Yesterday, much of the snow was gone. It took longer in my back yard, which is on the west side of the house. The radio opera was the second half of Les Troyens, about the Trojans’ time in Carthage before they made it to Italy so (in the myth) their descendants could found Rome. Although the inly singer in both parts was John Vickers, as in the first half, all the solo singers were people I remember fondly, including Judith Blegen, with whom I shared a violin teacher – not at the same time, but later, after the teacher had taken a job at the college (now a university) in Alamosa, where I moved after leaving the USMC. She was as fine a violinist as she was a soprano. (I should say is, actually, since she’s still living, only four years older than I am, but she’s no longer singing in public.) Our mutual teacher is not mentioned in the Wikipedia article, but pretty much all professional musicians have more teaches and coaches than could possibly fit into a brief article. He taught her while she was in Montana. There may still be a debate as to whether or not Menotti wrote “Help, Help, The Globolinks” for her – Menotti denied it – nut there just aren’t very many operatic sopranos who can play the violin at a professional level, so his denial is a bit hard to believe. Off to see Virgil now; will check in.
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/family-reunites-with-dog-lincoln-park/
OK, this story starts with a stupid mistake. But it gets better – and then just keeps getting better.
https://www.witn.com/2026/02/23/pactolus-global-school-principal-greets-students-daily-with-music-grooves/
This story – is a lot of fun. And about how fun can help kids learning.
https://www.cpr.org/2026/03/04/alzheimers-disease-misdiagnosed-rebecca-chopp-former-du-chancellor/
This is long for a Sunday – I try to keep them short and bright – but it is astonishing, at least to me. really though that if we knew how to diagnose anything, it would be this. Obviously I was wrong.
