Politics Plus

Yesterday, the radio opera was Shostakovich’s “Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk.” It was quite popular, including internationally, until Stalin saw it and didn’t like it, and officially condemned it. After Stalin’s death, Schostakovich revised it under the title of “Katerina Izmailova.” The protagoniste isn’t much like Lady MacBeth. She does kill – two people by herself and one with assistance -but she has no remorse, and at least Lady MacBeth had a marriage where they apparently cared about each other. Katerina is in one kind of prison or another through the entire opera. A husband with zero libido, an abusive live-in father in law, then a lover who treats women like beer cans (why keep one around when the beer is gone?), and who, when they are in a group of other convicts doing a forced march to Siberia, tricks her into helping him seduce another woman. Normally, life has its ups and downs – but this is a story with no ups at all. It is supposed to have satirical aspects, but I don’t hear them. Maybe you need to understand Russian. Or maybe you need to be male and privileged. I just hear cringe. Which is not to denigrate the brilliance of the music. In the scene in which the jerk lover comes to her room, where she intends to flirt, but he rapes her, one criic described the music as “pornophony.” And I certainly cannot dispute that.

I may not follow any sports – but I’m not so distanced from those who do as not to recognize a rare achievement when I see one. As is generally true of the American ABC, it’s a video on loop, and may need to be unmuted.

For a change, an ABC (US) video that’s not on loop. But if you want to play it again, refreshing the page will do the trick.

When I was in high school and college, I did a little baby sitting on the side. This kind of sitting doesn’t compensate the siters monetarily, but I’ll bet it’s also a lot less work. And very rewarding emotionally.