerto for violin and cello.  I am glad to hear it a couple of times here in the concert hall. 

Of all his symphonies i only favour his 7th,8th and of course the grand New World No.9 

 

[InBangkok]

4 hours ago, heman said:

Dvorak's cello concerto is a miraculous composition. Never had any composer ever write such a beautiful, almost symphonic cello concerto. Even Brahms mentioned Dvorak's cello concerto is far superior than his double concerto for violin and cello.  I am glad to hear it a couple of times here in the concert hall. 

Of all his symphonies i only favour his 7th,8th and of course the grand New World No.9 

I don’t know why I went off the 9th symphony having loved it for years. I now favour the 5th and 6th over the 9th.

[Steve5380]

11 hours ago, InBangkok said:

Your comment remains a LIE. As is so often the case you fail to acknowledge your action and try to wriggle out of a comment you have made. 

 

You stated: "I remember reading more than once that you attended saunas." That is correct. The operative word here - since you so often correct others regarding matters of grammar - is "attended". But that is not what you first wrote. You very clearly stated: "you who enjoy opera houses AND gay saunas, as you have said repeatedly" First you wrote "enjoy" and then you wrote "attend" - i.e. both present tense. Look up your on-line dictionary. That means "a tense expressing an action that is currently going on or habitually performed, or a state that currently or generally exists." 

 

What you wrote is a LIE.

 

You then state: "ANYONE reading what I remembered would assume . . ."  You have absolutely zero right to assume anything, the more so when you "remembered" incorrectly. I wrote of experiences more than 15 years ago. So, according to you, that is an action that is "currently going on . . . or generally exists"? You merely "assumed" based on an historical record from 15 years ago and an inaccurate memory. Your "assumption" was wrong.

 

I am the opposite of being malevolent when another poster lies about me. I tell the truth when the poster who has lied did precisely that - lied! Who is being malevolent?

 

"Remembering" to an ageing mind means nothing unless you provide proof. In this case, your memory failed you and your assumptions were malevolently inaccurate. Either provide evidence.  Or revisit your inaccurate "memory" and inaccurate "assumptions" and apologise in this thread for YOUR LIES.

 

Finally you also state: "I have never read that you have not been in a sauna in 15 years. You don't interest me so much that I will make an investigation." So you make assumptions once again on a failed memory - or perhaps you just conveniently decided not to remember? There is a perfectly good search engine in this forum. It takes a few minutes to check what I say is true.  

 

Your long dissertation does not prove in any way or form your accusation of outright lie.  There might have been some inaccuracy, in which case a well educated person would call attention on this by making a cordial observation. Not by calling the other person a liar.

 

If your likeness of saunas changed lately, this is of no one's interest, except perhaps any boyfriend you may have.  But it is obvious that you enjoyed them at some time, otherwise you would never have gone back to one.  The lack of enjoyment now could be due to some factors like not getting any action anymore,  but this is not for me to speculate.

 

I frequently find inaccuracies in what you write, which I then try to clarify although they often result in discussions.  But I have never called you a liar.  Maybe I should make an exception this time, since your accusation of outright lie is a lie itself,  since you cannot be so dumb not to recognize that it was an inaccuracy. I would not find it a lie if I were not certain, and his time I am. But I will not call you a liar, since this is not how I was educated.  Instead I will call it malevolence, a softer term.  

 

Why your malevolence?  I am not sure.  Maybe it is your character to be malevolent. Although you are younger than me, you already show some signs of aging by being grouchy, which I am not.  Or perhaps you respond with malevolence when there is a grudge.  In this case this brings the question, why the grudge?  Is it something intrinsic in me, or something that was ill received? Regardless the cause, now that I know that there is a grudge, I will be on alert. 

 

It could be that while you have to make long trips to fully experience the enjoyment with live music that you don't get with recorded music with all its 'negatives',  I get immense joy hearing records and watching videos, movies of any kind, any time, in the comfort of my home.

 

I give thanks to Destiny for my humble beginnings that allowed me to fall in love with classical music not with plenty of resources but listening to an old radio playing some old recordings of poor sound quality.    

.

Edited December 31, 2020 by Steve5380

[InBangkok]

You @Steve5380have lied! And as is your usual tactic, you totally fail to take any responsibility. You merely dig yourself into an even deeper hole by writing this piece of nonsense - 

 

"your accusation of outright lie is a lie itself,  since you cannot be so dumb not to recognize that it was an inaccuracy."

 

It was an inaccuracy you could easily have checked - but you then stated very clearly you would not do that. It was NO inaccuracy. According to the written evidence in this forum, you lied.

 

You then compound the lie by now saying this -

 

"Maybe it is your character to be malevolent. Although you are younger than me, you already show some signs of aging by being grouchy, which I am not.  Or perhaps you respond with malevolence when there is a grudge.  In this case this brings the question, why the grudge?  Is it something intrinsic in me, or something that was ill received?"

 

You were in the wrong to write falsehoods about the integrity of a poster and to write an outright lie. Remember your words: you did not know if what you stated was fact. You merely "remembered" without checking and then you merely "assumed" from that false memory. Your memory and your assumption were both wrong.  Further, the fact that you will not even consider double checking my earlier posts proves that you did in fact lie. You prove my point. Apologise to me for lying!

[Steve5380]

7 hours ago, heman said:

Dvorak's cello concerto is a miraculous composition. Never had any composer ever write such a beautiful, almost symphonic cello concerto. Even Brahms mentioned Dvorak's cello concerto is far superior than his double concerto for violin and cello.  I am glad to hear it a couple of times here in the concert hall. 

Of all his symphonies i only favour his 7th,8th and of course the grand New World No.9 

 

 

I also enjoy Dworak's cello concerto, since my childhood I remember the melody of the 3d and last movement, with its nicely Slavic flavor,  like many of Dworak's compositions.  But what mostly defines Dworak in my mind is his wonderful New World symphony.  I even remember hearing it on the radio as a child, and my family commenting on it. 

 

I have another reason for feeling sympathy with the Czech people.  My violin teacher of many years was a Czech from Prague.  He told me about his city and its culture, especially in its cultivation of string instruments.  He made me practice on the violin endless studies, exercises from O.Sevcik, the famous Czech pedagogue.  Thanks to this and of being left handed I developed a good technique. 

 

About the cello, as a violinist I considered it initially as just a big relative, but over the years I learned to enjoy its soothing sound and melodic possibilities.   Bach's Suites for cello solo are very nice.  Here is his Suite for cello No. 5 in C Minor:

 

 

[Steve5380]

2 hours ago, InBangkok said:

You @Steve5380have lied! And as is your usual tactic, you totally fail to take any responsibility. You merely dig yourself into an even deeper hole by writing this piece of nonsense - 

 

"your accusation of outright lie is a lie itself,  since you cannot be so dumb not to recognize that it was an inaccuracy."

 

It was an inaccuracy you could easily have checked - but you then stated very clearly you would not do that. It was NO inaccuracy. According to the written evidence in this forum, you lied.

 

 

You are in no condition to win this argument, but you keep trying...

 

Let's look at the definition of a lie:

noun

a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood.

 

The definition of a lie requires "a deliberate intent to deceive".  It has to be something intentional.  It would never occur to me to intentionally deceive on anything about you.  Why you think that you are WORTH for me to LIE about you?  You are not my lover, you are simply a Member here,  and I would not lie about members here, nor anyone else, here or elsewhere.  You have ZERO evidence that I had the INTENTION required for a lie.

 

Your sex life is of no interest to me, I simply had the idea that you enjoy saunas because I did read several times that you visited them, and it is logical to assume that a gay who visit gay saunas enjoys them. Also, why you think that you deserve that a poster here checks, investigates every detail about you before posting something as trivial as you enjoying a sauna?  You confuse me with an CIA agent who investigates suspected people? LOL!

[InBangkok]

9 hours ago, Steve5380 said:

I simply had the idea that you enjoy saunas because I did read several times that you visited them, and it is logical to assume that a gay who visit gay saunas enjoys them. Also, why you think that you deserve that a poster here checks, investigates every detail about you before posting something as trivial as you enjoying a sauna?  You confuse me with an CIA agent who investigates suspected people? LOL!

So typical! You repeat the lie! You never read "several times". That is an invention.

 

Let's not forget it was YOU who brought gay saunas into this thread. Not me. And YOU compared a live opera performance to a "performance" in a gay sauna.

 

You state: "Your sex life is of no interest to me." Well, that's a weird comment. You forget that you brought it up in the first place. I didn't!

 

You then get even more befuddled. You clearly won't do a search because what you wrote was not true. But your reasoning that comparing a search on BW to being a CIA agent is just plain idiotic!

 

Your unfounded "assumptions" based on your faulty memory are deeply, deeply hurtful. You have told readers in several posts spread over quite a few threads that you are a near octogenarian. You tell this to readers time after time (I will provide evidence if you wish). But if I made an assumption from this that your constant repetition of your age could be the symptom of a horrible illness particularly associated with elderly people, I am sure you would be more than annoyed. Please realise that assumptions based on guesswork and faulty memory can affect posters you refer to in ways that you really ought to understand.

Edited January 1, 2021 by InBangkok

[InBangkok]

恭喜发财

 

Wishing all who enjoy and attend live opera performances a very Happy New Year. Let's hope it is better than 2020, that the pandemic will soon be under control and that we can all get back to enjoying performances later in the year.

 

Have a little fun! Can you recognise all the works parodied in this version of the traditional song?

 

 

Edited January 1, 2021 by InBangkok

[heman]

7 hours ago, Steve5380 said:

 Bach's Suites for cello solo are very nice.

Bach's solo music for the cello as well for the violin are remarkable works and are not easy to play. They are real challenges even for accomplished world class performers. If not well executed these may sound very mechanical.

I witnessed few years ago the performance of his cello concerto , Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variation and also the above Bach's cello suite as an encore in the same night. That was really a bonus to listen to three cello repertoires the same evening !

Edited January 1, 2021 by heman

[heman]

Oh dear ....lets keep this thread focus on opera rather than instrumental music  Sorry ...and also wish everyone a Happy 2021

 

[InBangkok]

I have added the Auld Lang Syne Fantasia clip to the Instrumental Music thread.

[Steve5380]

2 hours ago, heman said:

Bach's solo music for the cello as well for the violin are remarkable works and are not easy to play. They are real challenges even for accomplished world class performers. If not well executed these may sound very mechanical.

I witnessed few years ago the performance of his cello concerto , Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variation and also the above Bach's cello suite as an encore in the same night. That was really a bonus to listen to three cello repertoires the same evening !

 

Yes, Bach's works for violin and cello solo are remarkable. They make a single string instrument playing worth a recital, they fill a concert hall with rich melodious and harmonious music. They sound difficult to play because of the chords and arpeggios, but they are not the most difficult works for these instruments.

 

I learned to play the famous Chaconne of the Partita No. 2, and I didn't find it too difficult.  I had good agility in my left hand and good pitch for the complex chords, and where I was not so perfect was in the bowing.  But what I played was not bad, and I once had a public to hear it.  

 

I nearly forgot that this is the opera thread and not the instrumental music one.  I just continued with the topic of cello that had started earlier. I don't see a big problem with this. Classical music is classical music, and BW will not suffer if we inadvertently mix some types.  But I will continue on the Instrumental Music thread.

[Steve5380]

2 hours ago, InBangkok said:

So typical! You repeat the lie! You never read "several times". That is an invention.

 

Let's not forget it was YOU who brought gay saunas into this thread. Not me. And YOU compared a live opera performance to a "performance" in a gay sauna.

 

You state: "Your sex life is of no interest to me." Well, that's a weird comment. You forget that you brought it up in the first place. I didn't!

 

You then get even more befuddled. You clearly won't do a search because what you wrote was not true. But your reasoning that comparing a search on BW to being a CIA agent is just plain idiotic!

 

Your unfounded "assumptions" based on your faulty memory are deeply, deeply hurtful. You have told readers in several posts spread over quite a few threads that you are a near octogenarian. You tell this to readers time after time (I will provide evidence if you wish). But if I made an assumption from this that your constant repetition of your age could be the symptom of a horrible illness particularly associated with elderly people, I am sure you would be more than annoyed. Please realise that assumptions based on guesswork and faulty memory can affect posters you refer to in ways that you really ought to understand.

 

Oh, oh... you are so bitter!  This state of mind will bring you an ulcer.

 

You owe me an apology for having called me a liar. 

 

If I thought that I had "read several times" this is perfectly possible,  I may have read several times the same post without realizing it and this is truthful. But I suspect that you posted about saunas several times. You think that I would make such a big deal out of this as you are making?  You can write that you think that I enjoy gay saunas, or that I hate gay saunas... I don't care.  I won't call you a liar for that.

 

You say that my unfounded assumptions are deeply hurtful.  But how can you allow that what some member here writes can hurt you so much?  I never want to hurt you,  I write in a way that is somewhat humorous, like saying that performances of live operas and performances in gay saunas are both performances.  This is absolutely true.  

 

I never hide my age, I am 77 years old going to 78.  Soon I will be 80.  But I don't feel old at all,  maybe because I am not bitter or grouchy. I am very happy with my age, and if I can remain unhurt by the covid I see a long future life.  If I repeat this, the reason is to reassure many gays that to age is not a disgrace, it can be something to look forwards to.  And this goes for you too,  so please stop that bitterness and that grouchiness, it will only bring you wrinkles and gastric problems.

 

Note:  What is this "horrible illness" you mention in elderly people who tell their age?  Does it have a medical name?  

 

 

[InBangkok]

1 hour ago, Steve5380 said:

 

Oh, oh... you are so bitter!  This state of mind will bring you an ulcer.

 

You owe me an apology for having called me a liar. 

 

If I thought that I had "read several times" this is perfectly possible,  I may have read several times the same post without realizing it and this is truthful. But I suspect that you posted about saunas several times. You think that I would make such a big deal out of this as you are making?  You can write that you think that I enjoy gay saunas, or that I hate gay saunas... I don't care.  I won't call you a liar for that.

 

You say that my unfounded assumptions are deeply hurtful.  But how can you allow that what some member here writes can hurt you so much?  I never want to hurt you,  I write in a way that is somewhat humorous, like saying that performances of live operas and performances in gay saunas are both performances.  This is absolutely true.  

 

I never hide my age, I am 77 years old going to 78.  Soon I will be 80.  But I don't feel old at all,  maybe because I am not bitter or grouchy. I am very happy with my age, and if I can remain unhurt by the covid I see a long future life.  If I repeat this, the reason is to reassure many gays that to age is not a disgrace, it can be something to look forwards to.  And this goes for you too,  so please stop that bitterness and that grouchiness, it will only bring you wrinkles and gastric problems.

 

Note:  What is this "horrible illness" you mention in elderly people who tell their age?  Does it have a medical name?  

Yet again you will not leave this alone by apologising for your failed memory and your incorrect assumptions. And again you reinforce my comments when you say this -

 

"I suspect that you posted about saunas several times"

 

As every reader will know by now, you suspected wrongly! Admit it.

 

Then you write -

 

"You can write that you think that I enjoy gay saunas, or that I hate gay saunas... I don't care.  I won't call you a liar for that."

 

You can't call me a liar! You have written in posts that you are a "sex tourist" and you regret not being able to return to Singapore to go back to more saunas due to covid19. You want evidence? I will provide it. So why did you even bother writing that stupid sentence?

 

As for "please stop that bitterness and that grouchiness, it will only bring you wrinkles and gastric problems." Again you make huge assumptions that are incorrect. I am not bitter, grouchy and I do not suffer from wrinkles or gastric problems. Writing in a chat room will not affect me in the slightest. But you have to find some further accusations to make because you simply will not admit that you have lied. And in not apologising, you just dig a deeper hole for yourself. That is your modus operandi. I guess it will be so in 2021 as well.

 

Edited January 1, 2021 by InBangkok

[InBangkok]

A toast to the New Year. The lighthearted Champagne ensemble from Die Fledermaus Act 2.

 

 

[Steve5380]

7 hours ago, InBangkok said:

Yet again you will not leave this alone by apologising for your failed memory and your incorrect assumptions. And again you reinforce my comments when you say this -

 

"I suspect that you posted about saunas several times"

 

As every reader will know by now, you suspected wrongly! Admit it.

 

Then you write -

 

"You can write that you think that I enjoy gay saunas, or that I hate gay saunas... I don't care.  I won't call you a liar for that."

 

You can't call me a liar! You have written in posts that you are a "sex tourist" and you regret not being able to return to Singapore to go back to more saunas due to covid19. You want evidence? I will provide it. So why did you even bother writing that stupid sentence?

 

As for "please stop that bitterness and that grouchiness, it will only bring you wrinkles and gastric problems." Again you make huge assumptions that are incorrect. I am not bitter, grouchy and I do not suffer from wrinkles or gastric problems. Writing in a chat room will not affect me in the slightest. But you have to find some further accusations to make because you simply will not admit that you have lied. And in not apologising, you just dig a deeper hole for yourself. That is your modus operandi. I guess it will be so in 2021 as well.

 

 

On 5/3/2020 at 9:42 PM, Guest InBangkok said:

Agree totally about Rairua. A great sauna, excellent staff, always very clean. Almost like a club. Am I right in remembering it had the first all nude area in Singapore?

 

I am willing to apologize for my memory lapse  (in spite of the above post) after you apologize for having called me a liar.

 

We are starting a new year which is predestined to be a great one, an opportunity to reverse all the negatives of the last one.  How about throwing away all the resentments, grouches, bitterness that grew in this poisonous 2020 and start anew in a cordial, civil tone?

[Steve5380]

8 hours ago, InBangkok said:

A toast to the New Year. The lighthearted Champagne ensemble from Die Fledermaus Act 2.

 

 

 

There is some nostalgia watching what people were able to do in the past before covid-19.  Gather together without social distancing and masks.  Hopefully this possibility will return once most of us are vaccinated.   

[InBangkok]

On 1/1/2021 at 9:29 PM, Steve5380 said:

I am willing to apologize for my memory lapse  (in spite of the above post) after you apologize for having called me a liar.

I appreciate your willingness to apologise, but I regret I do not accept apologies with conditions. You "remembered" something which was inaccurate and from that you made an incorrect assumption. Two failings which, despite your various attempts to explain it all away, resulted in a lie.

 

Why do I take this issue seriously? Well, I will quote your own words in the Cheating thread last October.

 

"Having casual sex is not a crime (except in 377A) and it may not even be morally wrong.

Cheating is having casual sex when there are expectations that this should not happen. So to avoid to be cheating, to be a cheater,  one should try to avoid the situations where casual sex is not supposed to happen."

 

Wise words (although I think what you really meant to write is "avoid the situations where casual sex is supposed to happen."). After a few years together, my partner and I discussed moving to an open relationship. We both decided we did not want that. You have said on this forum that you attended many saunas during your relationship. You even write quite openly about the time your bf accidentally found you in a sauna and was very angry with you. That was an issue purely for you and your bf. It is not unusual for gay men have sex outside their relationships, even occasionally after marriage. We chose not to.

 

I will apologise for this response being a little late. A close friend and his partner joined my partner and me for an excellent dinner and a night in a very fine hotel before, as we expect, there will be some form of lockdown in Bangkok tomorrow.

Edited January 3, 2021 by InBangkok

[InBangkok]

One more New Year bon bon. The overture to Die Fledermaus can often sound extremely hackneyed. In this performance for the annual New Year's Day concert in Vienna in 1989 it is wonderfully fresh and vibrant. The superb conductor Carlos Kleiber introduces many tiny rhythmic and other touches that make the work sparkle! And watching Kleiber is pure joy. (Although I must admit I do not like the tone of the oboe).

 

 

[singalion]

Here is the full concert for the Vienna Philharmonic New Years Concert 1st Jan 2021.

 

* 2021 New Year Concert Vienna Philharmonic *
* Neujahrskonzert der Wiener Philharmoniker 2021 *
* Concert du Nouvel An de l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Vienne 2021 *
* 维也纳新年音乐会2021 *
* ウィーン ニューイヤーコンサート2021 *
* Новогодний концерт Венского Филармонического 2021
* קונצרט לשנה החדשה הפילהרמונית וינה 2021 *

1 January 2021 - Musikverein, Vienna, Austria

Orchestra : Wiener Philharmoniker
Conductor : Riccardo Muti

Program
-----------

Franz von Suppè
Fatinitza-Marsch ►1:54

Johann Strauß II.
Schallwellen. Walzer, op. 148 ►5:28

Johann Strauß II.
Niko-Polka, op. 228 ►17:38

Josef Strauß
Ohne Sorgen. Polka schnell, op. 271 ►21:09

Carl Zeller
Grubenlichter, Walzer ►23:12

Carl Millöcker
In Saus und Braus. Galopp ►31:15

-- Pause --
* Film : "Happy Birthday Burgenland (1921 - 2021)" ►35:12

Franz von Suppè
Ouvertüre zu "Dichter und Bauer" ►1:03:10

Karl Komzák
Bad'ner Mad'ln. Walzer, op. 257 ►1:14:46

Josef Strauß
Margherita-Polka, op. 244 ►1:24:22

Johann Strauß I.
Venetianer-Galopp, op. 74 ►1:28:19

Johann Strauß II.
Frühlingsstimmen. Walzer, op. 410 ►1:30:36

Johann Strauß II.
Im Krapfenwaldl. Polka française, op. 336 ►1:39:06

Johann Strauß II.
Neue Melodien-Quadrille. op. 254 ►1:43:52

Johann Strauß II.
Kaiser-Walzer, op. 437 ►1:48:19

Johann Strauß II.
Stürmisch in Lieb' und Tanz. Polka schnell, op. 393 ►2:01:57

-- Encores --

Johann Strauss Jr.
Furioso-Polka, op. 260 ►2:06:30

Johann Strauss Jr.
An der schönen blauen Donau, Walzer (On the Beautiful Blue Danube), op. 314 ►2:13:00

Johann Strauss Sr.
Radetzky-Marsch op. 228 ►2:24:20

 

 

https://rumble.com/vcdt3n-2021-new-year-concert-vienna-neujahrskonzert-wien-concert-nouvel-an-vienne-.html

 

Edited January 3, 2021 by singalion

[InBangkok]

Many thanks for posting this singalion. The Goldener Saal looks wonderful in full lighting rather than in the muted daylight as is usual in these concerts. Having seen Kleiber’s joie de vivre conducting and obvious enjoyment, I wish Muti could have relaxed a bit more! But I suppose you don’t engage Muti if you want a fun concert LOL

Edited January 3, 2021 by InBangkok

[Steve5380]

10 hours ago, InBangkok said:

I appreciate your willingness to apologise, but I regret I do not accept apologies with conditions. You "remembered" something which was inaccurate and from that you made an incorrect assumption. Two failings which, despite your various attempts to explain it all away, resulted in a lie.

 

Why do I take this issue seriously? Well, I will quote your own words in the Cheating thread last October.

 

"Having casual sex is not a crime (except in 377A) and it may not even be morally wrong.

Cheating is having casual sex when there are expectations that this should not happen. So to avoid to be cheating, to be a cheater,  one should try to avoid the situations where casual sex is not supposed to happen."

 

Wise words (although I think what you really meant to write is "avoid the situations where casual sex is supposed to happen."). After a few years together, my partner and I discussed moving to an open relationship. We both decided we did not want that. You have said on this forum that you attended many saunas during your relationship. You even write quite openly about the time your bf accidentally found you in a sauna and was very angry with you. That was an issue purely for you and your bf. It is not unusual for gay men have sex outside their relationships, even occasionally after marriage. We chose not to.

 

I will apologise for this response being a little late. A close friend and his partner joined my partner and me for an excellent dinner and a night in a very fine hotel before, as we expect, there will be some form of lockdown in Bangkok tomorrow.

 

Again you incorrectly label as "lie" an assumption that was not intentionally false.  And, from what you describe as your discussion with your partner about moving to an open relationship gives me a clue that my assumption may not have been as false as you claim.  I wrote at the time that you enjoy gay saunas.  This may be still the case, but you don't dare to go to them because of your partnership.  This is completely fine, up to you (and him)!

 

You HAD to involve my relationship with my late bf!  Well, he got angry at me because I didn't tell him that I had gone to the sauna.  It was the hiding, not an "infidelity".  Soon thereafter he became disabled,  sex between us became inconvenient and  he lost the desire for it.  From then on, and until he passed away,  he blessed all my sex tourism that made me happy (this was TRUE LOVE), and I always had this sex miles away from the home where we lived. 

 

I don't mind apologizing for my assumption even if the assumption was not too far off.  But I want to see first your recognition that I didn't lie.  (it's easy, just read the definition of lie in the dictionary).

[InBangkok]

1 minute ago, Steve5380 said:

And, from what you describe as your discussion with your partner about moving to an open relationship gives me a clue that my assumption may not have been as false as you claim.  I wrote at the time that you enjoy gay saunas.  This may be still the case, but you don't dare to go to them because of your partnership.  This is completely fine, up to you (and him)!

 

You HAD to involve my relationship with my late bf!  Well, he got angry at me because I didn't tell him that I had gone to the sauna. 

So you dig the hole even deeper by adding injury to insult. Your first paragraph is a total disgrace! Apologise!

 

I didn't bring up your relationship. You brought it up. It is in a BW forum for all to see. You wrote it - not me!

[InBangkok]

So as we have seen you are digging even deeper in an attempt to get out of the hole you dug for yourself. Let me suggest something to you. You seem to forget that you post here as though you wish everyone to know almost every detail of your life. We know about your modest upbringing, your age, your fitness, the hair transplants and how much they cost, the hair dye you use, the botox injections you take every few months, your cars, your house, the housework you do, your daily menu, the ages of your grandchildren, the profession of your son, your sex tourism to Asia – even the type of gay sex you do not enjoy. Some of this is repeated quite a few times and it is all available for all to see.

 

You and I are different. You choose to reveal a great deal about yourself. Like most posters, I prefer far more anonymity. But like all frequent posters in any chat room, there is the danger over time of contradicting oneself. As far as your posting is concerned, you have fallen into this trap.

 

1. You posted the following –

 

“The best change comes as result of a persistent cultivation of our emotions, a continuous awareness having defined some "red flags" that alert us that some bad trait of us is ready to pop up, and then we do some predefined action that will keep it from happening.   For example, to count to 10 inside is a good advice.

 

And besides, we can adopt some positive philosophy of life that calms us down and makes us realize that he who gets angry... loses.”

 

You also posted this –

 

“I have benefited from the fighting, bickering, trolling.  I already had learned to be assertive, and here I apply this a lot.  I am increasing the "thickness of my skin".  Attacks that would have disturbed me in the past now fly by like a swirl of bad smell, and one holds the breath for a moment until it passes.  In reality, the stronger the attack,  the more creative one becomes in finding an appropriate answer”

 

More recently you posted this referring to me -

 

“You must have noticed that most of my posts at BW are done in a spirit of humor.  Life is good to me and I have all reasons to be in excellent mood.  And life is short!  Why waste it in anger?” 

 

Unfortunately you preach these values from time to time but then at other times show that you do not actually mean them. So you really believe in cultivating your emotions and being aware of “red flags”? I find that admirable. Yet you frequently show that your awareness of red flags and your good humor are, shall I say, more than inconsistent. For example, over the last few months or so you have written these 9 exact phrases (not, I hasten to add, about me) –

 

“Your picture here shows how stupid you are.  A drunk ugly Ang Moh uncle who does nothing but laugh like an idiot.    Nothing like the young beautiful Asian you pretend elsewhere”

“You have a bad habit of being wrong on so many fronts,  showing that you are good for nothing”

“You are such a miserable troll and fantasize”

“Nonsense!  Pure nonsense!”

“Only in your ridiculous view.”

“Your post is nonsense.”

“Blah, blah, blah...”

“Since you are mentally handicapped . . . “

“BTW,  you put the lunatic scumbag in his place”

 

Notice any pattern? Most of your attacks are on the poster. Far fewer attack the subject of what was posted.

 

2. Now I turn to your views on me. One reason I find the above comments of interest is that not only have you over time accused me of being “grouchy”, of “becoming a pest”, of my observations being “senseless”, that it is “perhaps my character to be malevolent”, that “I lacked so much comprehension”, you warned me to “Take care”, and several times you have called my posts “insulting”. You even reported me to the Moderator who would almost certainly not have been aware of the actual context. Here will you please note that whilst you have continually attacked me personally, I have on most occasions only attacked your views – not you as a poster. There is in my view a major difference. 

 

To complement my argument, you also wrote about me recently 

 

“When you qualify as nonsense something I have written,  what follows is an imbecility that reflects lack of knowledge and/or understanding.”

 

Once again, you attack me as the poster.

 

3. My next point refers to your specific comments. Do you recall complaining when a poster asked why you made two posts only in the German language. In reply, you went on the attack. This is what you said –

 

“I am critical of the abundant posts in Chinese, especially Chinese videos that cannot be translated.  But the practice continues regardless of criticisms.  It is very proper to write a few phrases in German, which you can very easily translate, so that you know that the German language EXISTS and sees an example of it.”

 

So you expect there to be no written Chinese in a Singapore chat forum? On the other hand the occasional German will be good for readers? That is patently ridiculous. If you expect readers of BW to translate your German, why don’t you take the trouble to translate the Chinese? It is after all one of the official languages of Singapore. 

 

4. Then you have posted against those who travel on planes, especially long distance, of polluting the atmosphere. Very true and an admirable sentiment. But, once again you accuse others of doing precisely what you do. Have you not travelled to Asia regularly since 2006 visiting saunas (and, in your own words, “practically nothing else”) in Singapore, KL, Bangkok and Hong Kong? I was happy to fly to Singapore to see an Exhibition of Impressionist paintings, several concerts over the years, an international production of Shakespeare’s ‘Richard III’, excellent productions of the musicals ‘My Fair Lady’ and ‘Mamma Mia’ – but I fully accept I have my interests and you have yours.

 

But you also wrote -

 

“Once vaccinated against the Covid, I will rush to Singapore and take a 10 entries pass to Keybox and Hook Club.  Then I travel to KL to frequent several times Mandi Manda, Otot Otot, Kakiku,  before flying to Bangkok and making my rounds of Babylon, Chakran, Sauna Mania, Farose II, Dejavu, Male Box”

 

In other words, others are guilty but you are exempt from polluting the atmosphere with carbon emissions. Double standards!

 

5. You will recall that you suggested in another recent post that I “GET A LIFE”. When I responded that I was very happy with my life and illustrated that with a few of the things I enjoy, you wrote in the most dismissive manner -

 

“Don't think that I don't have a clue about your life, you show it off in the threads about music by boasting about the elite high class places you visit and your encyclopedic knowledge of classical music trivia. I don't envy your life at all, so ‘interesting and fascinating’.  I could have a similar life if I wanted to, but I enjoy my life with some frugality. Before the pandemic I was traveling around the world for the enjoyment of good sex,  not theatre, opera or concert, although a few times I mixed them in”

 

But you have forgotten something.  My first post as a member included photos of about 10 different places I had visited around the world. You forget that you wrote immediately thereafter

 

“You are really a well traveled man, a worldly man.

You pictures are fantastic!  Thank you very much.

I am copying them into a folder to have as inspiration for future trips.”

 

You then added

 

“Yes, we all should venture out and travel.  To strange lands and people.”

 

So I really wonder: how do those comments square with your “not envying my life at all”? And why put my photos into a folder as an inspiration for future trips when your interest in travel is sex tourism? Why would you have any interest in places like Petra, the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival. Bhutan, Esfahan, Shangri-La, Nikko and others where sex tourism does not exist? So on the one hand you say you want to “venture out and travel”. On the other, you have no desire to do so other than for sex. A bit of a non-sequitur I’d have thought.

 

6. Finally, let me suggest you will be better served by taking the advice given to you by the poster @singalion

 

“Steve5380, please don't call everyone here who opposes your views or criticises your behaviour a troll. And you do not need to hit out against everyone here who might have a different opinion as you.

 

You seem to be responding to every single post or person here currently who says something about your posts or about your behaviour. You must not react to every post . . .

 

Take criticism at heart and reflect on yourself before you immediately hit out against everyone.”

 

Wise words! Indeed, do they not sound very, very similar to your own words in the three posts in item 1 above? Take your own advice. Count to 100 if necessary. Stop making up lies about other posters and from those lies making incorrect  assumption after incorrect assumption. That merely makes the lies worse. 

 

Where I have quoted you above, these are your exact words/writing copied and pasted from your voluminous posts in BW. You wrote them. As a result of the post immediately prior to this one, I am even more deeply offended by what you have written. Your initial post about going to saunas was a lie, your assumption was a lie and your further assumption in the post immediately prior to this both a disgrace and a lie. But then as i have outlined in detail above, your modus operandi is to attack the poster rather than the post. 

[Steve5380]

8 hours ago, singalion said:

 

Here is the full concert for the Vienna Philharmonic New Years Concert 1st Jan 2021.

 

 

Thanks for posting this New Years Concert from the 1st of January.

 

I am watching on my wide screen monitor of my computer, and I get a fantastic view of the event.  Although looking around I didn't see the singers of the opera performed, which you surely post here in this OPERA thread.  But it does not matter.  I don't mind ANY music you post in ANY thread, 

 

Incidentally, I am hearing this music with concert-hall acoustics, thanks to Santa Claus.

 

Santa Claus Steve bought me some fantastic headphones,  Sony WH-1000MX4, one of the best headphones available with Bluetooth and noise cancellation.  They are expensive but worth every dollar.  Great noise suppression (which I don't need much here, maybe when y fly again), the freedom of being cord-free that makes them work throughout much of my house, and perfect sound. My older ears have lost some high frequency sensitivity, and this makes headphones the preferred way to listen to music. The quality with these headphones is comparable if not better to my living-room stereo, but I get much better clarity and perception of ambience,  also I suspect better than hearing the music live in a concert hall. And headphones are not bothered by eating, which is the case with the ear buds I was using before. 

 

Now I will enjoy concert hall-like experience watching any good YouTube video. And I will do so while munching on my snacks. Life is great!

. 

Edited January 3, 2021 by Steve5380

[Steve5380]

2 hours ago, InBangkok said:

So as we have seen you are digging even deeper in an attempt to get out of the hole you dug for yourself. Let me suggest something to you. You seem to forget that you post here as though you wish everyone to know almost every detail of your life. We know about your modest upbringing, your age, your fitness, the hair transplants and how much they cost, the hair dye you use, the botox injections you take every few months, your cars, your house, the housework you do, your daily menu, the ages of your grandchildren, the profession of your son, your sex tourism to Asia – even the type of gay sex you do not enjoy. Some of this is repeated quite a few times and it is all available for all to see.

 

 

It seems that YOU have problems digging even deeper in an attempt to get out of your hole.  You have declared that you don't live in the past but look forwards for the future.  All this stuff you posted is from 2020, why not put it all behind?

 

Yes, I write a lot about myself.  It may be because I feel that I am a role model in many aspects of life.  No one here knows me in person, but people who do, recognize this fact.  And I am proud of my life. I am not perfect, I am not Jesus Christ, but I have few regrets, and they date from many decades ago.  All my strong replies to posters here I found that they were deserved,  I don't say these things gratuituously.

 

Your long post about myself didn't mention ONE positive thing about me.  But this is fine.  Some of it is malignant mischaracterization but I do not call you a liar.   You still need to apologize to me for having done that.

 

And what does all of this have to do with Opera?

 

P.D.  This being the New Year,  I want you to recover your peace of mind.  I APOLOGIZE for my earlier misunderstandings about you.   

 

.

Edited January 3, 2021 by Steve5380

[InBangkok]

9 hours ago, Steve5380 said:

 

It seems that YOU have problems digging even deeper in an attempt to get out of your hole.  You have declared that you don't live in the past but look forwards for the future.  All this stuff you posted is from 2020, why not put it all behind?

 

Yes, I write a lot about myself.  It may be because I feel that I am a role model in many aspects of life.  No one here knows me in person, but people who do, recognize this fact.  And I am proud of my life. I am not perfect, I am not Jesus Christ, but I have few regrets, and they date from many decades ago.  All my strong replies to posters here I found that they were deserved,  I don't say these things gratuituously.

 

Your long post about myself didn't mention ONE positive thing about me.  But this is fine.  Some of it is malignant mischaracterization but I do not call you a liar.   You still need to apologize to me for having done that.

 

And what does all of this have to do with Opera?

 

P.D.  This being the New Year,  I want you to recover your peace of mind.  I APOLOGIZE for my earlier misunderstandings about you.   

So you continue with your modus operandi - attack the poster not the post.

 

"All my strong replies to posts here I found that they were deserved." YOU found! It's always YOU. What about those who had made the posts? Face it! You just let fly! Obviously the first three posts I quoted in which you talk about how calm you are and how you approach attacks against your own posts are mere camouflage. When you perceive an attack against you, real or imaginary, you lash out until the point where you cannot win an argument and then you attack the poster. 

 

This thread which was once fascinating, thought provoking and interesting. You have derailed it in so many ways, culminating in your asinine suggestion, repeated more than once, that there is no difference between attending a live opera performances and live sex in a sauna. Another of your modus operandi. Never withdraw. Always attack.

 

I spent time researching your writings purely in order to get some idea of what type of person you really are rather than what you say you are. I then quoted many of your actual written comments verbatim from various of your posts. You cannot deny any of them for they are fact (I details of the specific threads and posts in which they were made) - not the innuendo and fakery you continually come up with. Even so you still repeat the fake memory of what I had written without even bothering to check your faulty memory. After this was pointed out, you doubled down Trump-like with an assumption that was equally fake. Then you stoop to the lowest level of the sewer with this most recent claim -

 

"And, from what you describe as your discussion with your partner about moving to an open relationship gives me a clue that my assumption may not have been as false as you claim.  I wrote at the time that you enjoy gay saunas.  This may be still the case, but you don't dare to go to them because of your partnership."

 

That is an utter disgrace and you are a disgrace for even considering it. Yet again you call me a liar in a disgusting way. How you are permitted to continue here as a member beats me. This has now gone way beyond apologies.

 

You write you consider yourself a "role model in many aspects of life". That is again so typical of what you write. Sadly it is so patently false. I hope no young Singaporean falls for that. You are in fact a self-centred egotist living 10,000 miles from Singapore , a near octogenarian who lives alone spending much of the day consoling yourself by playing pianos and watching youtube videos ad nauseam munching your snacks because you have not the slightest interest in any form of live performance, a sad man who realises that with time marching on your chances of returning to enjoy even more casual sex in Singapore and other Asian cities with Asian boys who could easily be your grandchildren is fast disappearing. An old man who beautifies himself with hair transplants, regular botox injections and regular exercise hoping against hope to postpone the ravages of time which will surely come soon. With covid19 having ruined your plans for a return to Singapore for at least 18 months and probably longer, you have turned your considerable frustrations on those who actual enjoy a fulfilling relationship and a fulfilling life. You can't bear that thought. 

 

I would have accepted your apology. But you are incapable of leaving an attack until the moderator steps in - as he has done before - and bans you for a period of time. With your latest rant against me, I want nothing to do with your deranged personality. I am leaving this thread and this forum. I thank the other contributors to this and the Instrumental Music sites. I hope I have been able to make meaningful and occasionally informative posts. I am pleased to have been given the opportunity to contribute. For your sakes, my last hope is that @Steve5380 will not continue to destroy these threads.

[Steve5380]

Well... I did what I thought was timely apologizing to you, but it may not have helped.

 

Your above post shows some feelings that are unexpectedl. I am simply one more gay who likes to participate in this forum, even if I live over 6,000 miles away.  I did not imagine that an insignificant anonymous individual like me would affect your freedom to participate in this forum. I am saddened by your decision to leave, and I feel I have failed in handling this situation with the sensitivity, friendliness, positive approach I should have. Please forgive my mistakes.  I apologize again, and if this is not sufficient,  I wish you all the best   

 

.

 

 

 

Edited January 4, 2021 by Steve5380

[wilfgene]

38 minutes ago, Steve5380 said:

Well... I did what I thought was timely apologizing to you, but it may not have helped.

 

Your above post shows some feelings that are unexpectedl. I am simply one more gay who likes to participate in this forum, even if I live over 6,000 miles away.  I did not imagine that an insignificant anonymous individual like me would affect your freedom to participate in this forum. I am saddened by your decision to leave, and I feel I have failed in handling this situation with the sensitivity, friendliness, positive approach I should have. Please forgive my mistakes.  I apologize again, and if this is not sufficient,  I wish you all the best   

 

.

 

 

 

You can't help but be the one and only extraordinary you.

[singalion]

Hey Steve, hey InBangkok:

 

Can you both get back to the topic.

 

Are your fights really worth to destroy this wonderful and lovely thread?

 

If you can't reconcile then just refrain from posting on your off topic differences. Please just focus on opera and music.

 

How can you both oldsters behave like those two grandpas on the opera balcony of the muppet show???

 

Don't end up as frogs!

 

If you continue then we can change the thread title to drama queens. 

 

Pull your strings and enjoy the music!

 

Please give it an eternal rest.

 

Simply just focus on opera and music please...

 

Hell's revenge is already boiling in my heart!!!!!!!

 

 

Pa Pa Pa Ge Naaaaaaa

 

Pa pa pa ge naaaaaa

[Steve5380]

On 1/4/2021 at 10:29 AM, singalion said:

 

Hell's revenge is already boiling in my heart!!!!!!!

 

 

Please don't volunteer your heart for the boiling of hell's revenge.

Why would hell need your heart,  when it is full of real fire?

 

Instead, listen to the story of hell in the life of others, and enjoy the beautiful music of Mozart in Don Giovanni.

 

 

[singalion]

 

Wrong opera... It is a quote from the Die Zauberflöte

 

"Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" ("Hell's vengeance boils in my heart"), commonly abbreviated "Der Hölle Rache", is an aria sung by the Queen of the Night, a coloratura soprano part, in the second act of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte). It depicts a fit of vengeful rage in which the Queen of the Night places a knife into the hand of her daughter Pamina and exhorts her to assassinate Sarastro, the Queen's rival, else she will disown and curse Pamina.

Memorable, fast-paced, and menacingly grandiose, "Der Hölle Rache" is one of the most famous of all opera arias. This rage aria is often referred to as the Queen of the Night Aria, although the Queen sings another distinguished aria earlier in the opera, "O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn".

 

Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen,
Tod und Verzweiflung flammet um mich her!
Fühlt nicht durch dich Sarastro Todesschmerzen,
So bist du meine Tochter nimmermehr:

Verstossen sei auf ewig,
Verlassen sei auf ewig,
Zertrümmert sei'n auf ewig
Alle Bande der Natur.

Wenn nicht durch dich Sarastro wird erblassen!
Hört, Rachegötter, hört der Mutter Schwur!^[1]

Hell's vengeance boils in my heart,
Death and despair blaze about me!
If Sarastro does not through you feel the pains of death,
Then you will be, no!, my daughter nevermore:

Disowned be you forever,
Abandoned be you forever,
Destroyed be forever
All the bonds of nature.

If not through you Sarastro will turn pale!
Hear, gods of revenge, hear the mother's oath!

 

 

 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:W._A._Mozart_-_Die_Zauberflöte_-_18._Der_Hölle_Rache_kocht_in_meinem_Herzen_(Ferenc_Fricsay,_1953).ogg

 

 

 

Edited January 6, 2021 by singalion

[Steve5380]

20 hours ago, singalion said:

 

Wrong opera... It is a quote from the Die Zauberflöte

 

 

You are right that the Queen of the Night invokes the vengeance of hell.   But Mozart had HELL much more involved in the end of Don Giovanni,  where The Statue of the Commendatore comes  to life to ask Don Giovanni to repent, and with his refusal,  he takes him down to face the fires of hell.   

 

The scene is horrifying!  Please, Singalion, please,  don't let Hell's revenge boil in your heart !!!

 

 

 

 

How about another singing of these horrors:

 

 

Edited January 7, 2021 by Steve5380

[Steve5380]

Since we are talking about Don Giovanni,  how about a rehearsal of it?  Interesting for Opera lovers

 

 

Edited January 7, 2021 by Steve5380

[heman]

i managed to watch Don Giovanni at The Esplanade Theatre few years ago. It was a lovely production but the ending Hell scene was a real disappointment. The singing were very good especially the role of Zerlina which i think sparkled that evening . However  the hell scene spoilt the night. The producer failed to capture the catastrophic ending of Don Giovanni. 

[Steve5380]

On 1/7/2021 at 8:13 AM, heman said:

i managed to watch Don Giovanni at The Esplanade Theatre few years ago. It was a lovely production but the ending Hell scene was a real disappointment. The singing were very good especially the role of Zerlina which i think sparkled that evening . However  the hell scene spoilt the night. The producer failed to capture the catastrophic ending of Don Giovanni. 

 

Yes, a pity.  The finale is the most amazing, dramatic, captivating part of this magnificent opera.  I haven't seen a better performance of the finale than the one in the movie Amadeus,  Here is a YouTube video of it that unfortunately ends prematurely,  but it can be seen in the Act 23 of the movie DVD.

 

 

 

And here is a video, commented in Spanish, that is the complete scene.  Worth seeing !!

 

 

Edited January 25, 2021 by Steve5380

[Steve5380]

One opera that deserves more popularity is Mozart's  Die Enfuhrung aus dem Serail  (the abduction from the seraglio).

 

The Overture itself is a model of Mozart's music, always priceless:

 

 

 

Pure singing,  no recitatives,  but spectacular arias that Mozart wrote for the high skill of his singers, like this one that is a challenge for the best sopranos, Marten aller arten :

 

 

 

 

And the musicality of this aria by the bass  Wer ein Liebchen hat gefunden  gives pure joy:

 

 

Edited January 26, 2021 by Steve5380

[Steve5380]

I cannot resist the charm of the arias in the opera from Mozart I mentioned above.  Here is Natalie Dessay singing as Blondchen Durch Zartlichkeit on Schmeichein:  

 

 

 

[Steve5380]

Another nice aria of Die Entfuhrung aus dem serail  I hadn't heard before,  Ach, Belmonte! Ach mein Leben!

 

 

 

So many decades listening to music!  And so much nice classical music still to discover!

Although retired now,  I DON'T HAVE TIME YET to pay attention to modern opera and atonal music.

[Steve5380]

Another charming aria is this one of Mozart's Die Enfuhrung aus dem Serail,  "ich gehe, doch rate ich dir":

 

 

 

[Steve5380]

Here is another splendid interpretation of the aria Marten aller Arten,  from Mozart's Entfuhrung aus dem serail

 

 

[Steve5380]

What a wonderful finale this great opera from Mozart has!!

 

It is an Ode to Morality,  sung to the charming music of this composer.   Although the quality of the following video is poor, it is still a joy to watch it and hear it:

 

 

[Steve5380]

Another earlier aria from this magnificent opera from Mozart Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail,  in a great presentation  of the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munchen, with leading singers soprano Edita Gruberova and tenor Francisco Araiza:

 

 

[singalion]

Opera Queens. happy Easter. Here some easter music posts.

 

A friend in Europe send me the link for the  Bach's  St Matthew passion from Munich.

 

Bach · Matthäuspassion · Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks · Peter Dijkstra · BR-Klassik

 

 

https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/ard-klassik/bach-matthaeuspassion/ard-de/Y3JpZDovL3N3ci5kZS9hZXgvbzE0MzQ3NTc/

 

not sure how long it will be on display.

 

Bach's Matthew  passion is brilliant...  well conducted.

 

Enjoy!

 

There are other plays all on the Easter Sunday mode:

 

Gesualdo · Responsorien · SWR Vokalensemble · Marcus Creed · SWR Classic

https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/ard-klassik/gesualdo-responsorien/ard-de/Y3JpZDovL3N3ci5kZS9hZXgvbzE0MzE3NzA/

 

Mahler · Symphonie Nr. 2 · Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks · Zubin Mehta · BR-KLASSIK

 

https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/ard-klassik/mahler-symphonie-nr-2/ard-de/Y3JpZDovL3N3ci5kZS9hZXgvbzE0Mzg2NTc/

 

Haydn · Die Schöpfung · Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks · Bernard Haitink · BR-KLASSIK

 

https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/ard-klassik/haydn-die-schoepfung/ard-de/Y3JpZDovL3N3ci5kZS9hZXgvbzE0MzExMDA/

 

Bach · Johannespassion · Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks · Peter Dijkstra · BR-Klassik   St John's passion by Bach

https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/ard-klassik/bach-johannespassion/ard-de/Y3JpZDovL3N3ci5kZS9hZXgvbzE0MzQ3MjM/

 

 

 

 

 

 

[heman]

For St. Mathew's Passion ...the interpretation of Julia Hamari is still my favourite in the alto solo section. Her purity of natural voice ,devoid of over sentimentalism and perfect violin solo accompaniment is sheer joy.

As for my favourite composer Gustav Mahler's epic second symphony my gold standard is still by Otto Klemperer with the phenomenal Elizabeth Schwarzkopf in the soprano. 

The SSO interpretation of this remarkable work few years ago was well done too.