Earth and Space News

Monday, February 6, 2017

Carmen Is the Feb. 11, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: The Feb. 11, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is Carmen, a four-act tragic opera by French composer Georges Bizet.

Bizet's Carmen airs as the Feb. 11, 2017, Saturday matinee broadcast during the 2016-2017 Met Opera season: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Jan. 23, 2017

Carmen, a four-act tragic opera by Georges Bizet (Oct. 25, 1838-June 3, 1875) concerning a fiery gypsy whose passions are in flux, is the Feb. 11, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast.

French librettist, novelist and playwright Ludovic Halévy (Jan. 1, 1834-May 7, 1908) and French dramatist and librettist Henri Meilhac (Feb. 23, 1830-July 6, 1897) collaborated on the French libretto. The literary source is Carmen, a novella first published by French archaeologist, historian and writer Prosper Mérimée in 1845 in la Revue des Deux Mondes (“Review of Two Worlds”), an ongoing French language literary and cultural affairs magazine.

The premiere took place March 3, 1875. The venue was Opéra-Comique, then housed in the Parisian opera company’s second of three buildings, all known as Salle Favart, at its current site in Place Boïeldieu, in the 2e arrondissement de Paris (2nd arrondissement of Paris).

French architect Jean-François Heurtier (March 6, 1739-April 16, 1822) designed the first Salle Favart, whose inauguration April 28, 1783, was attended by France’s last queen, Marie Antoinette (Nov. 2, 1755-Oct. 16, 1793). In 1840, French architect Louis Charles Théodore Charpentier (Sept. 2, 1797-April 13, 1867) designed a second Salle Favart to replace the first, which was destroyed Jan. 14-15, 1838, by a fire.

French architect Stanislas-Louis Bernier (Feb. 21, 1845-Feb. 3, 1919) designed the current, third Salle Favart to replace the second, which was destroyed May 25, 1887, by a fire caused by defective gas lighting. On Dec. 7, 1898, Félix François Faure (Jan. 30, 1841-Feb. 16, 1899), sixth of the 14 presidents of the Third French Republic (Troisième République, Sept. 4, 1870-July 10, 1940), attended the inauguration of the third Salle Favart.

The composer and librettist place Carmen’s tempestuous life in the early 19th century. The setting is the exotic city of Seville in southern Spain and the surrounding hills and mountains.

The Saturday matinee broadcast of Carmen begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (6 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time). The estimated run time for the performance is about 3 hours 17 minutes.

The performance, sung in the original French, comprises four acts and one intermission.

Acst I and II are timed at 100 minutes. A 34-minute intermission follows Act II.

Acts III and IV are timed at 63 minutes. The Saturday matinee broadcast performance ends with Act IV’s final notes.

Asher Fisch conducts most performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast, of Carmen. His birthplace is Jerusalem, Israel. The Israeli conductor debuted in the Metropolitan Opera’s 2000 production of The Merry Widow by Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár (April 30, 1870-Oct. 24, 1948). This season Asher Fisch also conducts Tristan und Isolde by German composer and librettist Wilhelm Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883).

This season Asher Fisch shares the Carmen conductor’s baton with Derrick Inouye and Louis Langrée. Born in Vancouver, western Canada, Derrick Inouye debuted in the Metropolitan Opera’s 2003 production of Benvenuto Cellini by Hector Berlioz (Dec. 11, 1803-March 8, 1869). Derrick Inouye conducts the Jan. 27 performance.

Born in Mulhouse, Alsace, northeastern France, Louis Langrée debuted in the Metropolitan Opera’s 2007 production of Iphigénie en Tauride by Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck (July 2, 1714-Nov. 15, 1787). Louis Langrée conducts the Feb. 15 and Feb. 18 performances.

Clémentine Margaine appears in the title role as an alluring, tempestuous cigarette factory worker who also smuggles. She was born in Narbonne, Occitanie, south central France. The French mezzo-soprano’s appearance as Carmen marks her Metropolitan Opera debut.

Roberto Aronica appears as Don José, a corporal whose military career and life are ruined by his all-consuming passion for Carmen. His birthplace is Civitavecchia, Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, west central Italy. The Italian tenor debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1998 as Alfredo in La Traviata by Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Roberto Aronica appears in most of the February performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast. He shares the role of Don José this season with Marcelo Álvarez and Rafael Davila.

Born in Córdoba, central Argentina, Marcelo Álvarez debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1998 as Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata. He appears in most of the January performances of Carmen. The Argentinian lyric tenor also appears this season as des Grieux in Manon Lescaut by Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924).

Born in Chicago, Cook County, northeastern Illinois, to Puerto Rican parents, Rafael Davila makes his Metropolitan Opera debut with his appearance as the anguished Don José. The Puerto Rican tenor’s appearances in the Jan. 31 and Feb. 3 performances mark his move from understudy to principal role while Marcelo Álvarez recovers from a respiratory infection.

Maria Agresta appears as Micaëla, who loves Don José and transmits messages to him from his mother. She was born in Vallo, Campagna, southwestern Italy. The Italian soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2016 as Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème.

Maria Agresta appears in all January performances and most February performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast. She shares the role of Micaëla this season with Janai Brugger, who appears in the Feb. 3 performance.

Janai Brugger’s birthplace is Darien, DuPage County, northeastern Illinois. The American operatic soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2012 as Liù in Puccini’s Turandot. This season Janai Brugger also appears as Jemmy in Guillaume Tell by Gioachino Antonio Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868) and as Pamina in The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791).

Kyle Ketelsen appears as Escamillo, the captivating bullfighter who replaces Don José in Carmen’s volatile affections. He was born in Clinton, east central Iowa. The American bass-baritone debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2006 as Angelotti in Puccini’s Tosca.

Kyle Ketelsen appears in all January and most February performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast. He shares the role of Escamillo this season with Michael Todd Simpson, who appears in the Feb. 15 performance.

Born in Gastonia, Gaston County, southwestern North Carolina, Michael Todd Simpson debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2009 as Hermann/Schlémil in Les Contes d’Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach (June 20, 1819-Oct. 5, 1880). The American operatic baritone also appears this season as Jaufré Rudel in L’Amour de Loin by Finnish composer Kaija Anneli Saariaho and as Leuthold in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell.

Operabase, an online database, places Georges Bizet at number 7 in a ranking of 1,281 most popular composers for the five seasons from 2011/2012 to 2015/16. Carmen holds third place in the list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016 Repertory Report gives performance statistics through Oct. 31. Carmen holds third place, with 1,001 performances, for the period from first Met performance, Jan. 5, 1884, to last performance, March 7, 2015. The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-2017 season falls outside the report’s parameters.

The takeaway for Carmen as the Feb. 11, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is the fiery music that captures the sparks of Carmen’s tempestuous love triangles and Micaëla’s empowering aria (“Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante”) as she seeks to rescue Don José from his fate.

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Bizet's Carmen airs as the Feb. 11, 2017, Saturday matinee broadcast during the 2016-2017 Met Opera season: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Jan. 23, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10158246583645533/

The 2016-2017 Met Opera season premiere of Bizet's Carmen marked Met Opera debuts for Clémentine Margaine (Carmen), Rafael Davila (Don José) and Shirin Eskandani (Mercédès): The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Jan. 19, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10158221347490533/

For further information:

"Composers: Composers Ranked by the Number of Performances of Their Operas Over the Five Seasons 2011/2012 to 2015/16." Operabase > Opera Statistics.
Available @ http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en

“Debuts: Louis Langrée, Sasha, Cooke, Michele Losier, Jacqueline Antaramian, Mark Capri.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 352202 Iphigénie en Tauride {6} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/27/2007.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=352202

Metropolitan Opera. "Richard Eyre's Stunning Production of Carmen." YouTube. Feb. 18, 2015.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkUxIJ8ohRs

The Metropolitan Opera (metopera). "Carmen is on stage tonight, Jan 23. Performances through Feb 11. Photo by Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera." Instagram. Jan. 23, 2017.
Available @ https://www.instagram.com/p/BPn87ZQBHJ3/?taken-by=metopera

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Bizet's Carmen opens tonight, 1/19! Mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine makes her Met Opera debut in the title role as Bizet's immortal heroine. On stage through Feb 18: bit.ly/2j6SKAH Photos by Jonathan Tichler/Metropolitan Opera." Facebook. Jan. 19, 2017.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10158221347490533/

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera."Clémentine Margaine in the title role of Bizet's Carmen is on stage tonight, 1/23. Performances through Feb 18: bit.ly/2j6SKAH Photo by Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera." Facebook. Jan. 23, 2017.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10158246584170533/

Opéra de Paris @operadeparis. “Elle fait ses débuts à l'Opéra de Paris dans le célèbre rôle-titre. Retrouvez bientôt Clémentine Margaine sur scène!” Twitter. Feb. 27, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/operadeparis/status/836218106372587520

“Performances Statistics Through October 31, 2016.” MetOpera Database > The Metropolitan Opera Archives > Repertory Report.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/Database%20Opera%20Statistics.xml

Sunday, February 5, 2017

Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho’ Has Large White Flowers and Dark Green Leaves

Summary: Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho,’ a Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) cultivar by German breeder Joseph Heuger, has large white flowers and dark green leaves.

side view of flower of Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho’ in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed Monday, June 28, 2004, as application number 10/878420, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP15,640; Date of Patent March 8, 2005; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries

Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho,’ a Christmas rose, or black hellebore (Helleborus niger), cultivated by German hellebore hybridizer Joseph Heuger, has large white flowers and dark green leaves.

On June 28, 2004, Heuger filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, for a patent for Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho.’ Primary examiner Kent Bell and assistant examiner Wendy C. Haas reviewed Heuger’s application. On March 8, 2005, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office assigned plant patent number 15,640 to Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho.’

‘HGC Jericho’ has its origins in a breeding program conducted by the inventor in November 1997. A cross-pollination of unnamed, unpatented female and male Helleborus niger seedlings took place in a controlled environment at the Heuger family nursery, Heuger Gartenbaubetriebe, in Glandorf, Lower Saxony state, northwestern Germany. Heuger discovered and selected the flowering plant now known as Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho’ from among the cross-pollinated parents’ progeny.

‘HGC Jericho’ displayed unique traits of compact plant habit; attractively colored flowers and foliage; relatively early and lengthy blooming period. Propagation by divisions, begun in March 2000, showed the retention and true reproduction of the new cultivar’s distinctive traits over successive generations.

The patent application described plants, at approximately 6 months old, that were grown indoors in 15-centimeter (5.9-inch) containers during winter. During production, temperatures in the glass-covered greenhouse in Glandorf registered 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and 14 degrees C (57.2 degrees F) during the night.

Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho’ has a temperature tolerance ranging from minus 15 to 36 degrees C (5 to 96.8 degrees F).

‘HGC Jericho’ hellebore’s growth habit is moderately vigorous. Its plant habit is compact, with basal leaves and single flowers. ‘HGC Jericho’ measures a height of about 16 centimeters (6.29 inches). Its spread, or width, is about 27 centimeters (10.62 inches).

Basal foliage features a palmately compound arrangement. Each leaf comprises four to nine leaflets.

Leaflet lengths range from about 5 to 8.5 centimeters (1.96 to 3.34 inches). Leaflet widths measure from about 1.5 to 4 centimeters (0.59 to 1.57 inches).

Lanceolate, or lance-shaped, leaflets have serrated margins. Glabrously textured upper and lower surfaces are hairlessly smooth.

Upper surfaces of fully expanded leaflets are dark green (Royal Horticultural Society colour chart 147A). Lower surfaces are brown green (RHS 147B). Veins of upper and lower surfaces are brown green (RHS 146C).

Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho’ has a naturally early and lengthy blooming season. Intermittent flowering happens from October to February in Glandorf. A freely flowering habit produces about 15 developed flowers per plant over the blooming season. On the plant, slightly fragrant flowers last about 10 days.

Ovoid, or egg-shaped, buds measure about 1.5 centimeters (0.59 inches) in height. Bud diameter is about 9 millimeters (0.35 inches). Bud color is light green (RHS 145C).

Each flower has about seven to nine sepals, arranged in a single whorl. Tiny petals form inconspicuous nectaries.

Sepal length is about 3.5 centimeters (1.37 inches). Sepal width is about 3 centimeters (1.18 inches).

Broadly ovate, or egg-shaped, sepals have smooth margins, described as entire. Glabrously textured upper and lower surfaces are satiny and hairlessly smooth.

Upper and lower surfaces of fully expanded sepals are white (RHS 155D). With development, coloring approaches light green (RHS 145B).

Flowers present outward, upright faces atop strong, upright peduncles, or floral stalks. Glabrous peduncles are hairlessly smooth. Peduncle coloring is light green (RHS 145A).

Peduncles measure lengths of about 5 to 15 centimeters (1.96 to 5.90-inches). Diameters range from 3 to 5 millimeters (0.11 to 0.19 inches).

Heuger’s 2015-2016 hellebore catalog sells ‘HGC Jericho’℗ in containers sized 11 to 15 centimeters (4.33 to 5.9 inches). Its growth is described as compact. The catalog targets the beginning of November as the start date for selling ‘HGC Joshua’℗.

The takeaway for Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho’ is the lengthy enjoyment of the hellebore’s large white flowers and dark green leaves, in fresh cut arrangements or in in-ground or potted garden niches, that is afforded by an early and lengthy flowering that begins in October and lasts into February.

closeup of Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho’ flower in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed Monday, June 28, 2004, as application number 10/878420, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP15,640; Date of Patent March 8, 2005; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Burrell, C. Colston; Judith Knott Tyler. Hellebores: A Comprehensive Guide. Portland OR: Timber Press, 2006.

Burrell, C. Colston; Judith Knott Tyler. “Not Your Mother’s Hellebores: A New Look at Species and Hybrids (Part 2).” Pacific Horticulture magazine. January 2008.
Available @ http://www.pacifichorticulture.org/articles/not-your-mothers-hellebores-part-2/

“Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Jericho.’” United States Patent and Trademark Office > Program in Word (PIW). March 8, 2005.
Available @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP015640

“HGC Jericho’℗. Heuger > Katalog Helleborus 2015-2016.
Available @ http://www.heuger.com/fileadmin/lookbook/page1.html#/16

International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. “Document TGP/14: Glossary of Technical, Botanical and Statistical Terms Used in UPOV Documents. Section 2: Botanical Terms: Subsection 3: Color: (2): Color Names for the RHS Colour Chart.” UPOV (Union Internationale Pour la Protection des Obtentions Végétales). Dec. 9, 2006.
Available @ http://www.upov.int/edocs/mdocs/upov/en/tc_edc?2007/tgp_14_draft_1_section_2_3_2.pdf

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘COSEH 210’ Has Large White Flowers and Sells as ‘HGC Joel’®.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/helleborus-coseh-210-has-large-white.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘COSEH 710’ Has Light Green Flowers With Reddish Pink Flushes.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/helleborus-coseh-710-has-light-green.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘COSEH 740’ Has White Flowers and Dark Green Leaves.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/helleborus-coseh-740-has-white-flowers.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘HGC Double Surprise’ Has Purple-Spotted White Double Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/helleborus-hgc-double-surprise-has.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘HGC Josef Lemper’ Has White Flowers and Dark Green Leaves.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/helleborus-hgc-josef-lemper-has-white.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ Has Red Purple-Spotted White Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/helleborus-hgc-lady-freckle-has-red.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon' Has White to Light Green Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/02/helleborus-hgc-silvermoon-has-white-to.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “A Helleborus Plant Named ‘COSEH 700’ Has Large Light Green Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-helleborus-plant-named-coseh-700-has.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “A Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Jacob’ Has White to Light Green Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-helleborus-plant-named-hgc-jacob-has.html

“PP15640 -- Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Jericho.’” University of Maryland > Plant Patents Image Database.
Available @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/11606

Rice, Graham; Elizabeth Strangman. The Gardener’s Guide to Growing Hellebores. Newton Abbot, England: David and Charles, 2005.

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon’ Has White to Light Green Flowers

Summary: Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon,’ a hybrid hellebore (Helleborus niger x H. sternii) by German breeder Joseph Heuger, has white to light green flowers.

side view of flower of Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon’ in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed Monday, June 28, 2004, as application number 10/878427, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP15,639; Date of Patent March 8, 2005; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries

Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon,’ a hellebore hybrid (Helleborus niger x Helleborus sternii) by German hellebore hybridizer Joseph Heuger, has white to light green flowers and dark green leaves.

On June 28, 2004, Heuger filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, for a patent for Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon.’ Primary examiner Kent Bell and assistant examiner Wendy C. Haas reviewed Heuger’s application. On March 8, 2005, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office assigned plant patent number 15,639 to Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon.’

Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon’ has its origins in a planned breeding program conducted by the inventor in January 1999. A cross-pollination of an unnamed, unpatented female Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) seedling with an unnamed, unpatented male Helleborus x sternii seedling took place in a controlled environment at Heuger’s family nursery, Heuger Gartenbaubetriebe, in Glandorf, Lower Saxony state, northwestern Germany.

One of the parent seedlings, the male, is itself a hybrid. Helleborus x sternii, which honors British botanist and horticulturist Sir Frederick Claude Stern (April 18, 1884-July 10, 1967), is a cross of Corsican hellebore (Helleborus argutifolius) and blue-grey hellebore (Helleborus lividus).

Heuger discovered and selected the flowering plant now known as Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon’ from among the cross-pollinated parents’ offspring. Heuger noted the new cultivar’s distinctive traits of compact, mounded plant habit; attractively colored flowers and foliage; long blooming period. Propagation by divisions, begun in March 2001, demonstrated the retention and true reproduction of distinctive traits over successive generations.

Heuger’s patent application describes plants, at about 6 months of age, that were grown indoors in Glandorf during winter in 15-centimeter (5.9-inch) containers. Temperatures during production registered 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and 14 degrees C (57.2 degrees F) during the night.

Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon’ has a temperature tolerance range of minus 10 to 36 degrees C (14 to 96.8 degrees F).

The growth habit for Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon’ is moderately vigorous. Its compact, mounded plant habit has basal leaves and single flowers. Plant height measures about 14 centimeters (5.51 inches). Spread, or width, measures about 30 centimeters (11.81 inches).

Basal foliage comprises palmately compound leaves. Three to five leaflets radiate from the leaf’s attachment point at the distal end of the petiole, or leaf stalk.

Leaflet lengths range from about 5 to 10 centimeters (1.96 to 3.93 inches). Widths range from about 2.5 to 4 centimeters (0.98 to 1.57 inches).

Lanceolate, or lance-shaped, leaflets have serrated margins. Upper and lower surfaces have a glabrous texture, with hairless smoothness.

Fully expanded leaflets display dark green (Royal Horticultural Society colour chart color 147A) upper surfaces. Veins are brown green (RHS 146B).

Lower surfaces of fully expanded leaflets are brown green (RHS 147B). Veins are brown purple (RHS 183A).

‘HGC Silvermoon’ has a lengthy blooming period. Intermittent flowering occurs from December to February in Glandorf. A freely flowering habit yields about 10 developed flowers per plant over the blooming period. On the plant, flowers last about 10 days.

Single rounded flowers, facing outward and upright, are borne in a single arrangement atop upright peduncles, or floral stems. Peduncles measure about 5 to 7 centimeters (1.96 to 2.75 inches) in length. Diameters range from about 3 to 5 millimeters (0.11 to 0.19 inches).

Peduncles, which have an upright orientation, are strong. Their glabrous texture is hairlessly smooth. Their color is light green (RHS 145A). A slight overlay of brown purple (RHS 187A) imbues peduncles with a burgundy cast.

Flower buds, which are ovoid, or egg-shaped, measure about 1.2 centimeters (0.47 inches) in height. Bud diameter is about 7 millimeters (0.27 inches). Bud color is light green (RHS 145D).

Flowers typically have five sepals, arranged in a single whorl. Petals, which are tiny, form inconspicuous nectaries.

Sepal length is about 3.5 centimeters (1.37 inches). Width measures about 3 centimeters (1.18 inches).

Broadly ovate, or egg-shaped, sepals have rounded apices, or tips. Entire margins are smooth and untoothed. The glabrous texture of upper and lower surfaces is satiny and hairlessly smooth.

The upper surfaces of fully expanded sepals are light green (RHS 149D). With development, coloring approaches light green (RHS 145B to 145C).

The lower surfaces of fully expanded sepals are light green (RHS 149D), with a slight overlay of brown purple (RHS 187A).

The takeaway for Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon’ is the showiness, especially during its lengthy winter blooming period, of the Heuger hellebore’s white to light green flowers, atop their burgundy-effect stems, in fresh cut arrangements and in container or in-ground garden spaces.

closeup of Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon’ flower in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed Monday, June 28, 2004, as application number 10/878427, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP15,639; Date of Patent March 8, 2005; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Burrell, C. Colston; Judith Knott Tyler. Hellebores: A Comprehensive Guide. Portland OR: Timber Press, 2006.

“Hellebore (Helleborus Gold Collection® Silvermoon).” The National Gardening Association > Plants Database > Hellebores.
Available @ http://garden.org/plants/view/185831/Hellebore-Helleborus-Gold-Collection-Silvermoon/

“Helleborus ericsmithii ‘HGC Silvermoon’ PP15639.” Perennial Resource > Perennial Encyclopedia.
Available @ http://www.perennialresource.com/encyclopedia/view/?plant=1984

“Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Silvermoon.’” United States Patent and Trademark Office > Program in Word (PIW). March 8, 2005.
Available @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP0156139

“PP15639 -- Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Silvermoon.’” University of Maryland > Plant Patents Image Database.
Available @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/11605

Rice, Graham; Elizabeth Strangman. The Gardener’s Guide to Growing Hellebores. Newton Abbot, England: David and Charles, 2005.

Friday, February 3, 2017

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Flinck Obelisk

Summary: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft exiles one etching, two bronzes and 10 paintings, including the Flinck obelisk, from home March 18, 1990.

"Landscape With an Obelisk," 1638 oil on panel by Dutch Golden Age painter Govert Teuniszoon Flinck (Jan. 25, 1615-Feb. 2, 1660), removed from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum during March 1990 art theft: The Yorck Project, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A Dutch 17th-century landscape accepts an Egyptian obelisk as insightfully as an early 20th-century museum affords a 21st-century addition 22 years after the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft in Boston, Massachusetts.

The Flinck obelisk historically became part of the Museum collection through misidentifications that brought it into the second-floor Dutch Room 87 years before March 18, 1990. Misattribution as a Rembrandt carried the oil on panel to a tabletop mount where proper attribution confirmed its continued placement back-to-back with Johannes Vermeer's The Concert. Post-theft sightings describe the Manet cafegoer, the Rembrandt seascape and the Vermeer concert and divulge nothing regarding the missing etching, two bronzes and seven other paintings.

The 81-minute, $500-plus million-valued museum robbery exiles one 167-year-old finial (flag topper), one 3,090-plus-year-old beaker and works by two 19th-century French and three 17th-century Dutch painters.

Govert Teuniszoon Flinck (Jan. 25, 1615-Feb. 2, 1660) fit his obelisk, a stone structure with a pyramidal top and a quadrangular base, into a Dutch countryside.

The 27.94-inch- (71-centimeter-) high, 21.44-inch- (54.5-centimeter-) wide Landscape with an Obelisk from 1638 historically gets ringside views onto the gabled, glass skylight-enclosed, summer nasturtium-draped inner courtyard. Museum provenance and purchase records have the £4,500 purchase from the George Rath collection in Budapest, Hungary through Colnaghi & Co., art dealers in London, England. They indicate the English dealers intermediating acquisition through payment in 1900 from Mrs. Gardner's art historian, Bernard Berenson (June 26, 1865-Oct. 6, 1959), on-site in Europe.

Perhaps the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft perpetrators join Berenson's judging the Flinck obelisk "a work of art of exquisite, sweet pathos and profound feeling."

Mrs. John Lowell Gardner's (April 14, 1840-July 17, 1924) will keeps up the entire Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum possessions and premises with a $1 million endowment.

The endowment leaves 30 centuries of decorations and furnishings, in their exact places at Mrs. Gardner's death, for "the education and enjoyment of the public forever." Museum inventories mention among artworks busts, choir books, columns, friezes, letters, manuscripts, paintings, photos, scrolls and tiles in the courtyard and throughout three floors of furnishings. They note among furnishings that simultaneously nudge artwork status andirons, bureaus, candlesticks, chairs, chalices, coffers, glass, lace, mantelpieces, pennants, plates, scepters, sofas, swords, tapestries and textiles.

Off-street windows offer, since the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft, two empty frames tabletop views of marble benches, statues and tiles in the courtyard below.

Italian architect Renzo Piano pulled the reverse of the Flinck obelisk by putting the Museum's glass and steel Addition next to the 15th-century-styled, 19th-century-built, 20th-century-opened Museum.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum quit a vulnerable past with almost all but the endowed collection queuing into the Addition's community-oriented spaces since Jan. 19, 2012. The Museum's simultaneous renovation with the Addition's realization results in the entire property's climate-controlled, theft-insured coverage by covert, low-light, night-vision, pan, tilt and zoom security systems. Police photographs from 27 years ago show only physical evidence of broken frames and glass because of simple video surveillance tapes easily stolen by the thieves.

Heightened, updated security tells the Flinck obelisk and the 12 other Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft casualties that it is safe to come back home.

"Self-Portrait," ca. 1640 oil on panel by Dutch Golden Age painter Govert Flinck, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, South West Scotland: 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:

"Self-Portrait," ca. 1640 oil on panel by Dutch Golden Age painter Govert Flinck, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, South West Scotland: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Govaert_Flinck_Self_Portrait.jpg

Flinck's landscaped obelisk was displayed in the second-floor Dutch Room, described by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's website as a place for special occasion entertainment by Mrs. Gardner, offering "a stunning view into the courtyard": view of inner courtyard, June 29, 2015: Nic McPhee (Unhindered by Talent), CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicmcphee/18660473624/

original Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, a 19th-century building with 15th-century styling, as viewed from 20th century addition by Italian architect Renzo Piano; glassed-in passageway (lower center) connects the addition to the original: Robert Gray (AtHandGuides.com), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/55063261@N06/6917282500/

For further information:

"18 U.S. Code § 668 - Theft of Major Artwork." Cornell University Law School > Legal Information Institute > U.S. Code > Title 18 > Part I > chapter 31 > 668.
Available @ https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/668?quicktabs_8=1#quicktabs-8

Baker, Billy. 10 March 2015. "Gardener Keeps Gardner Museum's Atrium in Bloom." Boston Globe > Metro.
Available @ https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/03/09/gardener-keeps-gardner-atrium-bloom/bbSZctlMtkEDy9UDYWrO4K/story.html

Boston Landmarks Commission. Report on the Potential Designation of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum as a Landmark under Chapter 772 of the Acts of 1975, as Amended.
Available @ https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/ISGM%20Study%20Report%20as%20Amended_tcm3-39717.pdf

"Collection." Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Available @ http://www.gardnermuseum.org/collection

FBI. "FBI Announces Top Ten Art Crimes." Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) > News > Stories > 2005 > November. November 15, 2005.
Available via FBI @ https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2005/november/topten_art111505

FBI. "Gardner Museum in Boston Offering $5 Million Reward for Stolen Art." YouTube. March 8, 2013.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DpD1HbcFfQ

FBI Boston Division. "Boston FBI Continues Hunt for Stolen Artwork." Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) > Boston Division > Press Releases > 2010.
Available via FBI @ https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/boston/press-releases/2010/bs031510.htm

FBI Boston Division. "FBI Provides New Information Regarding the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Art Heist." Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) > Boston Division > Press Releases > 2013.
Available via FBI @ https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/boston/press-releases/2013/fbi-provides-new-information-regarding-the-1990-isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art-heist

"The Gardner Museum Theft." Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) > FBI Top Ten Art Crimes.
Available @ https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/5-million-reward-offered-for-return-of-stolen-gardner-museum-artwork

"Johannes Vermeer: The Complete Works." Vermeer Foundation.
Available @ http://www.vermeer-foundation.org/

Marriner, Derdriu. 20 January 2017. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Rembrandt Couple." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_20.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 January 2017. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Rembrandt Seascape." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_13.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 6 January 2017. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Rembrandt Self-Portrait." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 27 January 2017. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Vermeer Concert." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_27.html

Mashberg, Tom. March 1998. "Stealing Beauty." Vanity Fair > Culture.
Available @ http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/1998/03/biggest-art-heist-us-history

Mashberg, Tom. 26 February 2015. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Heist: 25 Years of Theories." New York Times > Arts > Art & Design.
Available @ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/arts/design/isabella-stewart-gardner-heist-25-years-of-theories.html?_r=0

Murphy, Shelley. 17 March 2015. "Search for Artworks from Gardner Heist Continues 25 Years Later." Boston Globe > Metro.
Available @ https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/03/17/gardner-museum-art-heist-one-boston-most-enduring-mysteries-years-later/9U3tp1kJMa4Zn4uClI1cdM/story.html

"Reputed Mobster Arrested, Reportedly Tried to Fence Gardner Museum Art." The Boston Globe. Posted Apr 17, 2015 at 3:14 PM. Updated Apr 18, 2015 at 10:52 PM.
Available @ http://www.telegram.com/article/20150417/NEWS/304179654

"Thirteen Works: Explore the Gardner's Stolen Art." Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum > Resources > Theft.
Available @ http://www.gardnermuseum.org/resources/theft

Thomson, Jason. 3 May 2016. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Theft: Is the Massive Art Heist About to be Solved?" The Christian Science Monitor > USA > USA Update.
Available @ http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2016/0503/Isabella-Stewart-Gardner-theft-Is-the-massive-art-heist-about-to-be-solved

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts. "Gardner Museum Surveillance Excerpt." YouTube. Aug. 6, 2015.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSw1BsJEBB4

Vila, Bob. 31 October 2011. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum." YouTube.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBOGMbOoZPA

WBUR. 12 March 2009. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist." YouTube.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irBRWMMHOI8

Williams, Paige. March 2010. "The Art of the Story." Boston Magazine > Gardner Museum > Gardner Museum Theft.
Available @ http://www.bostonmagazine.com/2010/03/gardner-heist/3/

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

February 2017 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse Over Every Continent Except Australia

Summary: The February 2017 penumbral lunar eclipse is visible over every continent except Australia.

graphics and details for penumbral lunar eclipse of Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017ls: "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 February 2017 penumbral lunar eclipse that ushers in the year’s lineup of two lunar and two solar eclipses is visible over every continent except Australia.

Visibility of February’s penumbral lunar eclipse happens Friday, Feb. 10, in the Western Hemisphere. Eclipse visibility for most of the Eastern Hemisphere takes place Saturday morning, Feb. 11.

On the Asian mainland in the Eastern Hemisphere, visibility does not extend to Russia’s Far East, northeastern China, North Korea or South Korea. The February 2017 penumbral lunar eclipse disfavors most of the Pacific Ocean. Major Pacific islands, such as Japan, New Guinea, New Zealand, the Philippines and Taiwan, are outside of the geographic regions of eclipse visibility.

All of the Lower 48 states of the continental United States have eclipse visibility. The United States’ five Caribbean territories (disputed Bajo Nuevo Bank, disputed Navassa Island, Puerto Rico, disputed Serranilla Bank, U.S. Virgin Islands) also fall within the eclipse’s viewing regions.

Western Alaska falls outside of the visibility path. The state of Hawaii joins the United States 11 Pacific territories in exclusion for viewing the February 2017 penumbral lunar eclipse.

The February 2017 penumbral lunar eclipse begins with the instant of the moon’s first contact with Earth’s penumbra, the weak part of Earth’s shadow. The instant of first contact is identified as P1.

NASA’s eclipse expert, retired astrophysicist Fred Espenak, gives Friday, Feb. 10, at 22:34 Coordinated Universal Time as the start time for the penumbral lunar eclipse. For continental U.S. time zones, the eclipse begins Friday, Feb. 10, at 5:34 p.m. Eastern Standard Time; 4:34 p.m. Central Standard Time; 3:34 p.m. Mountain Standard Time; 2:34 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. For U.S. territories in the Caribbean Sea, the eclipse starts at 6:34 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time.

The eclipse ends with the instant of last contact with Earth’s penumbral shadow. The last contact instant is identified as P4.

Espenak, known popularly as Mr. Eclipse, gives Saturday, Feb. 11, at 02:53 UTC as the penumbral lunar eclipse’s instant of last contact. For continental U.S. time zones, P4 happens Friday, Feb. 10, at 9:53 p.m. EST; 8:53 p.m. CST; 7:53 p.m. MST; 6:53 p.m. PST. For U.S. Caribbean territories, eclipse ending time is 10:53 p.m. AST.

In between first and last contacts, the greatest eclipse is logged. The greatest eclipse marks the instant of the moon’s closest passage to the axis of Earth’s shadow. Greatest eclipse occurs Saturday, Feb. 11, at 00:43 UTC. For continental U.S. time zones, greatest eclipse happens Friday, Feb. 10, at 7:43 p.m. EST; 6:43 p.m. CST; 5:43 p.m. MST; 4:43 p.m. PST. For U.S. Caribbean territories, greatest eclipse takes place at 7:43 p.m. AST.

The eclipse’s duration is 4 hours 19 minutes. Lacking the drama of total or partial umbral lunar eclipses, penumbral lunar eclipses do not offer visibility for the event’s entire duration. A possible span of one to two hours for best visibility centers on the instant of greatest eclipse.

The February 2017 penumbral lunar eclipse is the first of the year’s two lunar eclipses. The second eclipse, which will be partial, takes place in August.

The August 2017 event is a partial lunar eclipse. Entrance by only a portion of the moon into Earth’s umbral segment occasions a partial lunar eclipse.

The takeaway for the February 2017 penumbral lunar eclipse is that its wide visibility encompasses six of Earth’s seven continents and parts or all of Earth’s five oceans.

Earth’s orientation, as viewed from the moon’s center during greatest eclipse: 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:

Earth’s orientation, as viewed from the moon’s center during greatest eclipse: SockPuppetForTomruen, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lunar_eclipse_from_moon-2017Feb11.png

For further information:

“Eclipses in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.” Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/honolulu

Espenak, Fred. “Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 2017 Feb 11.” Eclipse Wise > Lunar Eclipses.
Available @ http://eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/2001-2100/LE2017Feb11Nprime.html

Espenak, Fred. Thousand Year Canon of Lunar Eclipses 1501 to 2500. Portal AZ: Astropixels Publishing, 2014.

Espenak, Fred, and Jean Meeus. “Five Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses > Lunar Eclipse Publications Online.
Available @ http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEcat5/LE2001-2100.html

“February 10 / February 11, 2017 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse.” Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2017-february-11

Marriner, Derdriu. “Penumbral Lunar Eclipse Sept. 16 Is Last of Three 2016 Lunar Eclipses.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/09/penumbral-lunar-eclipse-sept16-is-last.html

McClure, Bruce. “Penumbral Eclipse on Night of February 10.” EarthSky > Tonight. Feb. 10, 2017.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/tonight/penumbral-eclipse-on-night-of-february-10

“Solar and Lunar Eclipses Worldwide -- Next 10 Years.” Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/list.html

Webb, Brian. “Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).” Space Archive. March 27, 2016.
Available @ http://www.spacearchive.info/utc.htm

“What Does the Magnitude of an Eclipse Mean?” Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/magnitude.html