Strauss' 'Ariadne,' Puccini's 'Boheme' both please

SALZBURG, Austria (AP) ? Opera-goers attending Salzburg Festival's new production of Puccini's "La Boheme" expected the worst when the man with the microphone stepped out, shortly before show-time ? but then came the good news. Piotr Beczala, who had received rave reviews at last week's premiere, had lost his voice, they were told, but instead of the show being stripped of its star performer, his voice would be replaced by one of the hottest names in opera today.

Enter Jonas Kaufmann, and Saturday's audience settled into a mode of gleeful anticipation of a special evening to come, particularly after the decision to let Bezcala act and Kaufmann provide the singing from the sidelines.

They were not disappointed. Kaufmann performed brilliantly between chews of what appeared to be a hastily organized sandwich and gulps of mineral water ? an indication that he got the call to perform just ahead of his dinner.

He was supposed to be "only" the voice, with Bezcala miming the words and action ? but the audience was hard put to keep its eyes on the stage.

Formally, Kaufmann is at the Salzburg Festival this year to sing in another role and on Saturday he was supposed to be resting up for a performance on Sunday. But more of that later.

As he threw himself into the role of the poor poet in love with the consumptive seamstress Mimi, Kaufmann accented his broad, full-throated and awe-inspiring Wagnerian tenor with gestures and facial expressions reflecting his total identification with the role of a man tossed and turned by the forces of love and despair.

Though that wasn't the plan, Kaufmann essentially reduced Beczala to window-dressing. He even occasionally verged on upstaging Mimi ? no small feat, considering that she was portrayed by Anna Netrebko, the Russian diva who imbues any role with star presence worthy more of Hollywood than the opera stage.

Netrebko's lush voice, perfect intonation, masterful control and passionate interpretations are always a treat, and she again lived up to expectations as Mimi, particularly considering that the opera ? one of the world's most popular ? has never been performed at the Salzburg Festival before this year. Previous high-brow festival directors had considered it trashy.

"Anna is really good tonight," an audience member was overheard exclaiming as the curtain came down on the first scene.

OK, it WAS Erwin Schrott, the star bass-baritone who happens to be married to Netrebko. But he wasn't exaggerating.

Also good: Massimo Cavalletti as Marcello; Nino Machaidze as Musetta; Alessio Arduini, Schaunard; Carlo Colombara, Colline; Davide Fersini, Benoit; Peter Kalman, Alcindoro, and one other standout who was more heard than seen ? conductor Daniele Gati.

Under his baton, members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra delivered a masterful interpretation of Puccini's rich score, from the first exuberant bars depicting the passions of youthful life in an artists' garret, to the final hesitant and somber musical fragments that document Mimi's last heart beats.

Director Damiano Michieletto was restrained but effective in a production that moved the action from 19th century Paris to the French capital of today and the characters from bohemians to modern-day dropouts.

_______

But back to Kaufmann ? and forward to Richard Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos," an opera written only a few decades later than La Boheme but as different as day and night.

While La Boheme tells the story straight, Ariadne is an opera within a play.

The prologue depicting backstage preparations for the performance of an opera is then followed by that opera ? a work based on Greek mythology exploring the purity of real love. But the rich burgher who commissioned the work suddenly decides to combine it with a farcical musical comedy. It is a prescription for chaos that instead turns into delightful musical theater created only as Strauss could have done.

It all isn't complicated enough, however, for director Sven-Eric Bechtolf, who has added yet another layer to the Salzburg production.

He weaves in the love story of librettist Hugo von Hoffmannsthal and Ottonie von Degenfeld-Schonburg, a young widow. She is said to have been the model for Ariadne, who longs for death after being abandoned by her lover ? and finds love in the arms of Bacchus, played by Kaufmann.

Kaufmann on Sunday was in brilliant voice, just a day after his impromptu La Boheme stint ? and Bechtolf's conceit works brilliantly, with the curtain going down on three couples arm-in-arm: Bacchus and Ariadne; the rich burgher and Zerbinetta, the leader of the comic troupe; and Hugo and Ottonie.

Bechtolf's creative work is what makes this production really outstanding. But any opera rests and falls on the music, and the principals did not let him down.

The audience was told that she was in poor voice, but Elena Mosuc delivered amazing coloratura fireworks that not even the highest note could withstand, accompanied by endearing theatrics that nailed the role of the coquettish Zerbinetta. As Ariadne, Emily Magee was Mosuc's perfect foil, her soprano clear and pure, her demeanor somber, as befits a tragic heroine. And the supporting roles were good as well, among them; Eva Libau, Marie-Claude Chappuis, Eleonora Buratto, Gabriel Bermudez, Michael Laurenz and Tobias Kehrer.

Daniel Harding, conducting members of the Vienna Philharmonic, conjured up a musical tapestry that sparkled in all its variations. Costumes and staging by Rolf and Marianne Glittenberg were vivid but not overbearing.

Ariadne flopped at its premiere almost 100 years ago, leading Strauss to truncate the original version and to lament that "an audience going to see a piece of spoken theater doesn't want to hear an opera and vice versa.

"There simply was no cultural understanding for this lovely 'hybrid,'" wrote Strauss back then.

Tell that to Bechtolf.

___

George Jahn can be reached at http://twitter.com/georgejahn

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-08-06-Austria-Opera-Salzburg%20Festival/id-60db020628044fb2b66dff0ed6dea00f

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Source: http://articlepdq.com/health-fitness/planters-warts-exactly-what-they-are-and-tips-on-how-to-treat-them-immediately/

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U.S. Pipeline Spills Mean Companies Are Facing Greater Scrutiny

By Ayesha Rascoe
WASHINGTON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Enbridge Inc's ruptured pipeline, which leaked about 1,200 barrels of crude into a rural Wisconsin field 10 days ago, seemed like no big deal.
The scene was contained within hours, the line repaired within days. The leak was miles from running water or endangered wildlife. The immediate impact was limited to the evacuation of two houses and "veterinary attention" for some horses and cows.
And yet some experts and traders warn that Canada's Enbridge might not be able to restart its 318,000-barrel-per-day Line 14 for weeks - or even months - as a once-obscure U.S. regulatory agency gets more comfortable with flexing its recently enhanced muscles.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is in the spotlight after two big accidents in 2010 - BP Plc's Macondo disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and another Enbridge leak of 20,000 barrels into Michigan's Kalamazoo River in one of the biggest spills onshore.
"Pipeline accidents have a high profile right now," said Andy Black, head of the Association of Oil Pipelines trade group.
The U.S. Transportation Department, which oversees the PHMSA, began a new pipeline safety effort in 2011, urging operators to replace aging infrastructure and winning Congressional support for more resources and enforcement powers.
Based on interviews with industry experts and a Reuters review of the agency's recent enforcement record, the change has been noticeable, and the message is clear: If pipelines are found wanting, do not count on a quick resumption in oil flows. That message may be doubly true for Enbridge, which has suffered a string of incidents -- one on the same pipeline years earlier.
Last Tuesday, the agency issued Enbridge a corrective action order, a tough but not uncommon response to a spill. Since 2007, the PHMSA has issued 23 such orders.
But the agency went a step further on Thursday. It demanded an exhaustive safety plan, which it and an independent auditor must review, for the entire 1,900-mile Lakehead pipeline system, not just Line 14. Those were among the toughest terms for any order since a pair of BP oil spills in Alaska in 2006.
"This is PHMSA saying: 'We mean business,'" said industry consultant Don Deaver, a former Exxon pipeline engineer. It could take weeks to hire the independent inspector and begin a review of the system, he added.

BLACK EYE
The Wisconsin spill was the latest black eye for Enbridge's pipeline network, the main conduit for Canadian crude exports and one of the largest systems in the world. The company says it has had a 99.999 percent success rate in delivering 12 billion barrels over the past decade and is investing $800 million this year as it strives for a perfect record.
But U.S. Transport Secretary Ray LaHood blasted Enbridge last week, demanding the company demonstrate why it should be able to keep operating the pipeline without a complete replacement or major overhaul.
The rupture on Line 14 left a 4-foot by 6-inch gash, according to the initial report. The cause of the pipeline failure has not been determined.
Enbridge said on Friday that it had submitted safety plans for both Line 14 and the Lakehead system and was waiting for news. Neither the company nor the PHMSA offered a timetable for when shipments might resume.
The PHMSA will move forward when it is certain that the pipeline is not posing a risk to public safety, said spokeswoman Jeannie Layson.
Looking at the incident on its own merits, some see little reason for holding up approval.
"I'd be really surprised if this not up and running pretty darn quick, unless they find something structurally flawed," said Sarah Emerson, president of consulting firm Energy Security Analysis Inc in Boston.
Oil traders are less certain.
The disruption helped trigger a record surge in Chicago wholesale gasoline premiums as local refineries operated by BP and Exxon Mobil Corp face tighter supplies. It also threatens to depress crude prices in Canada as a lack of alternative pipelines leaves producers few avenues for export.
"I am expecting an extended standoff - weeks not days," said one crude trader.

CORRECTIVE ACTION
At issue is the corrective action order, a list of demands the PHMSA can issue whenever it determines that a pipeline is "hazardous to life, property, or the environment."
The agency determines how and when to apply an order, based on the age of the pipe, the commodities being transported, the operating pressure, the surrounding area and any other factors "deemed important" by the PHMSA associate administrator.
According to a Reuters review of such orders over the past five years, most followed large pipeline leaks or spills in sensitive areas.
The remedies tend to follow a fairly clear pattern.
The orders typically require the PHMSA's permission for a company to resume operations on the pipeline in question. They usually set out a number of additional measures: running the pipeline at reduced pressure; conducting mechanical or metallurgical tests within a month, and additional tests within several months; and reporting more frequently to regulators.
Richard Kuprewicz, head of pipeline consulting firm Accufacts Inc, said Enbridge's history was a major reason why a relatively small spill is getting such a close look.
Besides the 2010 spill, Enbridge's Line 14 experienced a leak of 1,500 barrels in Wisconsin back in 2007 -- an incident that did not result in a corrective order. In November of that year, another Enbridge line caught fire in northern Minnesota, killing two workers.
"There are other issues showing up that indicate the integrity management program is seriously incomplete," Kuprewicz said.

HARD TO PLEASE
It also seems to be getting more difficult for companies to satisfy the PHMSA, whose most powerful enforcement tool is blocking the operation of a line. The agency has rarely fined a company more than $1 million; the $3.7 million penalty it issued against Enbridge a month ago for the 2010 spill was the largest ever.
Of five corrective orders issued to oil companies between 2007 and early 2010, none resulted in the closure of a pipeline for more than a week, according to the agency's own data. The longest outage - five days - occurred on Line 2 of Enbridge's Lakehead system, which spilled 2,237 barrels of crude in Neche, North Dakota, in January 2008, the data showed.
But outages have tended to last far longer since the Michigan spill in mid-2010 heightened public anxiety over oil pipelines. Of 14 incidents that resulted in corrective action orders since that leak, at least eight have resulted in pipeline closures of 25 days or more.
For example, Exxon Mobil's Silvertip line received a corrective order after a spill in Yellowstone County, Montana, last year and was shut for 85 days. Another Exxon pipeline in Louisiana is still shut after a leak on April 28; the company has requested a hearing to discuss aspects of the order.
"The fines are still small - a drop in the bucket compared to the revenues that pipeline companies generate," said Deaver, the former Exxon engineer.
But Deaver said Secretary LaHood's hard-hitting statement demanding Enbridge demonstrate why it should be allowed to continue operating its pipeline without major changes "indicates they are getting more serious." (Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/06/us-pipeline-spills_n_1747277.html

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PFT: Blount bags Bucs' starting RB job ? for now

Shannon Eastin wanted to play football as a child.

Her mom said no, and judo became her compromise. She went onto become a six-time national champion, home-schooling as a sacrifice to her training schedule.

Likewise, she?s pursuing another ambition now, which will be realized this week when she becomes the first female official in an NFL game.

The 42-year-old Eastin will work as the line judge in Thursday?s Chargers-Packers game, becoming a pioneer. But because of her official?s training, she?d prefer to be anonymous.

?This is my dream,? Eastin said Tuesday on a conference call. ?There are moments I can?t believe it and I get teary eyed.

?But I want to go unnoticed. I know everybody will be watching me, but I just want to do my job.?

Eastin admitted she?s gotten some negative feedback from some retired and locked-out officials because of her decision to work as a replacement. But she said the majority of her experience has been positive.

She mentioned retired official Red Cashion as someone who has supported her work, and said during a recent day spent in Cardinals camp, that wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald ?was extremely kind.?

Eastin has 17 years of officiating experience, four years as a football referee in the MEAC and has worked Division I basketball in the WAC and Sun Belt. She said she?s been floored by the recent reaction to her assignment.

?It?s been amazing,? she said. ?Players have always reacted well to me. I?m not sure why. I just think people want to see other people do well.

?Players have been willing to joke with me like one of the guys.?

She did say there have been coaches not so generous, and she can spot those before games start. She?s even had co-workers on officiating crews ask her why she?s trying to join a male-dominated world, since she never played the game.

Eastin was contacted by the NFL earlier this year by email, asking if she wanted to take part in training to become a replacement.

She admitted the idea of becoming what some consider a ?scab? gave her second thoughts, but ultimately, the chance to fulfill a lifelong ambition changed her mind. She knows she?ll be graded on a different scale than others because of her gender, but said she wanted to use her platform to tell others in similar positions to focus on the work ahead of them.

?I would say don?t let anyone tell you being a woman won?t let you do certain things,? she replied, when asked if she had a message for young girls. ?You have to surround yourself with people that want to see you succeed.

?I want to encourage women, don?t be afraid to have dreams. This is an example that dreams really can come true.?

(Photo credit:?sesportsofficiating.wordpress.com)

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/08/07/blount-holds-off-martin-for-now/related/

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Nasdaq up 1 percent at 3,000 as rally picks up

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks extended gains on Monday, with the Nasdaq Composite up 1 percent to touch 3,000 as traders remained optimistic that the European Central Bank would follow through on its plan to lower borrowing costs in Spain and Italy.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> rose 82.64 points, or 0.63 percent, to 13,178.81. The S&P 500 Index <.spx> added 8.16 points, or 0.59 percent, to 1,399.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> gained 32.29 points, or 1.09 percent, to 3,000.19.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Jan Paschal)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-index-futures-signal-mixed-open-090335437--finance.html

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Seven dead, including gunman, in shooting at Wisconsin Sikh temple

OAK CREEK, Wisconsin (Reuters) - A gunman killed six people and critically wounded three at a Sikh temple during Sunday services before police shot him dead, and the attack is being treated as domestic terrorism, police said.

The gunman opened fire when he entered the kitchen at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in suburban Milwaukee at about 10:30 a.m. CDT (11.30 a.m. EDT) as women were preparing a Sunday meal, witnesses said. They described the shooter as a white man.

Turban-wearing Sikhs are often mistaken for Muslims, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation is overseeing the probe into shootings, Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards said.

"We're treating this as a domestic terrorist incident," he told reporters.

Four people were shot dead inside the sprawling temple. Three, including the gunman, were killed outside.

The gunman ambushed and shot a police officer several times when he responded to a 911 call and was helping a shooting victim, Edwards said.

A second officer shot the gunman dead. Edwards had no identification of the shooter or what kind of weapon or weapons he had.

The wounded officer, a 20-year veteran, was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive, he said.

The Oak Creek shooting is the latest in a series of gun rampages in the suburban United States.

The shooting came little more than two weeks after a gunman opened fire at a theater in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 people and wounding 58. In January 2011, then-congresswomen Gabrielle Giffords was the target of an assassination attempt in which six people were killed and 13 were wounded.

"The gunman is worse than the one at the theater a couple of weeks ago because he targeted an entire community," said temple member Jagatjit Sidhu.

He was among dozens of temple members and onlookers who gathered in a parking lot near the temple after police sealed the building off.

LONE GUNMAN

Witnesses at the temple had said there was more than one gunman, but Edwards said reports of multiple gunmen were common in incidents that involved only one shooter.

"We believe there was one but we can't be sure," he said. Officers finished sweeping the temple only after hours of searching, and Edwards said the investigation was just starting.

President Barack Obama said he was "deeply saddened" and pledged his administration's commitment to fully investigate the shooting.

Obama was briefed by counterterrorism adviser John Brennan and FBI director Bob Mueller and told the situation at the temple was "under control."

"The president said that he wanted to make sure that as we denounce this senseless act of violence we also underscore how much our country has been enriched by our Sikh community," the White House said in a statement.

The Indian embassy in Washington said it was in touch with the National Security Council about the shooting and an Indian diplomat had been sent to the Sikh temple in Wisconsin.

Milwaukee's Froedtert Hospital said three men had been brought in wounded and were in critical condition. One had been shot in the abdomen, one in the extremities and face, and a third was hit in the neck.

SIKHS IN U.S.

The Sikh faith is the fifth-largest in the world, with more than 30 million followers. It includes belief in one God and that the goal of life is to lead an exemplary existence.

The temple in Oak Creek was founded in October 1997 and has a congregation of 350 to 400 people. There are an estimated 500,000 or more Sikhs in the United States.

Since the attacks of September 11, 2001 by Islamist militants, Sikhs have sometimes been confused publicly with Muslims because of their turban headdress and beards.

In September 2001, a Sikh gas station owner in Mesa, Arizona, was shot dead by a man who was said to be seeking revenge on Muslims for the hijacked plane attacks on the United States.

Members of the Milwaukee Sikh community complained to police and a state representative last year about an upturn in robberies and vandalism at Sikh-owned gas stations and stores.

New York police said they were increasing security at Sikh temples as a precaution. There are no known threats against temples in the city, they said in a statement.

Sapreet Kaur, executive director of the Sikh Coalition civil rights organization, said Sikhs had been the target of several hate-crime shootings in the United States in recent years.

"The natural impulse of our community is to unfortunately assume the same in this case," he said in a statement.

(Additional reporting by Jim Wolf, Matt Spetalnick and Paul Eckert in Washington; Writing by Ian Simpson; Editing by Philip Barbara and Anthony Boadle)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/shooting-breaks-sikh-temple-wisconsin-witnesses-171142261.html

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