Ellora Hindu Cave 22 Allows a Fertility Bull and a Fertility God

Summary: Ellora Hindu Cave 22 , ancient Maharashtra cave temple in India, allies a destructively creative fertility god to a dancing, shape-shifting fertility bull.

depiction of matrikas (mother goddesses; literally, "divine mothers") in sculpture in Ellora Hindu Cave 22; sketch by Scottish archaeologist James Burgess (Aug. 14, 1832-Oct. 3, 1916), Report on the Elura Cave Temples (1883), Plate XXXIV: via Internet Archive

Ellora Hindu Cave 22 in Maharashtra state, western peninsular India, assembles a semi-sloping platform with fertility bull and an adorational shrine with a stone-carved male reproductive organ to a fertility god.

Itinerant artisans, merchants and monks built Ellora Hindu Cave 22 as a cave temple to beliefs brought into northwestern India between 4000 B.C.E. and 800 B.C.E.. Their 42-square-foot (3.90-square-meter) cave temple contains a mandapa (from Sanskrit मण्डप, "pavilion"); a shrine; a vestibule; bracket-capital, plain pillars; and 12-foot- (3.66-meter-) high ceilings and steps. Ashtamatrika (from Sanskrit अष्टन्, "eight" and मातृक, "mother"), Ganesha (from Sanskrit गाणेश, "flock-master") and Vishnu (from Sanskrit विष्णु, "all-pervasive") sculptures deify Shiva (from Sanskrit शिव, "auspicious").

Ellora Hindu Cave 22 exhibits a crocodile-transported (Gavialis gangeticus) devi (from Sanskrit देवी, "goddess") and two devi and door-flanking, doorway-guarding dvarapala (from Sanskrit द्वार, "gateway" and पाल, "protector") duos.

Ellora Hindu Cave 22 features a fertility bull and a fertility god respectively from 4000 B.C.E. to 2500 B.C.E. and from 1700 B.C.E.

The Indus Valley in northwest India gives up some, and guards other, graven seals from Harappa and Mohenjodaro (from Sindhi موئن جو دڙو, "dead men's mound"). Harappa seals from 4000 B.C.E. and Mohenjodaro seals from 2000 B.C.E. harbor fertility bulls and, in cross-legged, seated, yogic postures and with bull-horn headdresses, fertility gods. Fertility goddesses and their fertility bulls and rams and fertility gods and their fertility bulls, buffaloes, deer, elephants, rhinoceroses, snakes and tigers impel worshiping reproductive organs.

Shaivite Hindu (from Sanskrit शिव, "auspicious" and सिन्धु, "stream") artisans joined

Indus, Aryan (from Sanskrit वेद, "noble") and Vedic (from Sanskrit आर्य, "knowledge") knowledge kindled the polished, stone-carved reproductyive organ atop the Ellora Hindu Cave 22 pedestal.

Indus to Aryan to Vedic to Hindu linkages launches Nandi (from Sanskrit नन्दि, "delight") and Shiva (from Sanskrit शिव, "auspicious") as fertility bull and fertility god. Meeting his mate Parvati (from Sanskrit पर्वति, "stone") amorously over the sage Bhrigu (from Sanskrit भृगु, "precipice") intellectually made Shiva fertility god to reproducvtive organ worshipers. Parvati, for nodding during scripture readings, nestled as fishwoman into earthly life until Shiva's loneliness necessitated Nandi shape-shifting into a shark that Shiva, as fisherman, netted.

Coastal fisherfolk offered fisherman-shifted Shiva fisherwoman-shifted Parvati for obstructing shark-shifted Nandi, whose ominous operations the real-life occurrences of the Ellora Hindu Cave 22 bull never observed.

Shiva and Nandi, as chamberlain, quadruped (from Latin quadri-, "four" and pes, "foot") guardian and musician, perform fertility and Tandava (from Sanskrit ताण्डव, "wild dance") dances.

Tandava dances quicken worldwide destruction after worldwide creation and before worldwide recreation in cyclical, never-ending universal time even as fertility rites quicken increase between population decreases. Bull-riding Shiva, as destroyer god, fertility god and shakti (from Sanskrit शक्ति, "power") female energy Ardhanarisvara (from Sanskrit अर्धनारीश्वर, "half-woman") reconciles destruction-creation, fertility-infertility and female-male opposites. The obstacle-subverting, path-finding Ganesha strengthens Shiva, fertility god successor over Ashtamatrika mother goddesses Brahmani, Chamunda, Indrani, Kumari, Mahalakshmi, Maheshvari, Vaishnavi and Varahi to Indus fertility goddesses.

Kalachuri (from Sanskrit कलचुरि, "country chieftain") dynasty (753?-982? C.E.) artisans transmitted as the Ellora Hindu Cave 22 triumphant trio fertility-tending Shiva, obstacle-tackling Ganesha and preservation-trusting Vishnu.

River Goddess Gaṅgā, transported by a crocodile, is depicted in a sculpture in Ellora Hindu Cave 22; sketch by Scottish archaeologist James Burgess (Aug. 14, 1832-Oct. 3, 1916), Report on the Elura Cave Temples (1883), Plate XXV: via Internet Archive

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

depiction of matrikas (mother goddesses; literally, "divine mothers") in sculpture in Ellora Hindu Cave 22; sketch by Scottish archaeologist James Burgess (Aug. 14, 1832-Oct. 3, 1916), Report on the Elura Cave Temples (1883), Plate XXXIV: via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.1544/page/n169/mode/1up

River Goddess Gaṅgā, transported by a crocodile, is depicted in a sculpture in Ellora Hindu Cave 22; sketch by Scottish archaeologist James Burgess (Aug. 14, 1832-Oct. 3, 1916), Report on the Elura Cave Temples (1883), Plate XXV: via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.1544/page/n151/mode/1up

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Sunday, July 5, Lunar Eclipse Is Third of Four 2020 Penumbral Eclipses

Summary: The Sunday, July 5, lunar eclipse is the third of four 2020 penumbral eclipses and follows the year’s first solar eclipse.

penumbral lunar eclipse Sunday, July 5, details: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC Emeritus," via NASA Eclipse Web Site

The Sunday, July 5, lunar eclipse is the third of four 2020 penumbral eclipses, numbers as fourth in the year’s lineup of six eclipses and follows the year’s first solar eclipse.

July’s penumbra lunar eclipse is expected to last for 2 hours 45 minutes, according to NASA’s Eclipse Web Site. The year’s third penumbral lunar eclipse begins Sunday, July 5, at 03:07:23 Universal Time (Saturday, July 4, at 11:07 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time) and ends at 05:52:23 UT (Sunday, July 5, at 1:52 a.m. EDT).

Five of Earth’s seven continents experience all or some visibility of July’s penumbral lunar eclipse. Asia and Australia are the only two continents excluded from the eclipse’s viewing path.

Four of Earth’s five oceans lie within the path of all or some visibility of July’s penumbral lunar eclipse. Only the Arctic Ocean falls outside of the eclipse’s visibility path.

July’s penumbral lunar eclipse stages its greatest eclipse at 04:30:00.1 UT (12:30 a.m. EDT), according to NASA’s Eclipse Web Site. Greatest eclipse happens over South America, according to retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak’s website, EclipseWise. Greatest eclipse’s zenith latitude and longitude of 24 degrees 03.3 minutes south and 66 degrees 20.6 minutes west place the point’s occurrence in northwestern Argentina’s Salta province. Greatest eclipse indicates the instant of the moon’s closest passage to the axis of Earth’s shadow.

July’s penumbral lunar eclipse appears as the third of four penumbral lunar eclipses in 2020. The year’s first two penumbral lunar eclipses took place Friday, Jan. 10, and Friday, June 5. The year’s fourth penumbral lunar eclipse happens Monday, Nov. 30.

A penumbral lunar eclipse concerns Earth’s penumbra, the light outer portion of Earth’s shadow. The moon passes through the penumbra, which produces a subtle dimming of the lunar surface.

During a penumbral lunar eclipse, the moon moves through the northern or southern edges of Earth’s penumbra. Two penumbral lunar eclipses in 2020 associate with the northern edge, and two journey through the southern edge.

July’s and November’s penumbral lunar eclipses involve Earth’s southern penumbral edge. Only the high latitudes of the lunar northern hemisphere interact with Earth’s penumbra during July’s lunar eclipse. November’s penumbral lunar eclipse dims all except the high latitudes of the moon’s southern hemisphere.

January’s and June’s penumbral lunar eclipses involve Earth’s northern penumbral edge. January’s lunar eclipse immerses all except the highest latitudes of the moon’s northern hemisphere in Earth’s penumbra. The lunar southern hemisphere passes through Earth’s penumbra during June’s lunar eclipse.

The Southern Hemisphere claims two of the four penumbral lunar eclipses’ greatest eclipses. July’s greatest eclipse in northwestern Argentina joins June’s greatest eclipse in the southern Indian Ocean as a Southern Hemisphere event.

The Northern Hemisphere is the setting for the greatest eclipses of the year’s first and fourth penumbral lunar eclipses. January’s greatest eclipse happened in central India’s Madhya Pradesh state. November’s greatest eclipse will link with the northern Pacific Ocean.

July’s penumbral lunar eclipse numbers as fourth in the year’s lineup of six eclipses. The year’s first solar eclipse intervenes between June’s and July’s penumbral lunar eclipses. Numbering as third in the year’s eclipse lineup, the first solar eclipse of 2020 takes place Sunday, June 21, as an annular solar eclipse.

The year’s second solar eclipse succeeds the year’s fourth penumbral lunar eclipse. Numbering as sixth in the year’s sextet of eclipses, the second solar eclipse of 2020 takes place Monday, Dec. 14.

The takeaways for the Sunday, July 5, lunar eclipse are that the event is the third of four 2020 penumbral eclipses and that, as successor to the first solar eclipse of 2020, the year’s third lunar eclipse numbers as fourth in the year’s lineup of eclipses.

penumbral lunar eclipse Sunday, July 5, as viewed from center of moon during the greatest eclipse: Tom Ruen (SockPuppetForTomruen), Public Domain, 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:

penumbral lunar eclipse Sunday, July 5, details: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC Emeritus," via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2020Jul05N.pdf

penumbral lunar eclipse Sunday, July 5, as viewed from center of moon during the greatest eclipse: Tom Ruen (SockPuppetForTomruen), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lunar_eclipse_from_moon-2020Jul05.png

For further information:

Espenak, Fred. “Moon at Perigee and Apogee: 2001 to 2020 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).” AstroPixels > Planetary Ephemeris Data > Moon > Perigee and Apogee: 2001-2100.
Available via AstroPixels @ http://astropixels.com/ephemeris/moon/moonperap2001.html

Espenak, Fred. “Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 2020 Jan 10.” EclipseWise > Lunar Eclipses > Recent and Upcoming Lunar Eclipses > Decade Tables of Lunar Eclipses > 2011-2020.
Available via EclipseWise @ http://eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/2001-2100/LE2020Jan10Nprime.html

Espenak, Fred. “Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 2020 Jul 05.” EclipseWise > Lunar Eclipses > Recent and Upcoming Lunar Eclipses > Decade Tables of Lunar Eclipses > 2011-2020.
Available via EclipseWise @ http://eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/2001-2100/LE2020Jul05Nprime.html

Espenak, Fred. “Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 2020 Jun 05.” EclipseWise > Lunar Eclipses > Recent and Upcoming Lunar Eclipses > Decade Tables of Lunar Eclipses > 2011-2020.
Available via EclipseWise @ http://eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/2001-2100/LE2020Jun05Nprime.html

Espenak, Fred. “Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 2020 Nov 30.” EclipseWise > Lunar Eclipses > Recent and Upcoming Lunar Eclipses > Decade Tables of Lunar Eclipses > 2011-2020.
Available via EclipseWise @ http://eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/2001-2100/LE2020Nov30Nprime.html

Espenak, Fred. “Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 2020 Jul 05.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses > Lunar Eclipses: 2011-2020.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2020Jul05N.pdf

Marriner, Derdriu. “Friday, Jan. 10, Lunar Eclipse Is First of Four 2020 Penumbral Eclipses.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/01/friday-jan-10-lunar-eclipse-is-first-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Friday, June 5, Lunar Eclipse Is Second of Four 2020 Penumbral Eclipses.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 27, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/05/friday-june-5-lunar-eclipse-is-second.html

Cav Pag Was Franco Zeffirelli’s Third Met Opera Production

Summary: Cav Pag was Franco Zeffirelli’s third Met Opera production, with his double-billed new staging debuting Jan. 8, 1970.

Italian director Franco Zeffirelli directed and designed costumes and sets for his new production of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, which debuted, along with his new production of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, at Met Opera in the 1969-1970 season: Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli Onlus, via Facebook Jan. 8, 2021

Cav Pag was Franco Zeffirelli’s third Met Opera production, with his new staging for the double-billed Italian rustic operas debuting in the 1969-1970 Met Opera season.

The Metropolitan Opera debuted Italian film, opera and television director and producer Franco Zeffirelli’s new productions of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci on Thursday, Jan. 8, 1970. The double-billed operas received 19 performances in the 1969-1970 season.

As with his first two Met Opera productions, Franco Zeffirelli (Feb. 12, 1923-June 15, 2019) directed both operas and designed the costumes and sets. His first Met Opera production, Falstaff by 19th-century Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901), debuted March 6, 1964. His second staging for Met Opera, the world premiere of Shakespeare-based Antony and Cleopatra by 20th-century American composer Samuel Barber (March 9, 1910-Jan. 23, 1981), debuted Sept. 16, 1966, as the inaugural opera for the company new opera house in Manhattan’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Zeffirelli’s new staging of Cavalleria Rusticana (Rustic Chivalry) debuted in the opera house’s 441st performance of the rustic verismo Sicilian opera by Italian opera composer Pietro Mascagni (Dec. 7, 1863-Aug. 2, 1945). The season premiere reunited Zeffirelli with American conductor Leonard Bernstein (Aug. 25, 1918-Oct. 14, 1990). Zeffirelli and Bernstein made their Metropolitan Opera debuts in Zeffirelli’s first Met Opera production, Verdi’s Falstaff. Bernstein conducted the first five of the 1969-1970 season’s 19 performances of Cavalleria Rusticana.

Zeffirelli’s new staging of Pagliacci (Clowns) debuted in the opera house’s 481st performance of the verismo village tragedy by Italian opera composer and librettist Ruggero Leoncavallo (April 23, 1857-Aug. 9, 1919). Fausto Cleva (May 17, 1902-Aug. 6, 1971) conducted the season’s first five performances. The Italian-born American operatic conductor had made his Met Opera debut Saturday, Feb. 14, 1942, in the opera company’s 178th performance of Il Barbiere di Siviglia by 19th-century Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868).

Kurt Adler (March 1, 1907-Sept. 21, 1977) conducted the last 14 performances of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. The Austrian-born Jewish American chorus master and conductor made his first appearance at Met Opera on March 26, 1944, in the Gala Sunday Night Program’s presentation of Act II Dances of the Vestales of Brahma from Lakmé by French Romantic Era composer Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (Feb. 21, 1836-Jan. 16, 1891).

Italian director Franco Zeffirelli directed and designed costumes and sets for his new production of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, which debuted, along with his new production of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci at Met Opera in the 1969-1970 season: Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli Onlus, via Facebook April 16, 2020,

The Metropolitan Opera staged 16 revivals of Zeffirelli’s productions of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. The first two revivals took place successively in the 1970-1971 and 1971-1972 seasons.

The first revival, in 1970-1971, offered 12 performances of Cavalleria Rusticana and eight performances of Pagliacci. The two operas received the same number of performances in revivals two through 16.

The third and four revivals took place successively in the 1973-1974 and 1974-1975 seasons. The fifth revival happened in the 1977-1978 season. The sixth and seventh revivals occurred successively in the 1979-1980 and 1980-1981 seasons. Met Opera launched two more revivals in the 1980s, with the eighth in 1985-1986 and the ninth in 1988-1989.

The production’s last seven revivals spanned the last decade of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century. The 10th through 16th revivals occurred in the 1992-1993, 1994-1995, 1996-1997, 1999-2000, 2004-2005, 2006-2007 and 2008-2009 seasons.

The last performance of Zeffirelli’s Cav Pag productions took place April 10, 2009, in the opera house’s 670th and 712th performances of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, respectively. The final performances numbered as the 230th and 226th performances, respectively, of Zeffirelli’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. Zeffirelli’s production, from debut to final performance, spanned 39 years 3-plus months.

Six years elapsed between the final performances of Zeffirelli’s productions and the staging of new productions of Cav Pag at the Metropolitan Opera. Sir David McVicar’s new productions debuted April 14, 2015, in the opera house’s 671st and 713th performances, respectively, of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. The Scottish opera and theatre director’s new productions received eight performances in the 2014-2015 season.

The Metropolitan Opera has staged two revivals of Sir David’s Cav Pag. The first revival, with 11 performances each, took place in the 2015-2016 season. The second revival, with seven performances, was offered during the 2017-2018 season.

The takeaways for Cav Pag as Franco Zeffirelli’s third Met Opera production are that the Italian designer and director’s staging of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci garnered 230 and 226 performances, respectively; experienced 16 revivals; and endured for 39 and one-fourth years in the Metropolitan Opera’s regularly performed repertory.

Italian director Franco Zeffirelli directed and designed costumes and sets for his new production of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, which debuted, along with his new production of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, at Met Opera in the 1969-1970 season: Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli Onlus, via Facebook April 4 2020

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Italian director Franco Zeffirelli directed and designed costumes and sets for his new production of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, which debuted, along with his new production of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, at Met Opera in the 1969-1970 season: Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli Onlus, via Facebook Jan. 8, 2021, @ https://www.facebook.com/fondazionefrancozeffirelli/posts/1350482985287176/

Italian director Franco Zeffirelli directed and designed costumes and sets for his new production of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, which debuted, along with his new production of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, at Met Opera in the 1969-1970 season: Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli Onlus, via Facebook April 16, 2020, @ https://www.facebook.com/fondazionefrancozeffirelli/posts/1131171203885023/

Italian director Franco Zeffirelli directed and designed costumes and sets for his new production of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, which debuted, along with his new production of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, at Met Opera in the 1969-1970 season: Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli Onlus, via Facebook April 4 2020, @ https://www.facebook.com/fondazionefrancozeffirelli/posts/1121366354865508/

For further information:

“Debut: Fausto Cleva.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 133000 Il Barbiere di Siviglia {178} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/14/1942.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=133000

“Debut: Ignace Strasfogel.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 174990 La Périchole {16} Auditorium, Birmingham, Alabama: 05/6/1957.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=174990

“Debut: Kurt Adler.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 155660 Die Zauberflöte {114) Matinee ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 01/12/1951.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=155660

“Debuts: Luigi Alva, Leonard Bernstein, Franco Zeffirelli.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 197440 New Production Falstaff {67} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/6/1964.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=197440

“Debuts: Leontyne Price, Franco Corelli.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 186960 Il Trovatore {320} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/27/1961.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=186960

Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli Onlus. "Added a new photo." Facebook. Jan. 8, 2021.
Available via Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/fondazionefrancozeffirelli/posts/1350482985287176/

Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli Onlus. "#storiedarchivio #pilloledispettacolo. In attesa di iniziare Dietro Le Quinte, rassegna di percorsi guidati alla Collezione, all’Archivio e alla Biblioteca della Fondazione Zeffirelli, ecco una straordinaria immagine dal nostro Archivio: l’ingresso della compagnia degli attori in Pagliacci. Quest’immagine fa parte del materiale selezionato per il percorso guidato “Zeffirelli, l’Opera e l’America” in programma alla Fondazione al termine dell’emergenza sanitaria, e si riferisce allo spettacolo del 1970 al Metropolitan Opera House di New York. Tante volte Zeffirelli tornerà alla messa in scena di Leoncavallo, raccontando il fascino sinistro dei protagonisti, e enfatizzando l’aspetto di cronaca nera di cui è narrazione. Del fascino terrificante dei pagliacci nel teatro e nel cinema parleremo anche nel prossimo appuntamento con Pillole di Spettacolo. Vi aspettiamo https://bit.ly/2wYzRMA." Facebook. April 4, 2020.
Available via Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/fondazionefrancozeffirelli/photos/pb.100063789780327.-2207520000./1121366354865508/
Available via Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/fondazionefrancozeffirelli/posts/1121366354865508/

Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli Onlus. "#storiedarchivio #pilloledispettacolo. Oggi è la volta di Cavalleria Rusticana in una bellissima foto di scena dal nostro Archivio. Siamo di nuovo al Metropolitan Opera House di New York nel gennaio del 1970. Lo spettacolo di Cavalleria Rusticana avrebbe dovuto in realtà andare in scena nel settembre 1969, in occasione dell’inaugurazione della stagione. Un compatto e duraturo sciopero (4 lunghi mesi!) di tutti i dipendenti ne compromise però la messa in scena. Fu in realtà la determinazione di Zeffirelli a salvare in extremis lo spettacolo coinvolgendo l’amico Leonard Bernstein, Franco Corelli (Turiddu) e Grace Bumbry (Santuzza) in una nuova e ricostituita compagnia. 'Sentii che l’unico modo per spezzare la maledizione, che a quanto pareva avevo ancora addosso, era di non arrendermi e di mandare in scena lo spettacolo a dispetto di tutto.' FZ. Non vediamo l'ora di accogliervi di nuovo di persona per raccontarvi le tantissime storie custodite dalla Collezione Zeffirelli. Intanto #iorestoacasa, contagiato dall'arte, dalla bellezza e dalle nostre pillole di spettacolo!" Facebook. April 16, 2020.
Available via Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/fondazionefrancozeffirelli/photos/pb.100063789780327.-2207520000./1131171203885023/
Available via Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/fondazionefrancozeffirelli/posts/1131171203885023/

Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli Onlus @fondazionefrancozeffirelli. “All’alba del 1970, l’8 gennaio di 49 anni fa, Franco Zeffirelli va in scena a New York con 'Pagliacci' di Leoncavallo in occasione dell’inaugurazione del Metropolitan Opera House. Il grande successo dell’Opera segna per il Maestro una svolta decisiva per la sua vita professionale e privata: 'Avevo percepito, con la prima di Cavalleria e Pagliacci al Met, che gli anni Settanta avrebbero portato con loro una completa ripresa della mia buona sorte. . .' FZ.” Facebook. Jan. 8, 2019.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/fondazionefrancozeffirelli/photos/a.521465231522293/788432164825597/

Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli Onlus @fondazionefrancozeffirelli. “Cavalleria Rusticana nel 1969 al Metropolitan di New York fu il primo grande impegno internazionale di Zeffirelli dopo l’incidente automobilistico che lo aveva visto in pericolo di vita: dopo la conferma della presenza di Bernstein come direttore d’Orchestra 'andai da Franco Corelli, che se ne stava in solitario isolamento nella suite di un albergo di New York. Riuscii a convincerlo a uscire dal suo incomprensibile ritiro per cantare la parte di Turiddu.' FZ #dicembreconzeffirelli 28 dicembre, "Zeffirelli e Bernstein al MET: Cavalleria Rusticana" https://bit.ly/2UsQ5Vd.” Facebook. Dec. 19, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/fondazionefrancozeffirelli/photos/a.521465231522293/782549955413818/

Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli Onlus @fondazionefrancozeffirelli. “Dopo l’intenso lavoro per Cavalleria Rusticana al MET, Franco Zeffirelli ricorda così il suo ritorno alle scene mondiali e all’opera: 'Le ovazioni dopo la prima furono la migliore medicina di cui avessi bisogno, la dimostrazione che ero ancora in grado di dominare la mia professione. Uscendo alla ribalta per ricevere gli applausi, dissi un addio pieno di sollievo al 1969, a quello strano decennio che si stava chiudendo con tutto il Bene e tutto il Male che aveva portato nella mia vita.' Venerdì 28, Zeffirelli e Bernstein al MET: Cavalleria Rusticana ➡ https://bit.ly/2UsQ5Vd.” Facebook. Dec. 26, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/fondazionefrancozeffirelli/photos/a.521465231522293/786626881672792/

Heyman, Barbara B. Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music. New York NY; Oxford UK: Oxford University Press, 1992.

Marriner, Derdriu. "Antony and Cleopatra Was Franco Zeffirelli’s Second Met Opera Production." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 15, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/antony-and-cleopatra-was-franco.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Cav Pag Is Jan. 13, 2018, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Jan. 8, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/01/cavpag-is-jan-13-2018-met-opera.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Franco Zeffirelli Made His Met Opera Debut in Staging Verdi’s Falstaff." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 1, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/franco-zeffirelli-made-his-met-opera.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Luigi Alva Made Met Opera Debut in Zeffirelli’s Falstaff Production." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 8, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/luigi-alva-made-met-opera-debut-in.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Only Two of 11 Zeffirelli Productions Are Still Revived at Met Opera." Earth and Space News. Monday, May 25, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/05/only-two-of-11-zeffirelli-productions.html

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Legendary director Franco Zeffirelli (1923–2019), who created 11 Met productions between 1964 and 1998, worked with many of opera’s greatest artists, from Leontyne Price to Leonard Bernstein to Plácido Domingo. Look back on his unparalleled career with this collection of snapshots of him at work. Photo: With Grace Bumbry and Leonard Bernstein at the premiere of his production of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana Photo courtesy of Met Archives.” Facebook. June 22, 2019.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532/10162094338010533/

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Franco Corelli and Richard Tucker sang Turiddu and Canio, respectively, in the 1970 premiere of Franco Zeffirelli’s picturesque staging of the double bill. The production would continue to be performed over the course of the next 40 years. Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci is on stage this season at the Met through February 1. bit.ly/2qW0jlA.” Facebook. Jan. 11, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532/10159972687640533/

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Franco Corelli and Richard Tucker sang Turiddu and Canio, respectively, in the 1970 premiere of Franco Zeffirelli’s picturesque staging of the double bill. The production would continue to be performed over the course of the next 40 years. Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci is on stage this season at the Met through February 1. bit.ly/2qW0jlA.” Facebook. Jan. 11, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532/10159972688165533/

“New Productions: Cavalleria Rusticana / Pagliacci.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: New Productions Cavalleria Rusticana {441} Pagliacci {481} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/8/1970.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=220100

Plotkin, Fred. “Remembering Franco Zeffirelli (1923-2019).” WQXR > Operavore. June 17, 2019.
Available @ https://www.wqxr.org/story/remembering-franco-zeffirelli-19232019/

Sherrill Milnes @SherrillMilnes. "In memory of the great Franco Zeffirelli, I wanted to share a few photos and an article from the Milnes archives. This is from our performance of Pagliacci at the The Metropolitan Opera with Teresa Stratas, Richard Tucker with Franco directing. He will be missed. #SVFPagliacci." Facebook. June 24, 2019.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/SherrillMilnes/posts/2244764739106315

“World Premiere: Antony and Cleopatra.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 208000 World Premiere Antony and Cleopatra {1} Broadcast ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 09/16/1966.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=208000

Shadow Darner Dragonfly Habitats: Long Clasper, T-Spotted Forehead, Tan Head

Summary: North American shadow darner dragonfly habitats get long appendages, spotted abdomens, striped thoraxes, T-spotted foreheads and tan backs of heads.

male shadow darner dragonfly (Aeshna umbrosa); Mason Neck, southernmost Prince William County, Northern Virginia; Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016: Judy Gallagher (Judy Gallagher), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

North American shadow darner dragonfly habitats accept shade plant-loving cultivators and naturalists in distribution ranges throughout Canada, except Nunavut, and throughout the United States, except Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana and Wyoming.

Shadow darners bear their common name for dark color, late-afternoon flights and knitting needle-like abdomens and the scientific name Aeshna umbrosa (misshapen [spear that is] shadowy). Common names count upon scientific committee consensus in the Dragonfly Society of the Americas, whose 11th Bulletin of American Odonatology considers damselflies and dragonflies in Alabama. Descriptions in 1908 and 1912 by Edmund Murton Walker (Oct. 5, 1877-Feb. 14, 1969), Royal Ontario Museum invertebrate collection founder in Toronto, Canada, determine scientific designations.

Shadow darner life cycles expect shaded, wooded beaver and suburban ponds, bogs, ditches, fens, lakes, marshes, slow-flowing streams, small rivers, southern upland water bodies and swamps.

June through December function as earliest to latest flight seasons even though August through October furnish wildlife mapping opportunities through coastal and inland shadow darner niches.

Shadow darners go on a series of 30-second hovers in hour-long patrols 1 foot (0.31 meter) above a wooded wetland series of shaded watersides and waters. They hang vertically from low-lying vegetation, treetop twigs or any grassy, herbaceous, weedy, woody perch in-between preceding and succeeding mixed- or same-species swarmed or solitary feeding. Food-searching, mate-seeking itineraries involve faster, higher, lower, more direct investigations from late afternoon into dusk than emerald dragonflies in overlapping, shaded banks, basins, clearings and edges.

Ants, assassin flies, biting midges, ducks, falcons, fish, flycatchers, frogs, grebes, lizards, spiders, turtles and water beetles and mites jeopardize North American black-tipped darner dragonfly habitats.

Populations in and outside the Pacific Northwest, known as Aeshna umbrosa occidentalis and Aeshna umbrosa umbrosa, keep their abdomens green- and large-spotted and blue- and small-spotted.

Incomplete metamorphosis leads shadow darners from rod-shaped eggs laid by solitary females with breakable ovipositors in rotting, wet wood to larvae, naiads or nymphs and tenerals. Immature, multi-molting, nonflying stages metamorphose into shiny-winged, tender-bodied, weak-flying tenerals that mature to mate and manipulate eggs into dry or wet banks, logs, trunks or twigs. Aphids, beetles, borers, caddisflies, copepods, crane flies, dobsonflies, gnats, leafhoppers, mosquitoes, rotifers, scuds, water fleas and worms nourish mosaic darner members of the Aeshnidae dragonfly family.

North American shadow darner dragonfly habitats offer season-coldest temperature ranges, northward to southward, from minus 45 to 35 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 42.11 to 1.66 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 black-tipped darners.

Blue- or brown-eyed, blue- or brown-green faces, blue- or yellow-green-spotted black-brown, thickened abdomens, brown-tinged wings, green-yellow-marked rust-brown thoraxes and long-tipped appendages qualify as adult female hallmarks. Males reveal blue-, small- or green-, large-spotted abdomens, blue-green-topped, green-yellow-bottomed, narrow, straight front- and side-striped thoraxes, clear wings, paddle-like appendages and turquoise-eyed, blue- or brown-green faces. Adults show off 2.68- to 2.99-inch (68- to 76-millimeter) head-body lengths, 1.93- to 2.32-inch (49- to 59-millimeter) abdomens and 1.65- to 1.89-inch (42- to 48-millimeter) hindwings.

Black T-spotted foreheads, long appendages and tan backs of heads tell blue-, green-marked, brown-bodied shadow darners from other odonates in North American shadow darner dragonfly habitats.

female shadow darner dragonfly (Aeshna umbrosa); Mer Bleue Conservation Area, Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, east central Canada; Thursday, Sep. 9, 2010: D. Gordon E. Robertson (Dger), CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, 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:

male shadow darner dragonfly (Aeshna umbrosa); Mason Neck, southernmost Prince William County, Northern Virginia; Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016: Judy Gallagher (Judy Gallagher), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/52450054@N04/30832396080/

female shadow darner dragonfly (Aeshna umbrosa); Mer Bleue Conservation Area, Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, east central Canada; Thursday, Sep. 9, 2010: D. Gordon E. Robertson (Dger), CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shadow_Darner,_female.jpg

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.

"Aeshna umbrosa." James Cook University-Medusa: The Odonata - Dragonflies and Damselflies > Anisoptera > Aeshnidae > Aeshna.
Available via James Cook University-Medusa @ https://medusa.jcu.edu.au/Dragonflies/openset/displaySpecies.php?spid=43

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. "Aeshna umbrosa umbrosa Walker, 1908: 380, 390 -- Shadow Darner." Aquatic Insects of Michigan > Odonata (Dragon- and Damselflies) of Michigan > Anisoptera Selys, 1854 -- Dragonflies > Aeshnidae Rambur, 1842: 181 (Darners) > Aeshna Fabricius, 1775 (Mosaic Darners).
Available @ http://www.aquaticinsects.org/sp/Odonata/sp_oom.html

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

"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/

Walker, E. M. (Edmund Murton). A Key to the North American Species of Aeshna Found North of Mexico: 5. umbrosa, n. sp." The Canadian Entomologist, vol. XL, no. 11 (November 1908): 380. London, Canada: The London Printing and Lithographing Company Limited, 1908.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3100245

Walker, E. M. (Edmund Murton). "Aeshna umbrosa Walker." The North American Dragonflies of the Genus Aeshna. University of Toronto Studies Biological Series, no. 11: 165. Toronto, Canada: The University Library Librarian, MCMXII (1912).
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/biologicalseries10univuoft#page/165/mode/1up