Hugues Cuenod

The news came today that another famous singer of the past has died: Hugues Cuenod. He lived to be an astonishing 108 years old.

I heard Cuenod about thirty years ago in a performance here in the greater Washington, D.C. area. A then new friend had tickets for the performance, and his intended companion had cancelled. Would I like to go? I jumped at the chance, not only for the opportunity to hear the performance,  but also the chance to spend some time with this new friend. He played the viola and had a prodigious interest in opera, so there seemed to be a good chance that the evening  ahead would be a pleasure.  

The performance took place at Wolf Trap, and as we drove out from the city my friend mentioned that he was not too familiar with the opera to be presented, Cavalli’s  La Calisto. I took this as my cue to fill him in. He was one of those people - in general  both very well informed and a bit captious – who tended to dominate a conversation.  I knew him from activist circles and had been there when he upbraided many a careless speaker for clumsy grammar or a less than credible grasp of events.

I began my discussion of the opera by mentioning that it was an early seventeenth century opera… and at that point he interrupted me and said “You mean eighteenth century…” “No, I meant seventeenth century”, thank you. At that the look on his face changed: it took on a combination of perplexity and disappointment. I was never sure if this change was due to the prospect of several hours of mid-seventeenth century opera or due to the realization that he would not have such an easy time lording it over his companion for this performance. I think my subsequent comments about Cavalli, Monteverdi and Caccini went unheard.  

And how did the performance go? Cuenod was a hoot.    

Here’s a link to a recording of Monteverdi’s "Zefiro torna" made in 1937 when Ceunod was still working with  Nadia Boulanger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyigIcK8bwk

First day of meteorological winter (meteorological what?)

Today is the first day of meteorological winter. Traditional winter does not begin for another three weeks. Why can't people leave well enough alone? Or if they are going to tamper with things, why do they have to usurp the name of the existing entity? Politicians do the same thing when they rename existing buildings or amenities for one another. They should have named it the "meteorological  holiday shopping season".

Fortunately for this gardener, meteorological winter is nothing like real winter: the ground is still open, and the outdoor gardening season continues. I'm still planting bulbs (and have lots to go before I finish). Yesterday I worked in the garden for several hours and had the pleasure of being bitten four times by mosquitoes. The air temperature was well above 60º F. The scent of earth is still on the air, as is the fragrance of autumn olive (should I call it "meteorological winter olive"?) Throughout the night there was rain,  yet the temperature changed little - early this morning it was still above 60.But then a cold front arrived, and the temperature quickly dropped about twenty degrees.

After the sun comes out this afternoon and things dry out a bit, I'll be out there again. There probably will not be many posts during December as long as there is work to be done in the garden - and weather to allow it.