Farewell to Prague - The Last Show...

Largo al Factotum - S. Sem

La Calunnia - R. Raimondo

Una voce poco fa - Vesselina Kasarova

stage set and chorus

...and what a show it was—Rossini's The Barber of Seville. Very tight and nuanced overture by conductor Tomas Brauner. Figaro came on strong with the critical first aria Largo al factotum delivered slightly cynically in a warm deep baritone by Svatopluk Sem who played Figaro with the brio and panache needed for the scheming con-man of Seville—with just the right touch of devil-may-care cool. Mr. Sem in the title role was by far the star of the evening. I was lucky enough to find a YouTube clip of Mr. Sem singing the Largoin concert in Ceske Budejovice here in the Czech Republic. The tenor, Martin Srejma, as Count Almaviva, started out disappointingly weak but warmed up sufficiently to share a skillful duet with Mr. Sem. His singing was good, but not great, for the rest of the show.

l. to r. - Sem, Vernerova, Srejma, Brauner, Horak

A wonderful surprise came with the role of Don Basilio as expertly interpreted and sung by Milos Horak in his strong and deep baritone. His aria La Calunniawas the second aria highlight of the opera. The role of Doctor Bartolo was played for laughs and sung with the great and versatile voice of Pavel Klecka. A true comedian with a voice that ranged from a quite high falsetto to his natural baritone he stole the show for comic effects.

With considerable regret I have to pan the performance of soprano Ludmila Vernerova in the important role of Rosina. I had seen her previously in a disappointing interpretation of Micaela in Carmen. Unfortunately she was just a bad in Barber. To my ear, her voice didn't sound like that of a trained opera singer, but more like that of a musical comedy star. In fact, I've heard better voices in musical comedy singers. Apparently the rest of the audience must have shared my opinion since applause for her was lukewarm at best. The irony, perhaps, of this performance was the wasted talent of mezzo soprano Sylva Cmugrova in the role of the maid Berta. She would have been much better in the role of Rosina, which is often played by a mezzo such as Vesselina Kasarova in a DVD of The Barber of Seville that I have at home.

Overall, though, the show was great fun for our last show of the season. We leave Prague a little wistfully with a wonderful opera season under our belts to return home on Saturday. Alas! I am going to miss this place.

l. to r. - Cmugrova, Klecka, Sem, Brauner, Vernerova, Srejma

Charles, Karel, Karl . . . everywhere

Karluv Most 

Karlstejn Castle

The 14^th Century Kingdom of Bohemia (as the Czech Republic was then known) under Charles IV (Karel IV in Czech, Karl IV in German) is remembered as a Golden Age in the present day Czech Republic. Charles is revered as the “father of the country” and his namesakes are everywhere, especially in Prague, and most especially in the Karluv Most (Charles Bridge) across the Vltava (Moldau) River. The largest of his namesakes, Karlštejn Castle, however, is located some 30 km. outside the city, about an hour's train ride, and thus an easy day trip.

village of Karlstejn

you talkin' to me?

We took one and visited Karlštejn (Karl's stone) recently leaving Prague around noon. You have to walk about 2 km. from the station, mostly uphill, through the castle town also called Karlštejn. The road, of course, is lined on both sides with cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops offering all kinds of merchandise from Nazi helmets to colorful wigs. 

c'mon make my day...

Ignoring these (in the sense of buying, not looking) we trekked up the hill towards the castle entrance. The last kilometer or so is a considerable uphill slope that prompted a rest and hydration break so we stopped at a little cafe just outside the castle gate for some iced tea. Upon leaving I spotted a stuffed animal in the road and wondered what the hell it was doing there. It begged for a photo, so I took out my (t)rusty camera and started framing a shot when I heard a low growl and looked up and saw this terrier eyeing me. The shop lady said the stuffed frog was its toy. So I apologized to the dog and snapped his/her picture standing protectively over the frog and giving me a not very friendly look.

Bohemian crown

Photos will speak for the castle and surroundings, but I'll just add that our tour guide, a very engaging and entertaining young guy, spoke wistfully of the era of Karl IV while showing us the replica of his really quite beautiful crown (photos not permitted, of course, but...). He said that Czech people could only be proud when they looked at Karl's crown which goes on display once in a blue moon. He wished they could see it more often and, presumably, be filled with patriotic fervor. When I thought about it I realized that these people have lived subjected to outside powers, most recently under the Nazis and the Soviet Union for a generation or two or three and the notion of independence isn't yet absorbed into their national spirit. But, if this young fellow is any example, they are going to make it.

marketing everywhere - nothing is sacred

entrance to main castle buildings

well tower

view from well tower

village viewed from the ramparts

late afternoon sun

self evident

infinity

We were pretty whacked out by the time we got back to Prague, so much so that we forgot to change trains in the metro and had to back track when we realized our mistake. By then it was sunset and we crossed to the going-in-the-other-direction platform with the setting sun streaming into the station. Day was done and we were more rather than less ready to hang it up for the day, too.

CRIADERO DI CASA CAPUTI EN MARZO, UN GRAN MES EN ECUADOR, ARGENTINA Y COSTA RICA.

VA ASTOR DI CASA CAPUTI (FLIA QUEIROZ).
PRIMER LUGAR CON A. SALAMONE EN ARGENTINA EN MARZO 2012

CRIADERO DI CASA CAPUTI EN MARZO: UN GRAN MES EN ECUADOR, ARGENTINA Y COSTA RICA.

MB1 OLIVER DE CASA BUSTAMANTE (HIJO DE ATHOS). PROP. CRIADERO DI CASA CAPUTI

Estimado ovejerista:

Un gran fin de semana ovejerista se vivió en Quito, Ecuador. En esta ocasión contamos con la presencia Christoph Ludwig, reconocido juez y criador  alemán.

Presentamos algunos de nuestros ejemplares que participaron y se ubicaron en posiciones destacadas en esta hermosa exposición.

De igual forma, este fin de semana, Creta y Renate Di Casa Caputi obtuvieron el primero y segundo lugar en sus respectivas categorías en el Sieger de Costa Rica, juzgado por Helmut Honig.



MB1 OLIVER DE CASA BUSTAMANTE (HIJO DE ATHOS). PROP. R. CAPUTI Y B. MARCOS





V2 WUNA DI CASA CAPUTI (HIJA DE QUENN). PROP. F.MELO Y R.CAPUTI M.




MP1 VULKANO DI CASA CAPUTI (HIJO DE ATHOS)



VULKANO DI CASA CAPUTI



MB2 KELLY DI CASA CAPUTI (HIJA DE QUENN). PROP. B. MARCOS Y R.CAPUTI



KELLY DI CASA CAPUTI

MB3 JAMAICA DI CASA CAPUTI (HIJA DE QUATTRO). PROP. JC RIVERA Y R.CAPUTI

MP1 SEVERIN HUIHNEGRAB

SEVERIN HUHNEGRAB



MP3 RONDA DI CASA CAPUTI (HIJA DE ATHOS). PROP. L. PAZMIÑO Y R.CAPUTI



 SIEGER DE COSTA RICA

MP2 EN COSTA RICA: RENATE DI CASA CAPUTI (HIJA DE ATHOS ). PROP. ADOLFO GUERRA




RENATE DI CASA CAPUTI




MP1 CRETA DI CASA CAPUTI . PROP. JOSE GUZMAN

 CRIADERO DE PASTORES ALEMANES http://www.dicasacaputi.com/
dicasacaputi@hotmail.com

Walking the last mile

Aria Martern Aller Arten - Jana was as good as Malin

Charles Bridge - Lesser Town gateway

We are into the final countdown of our stay in Prague and the feeling is becoming a little bluesy. Tonight was our last show at the Theater of the Estates and walking home felt like a man on death row's proverbial “last mile”. The walk to this particular theater has been unique in that we have to walk (no convenient trams) through the most beautiful areas of Prague to get from our apartment in Lesser Town to the theater in Old Town across the river--especially at night in winter when the streets are nearly empty and quiet. You can hear the sound of your own boot heels clicking and clacking on the cobblestone streets and sidewalks or, if you're really lucky, fresh falling snow crunching under those heels.

principal cast

best singers - baritone and soprano

Tonight we attended a rather mixed (but the soprano Jana Srejma Kacirkova was superb and baritone Zdenek Plech was excellent) performance of Mozart's Escape from the Seraglio and we were not raving about the show as we walked back across the Charles Bridge to Lesser Town. Our mood was somber and the streets were crowded with the Friday night testosterone rush of the college break crowd. I remarked to road buddy that I was feeling a little sad and lonely and she just nodded her head in agreement. Funny how you can feel lonely in a crowd when you're nearer the ending than the beginning of the journey. But it's easier when two people share the same loneliness.

conductor David Svec - the orchestra was very good

We have two more shows and a couple get togethers with friends and then it's T-Day on March 31. Those shows won't be so nostalgic since we reach the State Opera house by tram and subway—efficient and convenient but somehow not as, I don't know, romantic?

Road buddy says I'm a hopeless romantic.

Well, I've been called worse things!

Early Spring...or how I discovered beer

Spring

We are approaching the Spring Equinox and the final days of our stay in Prague. The workaday world is snapping at our heels and I am feeling the pull of the *“rubber band”.

Although I will not be going back to the world of 9 to 5, I am beginning to sense the need to be actively, well, semi-actively, involved in the non-rocking chair world. I'm thinking the potty training world might be interesting on a part time basis. But that's another story. A little reluctantly, then, we will be leaving Prague at the end of the month, but in the meantime we are revisiting favorite old haunts as they begin to don their mantle of early spring and venturing farther out into the new Prague, the burgeoning suburbs of glass and steel and planes and angles and lots of kids. Although not a beer drinker as a rule, I, like just about everybody else in Prague, am getting to enjoy a brew after a long walk on a warm spring day. A few pictures should give an idea.

* “Rubber band” is my term for the transition time between time zones and faraway places on the planet. It happens both ways, coming and going, every time I get on a plane; but the sensation of not quite being in my skin yet is especially strong when I return to my home base after an extended stay away from it. It's feels like the body is there but the “soul” is still somewhere 33,000 feet up over the Pacific Ocean or the steppes of Russia or wherever on the other end of a rubber band that has yet to catch up or snap back into its proper place. Maybe this is really evidence of a soul! On the other hand it might just be a case of the morning after blues. But before I get all morbid and mystical, here are a few visual impressions of early spring, beer and the "burbs" here in Prague. The rubber band still has a little more stretch; the blues will just have to wait a bit.  

New Prague

Beer