Ellora Jain Cave 32 Adores Indra as Hindu Deity and Jain Bodyguard

Summary: Ellora Jain Cave 32 appreciates Hindu deity Indra, heavenly Hindu Mount Kailasa and great Jain thinkers in a Hindu cave temple adapted for Jain adorations.

looking outward from Ellora Jain Cave 32; Tuesday, Sep. 6, 2016: Anupamg, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

Ellora Jain Cave 32 in Maharashtra state, western peninsular India, adapts divine Hindu Indra and heavenly Hindu Mountain Kailasa in a Hindu cave temple into a Jain cave temple with adorational carvings.

Ellora Jain Cave 32 bears the cave temple name Indra Sabha (from Sanskrit इण्ड्र, "raindrop-possessing" and सभा, "court") for Indra, Hindu storm god and Jain bodyguard. It copies the cave temple architecture of Ellora Hindu Cave 16, called the Kailasa (from Sanskrit कैलास, "crystal") temple cave, and of Ellora Jain Cave 30. Ceiling paintings and wall carvings defer to Tirthankara (from Sanskrit र्थंकर, "ford-maker") ascetics, great thinkers during downward and upward courses of the ever-revolving Jain timekeeping wheel.

Ellora Jain Cave 32 exhibits Tirthankara sculptures carved, painted and sculpted with Hindu mythological yaksha (from Sanskrit यक्ष, "ghost") and yakshini (from Sanskrit यक्षिणी, "[female] ghost").

Ellora Jain Cave 32 features the Hindu storm god Indra as king of the first Jain heaven and one of 64 reigning deities in the Jain heavens.

Vardhamana (599/539?-527/467? B.C.E., from Sanskrit वर्धमान, "prosperous") gave away his clothes when he gained enlightenment as the 24th Tirthankara Mahavira (from Sanskrit महावीर, "great hero, warrior"). The Digambara (from Sanskrit दिगम्बर, "unclothed") sect historically headed ritual devotions in Ellora Jain Cave 32 even though its devotees never heeded Indra as cloth-holding deity. The Swetambara (from Sanskrit श्वेत, "white" and अम्बर, "cloth") sect integrates Indra, who installed Mahavira within a white robe that inspires souly liberations, into enlightenment intervals.

A yaksha, night-time child of Hindu creator god Brahma (from Sanskrit ब्रह्म, "to grow"), joins Indra in ceiling and wall paintings in Ellora Jain Cave 32.

Indra kept a farmer from killing Mahavira as a cow thief when the latter's open-air meditations apparently kindled the former's cows grazing, leaving and re-entering fields.

Indra, who lived on Mount Meru (from Sanskrit मेरु, "center"), logged a first-place win in a race around Mount Kailasa, whose wings he subsequently lobbed off. The Ellora Hindu Caves itinerant artisans and monks made the fire god Shiva (from Sanskrit शिव, "auspicious"), who made Mount Kailasa his heavenly home, their main god. First Tirthankara Rishabadeva (from Sanskrit ऋषभ, "bull" and देव, "deity") and 11th Tirthankara Shreyansanatha (from Sanskrit श्रिया, "blissful" and नाथ, "lord") netted nirvana on Mount Kailasa.

Ellora Jain Cave 32 sculptures observe the fifth stage, after sadhu (साधु, "ascetic"), upadhyaya (उपाध्याय, "teacher"), acharya (आचर्य, "order head") and arhat (अर्हत्, "freed soul") stages.

Arhat stages prevent freed, omniscient souls pulling out of cyclical karmic, mortal rebirths until tirthankara and siddha (from Sanskrit सिद्ध, "accomplished") omniscient freed souls pull away forever.

Stone sculptures queue Rishabadeva, Neminatha (from Sanskrit नेमि, "rim"), Parshvanatha (from Sanskrit पार्श्व, "near") and Mahavira as first, 22nd, 23rd and 24th Tirthankara natha (नाथ) lords. Ellora Jain Cave 32 reveals Buddhist, Hindu and Jain references despite Ellora Buddhist, Hindu and Jain Caves retaining Buddhism and Hinduism, Hinduism, and Hinduism and Jainism. Its lotus-flower ceiling design and yakshini under a mango tree suggest Brahma's birth and Buddha's (from Sanskrit बुद्ध, "awakened") enlightenment and Upali's renouncing Jainism for Buddhism.

Ellora Jain Cave 32 teams Hindu temple and Jain sculptural traditions with perhaps uniquely Buddhist enlightenment, Hindu birth and Hindu to Jain to Buddhist conversion transmissions.

lotus-flower ceiling design in Ellora Jain Cave 32; Tuesday, Sep. 6, 2016: Anupamg, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

looking outward from Ellora Jain Cave 32; Tuesday, Sep. 6, 2016: Anupamg, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ellora_Caves_60.jpg

lotus-flower ceiling design in Ellora Jain Cave 32; Tuesday, Sep. 6, 2016: Anupamg, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ellora_Caves_65.jpg

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Monday, Dec. 14, Total Solar Eclipse Belongs to Saros Series 142

Summary: The Monday, Dec. 14, total solar eclipse belongs to Saros cycle 142, a series of 72 similar solar eclipses.

Partial solar eclipse of Saturday, April 17, 1624, opened Saros solar series 142’s lineup of 72 solar eclipses: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)," via NASA Eclipse Web Site

The Monday, Dec. 14, total solar eclipse belongs to Saros series 142, which comprises 72 solar eclipses with similar geometries.

December’s total solar eclipse begins as a partial eclipse Monday, Dec. 14, at 13:33:47.7 Universal Time (8:33 a.m. Eastern Standard Time; 10:33 a.m. Chile Summer Time; 10:33 a.m. Argentina Time), according to NASA’s Eclipse Web Site. At 16:13:22.9 UT (11:13 a.m. EST; 1:13 p.m. CLST and ART), the event stages its greatest eclipse, the instant of the closest passage of the lunar shadow cone’s axis to Earth’s center. The eclipse ends at 18:53:59.8 UT (1:53 p.m. EST; 3:53 p.m. CLST and ART).

June’s annular solar eclipse appears as number 23 in the lineup of 72 solar eclipses offered by Saros series 142. The similar geometries of these 72 solar eclipses qualifies them as a family, known as a series.

The shared geometry of occurrence at the moon’s descending node characterizes Saros 142 solar eclipses. Each subsequent eclipse in the series exhibits more northward movement with respect to the descending node.

The moon’s descending node pairs with an ascending node as signals of lunar orbit intersections with Earth’s orbit. The nodal pair arise from the approximately 5.1 degree tilt of the lunar orbit with respect to Earth’s orbit. The descending node marks the lunar orbital crossing to the south of Earth’s orbit. The ascending node announces the lunar orbital crossing to the north of Earth’s orbit.

The Saros cycle of approximately 6,585.3 days (18 years 11 days 8 hours) informs the periodicity and recurrence of solar eclipses. Each Saros series consists of 70 or more eclipses and typically lasts for 12 to 13 centuries.

Saros solar series 142 endures for 1,288.08 years. The series spans 14 centuries, from the 17th to the 30th centuries.

Saros series 142 follows a sequence profile of eight partial solar eclipses, one hybrid solar eclipse, 43 total solar eclipses and 20 partial solar eclipses. Total solar eclipses claim the greatest frequency, with 43 occurrences. Partial solar eclipses occupies second place, with a total of 28 occurrences.

The 17th century’s partial solar eclipse of Saturday, April 17, 1624, opened Saros solar series 142. This Southern Hemisphere event staged its greatest eclipse, with coordinates of 71.25 degrees south latitude at 23.1 west longitude, over the Southern Ocean’s Weddell Sea, offshore of East Antarctica.

The 30th century’s partial solar eclipse of Thursday, June 5, 2904, closes Saros solar series 142. This Northern Hemisphere event’s greatest eclipse will occur, with coordinates of 67.5 north latitude at 93.8 west longitude, over Nunuvut Territory’s Kitikmeot Region in Northern Canada.

The Monday, Dec. 14, total solar eclipse appears as number 14 within Saros solar series 142’s massive sequence of 43 total solar eclipses. This mostly Southern Hemisphere event’s greatest eclipse will occur, with coordinates of 40.3 south latitude at 67.9 west longitude, in south-central Argentina, over central-south Río Negro Province’s Nueve de Julio Department.

The predecessor of December’s solar eclipse in Saros series 142 occurred Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2002. This mostly Southern Hemisphere event staged its greatest eclipse, with coordinates of 39.5 south latitude at 59.6 east longitude, over the South Indian Ocean, west of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands’ Amsterdam Island (Île Amsterdam).

The successor of December’s solar eclipse in Saros series 142 will appear Sunday, Dec. 26, 2038. This Southern Hemisphere event’s greatest eclipse, with coordinates of 40.3 degrees south latitude at 164.0 east longitude, will take place over the South Pacific Ocean’s marginal Tasman Sea. This solar eclipse numbers as 15 within the sequence of 43 total solar eclipses and as 24 in the lineup of 72 solar eclipses in Saros solar series 142.

The takeaway for the Monday, Dec. 14, total solar eclipse is that the year’s second of two solar eclipses belongs to Saros solar series 142 and occurs as number 23 in the lineup of 72 solar eclipses in the series.

Partial solar eclipse of Thursday, June 5, 2904, will close Saros solar series 142’s lineup of 72 solar eclipses: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)," via NASA Eclipse Web Site

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Partial solar eclipse of Saturday, April 17, 1624, opened Saros solar series 142’s lineup of 72 solar eclipses: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)," via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/1601-1700/1624-04-17.gif

Partial solar eclipse of Thursday, June 5, 2904, will close Saros solar series 142’s lineup of 72 solar eclipses: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)," via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/2901-3000/2904-06-05.gif

For further information:

Espenak, Fred. “Partial 1624 Apr 17.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipse Catalogs > Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses -1999 to +3000 > Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 (2000 BCE to 3000 CE): 1601 to 1700 > 08597 1624 Apr 17.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/1601-1700/1624-04-17.gif

Espenak, Fred. “Partial 2904 Jun 05.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipse Catalogs > Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses -1999 to +3000 > Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 (2000 BCE to 3000 CE): 2901 to 3000 > 11660 2904 Jun 05.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/2901-3000/2904-06-05.gif

Espenak, Fred. “Saros Series 142.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipse Catalogs > Saros Catalog of Solar Eclipses: Saros 0-180.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsaros/SEsaros142.html

Espenak, Fred. “Total Solar Eclipse of 2020 Dec 14.” EclipseWise > Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipse Preview: 2018 Through 2030.
Available via EclipseWise @ http://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEprime/2001-2100/SE2020Dec14Tprime.html

Espenak, Fred. “Total 2002 Dec 04.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipse Catalogs > Saros Catalog of Solar Eclipses: Saros 0-180 > Saros Series 142.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/2001-2100/2002-12-04.gif

Espenak, Fred. “Total 2020 Dec 14.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipse Catalogs > Saros Catalog of Solar Eclipses: Saros 0-180 > Saros Series 142.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/2001-2100/2020-12-14.gif

Espenak, Fred. “Total 2038 Dec 26.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipse Catalogs > Saros Catalog of Solar Eclipses: Saros 0-180 > Saros Series 142.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/2001-2100/2038-12-26.gif

Marriner, Derdriu. “Monday, Dec. 14, Total Solar Eclipse Is Second 2020 Solar Eclipse.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/12/monday-dec-14-total-solar-eclipse-is.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Sunday, June 21, Annular Solar Eclipse Belongs to Saros Cycle 137.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 17, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/sunday-june-21-annular-solar-eclipse.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Sunday, June 21, Annular Solar Eclipse Is First 2020 Solar Eclipse.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 10, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/sunday-june-21-annular-solar-eclipse-is.html

Rao, Joe. “Solar Eclipses: When Is the Next One?” Space.com > Science & Astronomy. March 6, 2019.
Available @ https://www.space.com/15584-solar-eclipses.html

Smith, Ian Cameron. “Partial Solar Eclipse of 5 Jun, 2904 AD.” Moon Blink > Hermit Eclipse > Eclipse Database > Full Lunar Catalog > 2001-3000 AD > 2901 AD > 2901-2920 AD.
Available @ https://moonblink.info/Eclipse/eclipse/2904_06_05

Smith, Ian Cameron. “Partial Solar Eclipse of 17 Apr, 1624 AD.” Moon Blink > Hermit Eclipse > Eclipse Database > Full Lunar Catalog > 1001-2000 AD > 1601 AD > 1621-1640 AD.
Available @ https://moonblink.info/Eclipse/eclipse/1624_04_17

Smith, Ian Cameron. “Total Solar Eclipse of 4 Dec, 2002 AD.” Moon Blink > Hermit Eclipse > Eclipse Database > Full Solar Catalog > 2001-3000 AD > 2001 AD > 2021-2040 AD.
Available @ https://moonblink.info/Eclipse/eclipse/2002_12_04

Smith, Ian Cameron. “Total Solar Eclipse of 14 Dec, 2020 AD.” Moon Blink > Hermit Eclipse > Eclipse Database > Full Lunar Catalog > 2001-3000 AD > 2001 AD > 2001-2020 AD.
Available @ https://moonblink.info/Eclipse/eclipse/2020_12_14

Smith, Ian Cameron. “Total Solar Eclipse of 26 Dec, 2038 AD.” Moon Blink > Hermit Eclipse > Eclipse Database > Full Solar Catalog > 2001-3000 AD > 2001 AD > 2021-2040 AD.
Available @ https://moonblink.info/Eclipse/eclipse/2038_12_26

Tran, Lina; Rob Garner, ed. “Greatest Eclipse and Greatest Duration: What’s the Difference?” NASA > Feature > Goddard Space Flight Center > 2017 > Eclipses and Transits. Aug. 22, 2017.
Available via NASA @ https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/greatest-eclipse-and-greatest-duration-what-s-the-difference

Met Opera Opened Don Giovanni Nov. 28, 1883, as 12th First Season Opera

Summary: Met Opera opened Don Giovanni Wednesday, Nov. 28, 1883, as the 12th premiere in the opera house's first season, 1883-1884.

The Metropolitan Opera's Don Govanni lineage traces back to Giuseppe Kaschmann's inaugural season (1883-1884) performances in the opera house's 12th opera, Mozart's Don Giovanni: Met Opera Guild @MetOperaGuild, via Twitter July 9, 2020

Met Opera opened Don Giovanni on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 1883, as the 12th premiere in the inaugural 1883-1884 season lineup of 20 operas.

The dramma giocoso in due atti (jocular drama in two acts) by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791) received 12 performances, sung in Italian, in the Metropolitan Opera's first season, 1883-1884. The Metropolitan Opera House was the venue for the Wednesday, Nov. 28, premiere as well as for the second (Saturday, Dec. 8) and third (Wednesday, Dec. 12) performances. The fourth performance, Thursday, Jan. 10, 1884, was held at the Academy of Music in Broolyn, New York. The fifth performance, Thursday, Jan. 17, took place at the Chestnut Street Opera House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The sixth performance, Thursday, Jan. 24, was staged at Haverly's Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. The seventh performance, Saturday, Feb. 9, took place at the Olympic Theater in St. Louis, Missouri. The eighth performance, Saturday, Feb. 16, was offered at the Music Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio. The ninth performance, Thursday, Feb. 28, National Theater in Washington, D.C. The 10th performance, Thursday, March 6, took place at the Boston Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. The Metropolitan Opera House was the venue for the 11th performance, Wednesday, March 12, and the 12th, closing performance, Thursday, April 10.

Auguste Vianesi (Nov. 2, 1837-Nov. 4, 1908) conducted the first six and the last five performances of Don Giovanni. The French-naturalized, northwestern Italy-born conductor had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Oct. 22, 1883, in the inaugural season's opening premiere, Faust by French composer Charles-François Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893).

Maestro Vianesi shared the condutorship with Cleofonte Campanini (Sept. 1, 1860-Dec. 19, 1919), who conducted the seventh performance, Saturday, Feb. 9. The Italian conductor had made his Met Opera debut Saturday, Nov. 3, 1883, in the second performance of the first season's fifth opera, Mignon by French composer Ambroise Thomas (Aug. 5, 1811-Feb. 12, 1896).

Giuseppe Kaschmann (July 14, 1850-Feb. 11, 1925) sang the title role in all 12 performances. The Croatian-Austrian operatic baritone, whose birth name was Josip Kašman, had made his Met Opera debut Wednesday, Oct. 24, 1883, as Enrico in the opening season's second premiere, Lucia di Lammermoor by Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti (Nov. 29, 1797-April 8, 1848).

Giovanni Mirabella sang Leporello, Don Giovanni's servant, in all 12 performances. The Florentine bass had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Oct. 29, 1883, as Giorgio in the inaugural season's fourth premiere, I Puritani by 19th century Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini (Nov. 3, 1801-Sept. 23, 1835).

Emmy Fursch-Madi (1847-Sept. 21, 1894) appeared in the first six and last five performances as Donna Anna, whose father, the Commendatore, is killed by Donna Anna's seducer, Don Giovanni. The French operatic soprano made her Met Opera debut Wednesday, Nov. 7, as Ortrud in the inaugural season's seventh premiere, Lohengrin by German Romantic era composer-librettist Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883).

Emmy Fursch-Madi shared the role with Emily Lablache. Emilie Deméric-Lablache (Oct. 6, 1830-?), credited as Emily Lablache, sang Donna Anna in the seventh performance, Saturday, Feb. 9. The French mezzo-soprano-contralto had made her Met Opera debut Monday, Nov. 5, as Flora in the inaugural season's sixth premiere, La Traviata by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Roberto Stagno (Oct. 18, 1840-April 26, 1897) sang as Don Ottavio, Donna Anna's fiancé, in the first two performances (Nov. 28, Dec. 8); fourth (Jan. 10), fifth (jan. 17), sixth (Jan. 24), ninth (Feb. 28), 11th (March 12) and 12th, closing (April 10) performances. The Italian operatic tenor had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Oct. 26, 1883, in the title role, Manrico, in the inaugural season's third premiere, Verdi's Il Trovatore.

Roberto Stagno shared the role with Italo Campanini (June 30, 1845-Nov. 14, 1896), who sang Don Ottavio in the third (Dec. 12), seventh (Feb. 9), eighth (Feb. 16) and 10th (March 6) performances. His appearance in the seventh performance placed him in the same opera as his younger brother, conductor Cleofonte Campanini. The Italian operatic tenor had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Oct. 22, 1883, in the title role in the season's inaugural premiere, Gounod's Faust.

Christine Nilsson (Aug. 20, 1843-Nov. 20, 1921) sang Donna Elvira, one of Don Giovanni's conquests, in the first three performances (Nov. 28, Dec. 8, Dec. 12); eighth (Feb. 16), 10th (March 6) and 11th (March 12) performances. The Swedish operatic soprano had made her Met Opera debut Monday, Oct. 22, 1883, as Marguerite in the inaugural season's first premiere, Gounod's Faust.

Christine Nilsson shared the role with Alwina Valleria and Emily Lablache. Alwina Valleria (Oct. 12, 1848-Feb. 17, 1925) sang Donna Elvira in the fourth (Jan. 10), fifth (Jan. 17), sixth (Jan. 24) and seventh (Feb. 9) performances and again in the ninth (Feb. 28) performance. The American soprano had made her Met Opera debut as Leonora in the inaugural season's third premiere, Verdi's Il Trovatore.

Emily Lablache sang Donna Elvira in the 12th, closing performance, April 10. Donna Elvira numbered as the second of her two, one-performance roles in Don Giovanni. She made her first appearance in the opera two months earlier as Donna Anna.

Marcella Sembrich (Feb. 15, 1858-Jan. 11, 1935) sang Zerlina, whose marriage celebration is interrupted by Don Giovanni's seduction schemes, in the first three performances (Nov. 28, Dec. 8, Dec. 12) and also in the eighth (Feb. 16) and again in the 10th (March 6) and the 11th (March 12) performances. The Polish coloratura soprano had made her Met Opera debut Wednesday, Oct. 24, 1883, in the title role in the inaugural season's second premiere, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.

Marcella Sembrich shared the role with Zelia Trebelli and Sofia Scalchi. Zelia Trebelli (Nov. 12, 1836-Aug. 18, 1892) sang Zerlina in the fourth (Jan. 10) and fifth (Jan. 17) performances. She had made her Met Opera debut Friday, Oct. 26, 1883, as Azucena in the inaugural season's third premiere, Verdi's Il Trovatore.

Sofia Scalchi (Nov. 29, 1850-Aug. 22, 1922) sang Zerlina in the sixth (Jan. 24), seventh (Feb. 9), ninth (Feb. 28) and 12th, closing (April 10) performances. The Italian operatic contralto-mezzosoprano had made her Met Opera debut Monday, Oct. 22, 1883, in the trouser role of Siebel in the opening season's first premiere, Gounod's Faust.

Baldassare Corsini sang Masetto, Zerlina's husband, in all 12 performances. He had made his Met Opera debut Wednesday, Oct. 31, 1883, as Laërte in the inaugural season's fifth premiere, Mignon by German Jewish opera composer Giacomo Meyerbeer (Sept. 5, 1791-May 2, 1864).

Achille Augier sang the avenged Commendatore in all 12 performances. He had made his Met Opera debut Wednesday, Oct. 24, 1883, as Raimondo in the inaugural season's second premiere, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.

Don Giovanni was directed by Mr. Corani (Henry De Courtney Corani, ca. 1849-May 1905) and Mr. Abbiati. The production's set designers were Charles Fox, Jr., William Schaeffer, Gaspar Maeder (ca. 1840-Jan. 18, 1892) and Mr. Thompson. The production's costumes were designed by Henry Dazian (May 3, 1854-May 4, 1937) and D. Ascoli. Don Giovanni's directors, set designers and costume designers had all made their Met Opera debuts Monday, Oct. 22, 1883, in the season's inaugural premiere, Gounod's Faust.

Don Giovanni premiered Wednesday, Nov. 28, 1883, as the first season's 12th opera and as the only Mozart opera staged in the Metropolitan Opera's inaugural season, 1883-1884. Mefistofele, by Italian composer and librettist Arrigo Boito (Feb. 24, 1842-June 10, 1918), succeeded Don Giovanni as the 13th first season premiere. Mefistofele premiered Wednesday, Dec. 5, 1883.

The takeaways for Met Opera's premiere of Don Giovanni are that the dramma giocoso in due atti (jocular drama in two acts) was staged as the 12th opera in Met Opera's inaugural season, 1883-1884; that the opera of inexorable fate received 12 performances; and that Don Giovanni was the only Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart opera included in the inaugural season lineup of 20 operas.

Marcella Sembrich originated the Met Opera role of Mozart's Zerlina in Don Giovanni's Nov. 28, 1883, premiere in the opera house's inaugural season, 1883-1884: The Sembrich @TheSembrich, via Facebook May 27, 2020

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

The Metropolitan Opera's Don Govanni lineage traces back to Giuseppe Kaschmann's inaugural season (1883-1884) performances in the opera house's 12th opera, Mozart's Don Giovanni: Met Opera Guild @MetOperaGuild, via Twitter July 9, 2020, @ https://twitter.com/MetOperaGuild/status/1281343640036683777

Marcella Sembrich originated the Met Opera role of Mozart's Zerlina in Don Giovanni's Nov. 28, 1883, premiere in the opera house's inaugural season, 1883-1884: The Sembrich @TheSembrich, via Facebook May 27, 2020, @ https://www.facebook.com/TheSembrich/photos/a.481908958541300/2920203491378489/br />
For further information:

"Debut: Baldassare Corsini." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID:1050 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Mignon {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/31/1883.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1050

“Debut: Cleofonte Campanini.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 1070 Mignon {2} Matinee ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 11/3/1883.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1070

"Debut: Emily Lablache, Giuseppe Barberis, Malvina Cavalazzi." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID:1080 Metropolitan Opera Premiere La Traviata {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/5/1883.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1080

"Debut: Emmy Fursch-Madi." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 1090 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Lohengrin {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/7/1883.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1020

"Debut: Giovanni Mirabella, Ida Corani." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 1040 Metropolitan Opera Premiere I Puritani {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/29/1883.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1040

Debut: Roberto Stagno, Alwina Valleria, Zelia Trebelli." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 1020 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Il Trovatore {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/26/1883.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1020

"Debuts: Italo Campanini, Christine Nilsson, Franco Novara, Giuseppe Del Puente, Sofia Scalchi, Louise Lablache, Ludovico Contini, Auguste Vianesi, Mr. Corani, Mr. Abbiati, Charles Fox, Jr., William Schaeffer, Gaspar Maeder, Mr. Thompson, D. Ascoli, Henry Dazian." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID:1000 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Faust {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/22/1883. Metropolitan Opera Premiere Opening Night {1}.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1000

"Debuts: Marcella Sembrich, Giuseppe Kaschmann, Achille Augier, Amadeo Grazzi, Imogene Forti, Vincenzo Fornaris." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 1010 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Lucia di Lammermoor {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/24/1883.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1010

Marriner, Derdriu. "Don Giovanni Is the Feb. 16, 2019, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast." Earth and Space News. Monday, Feb. 11, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/02/don-giovanni-is-feb-16-2019-met-opera.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Don Giovanni Was Franco Zeffirelli’s Ninth Met Opera Production." Earth and Space News. Monday, Aug. 17, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/08/don-giovanni-was-franco-zeffirellis.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Metropolitan Opera Premiered 20 Operas During Opening Season 1883-1884." Earth and Space News. Monday, Sept. 14, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/10/metropolitan-opera-premiered-20-operas.html

Met Opera Guild @MetOperaGuild. "Today's #OperaThroughTheYears throwback features the infamous antihero #DonGiovanni -- with tights galore! #GiuseppeKaschmann (1883) #TheodorReichmann (1889) #EzioPinza (1929) #JamesMorris (1978) #GeraldFinley (2005) #LucaPisaroni (2019) #TBT #Mozart #DaPonte." Twitter. July 9, 2020.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOperaGuild/status/1281343640036683777

The Metropolitan Opera Guild @metropolitanoperaguild. "Today's #OperaThroughTheYears throwback features the infamous antihero Don Giovanni- with tights galore! Giuseppe Kaschmann (in the Met Opera Premiere 1883) Theodor Reichmann (1889) Ezio Pinza (1929) James Morris (1978) Gerald Finley (2005) Luca Pisaroni (2019) #TBT #DonGiovanni #Mozart #DaPonte #GiuseppeKaschmann #TheodorReichmann #EzioPinza #JamesMorris #GeraldFinley #LucaPisaroni." Facebook. July 9, 2020.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/metropolitanoperaguild/photos/a.10150144873997754/10158867215567754/

"Metropolitan Opera Premiere Don Giovanni." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 1240 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Don Giovanni {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/28/1883.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1240

Petit, Pierre. "Christina Nilsson." Oslo Museum DigitaltMuseum (DM).
Available @ https://digitaltmuseum.no/021016831869/christina-nilsson

Rous, Samuel Holland. The Victrola Book of the Opera: Stories of One Hundred and Twenty Operas With Seven-Hundred Illustrations and Descriptions of Twelve-Hundred Victor Opera Records. Fourth revised edition. Camden NJ: Victor Talking Machine Company, 1917.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/victrolabookofop00vict

Citrine Forktail Damselfly Habitats: Dark, Orange Dots Not on Wing Edge

Summary: North American citrine forktail damselfly habitats get males with black stigmas at hindwing edges and orange-colored cells away from forewing edges.

male citrine forktail damselfly (Ischnura hastata) at Occoquan Regional Park, Lorton, Fairfax County, Northern Virginia; Friday, July 29, 2016, 11:39: Judy Gallagher, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

North American citrine forktail damselfly habitats abound in arborist-, master gardener- and master naturalist-appreciative, water-ample distribution ranges from Newfoundland through Florida, Ontario, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and California southward through Venezuela.

Citrine forktails bear their common name for citrus fruit-like orange or yellow colors and the scientific name Ischnura hastata (thin tail [and] spear-shaped [male forewing pterostigmata]). Common names channel the consensus of scientific committees of the Dragonfly Society of the Americas, whose Bulletin of American Odonatology since 1992 can be consulted on-line. Descriptions in 1839 by Thomas Say (June 27, 1787-Oct. 10, 1834), shell and insect specialist deemed father of American conchology and descriptive entomology, direct scientific designations.

Citrine forktail damselfly lifespans expect fish-filled or fishless, permanent or temporary lakes, ponds, rivers and sphagnum bogs with densely vegetated, marshy margins in grasses and sedges.

January through December function as maximum, most southerly flight seasons even though August furnishes wildlife mapping opportunities for all citrine forktail damselfly habitats, north through south.

Immature female and male citrine forktails go for ground- and near-ground-level perches in dense vegetation immediately along or in shallow bogs, lakes, marshes, ponds and rivers. Heavy vegetation sometimes houses both immature and mature life cycle stages even though adults have higher-profile presences from heading out low and slow as gleaning hunters. Immature stages immobilize bottom-dwelling passers-by within their labium (lower lips) whereas adults imprison airborne, foliage-feeding and ground-level prey as the result of flushing, searching or stalking.

Ants, assassin flies, biting midges, ducks, falcons, fish, flycatchers, frogs, grebes, lizards, spiders, turtles and water beetles and mites jeopardize North American citrine forktail damselfly habitats.

Immature citrine forktails keep to dull, faded, light, pale colors and to even lower size ranges than the diminutive dimensions that their bright, mature counterparts know.

Incomplete metamorphosis leads egg-hatched, multi-molting larvae, naiads and nymphs from grasses, sedges, sphagnum and water lilies into maturity as shiny-winged, soft-bodied, weak-flying tenerals of impermanent colors. Adults mate for about 20 minutes anytime during the day, until just after dark, with only females subsequently manipulating eggs into floating, upright leaves and stems. Forktail members of the Coenagrionidae pond damsel family need aphids, beetles, borers, caddisflies, copepods, crane flies, dobsonflies, gnats, leafhoppers, mosquitoes, rotifers, scuds, water fleas and worms.

North American citrine forktail damselfly habitats offer season-coldest temperature ranges, northward to southward, from minus 45 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 42.77 to 4.44 degrees Celsius).

Beech, bellflower, birch, bladderwort, cattail, daisy, grass, greenbrier, heath, laurel, madder, maple, nettle, olive, pepperbush, pine, pondweed, rush, sedge, water-lily and willow families promote citrine forktails.

Gray-banded, gray-powdered black abdomens, black thoraxes with gray upper and white lower sides, black-banded, brown-capped green eyes and clear, dot-tipped wings qualify as adult female hallmarks. Males reveal black hindwing and orange forewing stigmas (colored cells), black- and green-striped thoraxes, black-capped eyes greening posteriorly and yellowing frontally and black-ringed, green-based yellow abdomens. Adults show off 0.83- to 1.06-inch (21- to 27-millimeter) head-body lengths, 0.63- to 0.87-inch (16- to 22-millimeter) abdomens and 0.35- to 0.59-inch (9- to 15-millimeter) hindwings.

Smaller sizes, sparser blacks and grays and stigmas away from male wing edges tell citrines from other forktails in overlapping North American citrine forktail damselfly habitats.

Immature female citrine forktails appear as orange to red and change coloring, through brown or olive to gray, as they mature; immature female citrine forktail damselfly at Okeefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Folkston, Charlton County, southernmost Georgia; Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012, 14:25: Judy Gallagher, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

citrine forktail damselfly (Ischnura hastata) at Occoquan Regional Park, Lorton, Fairfax County, Northern Virginia; Friday, July 29, 2016, 11:39: Judy Gallagher, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Citrine_Forktail_-_Ischnura_hastata,_Occoquan_Regional_Park,_Lorton,_Virginia_-_28563990141.jpg; Judy Gallagher (Judy Gallagher), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/52450054@N04/28563990141/

Immature female citrine forktails appear as orange to red and change coloring, through brown or olive to gray, as they mature; immature female citrine forktail damselfly at Okeefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Folkston, Charleston County, southernmost Georgia; Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012, 14:25: Judy Gallagher, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Citrine_Forktail_(immature_female)_-_Ischnura_hastata,_Okeefenokee_National_Wildlife_Refuge,_Folkston,_Georgia_-_12562875314.jpg; Judy Gallagher (Judy Gallagher), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/52450054@N04/12562875314/

For further information:

Abbott, John C. Dragonflies and Damselflies of Texas and the South-Central United States: Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Princeton NJ; Oxford UK: Princeton University Press, 2005.

Beaton, Giff. Dragonflies & Damselflies of Georgia and the Southeast. Athens GA; London UK: University of Georgia Press, 2007.

Berger, Cynthia. Dragonflies. Mechanicsburg PA: Stackpole Books: Wild Guide, 2004.

Bright, Ethan. "Ischnura hastata (Say, 1839: 38 as Agrion) -- Citrine Forktail -- Craves & O'Brien 2002." Aquatic Insects of Michigan > Odonata (Dragon- and Damselflies) of Michigan > Zygoptera Selys, 1854 > Coenagrionidae, Kirby, 1890 (Pond Damselflies) > Ischnura Charpentier, 1840 (Forktails).
Available @ http://www.aquaticinsects.org/sp/Odonata/sp_oom.html

"Ischnura hastata." James Cook University-Medusa: The Odonata - Dragonflies and Damselflies > Zygoptera > Coenagrionidae > Ischnura.
Available via James Cook University-Medusa @ https://medusa.jcu.edu.au/Dragonflies/openset/displaySpecies.php?spid=3376

Paulson, Dennis. Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, Princeton Field Guides, 2011.

Say, Thomas. "Descriptions of New North American Neuropterous Insects, and Observations on Some Already Described. Read July 12, 1836: 2. A. hastata." Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia: vol. VIII, part I: 38-39. Philadelphia PA: Merrihew and Thompson, 1839.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/24622989
Available via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044106432990?urlappend=%3Bseq=48

"The 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map." The National Gardening Association > Gardening Tools > Learning Library USDA Hardiness Zone > USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.
Available @ https://garden.org/nga/zipzone/2012/