Dread Tamales

My friend Pascal and I were in the fifth grade together, back when there were no computers, no e-mails, no music videos.  Imagine.  Or remember.  Whichever.  These days Pascal and I attach music videos to e-mails we exchange on the internet.  Before Christmas, he sent me a YouTube from Gounod’s opera Faust.  Pascal and I have been planning to attend the encore showing at the North I-85 Regal Hollywood 24 of the Met Live in HD production.  I e-mailed Pascal a link to Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard singing Pancho and Lefty. 

"All the Federales say

They could have had him any day."

Did they say, “dread tamales?”   Sometimes, due to my hearing loss and subsequent cochlear implant, everything sounds to me like Alvin and the Chipmunks announcing the subway stops at the Atlanta airport.  I wished I could have heard Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard even that well, but it made me happy just to watch these two old geezers, both great artists, and remember their beautiful voices.

On Christmas day, my wife Annette and I visited daughter Heidi and her husband Buke and children Ava and Evan in Camp Hill, Ala., near Auburn.  We were invited to Christmas brunch with Heidi’s in-laws.  Deafness is as much a social problem for me as it is a disability.  I try to head off at the pass the usual discomfort and embarrassment by describing why I do not hear or understand a word anybody says in group conversations.  I mention Alvin and the Chipmunks and describe the hardware and electronics of my cochlear implant to exceed anybody’s interest.  I say that my cochlear implant is a medical miracle but technologically inferior to any $40 cell phone at Wal-Mart.  For good measure, I explain my difficulty in distinguishing the difference between social conversation and rumbling from the dishwasher. Heidi’s father-in-law Chester, a retired professor of electrical engineering, is listed on the internet as a certified founding father of computer electronics, holder of patents, and plaintiff in lawsuits against giant corporate infringers.   Heidi’s father-in-law volunteers, “You need a noise filter.”

That is what I’ve been trying to tell the cochlear implant professionals for five years.  They know more about the practice of medicine and collection of insurance payments than I do, but I have seen no evidence they know as much about audio electronics as an AT&T telephone technician or anybody sitting behind a mixing board at a Nashville recording studio.  I told Chester I had worked in telecommunications for three decades, because the army made me a radio teletype operator.  He said, “I want to show you something.”  He left the room for a few minutes and returned with his graduation certificate from the U.S. Army Southeastern Signal Corps School, Camp Gordon, Ga., named Ft. Gordon by the time I also became an alumnus.  Later that afternoon, as I sat snoring in an easy chair back at Heidi's house, Chester came by with a pair of earmuff headphones for listening to things on the computer.  He suggested that I cup them over my cochlear implant earpiece for their strong noise filtering capability.  My first try at this was encouraging, so I bought a $24.95 GE computer headset with adjustable volume control, telephone adapters included.

Pancho and Lefty has never been a song that meant much to me, although Emmy Lou Harris sang it like an angel, and the Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard duet turned it into a number one hit.  The song was written by Townes Van Zandt with minor chords and haunting rhymes and reasons, as happens when you just can’t help it and the fever takes hold.  I rang in the New Year 2012 listening to Faust through my new headset, and I enjoyed it so much I gave the Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard YouTube another try.  I heard Merle Haggard clearly enough dedicate Pancho and Lefty  “to all the folks out there who make their livings on the road like we do.  All the drivers.  All the musicians….”  I played the Willie Nelson/Merle Haggard music video so many times I forgot to count.  Again and again, the old geezer trio, sang:

“Living on the road, my friend, was gonna keep you free and clean.

Now you wear your skin like iron, breath as hard as kerosene...."

Cochlear Implant Studies

Two studies of Cochlear Implant experiences have invited me to participate, and I have been delighted to do so. Why not? When I lost 100 percent of my hearing in both ears five years ago, there was not anywhere near enough Cochlear Implant information available to keep me from feeling like I was jumping off a cliff blindfolded. Now, a Cochlear Implant, an electronic device provides me bionic hearing, a miracle but far from perfect.

The University of Iowa is conducting a research and training program concentrating on music perception for those of us with Cochlear Implants. Personally, this is a very important issue for me, because listening to music has always contributed so much to the quality of my life. After first receiving my Cochlear Implant, music was particularly frustrating, just a jumble of noise. Now I am able to distinguish enough of the various aspects of music to experience something I can honestly call enjoyment again.

For further information clink on this link:

http://www.cimusicresearch.com/

or e-mail

virginia-driscoll@uiowa.edu

The other study I have participated in is a Cochlear Implant and BAHA Online Survey from Juniper Consulting Group,a medical market research company. Their current project is trying to identify areas for improvement of cochlear implants or bone
anchored hearing implants.

This online survey take approximately 30-40 minutes to complete. It asks for your level of satisfaction about Cochlear Implant and BAHA issues, including medical support, training, and hardware. Compensation of $100 is offered. The only requirements to start the survey are you must be a recipient of a cochlear implant or a BAHA and be over the age of 18.

> Email: cbess@junicon.net for a link to the survey.

Encore! Encore!

Performances from the award-winning series The Met: Live in HD encore this summer Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. in shopping mall movie theatres. Click here for the location nearest you. Ticket prices are less than the American Idols Concert Tour, more than a bleacher seat at the Braves. Popcorn and soft drinks available at the concession stand.

Puccini’s Madama Butterfly June 15. Running time: 2 hours 41 minutes.
Patricia Racette sings the title role. Marcello Giordani is American Navy Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton. Dwayne Croft and Maria Zifchak co-star. Patrick Summers conducts.

Donizetti’s Don Pasquale June 22. Running time: 2 hours 22 minutes.
Anna Netrebko reprises her turn in this bel canto comedy , opposite Matthew Polenzani, Mariusz Kwiecien, and John Del Carlo in the title role. James Levine conducts.

Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra June 29. Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes.
Four decades into a legendary Met career, tenor Placido Domingo makes history singing the title role, written for a baritone. Adrianne Pieczonka, Marcello Giordani, and James Morris co-star in this gripping political thriller and moving story of a father and his lost daughter. James Levine conducts

Donizetti’s La Fille de Regiment July 13. Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes.
Natalie Dessay as the tomboy Marie, who has been brought up as the “daughter of the regiment,” and Juan Diego Florez as the young man in love with her. Legendary actress Marian Seldes makes a special appearance as he Duchess of Krakenthorp. Marco Armiliato conducts.

Puccini’s Tosca July 20. Running time: 2 hours 17 minutes. Karita Mattila stars in the title role and Marcelo Alvarez as her lover, the painter Cavaradossi. George Gagnidze plays Scarpia, the sadistic chief of police, who wants Tosca for himself. Joseph Colaneri conducts.

Verdi’s Don Carlo July 27. Running time: 3 hours 36 minutes. Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducts. Singers: Roberto Alagna in the title role, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Marina Poplavskaya, Anna Smirnova, and Simon Keenlyside.

The Met at the Movies

The Met: Live in HD opens its fifth season at a Shopping Mall Movie Theatre Near You. Ticket prices vary: Adult, Senior, Child -- more than the latest Brad Pitt charmer, less than the Atlanta Zoo.

Click Here For Details and Tickets

Wagner’s Das Rheingold

Live Sat. Oct. 9 at 1 PM. Encore Wed. Oct. 27 at 6:30 PM.
3 hours.
Conductor: James Levine. Bryn Terfel sings the leading role of Wotan for the first time with the company, heading an extraordinary cast. Director Robert Lepage brings cutting-edge technology and his own visionary imagination to a great theatrical journey.

Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov

Live Sat. Oct. 23 at 12 Noon. Encore Wed. Nov. 10 at 6:30 PM.
5 hours.
Singers: René Pape, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Vladimir Ognovenko, and Ekaterina Semenchuk. Production by Stephen Wadsworth. Valery Gergiev conducts.

Donizetti’s Don Pasquale

Live Sat. Nov. 13 at 1 PM. Encore Wed. Dec. 1 at 6:30 PM.
3 hours, 30 minutes.
Singers: Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani, Mariusz Kwiecien, and John Del Carlo. James Levine conducts. Production by Otto Schenk.

Verdi’s Don Carlo

Live Sat. Dec. 11 at 12:30 PM. Encore Wed. Jan. 5 at 6:30 PM.
4 hours, 30 minutes.
Singers: Roberto Alagna, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Marina Poplavskaya, Anna Smirnova, and Simon Keenlyside. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts. Director Nicholas Hytner makes his Met debut with this new production

Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West

Live Sat. Jan. 8 at 1 PM. Encore Wed. Jan. 26 at 6:30 PM.
3 hours, 30 minutes.
Puccini’s wild-west opera had its world premiere in 1910 at the Met. Now, on the occasion of its centennial, all-American diva Deborah Voigt sings the title role, starring opposite Marcello Giordani. Nicola Luisotti conducts.

Adams’s Nixon in China

Live Sat. Feb. 12 at 1 PM. Encore Wed. March 2 at 6:30 PM.
4 hours
Baritone James Maddalena stars in the title role. Director and longtime Adams collaborator Peter Sellars makes his Met debut with this groundbreaking 1987 work.

Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride

Live Sat. Feb. 26 at 1 PM. Encore Wed. March 16 at 6:30 PM.
2 hours, 30 minutes.
Singers: Susan Graham, Plácido Domingo, and Paul Groves. Production by Stephen Wadsworth. Patrick Summers conducts.

Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor

Live Sat. March 19 at 1 PM. Encore Wed. April 6 at 6:30 PM.
4 hours.
Singers: Natalie Dessay and Joseph Calleja. Production by Mary Zimmerman.

Rossini’s Le Comte Ory

Live Sat. April 9 at 1 PM. Encore Wed. April 27 at 6:30 PM.
3 hours.
Singers: Juan Diego Flórez, Joyce DiDonato, and Diana Damrau. Production by Bartlett Sher.

Strauss’s Capriccio

Live Sat. April 23 at 1 PM. Encore Wed. May 11 at 6:30 PM.
3 hours.
Singers: Renée Fleming ,Joseph Kaiser and Sarah Connolly. Andrew Davis conducts.

Verdi’s Il Trovatore

Live Sat. April 30 at 1 PM. Encore Wed. May 18 at 6:30 PM.
3 hours.
Singers: Sondra Radvanovsky, Dolora Zajick, Marcelo Álvarez, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Production by David McVicar. James Lavine conducts.

Wagner’s Die Walküre

Live Sat. May 14 at 12 Noon. Encore Wed. June 1 at 6:30 PM.
5 hours, 15 minutes.
A stellar cast comes together for this second installment of Robert Lepage’s new production of the Ring cycle: Bryn Terfel, Deborah Voigt, Jonas Kaufmann, Eva-Maria Westbroek, and Stephanie Blythe. James Levine conducts.

The Metropolitan Opera of New York’s Emmy and Peabody award-winning series of live, high-definition performance transmissions has been a box office smash hit. According to Time magazine, the Met sold 2.2 million tickets last season for its nine live high-definition telecasts, 400,000 more than the previous year.

Perhaps this reflects an era of plus change. Opera singers were once judged by their ability to be heard in the last row of the balcony but now must consider wide-screen close-ups. Opera News on-line discusses opera blogs and connects to several.

Over 30 principal cast members and chorus of the Opera Company of Philadelphia production of La Traviata last spring infiltrated the crowd at the Reading Terminal Market Italian Festival and launched four-minutes of Brindisi as guerrilla theatre, winning a thunderous ovation that included both laughter and tears. Click here to watch.

Encore! Encore!

The Metropolitan Opera of New york is a box office smash hit at a Shopping Mall Movie Theatre Near You. According to Time magazine, the Met has sold 2.2 million tickets during 2009-2010 for its nine live high-definition telecasts, 400,000 more than the previous season. Now the Met will debut a new Summer HD Encore Series, replaying six favorites on Wednesday nights at 6:30 p.m.:

Verdi’s Aida, June 16 . Conductor: Daniele Gatti; Production: Sonja Frisell; Singers: Violeta Urmana, Dolora Zajick, Johan Botha, Carlo Guelfi, Roberto Scandiuzzi, Stefan Kocán

Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, June 23. Conductor: Plácido Domingo; Production: Guy Joosten; Singers: Anna Netrebko, Isabel Leonard, Roberto Alagna, Nathan Gunn, Robert Lloyd.

Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, July 7. Conductor: Valery Gergiev; Production: Robert Carsen; Singers: Renée Fleming, Ramón Vargas, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Sergei Aleksashkin.

Puccini’s La Bohème, July 14. Conductor: Nicola Luisotti; Production: Franco Zeffirelli; Singers: Angela Gheorghiu, Ainhoa Arteta, Ramón Vargas, Ludovic Tézier, Quinn Kelsey, Oren Gradus, Paul Plishka.

Puccini’s Turandot, July 21. Conductor: Andris Nelsons; Production: Franco Zeffirelli; Singers: Maria Guleghina, Marina Poplavskaya, Marcello Giordani, Samuel Ramey.

Bizet’s Carmen, July 28. Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Production: Richard Eyre; Singers: Barbara Frittoli, Elīna Garanča, Roberto Alagna, Mariusz Kwiecien.

Click Here For Details and Tickets

When I entered my zip code, I found my closest movie house broadcast would be at Hollywood 24 @ North I-85, 3265 N.E. EXPRESSWAY Access Road, CHAMBLEE, GA. Summer HD Encore Series tickets are $18. English language captions are provided.

I asked my friend Wayne Gibson, retired chairman of the Music Department at Kennesaw State University, if I had to wear my opera tuxedo or could I dress just like I was going to a Bruce Willis movie. He said, "Totally movie attire is my experience! Everyone has popcorn, hot dogs and giant cokes! The world is certainly changing! I think I like it."

Despite the recession and an audience with a median age of 48, nearly 200,000 enjoyed Rossini's Armida, starring soprano Renee Fleming and tenor Lawrence Brownlee on its May 1 broadcast shown in 1,200 movie theaters in 44 countries worldwide, from Iceland to New Zealand. The encore of showing Armida is scheduled for Wednesday, May 19 at a Shopping Mall Movie Theatre Near You.