Earth and Space News

Monday, May 8, 2017

Der Rosenkavalier Is the May 13, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: The May 13, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is Der Rosenkavalier, a three-act comic opera by Richard Strauss.

The 2016-2017 Met Opera season's new production of Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss airs as the Met Opera's Saturday matinee broadcast May 13, 2017: Meet Me At The Opera @MMATOpera, via Twitter Nov. 25, 2016

Der Rosenkavalier (The Knight of the Rose), a three-act, late Romantic-style, comic opera by German composer Richard Georg Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949), is the May 13, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast.

Austrian librettist and writer Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (Feb. 1, 1874-July 15, 1929) (Oct. 11, 1857-Nov. 21, 1937) wrote the original German libretto. The literary sources are Les Amours du Chevalier de Faublas, a novel styled as a memoir (roman-mémoires) by French playwright and writer Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai (June 12, 1760-Aug. 25, 1797) and Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, a three-act comédie-ballet by Molière, stage name of French actor and playwright Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (Jan. 15, 1622-Feb. 17, 1673).

The premiere took place Thursday, Jan. 26, 1911. The venue was Königliches Opernhaus (Royal Opera House), now known as Semperoper, the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Opera of the Saxon State of Dresde), located in the historic center of Dresden, Saxony, east central Germany.

Der Rosenkavalier premiered in the opera house’s second building. German architect Manfred Semper (May 3, 1838-Sept. 13, 1913), built the second opera house in the Neo-Renaissance style, according to his father's designs. The second building replaced the first building, designed by Manfred’s father, Gottfried Semper (Nov. 29, 1803-May 15, 1879), and destroyed by fire in 1869.

The building that premiered Der Rosenkavalier was gutted during the bombing of Dresden, an American and British aerial bombing occurring during the Second World War (Sept. 1, 1939-Sept. 2, 1945) between Feb. 13 and Feb. 15, 1945. Reconstruction of the current, third Semperoper was completed Feb. 13, 1985, exactly four decades after the devastating bombing.

Strauss and his librettist set Der Rosenkavalier in 18th-century Vienna, Austria. The plot unfolds during the early years of the reign of Empress Maria Theresa (May 13, 1717-Nov. 29, 1780), the only female Habsburg ruler and also the last ruler of the House of Habsburg.

Canadian opera director Robert Carsen seeks to retain the opera's fin-de-siècle atmosphere, with its awareness of change and of the passage of time. He fast forwards the 2016-2017 season's production of Der Rosenkavalier to 1910, the year in which Richard Strauss and Hugo Hofmannsthal created the opera.The decades from the 1880 to 1910 witnessed the transition from 19th century Victorianism to 20th century modernism.

The Saturday matinee broadcast of Cyrano de Bergerac begins at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (4:30 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time). The estimated run time for the performance is about 4 hours 12 minutes. The performance, sung in the original German, comprises three acts and two intermissions.

Act I is timed at 73 minutes. A 30-minute intermission follows Act I.

Act II is timed at 57 minutes. A 30-minute intermission follows Act II.

Act III is timed at 62 minutes. The Saturday matinee broadcast performance ends with Act III’s final notes.

Sebastian Weigle conducts all performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast, of Der Rosenkavalier. His birthplace is Berlin, northeastern Germany. The German conductor debuted in the Metropolitan Opera’s 2000 production of Die Zauberflöte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791). This season Sebastian Weigle also conducts Fidelio by Ludwig von Beethoven (bapt. Dec. 17, 1770-March 26, 1827).

Renée Fleming appears as Princess Marie Therese von Werdenberg, titled as the Marschallin, a Field Marshal’s wife. She was born in Indiana, west central Pennsylvania. The American soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1991 as the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791).

Elīna Garanča appears in the trouser role of Octavian, Count Rofrano, the Marschallin’s young lover, whose role as the Knight of the Rose, the bearer of a traditional silver engagement rose, leads him to his true love, Sophie von Faninal. Her birthplace is Riga, Latvia. The Latvian operatic mezzo-soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2008 as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Italian composer Gioachino Antonio Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868).

Erin Morley appears as Sophie von Faninal, whose wealthy, bourgeois father seeks an advantageous marriage for her with the Marschallin’s country cousin, the financially-distressed, lecherous, older Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau. She was born in Salt Lake City, northeastern Utah. The American coloratura soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2008 as the First Madrigal in Manon Lescaut by Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924).

Erin Morley shares the role of Sophie this season with Kathleen Kim. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Kathleen Kim appears in the April 28 and May 1 performances of Der Rosenkavalier. The Korean-American operatic coloratura soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2007 as Barbarina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro.

Günther Groissböck appears as Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau, whose lechery foils his pursuit of Sophie von Faninal. He was born in Waidhofen an der Ybbs, Lower Austria, northeastern Austria. The Austrian bass debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2010 as Colline in Puccini’s La Bohème. This season Günther Groissböck also appears as Don Fernando in Beethoven’s Fidelio.

Marcus Brück appears Herr von Faninal, Sophie’s wealthy parvenu father. His birthplace is Speyer, Rhineland-Palatinate, southwestern Germany. The role of Herr von Faninal marks the German baritone’s Metropolitan Opera debut this season.

Matthew Polenzani appears as a singer whose aria is interrupted by Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau’s greedy wranglings of his marriage contract with the Marschallin’s notary. Matthew Polenzani was born in Evanston, Cook County, northeastern Illinois. The American lyric tenor debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1997 as Boyar Kruschov in Boris Godunov by Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (March 21, 1839-March 28, 1881). This season Matthew Polenzani also appears as Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and in the title role of Mozart’s Idomeneo.

Operabase, an online database, places Richard Strauss at number 10 in a ranking of 1,281 most popular composers for the five seasons from 2011/2012 to 2015/16. Der Rosenkavalier places at 38 in the list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016 Repertory Report gives performance statistics through Oct. 31. Der Rosenkavalier holds place 22, with 384 performances, for the period from first Met performance, Dec. 9, 1913, to last performance, Dec. 13, 2013. The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-2017 season falls outside the report’s parameters.

The takeaway for Der Rosenkavalier as the May 13, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is the Marschallin’s awareness of the passage of time and her generous retirement from the opera’s love triangle, the finding of true love by Octavian and Sophie, and the avaricious, lechery buffoonery of clueless Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau.

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

The 2016-2017 Met Opera season's staging of Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss debuts as a new production by Canadian opera director Robert Carsen: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook April 12, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.10158641118665533.1073741934.20807115532/10158641120245533

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

Louvet de Couvray, Jean-Baptiste. Amours du Chevalier de Faublas. Tome premier. Paris, France: Boulland, 1825.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433045611880

Louvet de Couvray, Jean-Baptiste. Amours du Chevalier de Faublas. Tome second. Paris, France: Boulland, 1825.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433082120621

Louvet de Couvray, Jean-Baptiste. Amours du Chevalier de Faublas. Tome troisième. Paris, France: Boulland, 1825.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433082123260

Louvet de Couvray, Jean-Baptiste. Amours du Chevalier de Faublas. Tome quatrième. Paris, France: Boulland, 1825.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433082123278

Meet Me At The Opera @MMATOpera. "Six New Productions #MetOpera. Der Rosenkavalier, Renée Fleming and Elina Garanca. Metropolitan Opera 2016-17." Twitter. Nov. 25, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MMATOpera/status/802274759933329411

Metropolitan Opera. “Robert Carsen on His New Production of Der Rosenkavalier.” YouTube. May 5, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6s4QcLnE-w

Metropolitan Opera. "Der Rosenkavalier: Act II Duet." YouTube. April 14, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bbzTQ-lDuo

Metropolitan Opera. "Der Rosenkavalier: Act III Duet." YouTube. April 14, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waSk776rZEo

Metropolitan Opera. "Der Rosenkavalier: Act III Trio." YouTube. April 14, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWoXyXH4KPE

Metropolitan Opera. "Der Rosenkavalier at the Metropolitan Opera." YouTube. April 13, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_XMRABIArc

Metropolitan Opera. "Der Rosenkavalier Promo." YouTube. March 29, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-6y-rYtdjk

Metropolitan Opera. "Der Rosenkavalier: Renée Fleming Interviews Elīna Garanča and Günther Groissböck." YouTube. May 4, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG4r907iqT4

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Der Rosenkavalier opens tomorrow, April 13! Renée Fleming sings the Marschallin opposite the Octavian of Elina Garanca. Erin Morley is Sophie, Günther Groissböck is Baron Ochs, and Sebastian Weigle conducts the sparkling score. . . .Photos by Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera." Facebook. April 12, 2017.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.10158641118665533.1073741934.20807115532/10158641120245533

“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, May 7, 2017

North American Horse Nettle Gardens Away From Tobacco and Vegetables

Summary: North American horse nettle gardens keep toxic, weedy nightshades from overrunning corn, tobacco and vegetables and from poisoning cattle and horses.

horse nettle (Solanum carolinense) flowers and leaves; Rosaryville Park, Prince George's County, south central Maryland; Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014, 18:04:39: Fritz Flohr Reynolds (FritzFlohrReynolds), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

North American horse nettle gardens antagonize farmers, gardeners, naturalists, orchardists and ranchers least as ground cover for problematic soils and most as pathogen- and pest-hosting weeds amid corn, tobacco and vegetable crops.

The herbaceous perennial in the Solanaceae family of nightshade, potato-related herbs, shrubs, trees and vines brandishes multiple reproduction means, obnoxiously prickly spines and poisonous solanine alkaloids. The common names apple of Sodom, bull nettle, devil's potato, devil's tomato, sand briar, tread-softly and wild tomato consider native Solanum carolinense's (Carolina nettle) ferocious self-defenses. The native of northern Mexico and of the southeastern United States delivers in autumn concentrated toxins that debilitate cattle and horses more than goats and sheep.

Horse nettle exposes eggplants to verticillium wilt, potatoes to flea beetles, mosaic virus, psyllids, stalk-borers and thrips and tomatoes to leaf spot fungus and mosaic virus.

Elliptical to lance-shaped, 0.39- to 0.47-inch- (10- to 12-millimeter-) long, 0.06-inch- (1.5-millimeter-) wide cotyledons, with pale undersides and shiny green upper-sides, fit onto purplish, short-haired stems.

Embryonic leaves give way to alternate, elliptical, first- and second-stage foliage with short, sparse, stiff hairs and to third-stage lobed or wavy margins and star-shaped hairs. The alternate, dark green, mature, oval to egg-shaped, 2.76- to 5.91-inch- (7- to 15-centimeter-) long, 1.18- to 2.36-inch- (3- to 6-centimeter-) wide leaves have pointed tips. The margins include toothed or two- to five-lobed sides while flattened, prickly, yellow, 0.08- to 0.19-inch- (2- to 5-millimeter-) long spines inundate midribs, stalks and veins.

North American horse nettle gardens juggle prickly spines on floral stalks and prickly spines and rough, star-shaped hairs on stems and foliar midribs, stalks and veins.

Four- to eight-rayed hairs and 0.24- to 0.48-inch- (6- to 12-millimeter-) long yellow spines keep mature, 7.87- to 47.24-inch- (20- to 120-centimeter-) tall horse nettles self-defensive.

Five- to 20-flowered, one-sided inflorescences called cymes, with oldest flowers at the tips, liven prickly, spiny stems one month after leaf-out and two months before fruiting. May- through October-blooming, white to violet flowers each measure 0.59 to 0.98 inches (1.5 to 2.5 centimeters) across, whether perfect lower blooms or male-only upper blossoms. Perfect flowers need one pistil, five 0.24-inch- (6-millimeter-) long stamens with 0.28- to 0.35-inch- (7- to 9-millimeter-) long anthers, five united petals and five united sepals.

Persistent, spiny sepals collectively called calyces offer globe-shaped berries, each 0.35 to 0.59 inches (9 to 15 millimeters) across, protection in North American horse nettle gardens.

Forty- to 170-seeded, yellowing green berries yearly produce 5,000 seeds while 3.28-foot- (1-meter-) long underground stems called rhizomes off 6.56-foot- (2-meter-) deep roots produce new shoots.

Disc-shaped, glossy, smooth, yellow to orange-brown, 0.06- to 0.12-inch- (1.5- to 3-millimeter-) long, 0.05- to 0.09-inch- (1.3- to 2.2-millimeter-) wide seeds quit germinating after 10 years. Horse nettle, described by Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778), relinquishes 10-year in-soil viabilities above 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) and below 3.94-inch (10-centimeter) depths. Its rhizomes, seeds and toxins sustain Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Iowa and Nevada state, Canadian and Mexican federal and Manitoba provincial legislation against horse nettle.

Petunia-related North American horse nettle gardens tuck African boxthorn, apple of Peru, buffalo bur, henbanes, jimsonweed, nightshades, tropical soda apple and turkey berry away from wrongdoing.

horse nettle seed; Friday, Aug. 29, 2014, 13:05:43: NY State IPM Program at Cornell University (The NYSIPM Image Gallery), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

horse nettle seed; Friday, Aug. 29, 2014, 13:05:43: NY State IPM Program at Cornell University (The NYSIPM Image Gallery), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/99758165@N06/19067048731/

For further information:

Dickinson, Richard; and Royer, France. 2014. Weeds of North America. Chicago IL; London, England: The University of Chicago Press.

Linnaeus, Carl. 1753. "18. Solanum carolinense." Species Plantarum, vol. I: 187. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358206

"Solanum carolinense L." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/29602586

Weakley, Alan; Ludwig, J. Christopher; and Townsend, John F. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Edited by Bland Crowder. Fort Worth TX: BRIT Press, Botanical Research Institute of Texas.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

North American Hemp Broomrape Gardens: Parasites to Eat or Study

Summary: North American hemp broomrape gardens give gardeners and naturalists new ways to eat vegetables, which hemp broomrape colonizes, or to study parasitism.

Hemp broomrape's white-blue to purple flowers contrast with yellowish stems; Gaucin, Málaga province, southern Spain; Wednesday, April 17, 2013, 15:52:45; gailhampshire, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Legislation in the United States applies weed designations and unwelcome status to North American hemp broomrape gardens in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas and Vermont.

Hemp broomrape belongs in the Orobanchaceae family of broomrapes that behave parasitically without chlorophyll, conspicuous leaves and roots and semi-parasitically with partly photosynthetic leaves and stems. It colonizes plant species in at least 20 plant families and concentrates on such nightshade members of the Solanaceae family as eggplant, potato, tobacco and tomato.

Richard Dickinson, in Weeds of North America, University of Chicago Press book published in 2014, describes crop losses of 100 percent in hemp broomrape-parasitized tomato fields.

Multiple dispersals by farm machinery, wildlife and wind encourage widening North American distribution of the annual or short-lived perennial native to Eurasia and to North Africa.

Hemp broomrape, scientifically called Orobanche ramosa (branched dodder), fails as a parasite if the seedling's underdeveloped roots find no host two to four days after germination.

Reduced, underdeveloped embryonic leaves called cotyledons, when present, give way to alternate, scale-like, yellowish, 0.12- to 0.39-inch- (3- to 10-millimeter-) long leaves, if attachments go well. The rudimentary seedling root hacks into the host's root tissue and holds on through enlarged, swollen structures, called haustoria, subsequently attaching onto hemp broomrape's stem base. Hemp broomrape's branched, slender, yellow stems increase to 3.94- to 23.62-inch (10- to 60-centimeter) heights by importing hormones, nutrients and photosynthates from the host's parasitized roots.

Unique plant exteriors in North American hemp broomrape gardens juggle May to October blooms, slimy roughness from short, sticky hairs and tuberous chunkiness from stem bases.

The flower-clustered, 0.79- to 0.98-inch- (2- to 2.5-centimeter-) long, unbranched inflorescence called spikes keep floral, modified leaves called bracts at spike-attached floral and stem-attached spike bases.

The two bracts below every white-blue to purple, yellow-sepaled flower look smaller than the same spike's sole, 0.24- to 0.39-inch- (6- to 10-millimeter-) long basal bract. Four to five 0.24- to 0.32-inch- (6- to 8-millimeter-) long sepals mingle with the glandular, hairy, tube-shaped, two-lipped 0.39- to 0.87-inch- (10- to 22-millimeter-) long corolla. Every perfect hemp broomrape flower needs one pistil and four stamens to navigate flowering to fruiting transitions into 0.32- to 0.43-inch- (8- to 11-millimeter-) long capsules.

Maximum production offers 1,200 seeds per capsule and 250,000 seeds per plant observing dust-like sizes and netted vein pattern surfaces in North American hemp broomrape gardens.

Soil temperatures of 64.4 to 73.4 degrees Fahrenheit (18 to 23 degrees Celsius) prompt germination of seeds 0.008 to 0.012 inches (0.2 to 0.3 millimeters) across.

Cropland quits being useful during the 10-plus-year field soil viability of hemp broomrape, of red bartsia of Europe and of witchweed of tropical Africa and Asia. Red bartsia, an annual parasitic relative of hemp broomrape, receives unwelcome weed designations from Canada's federal government and from provincial governments in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Alabama, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina and Vermont state and Mexico's and the United States' federal governments see witchweed as weedy.

North American hemp broomrape gardens tempt gardeners and naturalists with botanical villains that taste bitterer than their parasitized vegetables and that trigger degree- and publication-worthy research.

Hemp broomrape parasitizes crops such as tobacco; blue-flowered hemp broomrape plants have attached their roots to the base of affected burley tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum (burley type) L.) plant, which displays stunting symptoms: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Slide Set, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Invasive.org

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Dickinson, Richard; and Royer, France. 2014. Weeds of North America. Chicago IL; London, England: The University of Chicago Press.

Linnaeus, Carl. 1753. "3. Orobanche ramosa." Species Plantarum. Volume II: 633. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358654

"Orobanche ramosa L." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/23600030

Weakley, Alan S.; Ludwig, J. Christopher; and Townsend, John F. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Edited by Bland Crowder. Fort Worth TX: BRIT Press, Botanical Research Institute of Texas.

Friday, May 5, 2017

Gardner Museum Art Theft Unsolved on Chácara Museum Theft Anniversary

Summary: The second Gardner Museum art theft and Chácara Museum art robbery are America's major unsolved art crimes on the first Chácara Museum theft anniversary.

Chácara do Céu Museum (left) and Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (right) are sites of major unsolved art thefts in the Americas:
photograph of Museu da Chácara do Céu, taken 13 days before Friday, Feb. 24, 2006, art theft: Ministério da Cultura do Brasil, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons;
1903 photograph of Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, viewed from the Fens, by T.E. Marr and Son Photography: gardnermuseum, via Instagram Feb. 24, 2016

The second Chácara do Céu and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art thefts still are unsolved 28 years after the first Chácara do Céu robbery May 3, 1989, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Boston crime March 18, 1990, and the Rio Feb. 24, 2006, belong on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) list of top 10 unsolved mysteries. The Gardner museum robbery in 1970 and Chácara Museum theft in 1989 can be considered closed through culling stolen artworks the year of each crime's commission. Ulrich Boser in The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft described a dealer delivering the Rembrandt stolen by the "underworld."

Newspaper coverage in Brazil explained the first Chácara Museum art crime as an armed intervention from which arrest of suspects and return of artworks quickly ensued.

First art thefts at Chácara do Céu Museum in 1989 and at Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1970 foreshadow the second art thefts in 2006 and 1990, respectively, with same removals of Salvador Dalí's "Two Balconies" and Henri Matisse's "Luxembourg Gardens" (left) from Chácara do Céu and a self portrait by Rembrandt van Rijn (right) from Isabella Stewart Gardner:
Henri Matisse's Luxembourg Garden (Portuguese: Jardim de Luxemburgo): Federal Bureau of Investigation Art Crime Team, Public Domain, via FBI;
Rembrandt van Rijn's "Self Portrait Wearing a Soft Cap: Full Face, Head Only": Federal Bureau of Investigation Art Crime Team, Public Domain, via FBI

The first robberies foreshadowed the second by fingering the same Rembrandt self-portrait in 1970 and 1990 and the same Dalí and Matisse in 1989 and 2006.

Armed intervention before closing times guided both Chácara Museum robberies and grab-and-go during operating hours while smash-and-grab after-hours galvanized the first and second Gardner Museum thefts. Reconstruction of 28-year-old events has six armed robbers heading through museum gardens and herding staff and visitors together in the three-floored museum late in the afternoon. Both Chácara Museum art thefts involved a ruse, with the first implying policemen in search of fugitive thieves and the second invoking costumed merrymakers during Carnival.

The first Chácara do Céu Museum art theft jammed far more artworks into one getaway vehicle than the second's four oil paintings and one illustrated book.

The second Chácara do Céu Museum art theft, occurring Friday, Feb. 24, 2006, included removal of Toros, a 1960 book about bulls, but not of Toros y Toreros, a 1961 book about bulls, bullfighters and bullfighting, both illustrated by Pablo Picasso; a drawing from Toros y Toreros: vintagedeluxeshop, via Instagram March 8, 2017

Newspaper articles and online sources keep different itemizations and totals concerning the number and the type of artworks purloined from, and returned to, the Chácara Museum.

Contemporary and subsequent accounts list as stolen one tapestry, two Chinese Tang Dynasty terracotta statues, eight, nine or 11 paintings and 27 or 29 silver pieces. They mention artworks by São Paulo-born Brazilian artist Cândido Portinari (Dec. 29, 1903-Feb. 6, 1962) and Italian-born Brazilian painter Eliseo Visconti (July 3, 1866-Oct. 15, 1944). They note among the casualties Luxembourg Garden by Henri Matisse (Dec. 31, 1869-Nov. 3, 1954) and Two Balconies by Salvador Dalí (May 11, 1904-Jan. 23, 1989).

The first Chácara do Céu Museum art theft, like the second, obtained the only artwork by the Marqués de Dalí de Púbol in South American museums.

Contemporary and subsequent sources present time frames of 14 to 20 days after the 1989 theft as the timespan for retrieving masterpieces and rounding up suspects. They uniformly quote six as the total armed robbers in the first and the second Chácara Museum art thefts and five for the total suspects arrested. They reveal an anonymous tip as the information source for rounding up artworks and suspects in an apartment in the Praia de Botafogo suburb of Rio. Cristina Tardáguila, author of A Arte do Descaso (The Art of Neglect), suggests solving the second by studying the first Chácara do Céu Museum art theft.

The 28th Chácara Museum robbery anniversary transmits hope for America's greatest unsolved art crimes, the second Isabella Stewart Gardner and Chácara do Céu Museum art thefts.

Cristina Tardáguila at the launch of her Chácara do Céu Museum art thefts-themed book, A Arte do Descaso (The Art of Neglect), with Brazilian documentary film producer João Moreira Salles; Livraria da Travessa -- Shopping Leblon, southern Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil; Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016; Gustavo Schlittler Rodrigues, photographer: sr2fotografia, via Instagram Feb. 18, 2016

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Rio de Janeiro's Chácara do Céu Museum (left) and Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (right) are sites of major unsolved art thefts in the Americas:
Friday, Feb. 11, 2006, photograph of Museu da Chácara do Céu: Ministério da Cultura do Brasil, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Museu_da_Chácara_do_Céu_01.jpg
1903 photograph of Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, viewed from the Fens, by T.E. Marr and Son Photography: gardnermuseum, via Instagram Feb. 24, 2016, @ https://www.instagram.com/p/BCLgHKQvHAM/

First art thefts at Chácara do Céu Museum in 1989 and at Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1970 foreshadow the second art thefts in 2006 and 1990, respectively, with same removals of Salvador Dalí's "Two Balconies" and Henri Matisse's "Luxembourg Gardens" (left) from Chácara do Céu and a self portrait by Rembrandt van Rijn (right) from Isabella Stewart Gardner
Henri Matisse's Luxembourg Garden (Portuguese: Jardim de Luxemburgo): Federal Bureau of Investigation Art Crime Team, Public Domain, via FBI @ https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/violent-crime/art-theft/fbi-top-ten-art-crimes/theft-museu-chacara-do-ceu-rio-de-janeiro
"Self Portrait Wearing a Soft Cap: Full Face, Head Only": Federal Bureau of Investigation Art Crime Team, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_-_Self_portrait_etching_-_ISGM.jpg

Prior to the 2006 art theft of Salvador Dalí's "Two Balconies" (Portuguese: Os Dois Balcões), Chácara do Céu Museum qualified as the only South American museum with artwork by the Marqués de Dalí de Púbol: Federal Bureau of Investigation Art Crime Team, Public Domain, via FBI @ https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/violent-crime/art-theft/fbi-top-ten-art-crimes/theft-museu-chacara-do-ceu-rio-de-janeiro

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 March 2017. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Dead-Ends to the Gardner 13." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/03/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_31.html

Siquara, Carlos Andrei. 5 February 2016. "No Rastro de Obras Perdidas." O Tempo > Magazine > Diversão > Livro.
Available @ https://www.amazon.com.br/Arte-do-Descaso-Cristina-Tard%C3%A1guila/dp/8580578965/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1452189811&sr=8-1&keywords=a+arte+do+descaso

Skidmore, Thomas E. 1999. Brazil: Five Centuries of Change in Latin America. Latin American Histories series. New York NY: Oxford University Press.

Tardáguila, Cristina. 2016. A Arte do Descaso. Rio de Janeiro Brazil: Editora Intrínseca.

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Six Lunar Maria Shape the Man in the Moon for Northern Hemisphere Viewers

Summary: Six lunar maria, which are actually dark basaltic plains, shape the full moon phase’s iconic Man in the Moon for Northern Hemisphere viewers.

lunar features that compose the Man in the Moon, as seen from Earth; 1=Mare Imbrium (“Sea of Showers”); 2=Mare Tranquillitatis (“Sea of Tranquility”); 3=Mare Vaporum (“Sea of Vapors”); 4=Mare Insularum (“Sea of Islands”); 5=Mare Cognitum (“Sea That Has Become Known”); 6=Mare Nubium (“Sea of Clouds”); full moon originally imaged Saturday, Oct. 7, 2006, 22:51, with Nikon case D50 optical Refractor Vixen 103mm F1000 and equatorial mount Vixen Super Polaris: Luc Viatour, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

As dark basaltic plains originating in ancient volcanic eruptions, six lunar maria shape the full moon phase’s iconic Man in the Moon mainly for Northern Hemisphere moongazers.

Two maria form the face’s eyes. Mare Imbrium (“Sea of Showers”) in the northwestern quadrant marks the Man in the Moon’s right eye. Mare Imbrium has a diameter of 1,145.53 kilometers. Mare Imbrium’s center latitude is 34.72 degrees north, and its center longitude is minus 14.91 degrees west, according to the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Its latitudinal and longitudinal parameters are northernmost and southernmost latitudinal reaches of 51.46 and 15.23 degrees, respectively, and easternmost and westernmost longitudinal reaches of 8.56 and minus 38.36 degrees, respectively.

Often Mare Tranquillitatis (“Sea of Tranquility”) in the near side’s northeastern quadrant serves as the Man in the Moon’s left eye. Mare Tranquillitatis has a diameter of 875.75 kilometers. Its center latitude is 8.35 degrees north, and its center longitude is 30.83 degrees east, according to the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Its latitudinal and longitudinal parameters are northernmost and southernmost latitudinal reaches of 19.37 and minus 4.05 degrees, respectively, and easternmost and westernmost longitudinal reaches of 45.49 and 16.92 degrees, respectively.

Alternatively, Mare Serenitatis (“Sea of Serenity”), also in the northeastern quadrant, distinguishes the Man in the Moon’s left eye. Mare Serenitatis has a diameter of 674.28 kilometers. Its center latitude is 27.29 degrees north, and its center longitude is 18.36 degrees east. Its latitudinal and longitudinal parameters are northernmost and southernmost latitudinal reaches of 37.81 and 16.13 degrees, respectively, and easternmost and westernmost longitudinal reaches of 29.92 and 6.59 degrees, respectively.

Substitution of Mare Serenitatis yields a closer-eyed variant of the Man in the Moon. The center-to-center latitude/longitude distance from Mare Imbrium as the right eye to Mare Serenitatis as the left eye is 889.15 kilometers.

Mare Imbrium’s easternmost extent and Mare Serenitatis’ westernmost extent reveal the closeness of the two maria. Mare Imbrium’s easternmost longitudinal reach is 8.56 degrees. Located east of Mare Imbrium, Mare Serenitatis has a westernmost longitudinal reach of 6.59 degrees.

The center-to-center latitude/longitude distance from Mare Imbrium as the right eye to Mare Tranquillitatis as the left eye is 1,499.105 kilometers. Connecting with Mare Serenitatis’ southeastern border, Mare Tranquillitatis lies on the farthest side of the Sea of Serenity from Mare Imbrium.

Two maria usually establish the face’s nose. Mare Vaporum (“Sea of Vapors”), stretching across the near side’s northeastern and southeastern quadrants, contributes the upper part of the Man in the Moon’s nose. Mare Vaporum has a diameter of 242.46 kilometers. Mare Vaporum’s center latitude is 13.2 degrees north, and its center longitude is 4.09 degrees east. Its latitudinal and longitudinal parameters are northernmost and southernmost latitudinal reaches of 16.91 and 9.39 degrees, respectively, and easternmost and westernmost longitudinal reaches of 8.73 and minus 0.41 degrees, respectively.

Mare Insularum (“Sea of Islands”) in the southwestern quadrant finishes the lower part of the face’s nose. Mare Insularum’s diameter measures 511.93 kilometers. Mare Insularum’s center latitude is 7.79 degrees north, and its center longitude is minus 30.64 degrees west. Its latitudinal and longitudinal parameters are northernmost and southernmost latitudinal reaches of 16.35 and minus 0.6 degrees, respectively, and easternmost and westernmost longitudinal reaches of minus 22.15 and minus 39.2 degrees, respectively.

Sometimes Sinus Aestuum (“Seething Bay”) is credited with singly composing the face’s nose. The dark lava plain comprises Mare Insularum’s northeastern extension. Irregular terrain on the bay’s eastern border separates Sinus Aestuum from Mare Vaporum.

Sinus Aestuum has a diameter of 316.5 kilometers. Sinus Aestuum’s center latitude is 12.1 degrees north, and its center longitude is minus 8.34 degrees west. Its latitudinal and longitudinal parameters are northernmost and southernmost latitudinal reaches of 15.71 and 7.6 degrees, respectively, and easternmost and westernmost longitudinal reaches of minus 4.26 and minus 11.96 degrees, respectively.

Two maria outline the face’s open mouth. Mare Cognitum (“Sea That Has Become Known”) in the southwestern quadrant depicts the right side of the Man in the Moon’s mouth. Mare Cognitum has a diameter of 350.01 kilometers. Mare Cognitum’s center latitude is minus 10.53 degrees south, and its center longitude is minus 22.31 degrees west. Its latitudinal and longitudinal parameters are northernment and southernmost latitudinal reaches of minus 5.9 and minus 13.92 degrees, respectively, and easternmost and westernmost longitudinal reaches of minus 16.45 and minus 28.1 degrees, respectively.

Mare Nubium (“Sea of Clouds”) in the southwestern quadrant shapes the left side of the Man in the Moon’s mouth. Mare Nubium’s diameter measures 714.5 kilometers. Mare Nubium’s center latitude is minus 20.59 degrees south, and its center longitude is minus 17.29 degrees west. Its latitudinal and longitudinal parameters are northernment and southernmost latitudinal reaches of minus 11.85 and minus 30.48 degrees, respectively, and easternmost and westernmost longitudinal reaches of minus 5.45 and minus 29.27 degrees, respectively.

The perception of a human face in formations on the lunar surface constitutes an aspect of pareidolia. The psychological phenomenon of pareidolia (Ancient Greek: παρα, para, “concurrent, alongside” + εἴδωλον, eídōlon, “image”) recognizes familiar patterning of animals, faces or objects in unrelated objects or shapes. Dark and light areas on the moon’s densely cratered near side encourage lunar pareidolia.

Moongazers in the Northern Hemisphere enjoy the clearly pareidolic Man in the Moon. Southern Hemisphere have a different view of the moon. Their “upside down” view accounts for opposite shining of the lunar disk for quarter, waning and waxing phases. For example, waxing phases illuminate the right side of the lunar disk for Northern Hemisphere viewers and the left side of the lunar disk for Southern Hemisphere moongazers.

The takeaway for the six lunar maria that usually shape the Man in the Moon in the lunar full phase for Northern Hemisphere moongazers is that the densely cratered near side of Earth’s moon beams a friendly face that enchants young and old alike and makes the universe a friendly place.

Earth’s moon appears differently to Northern and Southern Hemisphere viewers, as shown in modeled appearances, via Stellarium planetarium software, for equivalent northern and southern locations, approximately 30 minutes after local moonrise, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015;
(left) Man in the Moon over Berlin, Germany, 52 degrees north 13 degrees east;
(right) faceless moon over Southern Ocean, 52 degrees south 13 degrees east:
Bard Anton Zajac, 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:

Grego, Peter. The Moon and How to Observe It. Astronomers’ Observing Guides. London, England: Springer-Verlag London Limited, 2005.

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Mare Cognitum.” Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3670

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Mare Imbrium.” Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3678

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Mare Insularum.” Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3680

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Mare Nubium.” Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3684

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Mare Serenitatis.” Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3686

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Mare Tranquillitatis.” Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3691

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Mare Vaporum.” Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3694

“Lunar Distance Calculator.” Lunar and Planetary Institute > Lunar Search > Computational Tools.
Available @ http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/tools/lunardistancecalc/

Marriner, Derdriu. "Fallen Astronauts Plaque and Sculpture at Southeastern Mare Imbrium." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, July 27, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/07/fallen-astronauts-plaque-and-sculpture.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "June 2016's Waning Gibbous Moon Shows Mare Nubium in Lunar Southwest." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 22, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/06/june-2016s-waning-gibbous-moon-shows.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “May 2016’s Waning Gibbous Moon Shows Dark Mare Imbrium.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 25, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/05/may-2016s-waning-gibbous-moon-shows.html

Moore, Sir Patrick. The Amateur Astronomer. Twelfth edition. London, England: Springer-Verlag London Limited, 2006.

Nerlich, Steve. “The View From Down Under.” Universe Today. Dec. 24, 2015.
Available @ http://www.universetoday.com/45970/the-view-from-down-under/

Reynolds, Mike D.; Michael E. Bakich. Exploring the Universe: A Laboratory Guide for Astronomy. Englewood CO: Morton Publishing Co., 2015.

Rice, Doyle. “How Did the ‘Man in the Moon’ Get There?” USA Today > Tech. July 20, 2016.
Available @ http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/sciencefair/2016/07/20/man-in-moon-asteroid-mare-imbrium/87338842/

“Sinus Aestuum.” Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5558

Ventrudo, Brian. “The Man in the Moon.” One-Minute Astronomer. Sept. 17, 2010.
Available @ http://oneminuteastronomer.com/2154/man-in-the-moon/

Woo, Marcus. “Looking at the Man in the Moon.” Caltech. March 6, 2012.
Available via CalTech @ http://www.caltech.edu/content/looking-man-moon
Available via EurekAlert! @ https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/ciot-lat030612.php

Monday, May 1, 2017

Cyrano de Bergerac Is the May 6, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: The May 6, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is Cyrano de Bergerac, a heroic comic opera by Italian composer Franco Alfano.

Roberto Alagna sings the title role in the 2016-2017 Met Opera season's production of Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac: New York Times Arts @nytimesarts, via Twitter April 30, 2017

Cyrano de Bergerac, a heroic comic opera centering on a big-nosed, fearless protagonist by Italian composer and pianist Franco Alfano (March 8, 1875-Oct. 27, 1954), is the May 6, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast.

French dramatist and librettist Henri Cain (Oct. 11, 1857-Nov. 21, 1937) wrote the French libretto for Cyrano de Bergerac. The literary source is Cyrano de Bergerac, a five-act play by French dramatist and poet Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand (April 1, 1868-Dec. 2, 1918).

Filippo Brusa and Cesare Meano (Dec. 22, 1899-Nov. 24, 1957) are credited with the translation of the French libretto into Italian. The premiere of Cyrano de Bergerac performed the Italian libretto.

The premiere took place Jan. 22, 1936. The venue was Il Teatro dell’Opera di Roma (Rome Opera House), also known as Costanzi Theatre.

Commissioned by contractor Domenico Costanzi (1810-1898), Milanese architect Achille Sfondrini (1836-1900) designed the opera house in the Neo-Renaissance, also known as Renaissance Revival, style. Roman architect Marcello Piacentini (Dec. 8, 1881-May 19, 1960) directed the building’s two 20th century renovations. Piacentini’s second renovation, completed in 1960, included the façade’s 20th century restyling.

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-2017 season performs the original French libretto of Alfano’s heroic comedy. This season’s production represents the Met’s second staging of Cyrano de Bergerac.

The Met’s 2004-2005 season hosted the opera’s North American premiere. Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo is credited with launching the premiere by way of his request to honor Cyrano as the 121st role of his career. The Metropolitan Opera included the little-known opera in the repertoire for the next season, 2005-2006.

The setting for Alfano’s opera is 17th century France. Acts I, II and IV take place in Paris. Act III takes place in Arras, northern France.

Marco Armiliato conducts all performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast, of Cyrano de Bergerac. His birthplace is Genoa, Liguria, northwestern Italy. The Genoese conductor debuted with the Met’s 1998 production of La Bohème by Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924). Marco Armiliato reprises his conducting debut with this season’s production of La Bohème and also conducts Aida by Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901) and Puccini’s Manon Lescaut.

Roberto Alagna appears in the opera’s title role. He was born in Clichy-sous-Bois, Île-de-France, northern France. The French tenor of Sicilian descent debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1996 as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème.

Jennifer Rowley appears as Roxane, Cyrano’s distant cousin who realizes too late her misguided attraction to the handsome, tongue-tied Christian. Her birthplace is Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, northwestern Ohio. The American soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2014 as Musetta in Puccini’s La Bohème. She replaces operatic soprano Patricia Racette, whose withdrawal from the principal role, due to an abdominal hernia, was announced March 31. On Sunday, May 28, two weeks after Cyrano's closing night, Jennifer's marriage to Ray Diaz takes place in her hometown.

Atalla Ayan appears as Christian, a new cadet in the Guards of Gascoyne, who forms a love triangle with Cyrano and Roxane. He was born in Belem, Pará, northeastern Brazil. The Brazilian operatic tenor debuted at the Metropolitan Opera this season as Alfredo Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata.

Juan Jesús Rodríguez appears as De Guiche, a vexatious guardsman who later repents his shenanigans. His birthplace is Madrid, central Spain. The Spanish baritone debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2016 as Count di Luna in Verdi’s Il Trovatore.

Operabase, an online database, places Franco Alfano at number 719 in a ranking of 1,281 most popular composers for the five seasons from 2011/2012 to 2015/16. Cyrano de Bergerac places at 1637 in the list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016 Repertory Report gives performance statistics through Oct. 31. Cyrano de Bergerac holds place 200, with nine performances, for the period from first Met performance, May 13, 2005, to last performance, March 16, 2006. The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-2017 season falls outside the report’s parameters.

The takeaway for Cyrano de Bergerac as the May 6, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is the appeal of a big-nosed, big-hearted swashbuckler whose eloquence defies his unattractive face and attracts his beloved, albeit too late.

Jennifer Rowley appears as Roxane in all performances, including the May 6, 2017, Saturday matinee broadcast, of the 2016-2017 Met Opera season's production of Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac: Jennifer Rowley @LaRowley1, via Twitter April 27, 2017

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Roberto Alagna sings the title role in the 2016-2017 Met Opera season's production of Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac: New York Times Arts @nytimesarts, via Twitter April 30, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/nytimesarts/status/858824103381397504

"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

Holland, Bernard. “A Big Nose Must Go On Without the Big Star.” The New York Times > Arts > Music > Metropolitan Opera Review. Jan. 28, 2006.
Available @ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/28/arts/music/a-big-nose-must-go-on-without-the-big-star.html

Jennifer Rowley @LaRowley1. "Off to war to find my love!! (In an insanely awesome dress!) 2nd orchestra dress this am of #cyrano @MetOpera!" Twitter. April 27, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/LaRowley1/status/857602278722850816

Metropolitan Opera. "Cyrano de Bergerac: Act IV Excerpt." YouTube. May 1, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGQVpKiCa2k

Metropolitan Opera. "Cyrano de Bergerac: Final Scene." YouTube. May 1, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evJ1-tcom_c

Metropolitan Opera. “Cyrano de Bergerac: 'Je jette avec grâce mon feutre.” YouTube. April 26, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGNOVKB5As8

New York Times Arts @nytimesarts. "Singing at the Met, where mics are not allowed, is hard enough. Try it in a fake nose." Twitter. April 30, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/nytimesarts/status/858824103381397504

Roberto Alagna @roberto_alagna. "Just Announced: New York, NY - May 13 at Cyrano de Bergerac (Metropolitan Opera)." Twitter. Feb. 17, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/roberto_alagna/status/700059825745567744

"Soprano Patricia Racette Withdraws From Upcoming Metropolitan Opera Performances of Alfano's Cyrano; Jennifer Rowley to Sing Role of Roxanne." Opera News. March 31, 2017.
Available @ https://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2017/3/News/Patricia_Racette_Cyrano_Masterclass.html

Tommasini, Anthony. “Long-Nosed but Handy With a Pen and a Song.” The New York Times > Arts > Music > Met Opera Review. May 16, 2005.
Available @ http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/16/arts/music/longnosed-but-handy-with-a-pen-and-a-song.html