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Posted on July 7, 2021 July 14, 2021 by tsaraslondon	· 1 Comment
Berlioz's Les Nuits d'Eté – a comparative review of ten recordings
Les Nuits d'Eté is one of my favuorite orchestral song cycles and, along with Strauss's Vier letzte Lieder, must be one of the most recorded works for voice and orchestra. The songs were originally written to a piano accompaniment and we don't know why Berlioz chose these six particular texts by his contemporary, Théophile Gautier. Though not really conceived as a cycle, they do make a satsifying programme with two lighter songs framing three deeply emotional outpourings. Berlioz orchestrated Absence in 1846 then orchestrated the remaining songs in 1853, suggesting a mezzo-soprano or tenor for Villanelle, contralto for Le spectre de la rose, baritone (or optionally mezzo or contralto) for Sur les lagunes, mezzo or tenor for Absence, tenor for Au cimetière and mezzo or tenor for L'île inconnue, though nowadays it is more regularly sung by one singer, usually a mezzo or a soprano. It has been recorded by tenors, baritones and bass-baritones and even countertenors.
They have been recorded umpteen times and Ralph Moore has done an exhaustive comparison of most of these recordings, which I recommend to anyone who loves the songs. You can view it at http://musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/Aug/Berlioz_nuits_survey.pdf.
I have ten recordings in my collection and these are the ten I listened to over a period of two days. The songs respond to a variety of different approaches and I enjoyed my task immensely.
Vctoria De Los Angeles recorded the cycle in 1955 with Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, when she was in superb voice. As always there is a great deal of pleasure to be derived from her singing, her tone suitably plaintive in the middle songs and smilingly bright and playful in the outer songs, which, predictably, is where she is most successful. What I miss is a deeper vein of tragedy, something more grandiloquent in the middle songs, where what we need is a touch of Cassandre and Didon. De Los Angeles reminds me more of a Marguerite. She is in warm, velvety voice, and this is nonetheless one of the most satisfying accounts around. Sonically it can't measure up to any of the later stereo recordings.
Nor, unfortunately can the Steber version with Dimitri Mitropoulos and the Columbia Symphomy Orchestra. The first impression when listening to this version is of the sheer security and perfect focus of Steber's beautiful voice. The cycle doesn't get off to a very impressive start, with Mitropoulos's too deliberate tempo for Villanelle. It is actually close to the metronome mark of crotchet = 96, but it seems plodding and Mitropoulos fails to make the woodwind light enough. But Steber is gorgeous. She can expand the tone gloriously at a phrase like et parmi la fête étoilée in Le spectre de la rose and the quality remains wonderfully rich down below. Throughout Steber is keenly responisve to the poetry. Au cimetière, for instance, has a real sense of tragic foreboding. What a superb Cassandre she might have been. Definitely a prime contender. If only it had been in better sound.
Now here is something rather different. The countertenor voice is not one you would expect to hear in this music, but David Daniels has always had a velvety, rich sound and his version comes as something of a pleasant surprise, though, more used to hearing him in the music of the Baroque, I did wonder if this version might be a product of the gramophone. He did however sing it in the concert hall and his is a voice I've never had trouble hearing in the hall or theatre, so maybe I'm wrong. Daniels has excellent French, a perfect legato and is ideally steady throughout, with a much greater range of tone colour than you would expect from a countertenor. As always, his phrasing is wonderfully musical and John Nelson provides excellent support with the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris. Ultimately, for all his musicality and way of commuicating the text, I'm not sure the countertenor voice is what the songs require, but it is a very interesting experiment which Daniels almost pulls off.
It was quite a shock to plunge from Daniels to the darkly pungent tones of Agnes Baltsa. Her French is often questionable and the voice and manner are arrestingly individual, with her varying her tone from song to song. I suppose you'd call her approach quite operatic. She adopts an almost coy sexuality for Villanelle, choosing a more Dalila-like sensuality for Le spectre de la rose, languidly eliding some of the phrases. Some might find her plunges into chest voice jarring, but I rather like it. The singing can be a bit rough round the edges but you could never call her dull. Ralph Moore suggests that she brings more than a touch of her Carmen to the songs, and I'd agree. It's not how I'd always like to hear them, but it's certainly a very individual and occasionally thrilling take on them. Jeffrey Tate and the London Symphony Orchestra provide excellent support.
Régine Crespin is the only version included here by a French singer and it is really good to hear the language enunciated so clearly, especially after the idiosyncratic French of someone like Baltsa.
Now Crespin's version is so famous that it has been a prime recommendation for the work ever since it was first issued in 1963 and dissenting opinions are likley to be viewed with incredulity, but, unlike its coupling of Ravel's Shéhérazade, I'm not sure the Berlioz holds up that well. For a start, there is a deal of sloppy orchestral playing from L'Orchestre de la Suisse-Romande under Ernest Ansermet, and, for another, Crespin's singing often tends to the lugubrious. There is no sense of mounting rapture at the arrival of the rose, no sense of despair in Sur les lagunes, no plaintive yearning in Absence. The singing is altogether too civilised, and, however musical and tasteful her singing , however elegant her phrasing, Crespin remains aloof and uninvolved. She is at the oppoiste pole from Baltsa's often wild and wayward version, but I miss Baltsa's dramatic involvement, which I ultmately prefer. I see that I'm not alone in my opinion, which is supported by both Ralph Moore and David Cairns (in Song on Record, Volume II). A controversial opinion, no doubt, but I'm sticking to it. Crespin is most successful in the final song, which responds to her vocal equivalent of the ironically arched eyebrow. Another mark against her is that she unaccountably alters the order of the songs, placing Absence before Sur les lagunes, which destroys the balance of the cycle. Intonation is occasionally suspect too, especially in Au cometière.
Colin Davis's multi-singer version is something of an inconclusive experiment. However ineresting it is to hear the songs sung more or less by the voices Berlioz suggested, I think the cycle hangs together better when captured by a single voice. Nor do any of the singers challenge the best of other versions by single singers. Frank Patterson, who has a rather whiny, nasal timbre is granted two songs, Villanelle and Au cimetiére, neither of which he does justice to. Josephine Veasey, an appreciable Berlioz singer, sings a plausible Le spectre de la rose without really illuminating it, and John Shirley-Quirk tends to growl in the lower regions of Sur les lagunes. The most successful of the singers is soprano Sheila Armstrong, who sings in excellent French and turns in a nicely plaintive Absence as well as a charmingly flirtatious L'île inconnue. One would expect Sir Colin and the London Symphony Orchestra to give a brilliant version of the score, but the effect is somewhat somnolent and low key. Interesting but inconclusive.
Next we come to the wonderful Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, recorded live at a concert in 1991 or 1995 (the booklet isn't entirely clear on this point). It has to be said that the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra under Nicholas McGegan are not quite up to the standard of the ensembles in some of these performances, but they nonetheless provide sensitive accompaniment to Hunt Lieberson's superbly detailed and deeply heartfelt performances. Throughout she is totally inside the music, her response to the poetry seeming totally spontaneous and natural. Unerringly she captures the mood of each song, certain phrases remaining etched on the memory, for instance the blank, desparing tone at the end of Au cimetière, which, though she switches to smilingly insouciant joy for L'île inconnue, creeps back into her tone for the closing measures when she reminds us that not all is happy au pays d'amour. The voice is surpassingly beautiful, the singing intensely concentrated and she communicates so much. What a great loss she was to the musical world.
Finally, I come to three versions by the great Dame Janet Baker. The most recent ( recorded in 1990) and the one I will discuss first, was one of her last (maybe her last ever) recording. made shorly after she had retired from the concert platform. By this time her great artistry cannot quite hide the hint of strain in the upper reaches, the discoloration on certain vowels and the loosening of vibrations on sustained high notes. In no way is this competitive with her two other vesions (one live under Giulini and the famous studio one under Barbirolli), so I will only comment by saying I heard Baker and Hickox perform the cycle not long before this recording was made and, live and in the concert hall, it was still an amazing experience.
The live Giulini account, taken from a concert at the Royal Festiva Hall in 1975, must be amongst the slowest on disc and it is remarkable that Baker can sustain these speeds; but sustain them she does, luxuriating in the added breadth that Giulini gives her, her breath control quite astonishing. The recorded sound is a trifle muddy and we hear the occasional coughs that go along with live music making, but the specificity of her response to the text is quite extraordinary and there is a concentrated intensity about this performance, which is no doubt enhanced by the presence of a live audience. If I continue to prefer the studio performance, that could be because it is the one by which I got to know the songs and it is no doubt imprinted on my brain. It also, of course enjoys better sound. Both interpretations are absolutely and unequivocally superb. Baker's stage roles included both Cassandre and Didon and she brings something of the character of their music to these songs too.
Baker enjoyed a very special relationship with Sir John Barbirolli and of course made a few important recordings with him before he died in 1970. Apart from the above recording of Ravel and Berlioz they can be heard in famous recordings of Elgar's Sea Pictures, Mahler's three orchestral song cycles and Elgar's Dream of Gerontius, all very special and irreplaceable.
The New Philharmonia are in fine form and provide some of the best orchestral playing on any of these performances. Villanelle is perhaps a little too determinedly jolly, but after that the performance just gets better and better. Baker starts Le spectre de la rose almost confidingly, as if whispering into the ear of the sleeping girl, swelling into the glorious mini climax at Et parmi le fête étoilée, Tu me promenas tout le soir. Her tone turns both sensual and erotic when the rose arrives from paradise, and then she sings the phrase Mon destin fut digne d'envie in one glorious, long breath. This might just be the most wonderful performance of the song ever put down on record.
From there we are plunged into the blank, desparing tone of Ma belle amie est morte. If she were the Act IV Didon in the previous song here she is Cassandre, singing in stark absolutes. Having reached a desolate climax the song fades away in a whispered close of utter dejection. She yearns sweetly in Absence, the voice taking on a soprano-ish lightness in the upper register, but maintaining its tragic depth for the line Ah, grands désirs inappaisées. Au cimetière is mesmerisingly hypnotic, conjuring up ghostly visions of graveyards at night, until finally gloom is dispelled and a smile enters her voice for L'île inconnue, with a coquettish twinkle on Est-ce dans la Baltique?
After listening to ten different recordings in two days, I find I love the cycle more than ever and all these recordings have something to offer. I actually enjoyed them all. However if I had to choose but one on that proverbial desert island, then it would have to be Baker with Barbirolli, though I'd probably find a way to smuggle the Hunt Lieberson with me as well somehow.
Così fan tutte – ROH 27.01.1981
I don't know if I was actually at this performance, but I was definitely at one of the series this recording was taken from.
My memory hasn't failed me and it really is as good as I remember.
Sir Colin Davis already had a famous studio recording to his credit and common to both are the saturnine Alfonso of Richard Van Allan. Other than that, his cast here is easily equal to that on the studio set, and, as far as the men are concerned, possibly surpasses it, with Stuart Burrows a more mellifluous, if les characterful, Ferrando than Gedda and Thomas Allen absolutely splendid as Guglielmo, indeed one of the best on record.
On the distaff side, I find it hard to choose between the two casts. Caballé was a glorious Fiordiligi in the studio, but Te Kanawa is hardly less so, and she is a much more volatile performer here than she often was, possibly spurred on by the vividly acted and sung Dorabella of Agnes Baltsa. Baker, in the studio set, is less histrionic, more gently lovable. I love both performances. Mazzucato is a sprightly Despina, delightfully knowing in her exchanges with Alfonso, but yields something in individuality to Cotrubas in the studio set.
This is 1981, and speeds are occasionally a little slower than we are used to these days, and one should note that, being live, there is a fair amount of stage noise, audience laughter and applause. Otherwise the sound is fine, if not as well balanced as a studio production.
I really enjoyed re-acquainting myself with this wonderful performance, and, though I won't be throwing away my studio Davis or Böhm/EMI recordings, it sits quite happily on the shelf beside them.
Karajan's Second Studio Carmen
I saw Baltsa and Carreras in Carmen at Covent Garden shortly before this set was issued, and it remains one of the most thrilling performances (of anything) I've ever seen. Consequently I was very excited when this set was issued and snapped it up immediately.
Unfortunately, it proved something of a disappointment, the fault for which must lie squarely on Karajan's shoulders. By this time measured tempi were becoming the norm for him, and it is evident how much he loves this score, but he rather loves it to death. For all the beautiful playing of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, it lacks completely the wit and elegance of Beecham, or the swift visceral excitement of Prêtre.
Having taken the decision to record the version with spoken dialogue, it seems totally perverse to then use actors to speak it. They sound nothing like their singing counterparts and are recorded in a totally different acoustic, which makes it hard to become involved when the differences are so profound. It's like listening to two different productions at the same time, and does the most harm to Baltsa and Carreras, who were so involving and communicative live at Covent Garden. Indeed neither of them really settles down to a real performance until the final duet, which is thrillingly powerful, as it should be.
What on earth prompted Karajan to think that Ricciarelli, a singer I often admire could be perfect as both Micaëla and Turandot, which she also recorded with him? She is suited to neither, whereas Barbara Hendricks, who had a particular affinity for French music, and who sings a wonderful Liu on that Turandot he recorded the previous year would have been perfect.
Van Dam is a fine Escamillo, as he was for Solti and there are some good performances among the supporting roles, but it just doesn't add up to a convincing whole.
I keep the recording for the contributions of Baltsa and Carreras, and often listen to the final duet, but listening to the whole recording is a curiously frustrating experience, and I mostly longed to be back chez Callas, Gedda and Prêtre, which remains my favourite recording of the opera, for all that it uses the now discredited Guiraud recitatives.
Posted on November 5, 2020 by tsaraslondon
Karajan's Studio Don Carlo
Karajan's Second Studio Recording of Aida
Karajan's second recording of Aida was recorded, like the first one, in Vienna in 1979 exactly twenty years later. For some reason, it is usually passed over in favour of the first, which starred the more obvious Aida cast of Tebaldi, Bergonzi, Simionato and MacNeil. Personally, I've always preferred this later one with a cast which, on paper, might seem lightweight, but actually works in practice very well.
Roughly contemporaneous with Karajan's Berlin recording of Don Carlo this Vienna recording, though still wide ranging, is much better, more natural, putting the voices in a more natural acoustic, and Karajan in so many places brings out the beauty and lyricism of the score. He paces the score brilliantly and is most attentive to his singers. Not that this is an undramatic reading. Far from it. Though tempi can be measured, Karajan is an experienced Verdian and still infuses them with energy. The orchestral climaxes are stunning and all the singers relish the text and sing off the words. It hardly needs be said that the Vienna Philharmonic play magnificently.
Freni is a little taxed in places, nor does she command the sheer beauty of sound Caballé does on the Muti recording, but what pleasure it is to hear the text so well enunciated, so clearly communicated. Her Aida is lyrically vulnerable and I actually prefer it to many who one might consider more vocally entitled. On the other hand, the personality is small and doesn't stay in the memory the way that Price, Tebaldi, Caballé and Callas do. Carreras is likewise a lyrical Radames, and his voice was still very beautiful at this phase of his career. He too sings well off the text. I like, for instance, the reflective way he sings Se quel guerrier io fossi, becoming more forceful in the second part of the recitative when he sings about the applause of all Memphis, before softening his tone again when he sings about Aida. How much of this is Carreras, how much Karajan I don't know, but it makes for a more thoughtful reading than we often get, if without the clarion heroics of a Corelli or a Del Monaco.
Baltsa was also at her absolute vocal peak at the time of this recording, though she is no barnstorming Amneris. She reminds us that Amneris is a young spoiled princess, used to getting her own way but also vulnerably feminine and a vaild rival for Aida. It is a very convincing portrayal and she is absolutely thrilling in the judgement scene. Cappuccilli is maybe not so implacable an Amonasro as Gobbi, but he also sings well off the words, his breath control as usual exemplary. Raimondi and Van Dam are nicely contrasted as Ramfis and the King and the silken voiced Ricciarelli is luxury casting as the Priestess.
An excellent set, well worth investigating and, in my opinion, much more dramatically alive than the 1959 set, which has always seemed a little too self-consciously beautiful for my taste.
Posted on June 14, 2019 January 7, 2020 by tsaraslondon
Karajan's second recording of Aida
Freni is a little taxed in places, nor does she command the sheer beauty of sound Caballé does on the Muti recording, but what pleasure it is to hear the text so well enunciated, so clearly communicated. Her Aida is lyrically vulnerable and I actually prefer it to many whom one might consider more vocally entitled. Carreras is likewise a lyrical Radames, and his voice was still very beautiful at this phase of his career. He too sings well off the text. I like, for instance, the reflective way he sings Se quel guerrier io fossi, becoming more forceful in the second part of the recitative when he sings about the applause of all Memphis, before softening his tone again when he sings about Aida. How much of this is Carreras, how much Karajan I don't know, but it makes for a more thoughtful reading than we often get.
Baltsa was also at her absolute vocal peak, though she is no barnstorming Amneris. She reminds us that Amneris is a young spoiled princess, used to getting her own way but also vulnerably feminine and a vaild rival for Aida. It is a very convincing portrayal and she is absolutely thrilling in the judgement scene. Cappuccilli is maybe not so implacable an Amonasro as Gobbi, but he also sings well off the words, and Raimondi and Van Dam are nicely contrasted as Ramfis and the King. The silken voiced Ricciarelli is luxury casting as the Priestess.
This is an infuriating set. Infuriating because the performance is so good but let down by the ridiculously wide dynamic of the recording. The balances are all over the place too, with the brass thrust relentlessly into the foreground. One particularly bad example is at the beginning of the garden scene (Act II, scene i in this version). Carreras is placed so far away from the microphone at his entrance that you can hardly hear him. The natural reaction is to turn up the sound, only to be blasted out of your seat at the next orchestral tutti. With the sound at a reasonably comfortable volume for the rest of the scene the brass reiteration of the friendship theme at the end is absolutely deafening. It might be ok if you live in the middle of nowhere, but if, like me, you live in a small flat in the heart of London, it makes listening a very nerve-racking experience, as you have to be prepared to adjust the volume all the time. It's no better with headphones either, as, with the sound turned up high enough for the quieter sections, you risk severe ear damage every time the full orchestra let fly.
Aside from the problems of the sound, though, the set has much to commend it. I regret the absence of the Fontainebleau act, as Karajan conducts here Verdi's 1884 revision, which excised the first act and moved Carlo's Io la vidi to the monastery scene, which now became Act I. This was the version usually adopted until Giulini included the Fontainebleau act in the famous Visconti/Covent Garden production of 1958. Since then the opera has been performed in a bewildering variety of different versions, but the four act version is rarely given these days, though, as far as I'm aware, Karajan always stuck to it.
Editions aside, this one has an excellent cast. Freni is captured at the beginning of her progress into more dramatic music. In 1977 she had been a superb Amelia in the Abbado/Strehler production of Simon Boccanegra, and the role of Elisabetta suits her very well. She doesn't quite command the beauty of tone of Caballé on the Giulini recording and she occasionally sounds a little cautious, but she makes a most sympathetic heroine, and articulates the text beautifully. Carreras is caught at his absolute best. Some might feel that, as with Freni, a larger, more heroic voice is what is required, but I'm not sure I'd agree. Carlo is one of Verdi's most complex tenor roles, a weak character stunted by his father's indifference to him, constantly in the shadow of his noble friend, Posa and Carreras brilliantly captures both his instability and his desperation. He might just be my favourite Carlo on disc. Cappuccilli is not so interesting a Posa as Gobbi or Milnes, nor is he quite as impressive here as he was in the Abbado Simon Boccanegra, but it is still an excellent performance, his breath control and legato very impressive. Ghiaurov is now sounding a little grey of voice, but that is not inapt for Filippo, and he too presents a believably complex character. I prefer a blacker voice than Raimondi's for the Inquisitor (like Foiani on the Giulini recording) and consequently the great scene between him and Filippo loses a little in tension.
Crowning the cast is Agnes Baltsa as Eboli in one of her best recorded roles. The voice is at its absolute peak, the lower voice rich and powerful, the top notes gleamingly firm. Her O don fatale is absolutely thrilling, as it was when I saw her in the role at Covent Garden, when she pretty much stopped the show. This luxury casting continues into the smaller roles with José Van Dam as the Monk, Edita Gruberova as Tebaldo and Barbara Hendricks as The Voice from Heaven.
Karajan's tempi are sometimes a little too measured, but he has the virtue of never letting the tempo sag. If only the sound were more maneagable, I might listen to it more often. As it is, Giulini remains my yardstick for the opera.
Posted on March 25, 2019 May 29, 2019 by tsaraslondon	· 1 Comment
Agnes Baltsa – Famous Opera Arias
Good to be reminded of Baltsa's pre-eminence as a lyric/dramatic mezzo at the beginning of the 1980s, when this recital was recorded.
The recital shows off to advantage her keen dramatic instinct, a tangily individual timbre, and a voice that was, at this time at least, absolutely seamless from top to bottom. Though she had already recorded Eboli and Amneris for Karajan, this recital concentrates for the most part on her work in the field of bel canto.
Baltsa was an exciting stage performer, as I can attest, having seen her live on many occasions and a great deal of that excitement comes through on disc, the climaxes of the arias from La Favorita and Il Giuamento being particularly thrilling. She has a strong vocal personality, which comes across stunningly on disc, and she realises the different demands of classical, Romantic and verismo music. If there is a limitation, it is that she rarely colours or weights the voice to suit the character she is playing, something more noticeable in a recital disc than it would be in a complete performance.
Stand out tracks for me were the aria from La Donna del Lago, where she gently caresses the opening cavatina, and the aforementioned arias from Il Giuramento and La Favorita. Indeed, on this showing it is a great pity that nobody thought to make a complete recording of the Donizetti opera with her, though preferably in the original French rather than Italian as it is here.
To sum up, this is a great memento of an important singer recorded when the voice was at its peak. I seem to remember that it was issued in the UK originally on EMI, but the recording was made by Orfeo, and it is that issue I have.
Posted on April 9, 2017 May 29, 2019 by tsaraslondon
Verdi's Don Carlos – a comparison of three different recordings
Don Carlo, or more properly Don Carlos, to use its French title, that great, sprawling, flawed masterpiece, is one of my favourite Verdi operas, maybe even my favourite. Admittedly it doesn't have the coherence of Aida or Otello, or even Rigoletto, but enshrined in it is some of Verdi's greatest music, and I believe that Act IV, Scene i is one of the greatest scenes in all Verdi. Starting with that mournful cello introduction to Philip's despairing Elle ne m'aime pas, through the magnificent duet (more a duel )between the two bass voices of Philip and the Grand Inquisitor, on to the superb quartet for Philip, Rodrigue, Elisabeth and Eboli, to Eboli's thrilling O don fatal, Verdi doesn't put a foot wrong. As pure theatre and drama, it can hardly be bettered. It also enjoys some of the most complex characterisation in all Verdi. The tenor Carlos, is really an anti-hero, a rather pathetic character, desperate for the recognition of a cold, distant father, who wishes his son were more like his friend and confidant Rodrigue, the only really noble character in the opera. Philippe is also a weak character. He strives to be a strong leader, but mistakes intransigence for strength, and, ultimately, is putty in the hands of the church. He does not think for one moment about the effect of his decision to marry Elisabeth himself instead of Carlos, an act of pure selfishness. Elisabeth, disappointed in love, treated appallingly by Philippe, is both regal and compassionate, and Eboli is flighty, hot tempered, and ultimately remorseful.
Over the years I've seen the opera a few times and acquired three recordings, though what I actually have is recordings of three different operas. Giulini in 1971 goes for the five act version, in Italian translation, which restored the Fontainebleau Act, and puts Carlo's Io la vidi back where it belongs in the Fontainebleau act; Karajan in 1979 chooses Verdi's four Act version (also in Italian, in which Verdi deleted the whole of the first act, transferring Carlo's Io la vidi to the Monastery Scene, which now becomes Act I, Scene i; Abbado in 1983 conducts the original five act version in French, and adds an appendix of music cut from the first performance, excised from the 1882-83 four act version, or recomposed in that revision. Yes, I know. Complicated, isn't it?
Don Carlo(s) is a long opera, and I listened to my three recordings over a period of several days, starting with the Giulini, going on to Karajan and finishing with Abbado.
The Giulini has acquired something of a classic status, and though probably not quite on the level as the same conductor's Don Giovanni, it does a great deal to justify its high regard. First of all, Giulini has just about the best cast that could have been assembled at the time. That said, Domingo is not yet the artist he was to become. His singing is never less than musical, and he sings with commitment, but there is something slightly generalised about his performance, with nothing much to distinguish Carlo from any other Verdi tenor hero. Milnes sings a noble, forthright Rodrigo, my favourite of the three on these recordings. Raimondi is a little light voiced as Fillipo, a role that really cries out for the dark, buttery tones of a Pinza or a Christoff, but he is suitably tortured and his voice contrasts well with the black voiced Inquisitor of Giovanni Foiani.
Caballé's voice was at its most beautiful at this time, and, though she too can be a little generalised, she is never less than involved and involving. Her soft singing, as you might expect, is exquisite.
Verrett is, quite simply, magnificent, and without doubt one of the best Ebolis on disc. Recorded before she started moving up to the soprano repertoire, her voice is in thrillingly exciting shape.
Giulini had of course conducted the opera a few years previously at Covent Garden, in a production by Visconti which went a long way to restoring the opera to its rightful place in the Verdi canon, It starred Jon Vickers, Tito Gobbi, Boris Christoff, Gré Brouwenstijn and Fedora Barbieri, and it served Covent Garden very well over the years. I even saw Christoff myself in the opera in one of his last operatic appearances. Giulini's credentials as a Verdian are never in doubt. His tempi can be on the spacious side, but he has a sure sense of the work's structure. The 1971 analogue recording is wonderfully natural, the voices beautifully caught, and still sounds good on CD.
The first thing that strikes me, and annoys me, about the Karajan recording is the sound. In an acoustic that is impossibly wide ranging, the voices, lighter and more lyrical than was often the case, are so far recessed that it is often difficult to hear them. One of the worst instances of this is the beginning of the scene in the Queen's Garden at night. With the sound turned up to a comfortable level for Karajan's beautiful evocation of a heady summer night, Carreras is all but inaudible at his first entry. I turn up the sound in order to hear him better, only to be blasted out of my seat at the next orchestral tutti. This is but one example, but it happens all the time, and is, in my opinion, a serious blot on what is actually a rather good performance.
Karajan, who also had a great deal of experience in this opera, is also spacious, but the performance still bristles with drama. I just wish he didn't constantly push the orchestra forward at the expense of the singers, who are often submerged in the orchestral textures.
I liked Carreras's Carlo very much. His legato isn't as good as Domingo's, but he is better at suggesting the character's unhinged nature. Cappuccilli is good, without being distinctive. He has a good legato, and superb breath control, but he is a little anonymous, and this performance is not generally at the same high standard of his Boccanegra and Macbeth for Abbado. Ghiaurov is Filippo, but his voice was already showing signs of wear by this time, and I find him less interesting than Raimondi in the same role, who is now the Inquisitor, and a mite too light of voice for that role.
This was Freni's first excursion into heavier repertoire, and she makes a very appealing Elisabeth. As always her singing is unfailingly musical, but lacks the grandeur Caballé brings to Tu che le vanita. Baltsa is just as exciting as Verrett, her voice, at this time in her career, seamless from top to bottom. I saw her in the role at Covent Garden a few years after this recording was made and she brought the house down, generating the kind of excitement that is all too rare in the opera house today. I really couldn't choose between her and Verrett. Both are fantastic.
And so on to Abbado, which I find operates on an altogether lower voltage.
Having taken the decision to perform the opera in French, it would seem somewhat perverse to use singers who have little or no (Domingo excepted) proficiency in the language, and it is Domingo who is the standout performance in this set. Paradoxically, ten years after making the Giulini recording, the top of his voice sounds much more free, and he is much more inside the character than he was before, a highly strung and nervous portrayal.
Nucci is a four-square, dry old stick of a Rodrigue. Raimondi is back to playing Philippe, but his voice has lost some of its bloom, and Ghiaurov is sounding increasingly grey voiced as the Inquisitor.
Ricciarelli I have equivocal feelings about. She is the definitely the most affecting of the three Elisabeths, but also the most fallible vocally. However it's a performance I've come to admire more over the years. Valentini-Terrani is much too light voiced for Eboli, and O don fatal taxes her to, and beyond, her limits. She is definitely no match for either Verrett or Baltsa.
Though it is the newest, and digitally recorded, the sound is unaccountably murky, nowhere near as clear, or as natural, as the Giulini, and Abbado's conducting lacks energy and authority. He doesn't have the same structural control he evinces in his recordings of both Simon Boccanegra and Macbeth.
My conclusion is, then, that Giulini retains its place at the top of the field, though I will on occasion want to listen to Karajan and Abbado, for some of the individually excellent performances.
As a codicil to this, I would mention that my introduction to the opera was Callas's magnificent recording of Tu che le vanita, an aria she obviously had a great deal of affection for, as she regularly programmed it into her concert repertoire. Callas only sang the role of Elisabeth once, at La Scala in 1954, and unfortunately none of the performances were recorded, but she makes more of the scene than anyone. It is grandly voiced, her breath control prodigious, but she effectively binds together its disparate elements. It is, in Lord Harewood's words, a performance of utmost delicacy and beauty and I would recommend it to anyone who loves this opera.
Posted on March 11, 2017 May 29, 2019 by tsaraslondon	· 8 Comments
Verdi's Aida – a comparative review of 5 different recordings
I'm not quite sure how I've ended up with five different recordings of Verdi's Aida. It's not my favourite Verdi opera by a long chalk. Though it has magnificent music, the characters always seem more like human archetypes than flesh and blood people and I admire it rather than love it. Three of my recordings feature Callas, and, though I never think of Aida as a Callas role, she brings more meaning to it than most. Two of the Callas recordings (the ones that find her in the best voice) are live, but the sound on both is, at best tolerable, so the studio one is also a necessity, though the 1955 mono sound on that can't hope to compare with the fabulous sound accorded the new Pappano set that was recorded in 2015.
Aida is of course the quintessential grand opera, famed throughout the world for extravagant stagings at the Arena di Verona, but actually, aside from the great Triumphal Scene, many of its scenes are played out in private, behind closed doors.
I started my journey with the famous live 1951 performance from Mexico, with Callas, Del Monaco, Dominguez and Taddei, conducted by Oliviero de Fabritiis.
Well let's get over the caveats. The sound is pretty atrocious; it crumbles and distorts and the balances are all over the place. The voices come through reasonably well, but you do have to listen through the sound, as it were. But what a performance! And a memento of what was undoubtedly a thrilling evening in the theatre.
Callas is in superb voice throughout, and makes more of the somewhat placid character of Aida than any other singer I have come across. The power she was able to summon at this point in her career has to be heard to be believed, a power that goes right up to that unwritten, but absolutely stunning top Eb in alt in the Triumphal Scene, a phenomenal sound, that excites the Mexicans so much you can almost hear them rip the seats apart. Ritorna vincitor is absolutely thrilling, the duet with Dominguez's Amneris also superb, but, as always with Callas, it is the Nile Scene that provokes her most moving singing.
O patria mia is not her best moment. She seems momentarily preoccupied with the exposed top C at the end, a solid if not exactly dolce as marked note, but once past the aria, she is on more congenial ground, and, with Taddei a worthy partner, alternately stentorian, implacable, insinuating and relentless, runs the gamut of emotions in an exciting Nile Scene. In the ensuing duet with Radames, she finds a wealth of colour as she seduces and cajoles him.
Del Monaco, as usual, is not particularly subtle, but there is the clarion compensation of the voice itself, and, like all the Radames Callas sings with in the three recordings, makes a better hero than lover.
Dominguez is very impressive. This was her debut in the role, and occasionally she overplays her hand, but her singing is very exciting and the Mexicans give her a rousing reception.
De Fabritiis conducts a dramatic, but not particularly subtle, version of the score. Nowhere does he find the delicacy of Karajan or Pappano, or even Serafin, but subtlety is not really what this performance is about.
I next moved onto another live Callas performance; this one from Covent Garden in 1953, with Kurt Baum, Giulietta Simionato and Jess Walters, conducted by Sir John Barbirolli.
Unfortunately Barbirolli turned out to be something of a disappointment. More subtle than De Fabritiis in Mexico admittedly, the performance lacks excitement and many of his tempi are unaccountably slow. Maybe his approach was more suited to the reserved Londoners than the excitable Mexicans, but the latter has a thrilling vitality completely missing in London.
There is no thrilling Eb in the Triumphal Scene, but Callas is still in superb voice. However Barbirolli's slow tempi vitiate against some of her more dramatic moments. The I sacri numi section of Ritorna vincitor lacks the bite Callas usually brings to it, though she is able to spin out the final Numi pieta to even more heavenly lengths at Barbirolli's slower tempo.
Baum is not quite as bad as his reputation, but he hardly ever phrases with distinction and he sobs and aspirates in what he evidently thought was the Italian manner. He also has a tendency to hold on to every top note as if his life depended on it, so that his duets, both with Callas and Simionato, become somewhat combative. That Callas manages to sing the final duet with the grace and delicacy she does is little short of miraculous, given Baum's determination to bawl his way to his death.
Simionato, a more experienced Amneris than Dominguez, is magnificent and Barbirolli does finally wake up for her final scene, though you sense Simionato propelling the music forward and they almost become unstuck. Am I being picky, though, when I wonder if a little too much of Azucena creeps into Simionato's interpretation? Amneris is after all a young princess, but more on that subject later.
Somewhat disappointed with Barbirolli, I moved on to the second Karajan recording, recorded in Vienna with Mirella Freni, Jose Carreras, Agnes Baltsa and Piero Cappuccilli.
Karajan's speeds in this, his second recording, of the opera are also spacious but much more vital. I've always found his first effort, with Tebaldi and Bergonzi, a little too self-consciously beautiful. This one is far more alive to the drama. It goes without saying that the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra play superbly and the sound is excellent analogue stereo, though the voices are a little too recessed for my liking, and are often submerged by the orchestra. Given that Karajan uses lighter, more lyrical voices than we have become used to, this does seem a somewhat perverse decision.
If singers of Radames tend to break down into the heroic and poetic, Carreras is more in the latter camp. His voice is doubtless a notch too small for the part, but it was still a beautiful instrument at that time, and his is the most attractive Celeste Aida we have heard so far, though he doesn't manage the pianissimo top B at the end. He is at his best in the final duet, his piano singing a welcome relief from the overloud Del Monaco and Baum.
Freni is very attractive, if a little lacking in personality. Her voice might also be considered a little light for the role, but she never forces and sings within her means, phrasing sensitively and singing cleanly off the text. She does nothing wrong, but set next to Callas, she just isn't that interesting.
The best of the soloists is, without doubt, Agnes Baltsa. Here at last we have a believably young, spoiled princess, a plausible rival for Aida. Seductively sexy and driven to distraction by jealousy, she is convincingly remorseful at the end of the opera, nor does she sound like an Azucena in disguise. She is superbly effective in her duets with Radames and Aida, and gorgeous in the first scene of Act II. She is my favourite of all the Amnerises.
Cappuccilli I find efficient rather than inspired. He doesn't stamp his authority on the role of Amonasro the way Taddei and Gobbi do, though, as usual, his breath control is exemplary. In a star studded cast, both Ramfis and the King (Ruggero Raimondi and Jose Van Dam) are excellent and we even get the silken voiced Katia Ricciarelli in the role of the Priestess.
From Karajan I turned to the latest addition to the Aida discography. Recorded in the studio, a rarity for opera recordings these days, it is conducted by Antonio Pappano, and stars Anya Harteros, Jonas Kaufmann, Ekaterina Semenchuk and Ludovic Tezier with Orchestra and Chorus of the Saint Cecilia Academy.
As one might expect, the sound in this new digital recording is superb, much more naturally balanced than the Karajan, with the voices coming through beautifully. Pappano exerts a superb grip on the opera, and his might just be the best conducted version of the lot, in the best lyric Italian tradition of conductors like Serafin, more of whom below.
Best of the soloists is definitely Jonas Kaufmann, who might just be the best Radames ever to be recorded. He has both the heroics and the poetry (a deliciously ppp close to Celeste Aida) and is vocally the equal of all that Verdi throws at him. Throughout he phrases with sensitivity and imagination, and achieves miracles of grace in the final duet, with some genuine dolce singing. This is a great performance.
Harteros is in the Freni mould, vocally not quite as secure, but a little more interesting. She goes for a dolce top C in O patria mia, but it is a little shaky. She does not erase memories of Caballe (on the Muti recording) in the same music, but hers is nevertheless an attractive performance.
Semenchuk I don't like at all. She has a typically vibrant Eastern European voice, with a tendency to be squally. She reminded me most of Elena Obrasztsova and sounds a good deal older than she looks in the photographs accompanying the recording. All the other Amnerises under consideration bring something more specific to the role, where she is more generalised, and consequently the big Act IV scene lacks tension.
If not quite in the Gobbi or Taddei class, when it comes to verbal acuity, Ludovic Tezier is a fine Amonasro and together he and Harteros, with Pappano's inestimable help, deliver a fine Nile Duet. The basses are not quite in the same class as those on Karajan and Serafin.
Which brings me to Serafin and Callas's studio recording of the opera.
By the time this recording was made in 1955, Callas had given up the role of Aida, singing her last performances in Verona just a few months after the 1953 Covent Garden performances under Barbirolli.
Callas's voice has thinned out quite a bit, and she sings a much more refined performance of the role, perhaps more in line with conventional interpretations, except of course that Callas can never be conventional. When Tebaldi sings Numi pieta at the end of Ritorna vincitor, she sings a pure lyrical line and it's very pretty, but Callas reminds us that she is asking the Gods to take pity on her suffering. Time and time again she will illuminate a phrase here, a word there. The duet with Amneris abounds with contrast as the two women play off against each other, but it is the duet with Amonasro in the Nile Scene that holds the heart of this performance, the scene where Aida must choose country before love. Gobbi is at his incisive best as Amonasro, and I doubt I will ever hear this duet done better. Note too how eloquently Serafin makes the strings weep when Aida finally gives in, first with the climbing phrase on the cellos and then in the way he accentuates those stabbing violin figures, when Callas sings O patria, patria quanto mi costi. This is the real stuff of drama.
Tucker isn't in Callas and Gobbi's class I'm afraid. He has the right sound for the role, virile and forthright, but for every phrase delivered with just the right degree of slancio, there is another ruined by his tendency to aspirate and sob.
Barbieri is very fine, in the Simionato mould, and, with Serafin letting go a veritable storm in the orchestra, produces a thrillingly dramatic Act IV scena.
Both basses (Giuseppe Modesti as Ramfis, and especially Nicola Zaccaria as the King) are splendid, and Serafin, as you might have gathered, conducts a wonderfully dramatic version of the score, in the best Italian tradition.
So conclusions then. No doubt there will be some wondering why I didn't include Solti and Muti. Well, Solti I've never taken to. I just can't stand his bombastic, un-Italianate, unlyrical conducting, good though his cast is (though I've never quite joined in the general enthusiasm for Gorr's Amneris). I know the Muti but don't own it. Until Pappano came along I usually used to recommend it as the safest bet, and Caballe gives one of her finest performances as Aida, and it is still, if memory serves me correctly, worth considering.
From the five under consideration then, I'd say De Fabritiis in Mexico is essential listening, if only as a memento of a historical occasion and a truly thrilling evening in the theatre. It could never be a library version though because of the intransigent sound. From the point of view of a library choice, then the new Pappano would probably be the safest bet, even though it has the weakest Amneris. Forced to choose but one recording, though, I'd go for Serafin, with a rather regretful glance over my shoulder towards Baltsa's Amneris. The mono sound is sometimes a bit boxy and not a patch on either Karajan or Pappano, but its studio acoustic is a good deal better than either De Fabritiis or Barbirolli, who, in any case, surprisingly trails in last place in this survey, despite the presence of both Callas and Simionato.
Callas's vocal splendour is best caught in Mexico in 1951, but, the sound is a problem, so it's Serafin for me, if only for the Amonasro/Aida Nile duet, the most thrilling on all these sets.


This was our 5th or 6th visit to Rockwall Escape Rooms and my family just loves it! Their customer service is fabulous! We called to ask about booking a room and, even though they weren't open, a Gamemaster came and met us there so that my daughter and her friend could have an escape experience. Wow! I continue to be impressed by this wonderful company! Thank you so much!
You are the curator for the Museum of Legends and are working hard to get the newest wing, Stories Through Out the Centuries, ready for display. All the security staff has gone home for the night, which gives you the perfect opportunity to "work late" and steal some of the precious valuables from the exhibits. But you better be sneaky, if you accidentally trip the alarm, law enforcement will arrive in less than one hour to make their arrest!
Reviews of escape game "Museum of Legends"
My son and his friends all went for a birthday. Some had done escape rooms before some had not. They all loved it, a great challenge for them.
While visiting from Phoenix, I did the Museum Room with my sister. This is our 2nd visit to Rockwall Escape Rooms, and we were not disappointed. There were truly new puzzles which we had not encountered before, despite having done lots of escape rooms before. We had a little trouble with a couple of puzzles where our gamemaster, had to come into the room to see what was wrong, but basically this was a fun, challenging room. Cody, our super gamemaster, and Bianca, his trainee were super nice and accommodating. (Thx, Cody! Thx, Bianca!) Hopefully, there will be a new room by the time I visit Dallas again. I highly recommend this business to locals and travelers alike.


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Well, Duh: Apple Said To Release Adapter For The New iPhone's Tiny Dock Connector
Chris Velazco	@chrisvelazco / 8 years
Earlier today, a Reuters report added more fuel to a particularly nitpicky fire — according to its typically unnamed sources, Apple's new iPhone indeed sports a smaller, 19 pin dock connector instead of the 30 pin relic the company's iDevices have clung to for years.
The news itself isn't particularly shocking — our own John Biggs locked down the 19-pin number last month — but now a new report from iMore points to an even less surprising development. The Cupertino company is allegedly working on a dock connector adapter to keep those iDevice accessories from becoming completely obsolete, or so the story from iMore's supply chain sources go.
Yeah, There's literally no way that Apple would risk pissing off longtime iDevice owners by making their scores of old accessories useless in one fell swoop. Sadly, that's all iMore was able to confirm. At this point, there's still no word on whether or not such an adapter will find its way inside the new iPhone's box, nor how much it will cost customers to purchase it separately.
While Apple hasn't officially confirmed any of this (and don't expect them to until September at the earliest), there's more than enough smoke to signal a fire here. What's more, the incessant clatter of the rumor mill points to plenty of big hardware additions — a larger screen, an LTE radio, NFC, and more — so it's not much of a stretch to imagine Apple grappling with the prospect of squeezing everything into a slim new chassis.
Like it or not, this sort of move isn't anything new for Apple. Most recently, the company launched the new MacBook Air and retina MacBook Pro with smaller MagSafe connectors because of their slimmer frames, but Apple has attempted to ease the pain by selling an adapter for $9.99.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Next Generation Council
Investing Charitable Assets
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NCPR listeners meet challenge set by Knight in shining armor
Above: Natasha Haverty of North Country Public Radio.
Three years ago, Adirondack Foundation and North Country Public Radio partnered to meet a $300,000 community information challenge from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Donors responded valiantly to the daunting challenge, meeting this year's deadline. As a result, nearly $700,000 has poured into NCPR's "21st Century Public Media on a Rural Map" project.
The project accomplished five major goals: all NCPR platforms are now part of a single, integrated resource for the people of the Adirondack region; the community plays a bigger role in imagining and shaping what they receive from NCPR; the breadth and depth of regional news and information content have increased; the next generation of public media professionals now has a training and employment path through NCPR; two news bureaus are established, including one in Plattsburgh, led by NCPR-trained-and-mentored young journalist Zach Hirsch. A Glens Falls bureau to improve coverage in the southern Adirondacks is planned. It just keeps going and growing.
"Adirondack Foundation is part of an increasing number of community foundations working to be sure residents get the information they need to make important decisions about their communities," says Trabian Shorters, Knight Foundation's past vice president. "Ultimately, our democracy will thrive only if we have informed and engaged communities."
Cali Brooks sat down with Ellen Rocco recently to discuss the impact of the project. To read the interview, click here.
The investment in news and information capacity at NCPR led to other partnerships with Adirondack Foundation, most importantly the Prison Time Media Project. The series, led by Brian Mann and Natasha Haverty, produced more than 40 reports on the drug war and mass incarceration, pieces which were distributed to public radio stations around the US, in regional newspapers and magazines, and became discussion points in blogs and community gatherings. The series went on to win the Edward R. Murrow Award. Over the course of the year, the project initiated a fact-based, civil dialogue about prison issues in our region, where prisons are a major industry and where many of the moral, ethical, and practical questions of mass incarceration have long gone unaddressed. To read more about the series visit www.prisontime.org.
The Secret to this Hospital's Success? Innovation and Community Spirit
"I don't know what this community would do without this hospital," said Chelsea Snyder-Dennis, Director of Nursing Services at the Clifton-Fine Hospital, an affiliate of Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown. It is at least one hour in any direction...
Adirondack Foundation
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Every now and then a news story comes along reporting that some people in a rural part of the world have found some weird, otherworldly or unexplainable creature in the wild. Some look like aliens, while others look like monsters from legend. Pictures are spread throughout the internet, urban legends are born and skeptics are quick to provide explanations.
"It was just Mr. Burns" would have been a perfectly reasonable explanation, but instead Ivana Wynn (yes, that is her real name) did some research and came up with a great list of The 10 Most Strange, Terrifying Creatures Ever Found, including the science, hype and reality surrounding each find. Including the one above.
Have fun trying to sleep tonight.


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It feels like forever since I've properly sat down to do my nails, so last night I determined I would catch up with my favorite beauty YouTubers videos while I did the dirty work of filing my nails (my favorite nail file here), applied my favorite cuticle cream (right here) and then sat in front of my nail polish to decide upon a color. I fully intended to put on a rich vampy shade but I realized I just wasn't quite ready to give up summer nails just yet. I know, I know. It's after Labor Day and school is in session, but as per usual, Houston's heat index of 100 degrees and the fact that I can't pull out my favorite fall booties yet basically made the decision for me – I'm not ready to let go of summer just yet!
Earlier this summer Londontown Lakur sent their spring/summer 2016 collection, Make Me Beautiful, which is a collection of four polishes of whites, iridescent shimmer and barely there delicate shades. When I saw them all together I was inspired create a whimsical summer nail look – perfect to bid farewell to a fabulous summer!
Whimsical fun to celebrate the final days of summer!
Royal Wedding is a vibrant apricot cream (shown on middle finger, dots on ring finger and french tip on pinky finger). It goes on smoothly and is opaque with two coats. It looks lovely on the nails and is a perfect toe color all year round!
Invisible Crown (two coats shown on ring finger) is a sheer cool-toned pink which is perfect to hide less than white nails, yet is sophisticated and simple. This is one of my favorites!
Princess Awaits (two coats on index finger, single top coat on thumb) is a sheer white with hint of pink and beautiful iridescence. It is sheer enough to place on top of another shade (such as white) to offer just a bit of iridescence or it can be used alone with two coats, which gives it a milky pink iridescent sheen. This one is my favorite!
Duchess (shown on pinky, white dots on index finger and base for thumb) is a bright white cream that is smooth and is easily opaque with two coats.
The shades in this collection are a good mix of basic whites, romantic sheers and a summer color staple making this collection perfect for classy manicures during wedding season and beyond. I topped the manicure with Londontown's Kur Gel Genius Topcoat which is a thicker formulation topcoat. It works quite well to add that extra layer of chip protection and I love the shine.
I was skeptical of Smudge Fix but it actually does work, and works well! To use Smudge Fix I simply applied it to the smudge (the polish was still soft), and only using the pressure of the brush it smoothed over it. I had to go over it a couple of times for this particular smudge but in the end it worked beautifully and even now as I look at it I can't even tell anything happened to it! I've also tried Smudge Fix out on indentations and fingerprints on my polish and it works just as well. For more catastrophic nail accidents, like when you bump your soft nails against something and it takes a chunk out of the polish, Londontown suggests filling in the bare part of the nail with the color you were using, followed by Smudge Fix to even it all out. I have yet to try it that way, but I'm very impressed with how it has worked for me so far! After application of Smudge Fix be sure to top it off with a glossy topcoat to seal it in.
So this concludes my au revoir to summer days manicure. Next time I paint my nails I'll go for a rich vampy shade – I'm thinking an oldie but a goodie – Chanel Taboo or even Zoya Tara. Have any recommendations? With autumn only a couple weeks away I'd better start making the transition!
Do you have any last minute "Wait summer, you can't be over just yet!" nail or makeup ventures? I'd love to hear about it! Chat with me in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
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« CGPFK's Ronald Weinland Again Falsely Declares Jesus Will Return on May, 27, 2012
Germany's Merkel Says Restructure with 'More Europe' Needed »
Iran Calls for an 'International Islamic Power Block'
Naqsh-e Jahan Square, Iran
Iran wants unification amongst Muslims that will be able to stand up against the West:
Ayatollah Khamenei Calls for 'Islamic Power Bloc'
AINA (press release) – Nov 8, 2011
TEHRAN — Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has called on the world's Muslim nations to form an international Islamic power bloc.
Referring to the popular uprisings in the Arab world and the recent anti-capitalism movement across the world in his message to Hajj Pilgrims in 2011, Ayatollah Khamenei called on the Muslim world to "make the most of this opportunity for the formation of an international Islamic power-bloc."
Ayatollah Khamenei said such global developments "can change the destiny of the Islamic Ummah (nation)" and herald "a bright future accompanied with dignity and progress."
"Today, the West, the United States and Zionism are weaker than ever before," the Leader pointed out.
Iran is primarily a Shi'ite Muslim nation. In the Sunni Islamic world (most of the Arab nations) there is a similar call for a caliphate, which is essentially a multi-national Islamic empire
Here is a news report today that went over certain aspects of Islam that seem relevant to this idea:
Islam is not only a religion, but the common political – almost familial — bond that unites all Muslims…
Even though, throughout much of the twentieth century, most of the Muslim world seemed to Westerners to have abandoned its Islamic identity in favor of national identities — such as Arabic, Turkish, or Iranian — Islamic identity apparently continued underneath as an essential component of identity. Loyalty, for a large number of Muslims — and most significantly for the Islamists — is still owed to the amorphous concept of the Muslim Nation, or Ummah. As the Muslim prophet Muhammad said, "All Muslims belong to one people, the only difference among them is in piety." For Muslims throughout the centuries, this feeling of brotherhood…the concept of Islamic brotherhood transcends borders…
For Sunnis, a Caliph was and still is considered God's representative on earth. In addition to his political role as head of the Ottoman Empire, to his people the Caliph's role as a spiritual leader is roughly equivalent to that of the Pope in the Vatican…
In Egypt, Muslims feel a closer tie with Muslims in Syria or Saudi Arabia, than they do with the Egyptian Christians with whom they have been living for centuries. http://www.hudson-ny.org/2572/brotherhood-in-islam#_ftnref17
The Muslim Brotherhood, which has been rising throughout much of the Arab world this year, wants to re-establish this Caliph.
Here is some of what the official English-language website of the Muslim Brotherhood teaches about its history and goals:
Al-Banna was chiefly responsible for formulating the policies of this association…the idea of universal muslim state was constantly implied due to the association's focus on Islam. While strongly disapproving of local brands of Nationalism, particularly if they were Western-inspired and secularly-minded, Banna developed his vision of Pan-Islamic Nationalism, insisting that Islam and Nationalism were complementary, especially when the latter operated within the parameter of the Islamic truth, since, for the Muslim Brethren, Islam was of course both religion and state. Here we need to analyze what was the basic concept from which Hassan al-Banna initiated to establish such Islamic organization. Then we would also explore his thought of the causes of descend of Islamic society particularly in Egypt. However, his effort and works deserved great consideration of Islamic society in the revolution to the revival of Islamic state (Caliphate)…The Muslim Brethren…believe that the caliphate is a symbol of Islamic Union and an indication of the bonds between the nations of Islam. They see the caliphate and its re-establishment as a top priority, subsequently; an association of Muslims people should be set up, which would elect the imam". (zhyntativ. HASAN AL-BANNA AND HIS POLITICAL THOUGHT OF ISLAMIC BROTHERHOOD. IkhwanWeb, May 13, 2008. http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=17065 viewed 09/22/11)
Events seem to be being orchestrated to accomplish a version of the above.
While Iran will not lead the final Islamic confederation, its supreme leader has publicly voiced what many Muslims want. And this is something consistent with Bible prophecies concerning an end-time leader that Daniel writes is the King of the South (Daniel 11:40) rising up.
Events are moving forward in the Middle East, Iran, and other parts of the world for the fulfillment of Bible prophecy.
The Arab World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam? What does Islam teach about the Imam Mahdi?
Is There A Future King of the South? Some no longer believe there needs to be. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? Is he the Imam Mahdi? What does the Bible say?
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, British, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first?
Will the Anglo-Nations be Divided? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people?
Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2010, 2011, or 2012? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the "beginning of sorrows"? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord?
2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect This is a link related to a book by Bob Thiel (COGwriter). This also has YouTube videos. This book documents and explains hundreds of prophecies. And since it was published, at least 17 have already started to come to pass (including two or three related to Islam, Israel, and the Middle East).
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 9th, 2011 at 10:47 am	and is filed under Prophecy, Religious News.
Once Outlawed Muslim Brotherhood Getting Significant Votes
BibleNewsProphecy: Will an Arabic Calphiphate Destroy the West?
Obama Administration Reaches Out to Muslim Brotherhood
BibleNewsProphecy: Egypt and Prophecy
BibleNewsProphecy: Egypt and End Time Prophecy
Muslim Brotherhood Gaining Political Power in Egyptian Elections
Israeli Complaining About Lack of Communication with Egypt
Sheik Shehato: 'We Will Launch a Campaign of Islamic Conquest'
Muslim Call in Jerusalem for a Caliphate
Arab Call for Jerusalem Based Caliphate


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Q: Have/has known vs familiar with I wonder if there is any difference between:
I have known about calculus.
I'm familiar with calculus.
To me, I assume those are equivalent, but I think there is something different between them that is hard to tell.
To illustrate this problem, I will give an example. Suppose, I had been learning calculus for 2 years when I went to college. Someone in the present time asks me about calculus but I tell them that I didn't finish studying (I hadn't finished the whole lesson, but currently I'm not studying calculus anymore).
In the example above when I want to tell I've ever learnt calculus, which one should I use between (have known) and (familiar with)? I hope you could elaborate your answer. Thanks!

A: I agree with @stangdon that "I have known about" doesn't sound natural in the present context, but not that it doesn't sound natural in any context. Here is an example:
I have known about their true intentions for quite a long time.
Judging by your explanation, calculus is a subject that you did not "finish", which implies that you do not know it very well. If that is the case, then you need to modify the word "familiar" (which means know well) with something like "somewhat":
I am somewhat familiar with...
You can also use the verb "know" in the present tense:
I know (a little, quite a bit) about calculus.
I know (a little, quite a bit) of calculus.
And of course the obvious choices are the verbs "study" or "learn":
I studied/learnt (some) calculus at school.
Or:
I have studied (some) calculus.
This last one focuses on the present result of your past actions. It denotes that you have a background in the subject and are (quite/somewhat) familiar with it.

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Wichita Home
What days of the week are public classes held?
We usually hold public classes Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday evenings, starting at 7pm, Saturday afternoons and occasionally other daytime classes.
Where is Pinot's Palette/Wichita located?
We're at 338 N. Mead in Old Town Square, between 2nd & 3rd - just east of the Warren Old Town Theater, and north of City Arts.
How do I sign up for a class?
It's easy! Look at the upcoming calendar, click on the image of the painting you want to sign up for and add it to your cart. Follow the on-screen directions to complete the order. If you have any problems signing up, call or email the studio for assistance.
How much does class cost?
Most of our 2-hr. classes are $35, and 3-hr. classes are $45. Special classes, including larger formats, Project Pet and other Painting-it-Forward fund-raising events, may be more.
Is there an age limit for the public classes?
Yes. Unless otherwise noted on the class description, you must be 18 years of age or older to attend our normal public classes.
What are the restrictions for the ALL AGES WELCOME classes?
All ages are welcome - but children under 12 must be accompanied by a paying/painting adult.
What do I need to bring with me to class?
Bring your sense of fun and adventure! We supply all the art supplies you will need, and a smock to protect your clothing.
Can I bring my own snacks & drinks?
Yes, we're a BYOB studio - so you can bring your own snacks and beverages of choice, including alcohol. And we're conveniently located next to Beyond Napa, a retail wine shop that also carries cold beer and a selection of spirits. We provide wine glasses, ice and beverage tubs, corkscrews, plates, napkins, utensils, and complimentary bottled water.
What should I wear to class?
There's no dress code at Pinot's Palette: What you wear is up to you. But since spills and splatters have been known to happen, we will provide you with an apron to protect your clothing.
Where should I park?
Free on-street parking is available around Old Town Square - and there's also a free multi-level, well-lit parking garage across the Square, connected to the west side of the Warren Old Town Theater.
What time should I arrive for class?
We recommend arriving 15-30 minutes before the class is scheduled to start, to allow time to get checked in, pour a glass of your favorite beverage, mingle with friends and get situated.
Is there reserved seating?
YES! Your easel & canvas will be set up and waiting for you when you arrive, with your name written in chalk at your seat. If you are joining a group of friends, please indicate that in your reservation so we make sure to have you seated together. *Private parties do not have assigned seating.
When will the next class calendar be posted?
We usually publish the next month's calendar by the middle of the month.
I can't even draw a stick figure: Will I be able to complete the painting?
Certainly! The artist who is instructing will lead you through the featured painting one step at a time, and we will provide assistance to make sure you can complete your own finished masterpiece.
What is the cancellation policy for public seating?
A full refund can be given if requested at least 48 hours before class, or you can put your reservation on hold to use at a later date. If you notify 24 - 48 hours before class, your reservation will be put on hold to use at a future date. No refunds or hold credits will be given for cancellations received less than 24 hours before class. For groups of 10 or more, a minimum of one week's notice is required to receive a full refund.
Pinot's Palette - Wichita
338 N. Mead St., Old Town Square
mail wichita@pinotspalette.com


Very deep purple color. The nose is voluptuous with tons of plums, bramble, some tar and an earthiness. On the palate I get upfront dryness with lots of tannins leading up to the plum core, with blueberry and creosote adding to the mix. The tannins really dry up my gums and are going to go swimmingly well with the Lamb shanks that are braising. The mid palate is mostly blue fruits and more gum dryness. The finish has that earthiness that I love about Riojas. It's a dusty, tarry, brambly thing that I really enjoy. Even though I am sure this wine has had lashings of Oak, it is not overly evident. What wood is present is very integrated. Reservas are only made in certain years, this one is pretty decent IMHO. 90 points and 5 stars for this relatively modest $15 Tempranillo. I would say buy a case and drink for the foreseeable future! Salut….


Q-Based Solutions All Stop Ringworm Pack Review - Does It Work?
Today we review All Stop Ringworm Pack manufactured by Q-Based Solutions. It is a skin cream and a healing gel two-unit remedy that is suitable for mild cases of ringworm, as per the manufacturer's advice.
'Ringworm' has everything to do with a fungus and nothing to do with a ringworm. It is highly contagious. It can occur anywhere on the body and most people know it as Athlete's Foot when it occurs between the toes and on the soles. This pesky fungus – which has 40 species and 119 strains – can also occur on the scalp or on your fingernails. The Trichophyton fungi are responsible for the infection at the heart of it all. This cluster of fungi loves moist, damp areas of the body, which is why it is also found on the groin as Jock Itch.
What's in Q-Based Solutions All Stop Ringworm Pack?
The fundamental active ingredients are tea tree oil and pine oil. Tea tree is a potent, fast-acting and soothing, broad-spectrum antifungal and antibacterial while the pine oil is a powerful detoxifying agent that also disinfects. You may have noticed for example how pine oil is used in multiple products, even household ones. These are carried on other ingredients designed to penetrate deep below the surface of the skin where the fungus loves to hide.
Ingredients such as citric acid are further detoxifiers and known astringents, which will attack the fungus then close up any abrasions after also detoxing the skin area. It is important to seal openings in the epidermis to prevent secondary bacterial infections.
How Do You Use Q-Based Solutions All Stop Ringworm Pack?
Wash the affected areas as well as your whole body well. Preferably, use a disinfectant in your water so as not to spread the infection. The manufacturer suggests using their Medicated Body Wash product. The most important thing is drying your skin and body properly afterward, bearing in mind that any moisture will only aid the fungus.
Apply a thin layer of the cream once in the morning to your sores. Do not rinse this off. Keep the cream away from your eyes or groin area. Apply the healing gel at night. Allow it to air dry without rinsing off once again. If your infection is severe, instead of alternating products between morning and night, do so every 4 to 6 hours.
The pack retails for $24.95 from the Q-Based online shop. At the time of researching this cream, this was the sale price and it was equal to a discount of $20 off the normal price.
You will be refunded up to $200 of products purchased but you must call a customer service agent within 7 days if the product kit fails to work for you. They will try to see what the problem is and potentially prescribe a different dosage or manner of application and if this still does not work, you will be refunded.
There are 119 ringworm strands and this dual-approach treatment seeks to neutralize all of them by using broad-spectrum antifungals, astringents, and cleansers. The oils and lubricants carry the active ingredients too far below the epidermis, as not reaching the fungus where it resides neatly hidden away is why many treatments fail. The healing gel should also help to prevent reinfection. This is important as this fungus is both opportunistic and stubborn.
These are not the only astringents that could have been used though. Argan oil or even apple cider vinegar added to the mix would not hurt. There are also more potently formulated antifungals available. One of the main issues here is your stance with regard to simplicity as this two-step treatment requires more time and patience to execute. If you like the idea of a single cream or tablet as a solution, then you may find this All Stop pack a bit vexing.


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How do we return this present?
by Shade's Progress in Medical progress, surgery Tags: Christmas, ER, Health Central, hospital, infection, muscle graft, plastic surgery, progress, recovery, Shade, Shade's Progress, Stroke, surgery
Red and green are quite merry when decorating for Christmas but are less festive when dealing with wound infections in a hospital ER. How's that for a holiday card message? It was inspired by our Christmas visit to Health Central hospital over the last couple days. Harken whilst I recount to you this Christmas tale:
'Twas the day before Christmas, and all through the house,
Not a creature was worried, not even my spouse.
The invites to family had all been sent out
For the annual Christmas Eve Crampton cook out.
Low Country Boil
Alright, I won't make you suffer through ten stanzas of corny holiday poetry. Suffice it to say, after returning from Raleigh on December 18, Shade had been taking it easy in his bed and healing. His scars looked pretty good for scars – nice, clean lines and no redness or swelling. Things seemed positive on the whole, so we decided to carry on with our tradition of Christmas Eve dinner, despite urgings and offerings from good-intentioned family that perhaps we should skip it or allow someone else to host. After all, preparing a big meal was a bit much to add onto our plate. However, after spending most of December away from home and engaging in very little Christmasy activities, we felt that this dinner was our only chance at capturing the real spirit of the holiday. But we simplified. Instead of the big roast dinner, decorated table and place settings, we opted for a fairly easy low country boil – a big boiling pot of crabs, shrimp, sausages, potatoes, corn on the cob and spices laid out over a picnic table. My brother Darren would handle all the fixings. Cooking time, less than 30 minutes. Dinner's on!
(If you are easily grossed out, I suggest you do not eat any pudding while you continue reading.) During the days before Christmas Eve, Shade's face started leaking fluid. More like gushing. He woke up one morning with a soaked pillow. But the fluid was clearish and didn't smell, which was good news. We contacted the doctors at Duke and they said that the area was just trying to eliminate the swelling. They weren't worried so neither were we, though it was a chore to keep the area dry and clean. They should have installed a spigot on his cheek.
On Christmas Eve morning, however, the stitching on his lower cheek had opened up and it was a bit gooey with pus. Blech! So Aitza took Shade to his primary care physician whose office is at Health Central. The doctor took one look and said, "This is way beyond my expertise!" and promptly sent Shade down to the ER. Crap! Back in the hospital. I drove down and met them. The staff were great and tried to make us all welcome and comfortable, but we still had that Grinch-stole-our-Christmas gloom. The staff pumped up Shade full of fluids and antibiotics, took cultures and blood samples, and said he may have to stay overnight. So much for our big dinner. We resigned ourselves to Christmas in the hospital and called up the family to give them the news. But after the culture results all came back green, the doctor said we could take him home with oral antibiotics. We left the hospital at 2 p.m. and called up the fam. Christmas Eve dinner was back on. We supped well that night with our extended family. We opened presents on Christmas morning as custom dictates. We drank merrily and played games with friends that evening, celebrating the blessing of having Shade home for the day.
The ER doctors had asked us to return two days later for a follow up. So yesterday, (Boxing Day for all you Brits who continue the celebration), I took Shade to the ER, assuming that we'd pop in and out in an hour. A member of the on-site plastic surgery team had a gander at his face and said it was looking fairly good, though the patch of stitching where the fluid was leaking had opened up a bit more, which concerned him a bit. Then the doc took the gauze off his leg scar. The site was swollen, hard and flaming red with purple bruising and it was leaking bloody fluid. Uh oh! Not the present you want to unwrap at Christmas. The intense swelling was quite shocking, as Aitza had cleaned and wrapped the leg the night before and it had appeared fine. One look at his leg and the doctor ordered Shade to stay for 48 hours of antibiotics and observation. Yay! Back in the hospital! So much for popping in and out.
Shade was hooked up to more plastic bags of fun juice. The doc sealed the wounds on his face with silver nitrate, which chemically cauterized the opening to prevent more leakage. Then he opened up a patch of Shade's leg scar to release the swelling. It was mostly blood. No pus. (So we had the Christmas red but not the green, thank ol' St. Nick.) The doc's theory was that perhaps there had been a pocket of blood that ruptured and filled up the area, causing the swelling and bruising. (That morning he had had his first home physical therapy session and perhaps that had caused the rupture.) At around 5 p.m., Shade was admitted upstairs. His face, neck and chest were as red as an embarrassed tomato. Turns out he has a hypersensitivity to the antibiotic Vancomycin, which causes "red man syndrome." (Don't get all worked up, ultra-liberal hysteria hounds. It's not a slur; it's a description.) They replaced the antibiotic with another and he's back to his normal color, cracker white. (Okay, now you can be insulted.)
"What a fun Christmas!"
Aitza, who had been working all this time and stressing as mothers do, finally got to the hospital at 7 p.m. and took up the night shift. At least Health Central has had a fantastic make over, and Aitza was able to sleep on a pull out sofa, not another recliner chair like at Duke Hospital. I returned this morning and Shade seems fine. No pain or irritation. He did have a lot of blood leakage from his leg, but that's good as it releases the pressure. One more day of observation and if all is well, perhaps we'll be clear of hospitals until his next surgery in six months. I think perhaps the Cramptons should get a holiday redo. What do you think? Christmas in January?
Let the healing commence!
by Shade's Progress in Adapting to home, Medical progress, surgery Tags: Christmas, Dr. Jeffery Marcus, dr. phillips, Duke University, facial surgery, gamma knife, hospital, muscle graft, nerve graft, progress, Raleigh-Durham, recovery, Shade, Shade's Progress, Stroke, surgery
Ah, home. No place like it, especially when you've been stuck in a tiny hospital room for over a week – after having your face sliced open and stuffed like a Christmas stocking with other parts of your body – being poked, prodded and probed every 10 minutes by doctors, nurses, med techs and elves, the latter a product of hardcore hallucinations from prescription opioids and sleep deprivation. I'm either describing a miraculous surgery or the plot to a serial killer movie.
Winner of the Bubble Yum bubble gum chewing competition
When last I wrote, Shade had just come out of surgery. Both Aitza and I were not prepared for the sight of our child's face. The doctors had talked about swelling but the size shocked us. And the skin graft was also something unexpected. The surgeons came to the conclusion during the surgery that the skin was too tight and needed extra skin so they made the necessary decision to add skin. So when we saw the two-inch jagged strip of pale thigh skin down his face, we were both stunned. We fully understood the reasoning; we just were not prepared for the dramatic change in his features. Both of us questioned our choice to put Shade through this procedure. Was all this pain and deformation worth the end goal of Shade having a symmetrical working face? Was his situation so bad before that we needed to subject him to such pain and suffering? I mean, we're making decisions for Shade, and he's trusting us to make the right ones, but how can we truly know if it's the right choice until afterward?
Such thoughts can drive a parent into a spiral of severe gloom because unless you're clairvoyant, you don't know what the end results will be for any choice you make. And after you've made the choice, you have to deal with the consequences if it turns out to be the wrong choice. Back in December 2015, when we chose for Shade to have a second gamma knife operation to prevent him from having a second stroke. We took the risk based upon the information we received. The result of that operation was that six months afterward, Shade had a second stroke from a burst blood blister formed by the operation. It completely debilitated his left side. All the progress he had made was lost. In fact, he was worse off than after his initial stroke.
So watching our son suffer from his latest post-surgery pain messed with our minds because we chose to put him through this. I feel for Aitza especially because she never left his side. She "slept" in a recliner chair by Shade's bed every day and was with him through all his agony and hallucinations and despondency. She was with him when he became so severely depressed that he said none of his friends would ever want to see him again because he was deformed and he wished he was dead. She held strong through all those heart-breaking moments.
Shade shows how to work a jaw muscle.
Just to set you at ease, Shade is no longer depressed. We think the heavy drugs caused much of that. After he hallucinated about an old lady trapped under a car inside his hospital room, Shade himself chose to go off the drugs and manage the pain with just Tylenol. He lightened up afterward and was even able to laugh about his massive cheek. After all it's so big, if he walked into a bubblegum chewing competition, the other competitors would take one look and swallow their gum. Chipmunks see him go by and carve statues to their new god, Cheekzilla, he who holds infinite acorns.
The doctors were happy about Shade's healing and he and Aitza were finally released from the hospital and got to sleep all day and night in a hotel. The doctors had first said that Shade could only have liquids for a month, but they changed their minds and said he could have soft foods. Soft foods? Bah! After I flew back to Raleigh on Sunday, I got him some smothered chicken from Texas Roadhouse and he scarfed it up. He's got a super cheek now. He could chew cinderblocks.
Hanging with the Clauses
Yesterday we had a last visit with Dr. Phillips the plastic surgeon. He reiterated that the swelling will subside over time. He also stated that there's excess muscle, fat and skin in there which can be chipped away at a later surgery to produce a symmetrical visage, much like a sculptor might remove excess marble to create a masterpiece. He was very positive about the final results, which eased our stress.
As we were leaving Duke Hospital through the Children's Center, the staff had set up a Christmas area with carolers, a Santa and Mrs. Claus, and cake and toys for kids. Shade got a picture with the Clauses. Then one of the happy elves gave Shade a stuffed bear and a gift card for Target. It was our first real Christmas moment this year and I cried like it was a Pixar movie.
By 8 p.m. that night, we had hopped on a plane and made it home to Orlando, where Mayan was waiting to see his big brother. Shade got visits from Abuelita and Bubu (Aitza's parents) and Uncle Darren late night and from Dadabob (my dad) this morning. And now I sit by his bed writing this while Shade scarfs up scrambled eggs and heals. The future will show if our decision this time was the right one, but now that the pain has subsided and Shade's surrounded by family at home, we can at least be happy that the stress of the hospital experience is over for a while, enjoy the holiday spirit and focus on Shade's progress.


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Kostas Manolas – A deliberate yellow card and unsporting conduct.
By Squire Patton Boggs on November 9, 2017 Posted in Football, Rules and regulations
Tonight sees the first of the play-off matches which will ultimately determine the final European representatives at the FIFA World Cup in Russia in 2018. The fans of Northern Ireland, Switzerland, Croatia, Greece, Sweden, Italy, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland will all be excitedly following their teams' progress, hoping that they are able to triumph over the course of the two-legged play-offs and to secure a place in Russia.
In terms of quality of football, the UEFA Champions League may now represent the pinnacle of the game to many fans. Yet the FIFA World Cup unquestionably remains the highest level of international football. It retains a certain glamour and provides fans across the world with one month every four years in which they can gorge themselves on a feast of football.
The World Cup also retains a position of importance for players. Most (if not all) players grew up watching World Cups as youngsters and they still dream of the day that they represent their nation at the apex of international football. Moreover, as the tournament comes around only every four years, a number of the world's most talented players will never make it to a World Cup. This is not a problem that the most gifted players tend to encounter in domestic football: the very best players tend to get a chance to play in UEFA competition at some point in their careers, as the best clubs will seek to sign them. Yet international football often results in cases where certain players have the requisite skill-set to play at the World Cup but, put simply, their compatriots do not. As a result, once qualification for a World Cup becomes a reality, players tend to give their very best efforts to secure a place at the tournament.
It is against this background that we consider the curious case of Greek defender Kostas Manolas.
On 7 November 2017, FIFA announced the latest disciplinary sanctions imposed for incidents that occurred during the last round of FIFA World Cup qualifying matches. As part of such announcement, it confirmed that it had suspended Kostas Manolas from playing in Greece's first play-off match against Croatia for trying to manipulate his disciplinary record.
FIFA is reported to have said that Manolas was guilty of "intentionally seeking a yellow card" for time wasting in the 90th minute of Greece's 2-1 win against Cyprus on 7 October 2017. The yellow card received by Manolas meant that he would be suspended for Greece's match against Gibraltar three days later, which Greece went on to win 4-0.
The practical consequence of Manolas's conduct was that he was able to use up his suspension before the important World Cup qualifying matches against Croatia. Instead, he would miss only the match against Gibraltar (who are currently ranked 206th in the world), which Greece were expected to (and indeed did) win easily. With respect to Gibraltar, Manolas presumably figured that he would be of more use to his team against Croatia than he would against Team 54.
Yet Manolas's conduct did not escape the attention of FIFA, who imposed on him a one match ban pursuant to Article 57 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code. Article 57 states that:
"Anyone who insults someone in any way, especially by using offensive gestures or language, or who violates the principles of fair play or whose behaviour is unsporting in any other way may be subject to sanctions in accordance with art. 10 ff."
Article 57 is sufficiently broad as to encompass any conduct that "violates the principles of fair play" or any behaviour that is "unsporting in any other way". It is hard to argue that Manolas's behaviour is not unsporting or that it does not violate the principles of fair play, particularly in circumstances where such notions are not defined in the FIFA Disciplinary Code (or indeed anywhere else). Where the notions are not defined, it lies with FIFA to exercise its discretion and, in its view, Manolas's conduct was unacceptable.
It is not however the first time that this sort of behaviour has been the focus of attention. In 2004, David Beckham admitted that he had deliberately fouled Ben Thatcher in a match between England and Wales in order that he could pick up his second caution of the qualifying campaign and be suspended for England's next match against Azerbaijan. Beckham said that he knew that he would miss the Azerbaijan game through injury as he had already hurt his ribs in an earlier challenge with Thatcher.
At the time, Beckham's confession caused a significant media stir. While there was some reported talk of FIFA investigating, Beckham's apology appeared to smooth things over and no action was taken (either by FIFA or by the FA). Yet Beckham's conduct appeared to receive some sympathy amongst his professional peers. Former England defender Lee Dixon was quoted as stating that:
"A few people might raise an eyebrow as it has never been admitted to before. But that sort of thing has been going on for years in football. It's not cheating – it's just common sense….It's a form of professionalism and as a professional footballer at the highest level you do push the limits of the law right to the edge."
A BBC vote at the time found that 61% of those polled considered that Beckham had erred in telling people what he did, rather than in performing the act itself (only 19% considered the conduct to be Beckham's error, while 20% stated that they thought he had done nothing at all wrong).
Clearly FIFA now considers behaviour of this nature to be contrary to the spirit of the game, as Manolas's ban demonstrates. Manolas's suspension will mean he misses the first leg of the World Cup play-offs against Croatia. He will however be able to play in the second leg. Manolas and his countrymen will no doubt be hoping that his apparent error in judgement does not cost Greece dearly and that the Galanolefki do enough against Croatia to qualify for a place in Russia regardless. The whole of Greece (and Croatia) will be watching closely.
Tags: FIFA, Kostas Manolas


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Genre Comedy
Runtime 1 minute
Total runtime 12 minutes
The Dangerous Brothers
1986 2 members1 season12 episodes
The Dangerous Brothers was an early stage and TV act by anarchic comedy duo Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson, performing respectively as "Richard Dangerous" and "Sir (or occasionally Lady) Adrian Dangerous". They appeared in a number of brief sketches in the 1980s TV programme Saturday Live. The act was, in essence, a prototype of the career which the pair were to forge over the next twenty years in such shows as Mr Jolly Lives Next Door; Filthy, Rich and Catflap; and Bottom- two low-life loser perverts hitting each other in spectacular slapstick ways. It was arguably more hazardous than much of the material which was to follow in later incarnations - stage props in the brief run included a live (and very large, although apparently lethargic) crocodile, blank-firing submachine guns, and Edmondson apparently consuming Vim, a well-known UK brand of powder toilet cleaner.
Seasons Episodes Actors Photos Similar shows
rik mayall
Richard Dangerous
Sir (or occasionally Lady) Adrian Dangerous