Bizzy, Bizzy, Bizzy

Cosmos Flowers

 It’s been a busy couple of days. Today I picked cosmos and red and yellow 4 o’clock seeds for next year. (I’m being optimistic) and got ready for the siding installation on the house along with new gutters and downspouts plus awning removal. Then I headed off to the Marianna Public Library where I heard Mary Kay Zuravleff talk about her book on her family who immigrated to the U.S. as Old Believer Russian Orthodox. Some settled in Marianna and worshipped at an Old Believer church that still stands but has no current congregation. I wrote about the church years ago where I free lanced for the Washington County section of the Post-Gazette.

Little did I know I was sitting next to Dr. Leslie Midla and his wife, a dentist from nearby Marianna who is responsible for one of my tooth crowns. I also met historian Thomas Karolewics and his aunt as well as Cindy Spear, who helped create one of the best hiking trails in the area. (It’s only ¾ of a mile long but rises so steeply, you can see Scenery Hill from the top as well as the Uniontown Mountains.

I especially liked the cupcakes, muffins and cookies that were served at the reception.

Gioachino Rossini

Last evening, I caught the Pittsburgh Opera’s production of “The Barber of Seville,” a comic opera by Gioachino Rossini. I’m not sure if it was because I had a long six-month hiatus from the opera, was in a great mood or the opera staged one of its best in recent memories. The voices were all superb and John Moore in the role of Figaro not only excelled vocally but was impishly comic in the role of the barber. He’s definitely a singer to watch in the future.

Stephanie Doche as Rosina thrilled me with her Act 1 aria, but fell short in the Act 2 aria which I attribute to Rossini’s composition rather than her skills and talent. Musa Ngqungwana was an auditory delight with his low note register, which rang out forcefully even in the lower range. Brian Kontes as Bartolo was another singer able to reach into the lower register and produce some amazing melodies.

Emily Richter as Berta, not only sang well but has excellent ways with comedy. The ensembles were sheer genius (thank you Rossini) and the sounds produced were sheer bliss.

The opera’s ending included some of the most intricate and splendid vocals written by a musical genius. I was truly enthralled.

Something I learned about Rossini from the opera newsletter was the fact that Rossini stopped writing at age 37, except for a few works. For the rest of his life, he spent his time cooking and eating and is responsible for creating Tournedos Rossini, beef medallions with foie gras and truffle sauce. Rossini retired a very wealthy man who enjoyed giving lavish dinners attended by notable people in the world of music.

He is quoted as having said “Eating, loving, singing and digesting are, in truth, the four acts of the comic opera of life, and they pass like bubbles of a bottle of champagne. Whoever lets them break without having enjoyed them is a complete fool.”