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San Diego Opera Continues Its Battle for Survival
On Thursday, April 17, controversy over the closure of San Diego Opera took a startling turn when a Town Hall meeting with the theme, "San Diego Opera Moves Forward: Alternative models of Opera in America" for supporters of the company's survival, and a meeting of the Opera's Board of Directors, took place simultaneously. The atmosphere at the former (which I attended) was upbeat and hopeful and ended with cheers from the overflow crowd at the Civic Plaza Copper Room. The latter reportedly was chaotic and contentious and resulted in walkouts and multiple resignations from Board members, including its president, Karen Cohn.
Those who have followed SDO's journey since General Director Ian Campbell made his shocking announcement on March 19 of the company's impending closure are familiar with the circumstances. Citing declines in ticket sales and donations, and the near-depletion of a $10 million dollar endowment, Campbell encouraged SDO's board to shut down the company's operations at the end of the current season, with the final performance scheduled on April 13. The board voted 33-1 in favor of Campbell's recommendation.
Volatile reaction came swiftly from company members, longtime SDO supporters and opera lovers, not only locally, but also across the entire US via the Internet and social media. 400 employees, including singers, San Diego Symphony musicians, stagehands, staff members and many more, were in danger of losing their incomes. Battle lines were drawn as San Diegans stood up to voice their opposition to the planned closure.
Before long it was evident that the implications reached far beyond San Diego. In fact, the situation aroused concerns nationwide about the future of opera. Well-established New York City Opera had already closed in recent months. The Met was having labor disputes that portended possibly insurmountable difficulties. The potential demise of SDO had opened a Pandora's box of fear and worry among opera aficionados. So many people love opera; how could this beloved art form suddenly be poised on the chopping block?
However, it also became clear that SDO was not going to go down without a fight. The crusade to save the company has received almost daily coverage from local media. A group of employees, staff and opera supporters formed a "White Knight Committee" (WKC) to fight the closing and to pressure the board to rescind its decision. Via emails and the Internet the WKC called for opera lovers to sign an online "Save San Diego Opera" petition; over 20,000 signatures signaled an overwhelming desire to keep the company alive. Company singers filed a lawsuit to force SDO to submit arbitration over their contracts. Little known facts about the company's financials began to circulate. Campbell was mercilessly criticized for giving up on the company, and for drawing a salary that was inordinately generous, given the company's financial precariousness. The high-rent penthouse SDO offices were cited as exceedingly posh and expensive.
Clearly, if the opera were to survive change was needed, in the form of economizing, cutting down expenses, and choosing new leadership. The WKC and its proponents insisted the opera was salvageable and mounted a persuasive campaign to prove their hypothesis. Nightly features began to appear on local San Diego TV stations. "Can the Opera Be Saved?" was a recurrent theme in the media, one of many arias that were being composed in the opera within an opera of the company's saga. Soon, public outcry motivated a pressured Board to extend the closure deadline to April 29. The "Save SDO" movement gained momentum at an accelerated pace, resulting in the April 17 "San Diego Opera Moves Forward" Town Hall Meeting at Civic Plaza.
420 attendees in the Copper Room and numerous others who watched via live stream on monitors in the hallway listened carefully as three opera-expert panelists discussed viable alternatives to keep SDO alive. Nicolas Reveles, the Opera's Geisel Director of Education and Outreach and well known to San Diego opera aficionados as the company's superbly knowledgeable pre-opera lecturer, moderated the discussion. Presenters Marc, Scorca, President and CEO of the national organization Opera America, and David Devan, General Director of Opera Philadelphia, informed the audience as to the types of business models that other US opera companies have implemented to bring opera into the 21st century.
Reveles started by defining opera. Grand Opera in a 3,000-seat theatre no longer was relevant to SDO, he claimed. New business models using smaller theaters and different types of operas such as musical theater, Baroque operas with smaller casts and orchestras, and Mexican-themed operas such as Cruzar la Cara de la Luna, which was performed in the 2012-2013 SDO season, were necessary to enable the company to adhere to the realistic budget realities of our times and to attract audiences. Opera is an art form that tells stories in music, using classic issues involving community, politics, and (audience laughter here) political corruption.
Scorca cited difficulties in the state of opera over the past decade: increases in the "Opera Price Index" of two to two-and-a-half times the cost of living increase; a decrease in audience attendance of as much as 24% in top-level companies; more sophisticated audiences resistant to subscriptions; competition for audiences in entertainment and philanthropic dollars. Nonetheless he gave examples of a positive nature. In recent years the number of opera companies across the US has increased from 120 to 500. Opera is now a multimedia art form; young artists of unprecedented high quality are creating their own companies and finding donors. Specialty companies are commissioning new works. Smaller venues are being balanced by HD transmissions in stadiums. Companies such as Dallas Opera, which cut back from five to three productions, are now able to slowly increase the number of productions while still reducing costs.
Devan presented a similar view in what amounted to a much-needed pep talk for a crowd hungry for good news. He pointed out that, just as Philadelphia was not New York, San Diego was not Los Angeles, and needed to come up with its own unique "SDO plan." As a smaller city, Philadelphia had faced a challenge he called "subscriber crisis." Opera, competing with such media as Netflix, was a waning model, too costly to remain the same, an art form that needed to reach beyond the opera house, with a civic footprint as important as its product footprint. Philadelphia Opera reinvented itself by creating partnerships in innovative co-productions with such established musical entities as the Philadelphia Orchestra and Curtis Institute of Music; balancing major opera performances in large venues with chamber operas in smaller venues; creating a Composer-in-Residence program; broadcasting at Independence Mall; and fueling innovation by asking people to commit to investing in new ideas through a "Venture Philanthropy" concept. These efforts have garnered numerous positive results, including an increase of 24% in ticket yield among the coveted 25 to 34 age group. He emphasized that "Version 2.0" for San Diego would necessitate a long-term plan. The enthused listeners seemed more than willing to devote the time and energy needed.
As the meeting ended, news filtered in via text from the Board meeting. Board President Karen Cohn had resigned along with twelve other Board Members. Ian Campbell and his former wife Ann Spira Campbell had walked out prematurely. A cheer emanated from the crowd when it was announced that the San Diego Opera Association had deferred its previously announced April 29 date for closure of operations to at least May 19, to permit the reconstituted Board and the Special Committee led by Board secretary Carol Lazier to explore opportunities to continue the Opera Association's mission.
Later news revealed that Lazier, who earlier this month had donated $1 million to explore new ways forward for the opera company, was named acting board president. New hope emerged for a retooled, "fiscally responsible" 2015 SDO season, with advice coming from outside experts including Opera America. A meeting of the Opera Association Members is being organized for the near future. Whether plans for a resurrected San Diego Opera with new donor and fundraising options will come to fruition remains to be seen. What is clear thus far is that passionate lovers of opera in our city have not been willing to give up the battle. That fervor seems unlikely to diminish any time soon.
Logos used by permission of SaveSanDiegoOpera.org
Photos used by permission of John Menier
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Labels: Erica, Miner
Opera Behind the Scenes: From the Score to the Stage
1994 Zauberflöte, after Schinkel . Photo Monika Rittershaus (c) Staatsoper Unter den Linden
by Rodney Punt
In an era when opera's standard repertory has coalesced around a few famous composers -- Verdi, Puccini, Mozart, Wagner, and a handful of others -- it is the stage productions that differentiate one Traviata or Boheme or Carmen from another. Name directors like Robert Wilson, Peter Sellars or Francesca Zambello top theater marquees in new and old works, each with his or her own signature style. Yet far less is known by the public of the art of stagecraft and how it has evolved over time than of the works and vocal stars of opera.
Jacket design: Jill Shimabukuro, after P. B. Algieri
The current emphasis on staging is what makes important and timely the arrival of Evan Baker's new single-volume survey of four centuries of European opera production: From the Score to the Stage: An Illustrated History of Continental Opera Production and Staging (University of Chicago Press, 2013).
In this large, richly illustrated book, written in lucid and accessible prose, Baker, a former dramaturge and stage director himself, lifts the veil from behind the scenes of opera. He traces the long journey of stage production from the genre's origins in seventeenth century Italy, where arias strung together to tell a story were melded into the grand public events of ducal courts, to the lavish nineteenth century spectacles of the Paris Opéra, and on to the next century's pared down post-war abstractions. Baker wraps up the survey in 1976, when the most ambitious operatic project in history, Richard Wagner's Ring cycle, was given a celebrated modern staging by director Patrice Chéreau for the centennial of the work's premiere at Bayreuth. While Baker considers in his epilogue the current era of Regietheater ("director's theater" innovated in Germany), he leaves for another day the definitive study of its still evolving vogue.
From the Score to the Stage focuses on Continental Europe's three most important operatic traditions: those of Italy, France and Austria/Germany, with occasional reference to other European practices. Dividing his history into nine half-century chapters, Baker captures the flow of artistic and technical advances as they criss-crossed Europe. The introduction of gas lighting in 1822, for instance, heightened staging possibilities everywhere, making obsolescent the spare luminescence of candlelight. The electronic age further liberated light as a tool for emotional expression; suddenly, tinted hues could precisely and subtly project heightened psychological states.
Schinkel's 1815 Zauberflöte design. Photo (c) BPK, Berlin
Personalities known only as names today come alive in this survey: Italy's formative opera impresario Marco Faustini; the protean librettist and stage director Pietro Metastasio; the entrepreneurial Emanuel Schikaneder who revived Mozart's career with the libretto and stage direction for Die Zauberflöte; Italy's Domenico Barbaja who introduced roulette to finance opera; music publisher Giovanni Ricordi, who promoted Rossini and Donizetti; his grandson Giulio Ricordi who encouraged Verdi to write Otello and Falstaff; and two game-changing early modernists: Alfred Roller, the Secessionist set designer, and Max Reinhardt, the stage director who transformed opera acting.
Stage innovations add novelty to opera productions. The reader will discover how the brothers Galliari incorporated "practicals" (three-dimensional elements like steps and stairs) in mythological settings; how trap doors were used in Meyerbeer's Robert Le Diable and later Gounod's Faust for fantastical effects, and how the stage of Alban Berg's Wozzeck matched its shocking music with expressionistic sets and lighting. Baker's own translations from German, French and Italian texts help clarify obscure meanings from source material for the stories.
Wieland Wagner's Walküre. Photo (c) NUFDR-W-S, Bayreuth
One of the author's most interesting chapters deals with management at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus after the Second World War. During this period of austerity, Wieland Wagner (Richard's grandson) had taken over production and made a controversial decision to pare down traditional stage sets in favor of an abstract lighting scheme. Audiences were initially shocked. Baker:
Wieland Wagner's visual aesthetics and psychological ideas influenced opera staging styles throughout Germany. His new style, now known as Neu-Bayreuth, signaled a complete break with the past. Wieland's interpretations provoked the audience into thinking for itself about the scenic and dramatic situations unfolding on the stage. His aesthetics required only minimal scenery and lighting as integral parts of his productions. His blocking of the singers freed them from the old idea that specific instances in the music dictated their movement, and stars who could not act had no place in his productions.
Anyone associated with the production and planning of opera, not to mention also audiences and students of theater and cinema, will want to own From the Score to the Stage, which, for its comprehensive scope and sheer panache, has no competitor. Whether read cover to cover or used as an easy-to-navigate reference on particular topics, it is the indispensable single-source guide to the opera stage.
Illustrations from 'From the Score to the Stage' used by the author's permission.
Rodney Punt can be contacted at [email protected]
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Labels: Barbaja, Evan Baker, From the Score to the Stage, LA Opus, Metastasio, Meyerbeer, Mozart, opera production, Puccini, Punt, Reinhardt, Ricordi, Rodney, Roller, Verdi, Wagner
Furlanetto Conquers La Mancha - With Dignity
For two magical hours, Ferruccio Furlanetto lifted an embattled San Diego Opera from its doldrums to the lofty heights only such an artist can invoke, in his exquisite rendering of Jules Massenet's noble, genteel Don Quixote.
This timeless work about an ageless man existing in a materialistic world devalued of spiritual ideals premiered at the Opéra de Monte Carlo in 1910, toward the end of Massenet's life. Written in a style uniquely different from his usual, this work incorporates a pastiche of fascinating elements. Massenet's orchestration is at times delicate, at times almost Wagnerian, reflecting his admiration for the German composer and his use of leitmotifs. His obsession with Spanish music and culture, a pervading characteristic of late nineteenth century French composers, is evident in this opera's distinctive Spanish flavor as it is in Le Cid and his first full-length opera, Don César de Bazan. The influence of Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande is clear. Massenet even quotes from his compatriot Léo Delibes' mythology-based battle-themed ballet, Sylvia. Massenet's personal identification with his protagonist Quixote also showed in his tender feelings for his original Dulcinée, Lucy Arbell, and in his anxieties about death, which, along with love, is one of the opera's key themes.
The iconic role of chevalier de la longue figure is a pinnacle for an artist with Furlanetto's legendary status as a singer and actor, with his consummate command of vocal color, emotion and intention. It provides a supreme opportunity to show the deep humanity of a character within a fairytale setting, a personage whom Furlanetto feels every man should be in life: a man, young of heart, whose age is only on the exterior; who goes weak in the knees, whether from worship of an ideal or from his age, with unrelenting passion; whose fervent prayers come straight from the heart; who with pure adoration toward life and nature unconditionally loves whatever surrounds him. In our recent interview, Furlanetto affectingly expressed the Don's principles: "He's exactly what men should ideally be for three hours in their life: love for everything that's around us, whether it's nature, sky, air, other persons, animals."
It is difficult to imagine any other singing artist today who could so totally live this character under the skin and capture his essence - his profound sadness without regret; his appreciation of the delicatesse and sacredness of women; his ability to absolutely own his pains, joys, and rapture - with such a degree of dignity as Ferruccio Furlanetto. He creates an atmosphere so magical that he is able to dominate the stage for the entire evening, expressing his visions and dreams with an innocence belying the character's chronological age, without any pretentiousness. Furlanetto's quixotic idealism showed whether singing to Dulcinée or to Sancho Panza. Not one soupçon of imperfection surfaced in his singing. The richness never quit, even in the throes of death.
Supporting him was a duo of expert singers whose character portrayals were outstanding. Argentinean bass-baritone Eduardo Chama was the Don's perfect foil as Sancho Panza, thoroughly in synch with Furlanetto both vocally and dramatically, embodying his share of a relationship in which both characters deeply care for and respect each other. He skillfully balanced his vocal, dramatic and comedic approaches between the lighter, more Mozartean aria early in the opera and the heavier, more imposing singing required of him in the later acts. His La Donna É Mobile monologue was utterly convincing in its vocal sonorousness, consistency, and characterization. As Dulcinea, German mezzo-soprano Anke Vondung sang with spirit and vocal assuredness, effectively showing the contrasts between her character's capriciousness and her eventual ability to be touched by the depth of Quixote's soul.
Joel Sorensen as Rodriguez, Simeon Esper as Juan, Micaëla Oeste as Pedro, and Susannah Biller as Garcias, the lively quartet of Dulcinea's suitors, contributed vocal and dramatic vivacity to the narrative. (And who doesn't love seeing a woman, albeit dressed as a man, sporting a sword?)
Conductor Karen Keltner demonstrated her remarkable affinity for French repertoire by making the score come alive, alternating between highly charged energy and graceful delicacy. Keturah Stickann's stage direction made use of her background as a choreographer by adding subtle touches and details to the characters' movements, all of which seemed natural and well integrated, and marrying the cleverness and poignancy of the libretto with affecting, uncontrived actions.
San Diego Opera is justifiably proud of having created this production. Ralph Funicello's simple, handsome set designs were superbly effective, giving each of the five acts its own individual atmosphere, and his imaginative solution for the horse and donkey worked well: both were very lifelike and moved nicely for the needs of the characters. The lit up, spinning windmills with their realistic knight-errant attached were fascinating to watch. Marie Barrett's magical lighting design was strikingly highlighted by the splendid carpet of stars on the sky drop. Kristina Cobarrubia's vivacious flamenco-style choreography, made more charming by the participation of children, and the symbolic love-rejection-heartbreak mime adding poignancy to Act Four, were enhanced by Missy West's beautifully detailed costumes. Kudos should go to the expert stage crew for the numerous quick scenery changes required of them during the evening.
Many here in San Diego consider Ferruccio Furlanetto our own National Treasure. As Quixote he embodies, heart and soul, un chevalier en aventure toujours en posture - a knight-errant searching for adventure always at the ready. For those few hours on stage he lives, and we experience, the best of human qualities. In our interview he touchingly evoked the noble Don's gentility: "His world is collapsing, and like an elephant he goes in a very specific place because he knows he has to die. But he dies beautifully, purely like the rest of his life, with a transparent soul, through which you can see everything: present, past and future."
Furlanetto also conjures these ideals in terms of the need for a continuing operatic tradition in his "Magic Island" video: "When at the end Don Quichotte is dying and he's telling Sancho, 'Do you remember I promised you castles, land, even an island? Now that we are at the end, take this island, the island of my heart… of my poetry… as an inheritance'… I think that music is this island. Music with the emotions that can transfer to somebody who has a sensibility for it, is amazing… something everybody should receive, put in his heart, and keep forever. It makes everybody better... for a few hours you can live in what would be your ideal place."
The symbolism of this "magic island" would not be lost on any of us here in San Diego. But what matters most about last night's opening is the incredible work of a devoted team of soloists, choristers, dancers, musicians, directors, designers, stage hands, staff, and countless others who, under exceptionally difficult conditions over these past weeks, banded together to create a distinctly unique "magic island" for its audience. This was an accomplishment that, no matter the eventual outcome of the Opera's current situation, will forever endure in our hearts and minds.
Photos used by permission of San Diego Opera
Last photo by John Menier, used by permission of UCSD-TV
Erica Miner can be contacted at [email protected]
Labels: Anke Vondung, Don Quixote, Eduardo Chama, Erica, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Karen Keltner, Keturah Stickann, Massenet, Miner, Ralph Funicello, San Diego Opera
Mozart Requiem at First Congregational Church of LA
By Douglas Neslund
First Congregational Church of Los Angeles was filled Friday night to hear Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's immortal Requiem in D minor, which was completed by Xaver Süßmayr after Mozart's death. The conductor, Daniel Suk, organized the Dream Orchestra, an assemblage of primarily professional instrumentalists and 22 members of "Opera Chorus of Los Angeles," who were joined by the young scholars of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts Choir. The young people were gifted an opportunity to sing one of the true gems of all music alongside the professionals.
Soloists were soprano Golda Zahra Berkman, mezzo-soprano Cassandra Zoé Velasco, tenor Vladimir Dmitruk, and bass Patrick Blackwell. As a quartet, they were uneven and unblended. Ms. Berkman is but 15 years of age and on this occasion suffered ongoing pitch problems. Mr. Dmitruk spent most of his solo opportunities on the loud side of moderato. Ms. Velasco and Mr. Blackwell sang well but in the disconnected manner of singers who probably had not much experience singing together as a musical unit. John St. Marie prepared the combined choruses.
Daniel Suk and his Dream Orchestra
The Dream Orchestra, with Minh Nguyen playing the church's iconic pipe organ, were excellent as pros would be expected to be, but were rarely called upon to play softer than mezzoforte, and often much louder. When the assembled participants were asked to maximize their collective forces, the result was deafening. Inasmuch as the writer sat near the front, it is possible that those sitting in the back of the church might have needed the extra musical volume due to acoustical considerations.
That said, this was not a concert concerned with nuance, phrase shaping, subtlety, or acknowledgement of historical performance practice. One could, however, find moments of Mozartean beauty. But chances for serenity or reflection offered in movements such as the Lacrimosa, were missed.
One wishes, in semipro events like this, that funding for two more rehearsals could have been found to elevate the performance to its maximum potential. Without a doubt, Mr. Suk would agree.
The enthusiastic audience was distractingly clap-happy, even in brief pauses within a movement.
The concert coincided with the 46th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I've got a dream" speech, a portion of which was declaimed by Teryne Chatman. An additional dedication at the death of Conductor Emeritus of the Los Angeles Master Chorale Paul Salamunovich was graciously given. Malotte's "Lord's Prayer," in a choral-instrumental arrangement, followed the Requiem in something of an odd pairing, and which also served as an encore, bringing the festive evening to a close.
Most of the costs for the event, including a sumptuous reception afterward, were generously paid for by Ms. Berkman's parents, Jilla and Shallom Berkman, owners of Urth Caffé.
Photo of First Congregational Church of Los Angeles from Internet sources
Photo of Daniel Suk and the Dream Orchestra by San Marino Tribune, used by permission
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Labels: Daniel Suk, Mozart Requiem
Whale Swallows Jonah in Cathedral!
"Jonah and the Whale" (1621) by Pieter Lastman
Following the general theme of a Biblical story in its annual presentation at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles Opera and its Music Director James Conlon were faced with finding a suitable vehicle to succeed Benjamin Britten's brilliant "Noah" and the excellent medieval play "Daniel."
The requisite forces were to include two or three soloists drawn from the LAO roster and a myriad of amateur actors, dancers, instrumentalists and singers. And kids. Lots of kids.
A commission was offered for such a work, based on the story of Jonah, the reluctant prophet, the wicked city of Nineveh, and a man-swallowing whale. This adventurous plan fell through, as the youthful commissioned composer could not fulfill his end of the bargain.
Another composer, Jack Perla, was handed the chance to write the one-act opera ultimately entitled "Jonah and The Whale," featuring the principals of Jonah, with the title role played and sung by tenor Matthew McNeill, his estranged wife Sarah (Hai Ji Chang), Margalit, Jonah's mother (Cassandra Zoé Velasco), Captain Mordecai (Valentin Anikin), Townspersons/ Sailors (Rebecca Nathanson, D'Ana Lombard and Joshua Guerrero, and Sailors (Vladimir Dmitruk and Kihun Yoon). A featured vocal ensemble including soprano Lisa Eden, alto Michelle Hemmings, tenor Ashley Faatoalia and bass Vincent Robles contributed.
An aggregated adult chorus made up of members of the Cathedral and eight other churches and groups were joined by a children's choir comprised of five school and church affiliates. All of the above were supported by a small core of professionals from the LA Opera Orchestra and dozens of young people from various schools and conservatories. And a bell choir, too.
Smaller children had acting roles: some as fish, some as crabs, some were jellyfish, while others played krill. Yes, non-Biblical krill. And were very good at it, too, as they joined Jonah in the belly of the whale.
Fortunately, the principal singer-actors were miked, as one would expect them to be in a very large space as the Cathedral. Although sitting in darkness for most of the time and being unable to verify, it would be expected that additional mikes were utilized in key places amongst the choirs, orchestra and first-chair participants.
The three most principal singers, Mr. O'Neill, Ms. Chang and Ms. Velasco, sang their difficult roles with as much passion, conviction and emotion as allowed by the often incoherent score. There is nothing about the vocal skills of these soloists that would deny them first-rank designation among current practitioners of the operatic arts. But it is not possible, given the artificial volume controls not in their own hands, to evaluate their singing further. The secondary principals were equally fine, but also miked.
Someone, however, apparently misjudged the cumulative sound of orchestra, chorus and soloists in the Cathedral's space – at least from the writer's seat in the third row for the second of two performances. A lot of ensemble performance got lost in the miasmic sound waves colliding – too many singers and players playing too many notes and too many chord mashes piling one on top of the previous one, and sound-enhanced principals providing yet another layer. A chorus singer in both events said that the Friday night performance was sonically much superior to the one reviewed on Saturday night, and stated that it sounded as though the amplification was doubled for no apparent reason.
When Mr. Perla's score first arrived and was made available for study by participants (about six months before downbeat with the composer's final additions not arriving until February), Director Eli Villanueva was compelled to scrap his first staged concept and start all over. A lack of clarity in the score as regards downbeats due to a constantly shifting rhythmical scheme made it difficult for Mr. Villanueva and his valiant amateurs to form stage pictures with any coherence to the score and story line. Scenery Designer Carolina Angelo and Lighting Designer Tantris Hernandez gave the large audience understandable frames, and Costume Designer Paula Higgins had no problem representing Biblical characters.
Presiding again over the masses of singers, players and krill, was Los Angeles Opera's Conductor James Conlon, who may not have envisioned a commission turning into quite this much of a challenge, soldiered bravely on through innumerable time changes and wrong entries by principals, although it didn't seem to matter one way or another.
Thus hangs the question: will a revised "Jonah" join "Noah" and "Daniel" in a three-opera cycle as originally thought (with Britten's "Noah" being presented every other year)? Or will the present "Jonah" be revised for the 2019 slot or scrapped entirely, and a new commission awarded a new Biblical opera?
Labels: Cassandra Zoé Velasco, Douglas, Eli Villanueva, Hai Ji Chang, Jack Perla, James Conlon, Matthew McNeill, Valentin Anikin
Mainly Mozart Worships Schubert in Carlsbad
As part of the Mainly Mozart Festival's 25th Anniversary Season in San Diego, residents of Carlsbad were treated to a unique pleasure on Sunday, March 30, when a cadre of chamber music's finest performers performed a program to please Schubert and Mozart lovers alike: Mozart's infrequently performed piano Adagio in B Minor, K. 540, bookended by Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata D. 821, and "Trout" Quintet, D. 667.
Those in attendance were able to worship at the feet of these two musical giants in the airy, cheerful contemporary surroundings of St. Elizabeth Seton Church, picturesquely perched at the top of a treed, flowered hill in Carlsbad. The heavenly setting added to the atmosphere of reverence associated with Franz and Wolfgang and their incalculable contribution to the infinite riches of the chamber music repertoire.
The program opened with the Arpeggione performed by cellist Ronald Thomas. A veteran performer with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and co-founder and Artistic Director Emeritus of the Boston Chamber Music Society, Thomas dons his many hats as performer, teacher and administrator with great effectiveness. As a prelude to his rendering of the fiendishly difficult work, Thomas explained to the audience the origins of the six-stringed instrument for which Schubert presumably wrote the piece, which resembled a bass viola da gamba and was bowed like the cello but fretted and tuned like a guitar. Schubert's sonata, which was not published until 1871 when the instrument had long been absent from the musical scene, and is now most often played on the cello, is notorious in cellist circles for its seemingly constant thumb position. Thomas expertly handled the technical demands of the piece without sacrificing beauty of sound: a true challenge when sitting atop an unforgiving concrete floor.
To morph from accompanist to soloist in quick succession is no mean feat, and pianist Anna Polonsky deserves kudos as the consistent trouper of the afternoon, performing with great expertise in both Schubert works and taking a solo turn in the limelight in the Mozart Adagio. Striking a perfect balance between the sensitivity required in a Mozart solo piano work and the declamatory passion so crucial to portray the darkness of the key of B minor, in which the composer seldom wrote, Polonsky superbly evoked the composer's presumed dark state of mind following a less than stellar success of the 1788 Vienna premiere of Don Giovanni.
The crown jewel of the afternoon was the Trout Quintet, and the stellar ensemble chosen to interpret the piece was equally dazzling. Violinist Steven Copes, known for his versatility in his many roles as soloist, orchestral leader, chamber musician and more, showed equal adaptability as both the ensemble leader and solo violinist. His upper register was exceptionally assured, particularly in the tricky leaps and trill flourishes of the "Trout" movement, and the other passages meshed beautifully with those of the other four instruments. All in all, he made the challenging aspects of the piece look easy. Yura Lee's lush viola sound provided ample support to Copes's excellent passagework. Each of them passed phrases seamlessly to each other, to Thomas, and to San Diego Symphony's principal bassist Jeremy Kurtz-Harris, whose sound was both opulent and well defined exactly as needed. Their renderings were beautifully enhanced by Polonsky's deft technical execution in the challenging solo passages and sensitivity in the accompanying passages.
Even Richard Wagner came down from his lofty, self-centered pedestal to bow to the limitless genius of Mozart, when he acknowledged: "The most tremendous genius raised Mozart above all masters, in all centuries and in all the arts." Mainly Mozart does a brilliant job of bringing the composer's genius to Greater San Diego. As Mainly Mozart's Executive Director Nancy Laturno Bojanic pointed out in her pre-concert speech to the ample crowd of music lovers assembled for the event, Mozart is the guiding inspiration for the organization's mission, which is to keep Mozart alive for the San Diego artistic community. When it comes to Mozart, it's definitely "Mission Possible."
Photo: http://www.mainlymozart.org/
Labels: Anna Polonsky, arpeggione, Carlsbad, Erica, Jeremy Kurtz-Harris, Mainly Mozart, Miner, Mozart, Ronald Thomas, San Diego, San Diego Symphony, Schubert, Steven Copes, Trout, Yura Lee


On 7-8 November, OLAF hosted the Syria Investigations Working Group in Brussels. The Working Group brings together international agencies and organisations working to prevent and put an end to fraud involving humanitarian aid granted in the context of the Syrian crisis.
For development aid to make a difference on the ground and bring relief to those in need, it is crucial that funding reaches end beneficiaries and does not end up in the pockets of fraudsters. As the EU has mobilised over EUR 10 billion for assistance to Syrians, both in their home country and for refugees and their host communities in neighbouring countries, OLAF has a key role to play in investigating potential fraud in this field. International cooperation among donor organisations is key in identifying and deterring fraudulent practices.
For this edition of the Working Group, in close partnership with USAID, Office of Inspector General, OLAF organised a platform for the exchange of operational information and investigative best practice between over twenty participating agencies and organisations.


I will be participating for the second year in the City of Mesilla's FLAM Event! – From 2 – 5 PM on the Historic Plaza. Look forward to seeing you there! I will be using my new/used Event Tent! Please pray for wonderful weather – then plan to attend!


Questions continue to mount after a false report of an active shooter led to mass panic and confusion at one of the nation's busiest airport last week.
Local, state and federal officials are reviewing the response to reports of an active shooter at Kennedy Airport's Terminal 8 and Terminal 1 the night of Aug. 14.
Plenty of passengers documented the harrowing experience, including former Navy SEAL Brandon Webb. Webb had just landed at Terminal 1 and gone through customs when half a dozen officers burst in, telling passengers to "run for their lives."
The I-Team first reported last week that Port Authority police did not have access to live camera feeds at Terminal 8 or any of the terminals at area airports -- an issue the Port Authority police union has raised previously in letters to officials. Police also had no ability to use the public speaker system at the airport to relay important information to passengers.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer has demanded a federal investigation into the response at the airport. He spoke exclusively with the I-Team about Homeland Security's findings so far.
News 4 has found out there's a shortage of air traffic controllers orchestrating thousands of flights safely through the skies everyday. Stefan Holt reports.
"They admit that it was one huge mess," Schumer said. "They admit that things need change and they're going to get back to us with specifics."
When told of former Port Authority officer Honig's assessment that police did everything by the book, Schumer responded, "Well, let me say, if this went exactly by the book, they better change the book."


text:
Q: Two columns height equal using css Inside container div i have two columns. Column 1 height is dynamic, I want column 2 height to match according with column 1. I tried using display: table property but it's not working. How can i achieve it using css? I get this problem when column 1 displays errors and it's height increases. How do i set both column same height using css?
HTML

                                <form name="signupForm" role="form" ng-submit="userSignupMethod(signupForm)" novalidate>

                                                <input type="text" class="form-control" name="firstname" ng-model="userSignup.firstname"
                                                       ng-pattern="/^[a-zA-Z\s]*$/" required autocomplete="off" placeholder="Your Name" id="firstname" >

                                                    Please complete this mandatory field.
                                                    Please enter valid name.

                                                <input type="text" class="form-control" name="lastname" ng-model="userSignup.lastname"
                                                       ng-pattern="/^[a-zA-Z\s]*$/"
                                                       required autocomplete="off" placeholder="Your Last Name" id="lastname" >

                                                    Please complete this mandatory field.
                                                    Please enter valid name.

                                                <input type="text" class="form-control" name="email" ng-model="userSignup.email"
                                                       ng-pattern="/^[a-zA-Z0-9._]+[a-zA-Z0-9._]+@[a-z-A-Z.]{2,50}$/" required autocomplete="off" id="email" placeholder="Your Email ID">

                                                    Please complete this mandatory field.
                                                    Please enter valid email.

                                                <input type="text" class="form-control" name="contactnumber" ng-model="userSignup.contactnumber"
                                                       ng-pattern="/^[0-9]{10,15}$/" autocomplete="off" id="contactnumber" placeholder="Mobile Number" minlength="10" maxlength="15">

                                                    Please enter valid contact number.

                                            <button class="btn btn-block btn-login b-0 br-2 mr-5" analytics-event="click" analytics-category="sign up">Sign Up</button>

                                                    <button type="button" class="close" data-dismiss="modal"
                                                            aria-hidden="true">x
                                                    </button>

Thank You

                                                        {{alert.message}}

                                                    <button class="btn btn-default btn-sm btn-ef btn-ef-3"
                                                            ng-click="redirecttoSinup()">OK
                                                    </button>

                                </form>

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CSS (less format)
.new-su-tile1 {
    & .form-control {
        height: 38px;
        border: 1px solid #acacac;
        font-style: normal;
    }
    & .error_msg {
        font-size: 10px;
    }
    & .btn-login {
        background: #32a9de;
    }
}

.new-su-main-tile2 {
    margin-left: -1px;
    & .new-su-tile2 {
        min-height: 308px;
        @media ( max-width:@screen-xs-max) {
            border-left: 1px solid #acacac;
            margin-left: 15px;
            margin-right: -15px;
         }
         @media ( max-width:@screen-sm-max) {
            border-left: 1px solid #acacac;
            margin-left: 15px;
            margin-right: -15px;
         }
        & .ysu-heading {
        color: #86c049;
        text-align: center;
        }
        & .ysu-subheading {
            list-style: none;
            color: #333333;
            list-style: none;
            display: inline-flex;
            font-size: 12px;
            text-align: left !important;
            padding: 8px 0;
            &:first-child {
                padding-top: 25px;
            }
            /*&:last-child {
                padding-bottom: 29px;
            }*/
            & .ysu-icon {
                font-size: 10px;
            }
        }
    }
}

.new-tile-footer {
    background: #fff;
    color: #333333;
    font-size: 12px;
    & .login-link {
        color: #32a9de !important;
    }
}

A: @user6371206 Please check following example. i hope you are expecting the same.

var elements = document.getElementsByClassName('features');
var elementHeights = Array.prototype.map.call(elements, (el) => {
  return el.clientHeight;
});

var maxHeight = Math.max(...elementHeights)

Array.prototype.forEach.call(elements, (el) => el.style.height = `${maxHeight}px`);
.a { height: 30px; background-color: red; }
.b { height: 220px; background-color: aqua; }
.c { height: 50px; background-color: blue; }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Creating and maintaining web store does not go without ultimate Magento images management. Pictures are indispensable part of website - they help you advertise goods, disposed at your website, create informative and appealing product pages, grabbing customers' attention in such a way.
This fact forces online merchants to constantly operate with product photos. With Store Manager for Magento you can swimmingly organize pictures at your website, having multiple instruments at your disposal. It's possible to add Magento product images via Store Manager image gallery in several mouse clicks only. If you need to add numerous images you may prefer to import them via import wizard tool, rather than upload each of them separately.
Whatever operation you are going to accomplish - upload photos to certain items or categories you are obliged to set up FTP connection. If you are not connected to FTP, you won't be able to view pictures and upload them to the server.
FTP settings should be specified in corresponding tab of Store Manager Preferences section. Open it, using main menu button or press F12 and choose FTP tab from the list.
First of all, check radio button for one of the methods to implement FTP. After this you need to proceed with range of settings to configure FTP connection.
Server address - indicate IP address or domain name of FTP server in this field, without using prefixes or suffixes.
User Name (login)/Password - specify username and password for authentication. In case, you do not know access details, you may get this information from Hosting Company or create FTP user with access details via hosting control panel.
Max FTP threads - define the number of threads possible. Your Hosting Company may put some limitation on the number of threads allowed.
Clear image cache - clear local pictures cache.
Use Test Connection button to check whether settings were configured properly.
FTP connection is also required when working with Store Diagnostics. Imagery handling becomes more and more meticulous with Store Diagnostics functionality the application incorporates. You can figure out missing product images or those, that do not refer to any product.
Once you have established FTP connection you can commence on Magento product images upload or check images with Store Diagnostics. Make notice, while adding images via Image Gallery you can configure FTP connection right from Load Image window.
* Now SFTP tab supports the possibility to load private key. Please note, Store Manager supports OpenSSH format, so if you have PPK key you need to transfer it to supported format to be able to load it with Store Manager.


text:
The Stork Caliph (Hungarian: A Gólyakalifa) is a 1917 Hungarian silent drama film directed by Alexander Korda and starring Gyula Bartos, Oscar Beregi Sr. and Judit Bánky. It was the second film made by Korda for his newly established Corvin Film company. He pulled off what was considered a literary coup by persuading the author Mihály Babits to allow him to film a version of his 1916 novel of the same name.

Cast
 Gyula Bartos
 Oscar Beregi Sr.
 Judit Bánky
 Alajos Mészáros

References

Bibliography
 Kulik, Karol. Alexander Korda: The Man Who Could Work Miracles. Virgin Books, 1990.

External links

1917 films
Hungarian silent films
Hungarian drama films
1910s Hungarian-language films
Films directed by Alexander Korda
Films based on Hungarian novels
Hungarian black-and-white films
Austro-Hungarian films
1917 drama films
Silent drama films

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Lincoln Park Terrace, Washington, D.C.
"I want to tell you that I really appreciate your steady input, intellectual clarity and terrific writing. It is an entertaining joy to work with you."
"Jon's success begins long before the words and meanings and subtle intricacies of his writing appear in form. His unwavering patience, nurturing demeanor and personal standard of excellence provide me with a comfort zone in which I can download my unorganized thoughts into his brain. That is when Jon the Maestro takes over and creates a symphony of words that will hit all the right notes with my target audience."


text:
Велике полювання (, 1990) – другий роман з циклу «Колесо часу» () американського письменника Роберта Джордана в жанрі епічного фентезі. Роман опублікувало видавництво Tor Books, він побачив світ 15 листопада 1990 року. «Велике полювання» складається з пролога й 50 глав. 2004 року роман було перевидано як дві окремі книги: «Полювання починається» та «Нові нитки у візерунку».

Роман відходить від очевидних паралелей із «Володарем перснів», притаманних «Окові Світу». Автор починає знайомити читача зі своїм  фентезійним світом, великим і різноманітним, населеним народами різних  культур. Назва роману посилається на легенду про Ріг Валіра — сурму, що може викликати з небуття героїв минулих епох для участі в Останній битві між силами Світла й Темряви. У попередній книзі невеличкий гурт утікачів із Дворіччя знайшов Ріг, але знову втратив його на початку цієї книги.

Читач знайомиться із Тар-Валоном (Білою вежею), що є центром чарівниць айз-седай. Туди, розділившись із хлопцями, прямують на навчання дівчата.  Світ айз-седай розділений на аджі,  кожна з яких спеціалізується на певному вмінні й має певне призначення. Попри те, що айз-седай не можуть брехати, їхнє співтовариство сповнене інтриг.

У романі з'являється нова загроза — вторгнення з іншого континенту шончан, народу який довго жив окремо й виробив свою оригінальну культуру. Шончани вважають її вищою й планують підкорити старий континент собі.

Ранд упродовж роману намагається зжитися зі своєю здатністю каналювати, а отже з тим, що його чекає божевілля через використання отруєної чоловічої частини Єдиної сили — саїдіну. Перрін освоює своє вміння спілкуватися з вовками. Мет поступово чахне, потрапивши під вплив корумпованого кинджалу з рубіном із Шадар-Логоту.

Короткий зміст
У пролозі розповідається про таємні збори темних сил, які очолює проклятий Ба'альзамон. Крім Ба'альзамона та друзів темряви на зборах присутні також дві айз-седай.

Після подій, описаних в «Оці Світу», до головних героїв у місто Фал-Дара навідується амірлін-сіт Сюань Санче й ідентифікує Ранда аль-Тора як Відродженого Дракона. Стан Мета гіршає через зв'язок із кинджалом-паразитом. Лан Мандрагоран навчає Ранда фехтуванню. Друга темряви Падана Фейна звільняють темні сили, й він викрадає Ріг Валіра та кинджал з рубіном. Ранд, Перрін та Мет відправляються із загоном шиєнарців на південь у погоню. Їх очолює лорд Інгтар, а провідником служить слідопит Гурін. Найнів аль-Міра та Егвейн аль-Вір відправляються з Муарейн у Тар-Валон учитися на айз-седай.  Там вони стають друзями з Елейн Траканд та Мін. Найнів складає іспит й стає прийнятою, що в Білій Вежі має статус нижчий від айз-седай, але вищий ніж новенькі.

Ранд, Лоял та Гурін відокремлююься від загону шиєнарців і переносяться в альтернативний світ, схожий на їхній, але безлюдний та викривлений. Ранд думає, що ненароком каналював саїдін у сні й активував портал, але Егвейн сниться сон, в якому винною є таємнича жінка (пізніше виявляється, що це Ланфіра).  В альтернативному світі Ранд стає до двобою із Ба'альзамоном, у результаті якого на його долоні з'являється відмітка від руків'я меча, що виглядає як зображення чаплі. Пізніше з допомогою Селін (замаскована Ланфіра) вони вертаються у свій світ попереду загону шиєнарців. Їм удається повернути собі Ріг та кинджал. Тим часом загін лорда Інгтара, не знаючи, куди пропали їхні супутники, продовжує переслідувати Падана Фейна. Перрін використовує здатність телепатичного контакту з вовками.

Ранд з його супутниками подорожує до Кайрієну, де зустрічає скомороха Тома Мерріліна, якого вважав загиблим. На Ранда з Лоялом нападають тролоки, і, втікаючи вони руйнують будівлю гільдії ілюмінаторів, товариства, що зберігає вміння виготовляти феєрверки. Ріг Валіра та кинджал з рубіном знову втрачено. Убивають ученицю Тома Дену.

Завдяки Перріну загін Інгтара знаходить Ранда. Вони дізнаються, що Ріг забрали до Томанової голови, мису в портовому місті Фалме.
Щоб виграти час Ранд веде загін через альтернативний світ, але це призвело лише до втрати часу. У Фалме починається вторгнення шончан, народу з іншого континенту, який має в своєму розпоряженні екзотичних бойових звірів й використовує в бою жінок, що можуть каналювати. Діти світла, група релігійних фанатиків, готуються до контрнападу на шончан.

У Білій вежі Ліандрін заманює Егвейн, Найнів, Елейн та Мін на Томанову голову, де Мін потрапляє в руки шончан, а на Егвейн одягнули а'дам, нашийник, за допомогою якого шончани контролюють тих, хто може каналювати. Найнів та Елейн вдалося втекти.  Прибувши в Фальме, Ранд убиває шончанського лорда Турака й утікає з Рогом та кинджалом. Інгтар виявився другом темряви, але спокутує себе, загинувши в бою на боці загону Ранда. Елейн та Найнів визволяють Егвейн й утікають із міста. У цю мить білі клобуки починають свою атаку, й Ранд та його друзі опиняються між шончанами й білими клобуками. Мат сурмить у Ріг Валіра, викликаючи древніх героїв включно з Артуром Яструбокрилом. Герої Рогу перемагають шончан і зникають. Сам Ранд долає Ба'альзамона в битві у небі, де його бачать численні люди. У бою він зазнає поранення.

Українською
Українською переклад книжки видало видавництво Богдан в 2021 році. Перекладачі Тетяна Дитина, Галина Михайловська.

Примітки

Ланки
 Детальний опис кожної глави на http://www.encyclopaedia-wot.org
  (hardcover)
  (paperback)

Фентезійні романи США
Твори Роберта Джордана
Англомовні фантастичні романи
Фентезійні романи 1990
Темпорально-фантастичні романи


Idea of the month (reprise): Make art to support mentoring!
Whip out your paintbrushes and prepare to tap into your inner Picasso: From January 10thto January 31st, Grand Area Mentoring will host an online art auction featuring mentor/mentee creative masterpieces. All proceeds will benefit Grand Area Mentoring and help the program provide activity supplies, sports equipment, and match support to you.
There is no limit to the imagination, so there will be no limit on the number of pieces of art your mentee may submit. If you would like ideas or prompts for inspiration, or if you have any questions at all, contact Jeff for help: babikj@grandschools.org.Bring your own or use GrandAM's art supplies. Add creativity and imagination. Make your masterpiece fit into a 16" x 20" frame. Smaller pieces welcome.
Deadline: Submit all artwork by December 21st.


Our seed group formed in January of 2010 and meets regularly for fellowship (feasting, chatting, gardening, walking/hiking, crafting, and other Druid-y activities) and ceremony for the earth year holidays. Our festival rituals are based on OBOD practice. We became a Gove in February of 2019.
We have members from throughout Southern California, and we usually meet in locations near Los Angeles or the Inland Empire.
How do I attend a ceremony?
Please be patient as we have a very limited number of members in each region of Southern California and it can take a while. If you would like to talk or meet with a member to discuss Druidry we can arrange that too.
If you would like to regularly come to ceremonies, but not join OBOD or the seed group, you can belong as a "Friend of Star and Stone."
Our private ceremonies are held during the dark half of the year from Samhain through Imboc. These are held at our Fellowship members' homes. These ceremonies are only open to members of Star and Stone and their families. It is our time of year to rest from meeting new folks, deepen our practice with one another during the times of grieving and healing, and conduct initiations and grove business.
Star and Stone Seed Group is a member organization of the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids (OBOD), which operates from the United Kingdom. The Order was founded by Ross Nichols in the mid-1900s as a form of uniquely Celtic spirituality. Inspired by the Druids as priests, poets, and philosophers, with the intent to make this nature-based spiritual path a modern union of inspiration and intellectualism, the Order was born. It now serves thousands of people world-wide under our Chosen Chief, Philip Carr-Gomm. The Order offers a three-year home-study course in Druidry, events worldwide through its groves and seed groups, and fellowship through its gatherings and forums.
Please visit http://www.druidry.org/ for more information.


Machiavelli followed in the footsteps of Thrasymachus who was perhaps the first recorded Political realist to actually claim that when the stronger rule a city-state in their interest, such a political state is a just state. Plato immediately constructs a city of Logos, an ideal city, as an antidote to what both he and Socrates regarded as the poisonous argument that refers to the fact that in almost all of the regimes of the time the rule of the stronger was the status quo, implying that what is the case ought to be the case. Yet history has shown that only Aristotle and later Kant had the theoretical resources to undermine this argument with complex positions constituted of an understanding of the conceptual nature of ought, i.e. they realized that concepts are related to the possibilities of phenomena and therefore have a more complex relation to what is the case than either Thrasymachus or Machiavelli realized.
Machiavelli is a complex character, represented in the popular mind as the devil but perhaps represented in his own mind as an unarmed political philosopher and prophet, conjuring up in his imagination the times to come in Italy. He would not have qualified as an Aristotelian great-souled man partly because of his poverty and financial dependence upon others. He aspired to higher things every evening when he would dress in special clothes to read about ancient courts and statesmen, imagining himself discoursing with them about their times and the times to come.
Both Thrasymachus and Machiavelli use consequentialist arguments for the justification of force in the state reminding us of the demand Glaucon made upon Socrates in the Republic to prove that justice was both a good in itself and something good in its consequences. Earlier in the dialogue, Socrates had dismissed an argument from Polemachus to the effect that Justice is doing good to one's friends and harm to one's enemies. Harming one's enemies Socrates argued would have the consequences of making a bad man worse, thus dismissing violence as just action in any circumstances. Socrates also produced arguments in other dialogues in relation to the internal consequences of perhaps harming or even murdering an enemy: one would be forced to live oneself and might not be able to do so.
attempting to kill the Nobles of a Principality and survivors return to depose the Prince.
The Prince, Machiavelli, argues shall pay more heed to the people of the Republic than the Nobles whom he shall murder if they stand in his way. But heeding the people does not mean that one is the tool of their expression, rather it means that one should manipulate and deceive them too in order to keep their faith. This is an ambivalent message considering the fact that the people will obviously be less likely to trust Princes after reading Machiavelli's work. This could be another example of double effect theory. Indeed Kenny in his New History of Western Philosophy refers to how a Prince should utterly destroy any city in which the populace had been accustomed for a long period to living freely in order to counteract memories of living freely with the terror of terrible consequences. Without the understanding of such possible consequences, the Prince would be merely inviting rebellion and revolution.
This is a surprizing claim but there is one thread of argument which might support such a position. American pragmatism and instrumentalism do appear to support consequentialism in the ethical and political spheres of philosophical discourse. Another thread, perhaps connected to the first relates to the GERM(Global Educational Reform Movement) which interestingly in the name of freedom as a reaction to authoritarian teaching allows young children to explore the domain of knowledge unfettered by the conceptual understanding their teachers may bring to the process in order to school their students understanding. The consequences of this kind of teaching were apparently unacceptable because all the parts of the mind should be free from the reign of the other parts. The understanding limited the operation of the imagination and emotions and this was somehow an unnatural unwanted consequence. Progressive education was consequentialist through and through attempting to speculate on the internal consequences of a traditional Machiavellian educational system. We in Europe have experienced the consequences of this consequentialist educational system and they have not been good.
Machiavelli's thought might have played a part in the growing criticism of the universal intentions of Religion which conceived of the world as united in one city of God or Holy Roman Empire. As we know the wars in the 1600's played a significant role in the Treaty of Westphalia which sought a guarantee for the nation-state's sovereignty from such universalist intentions. Religious universalism was merely an antithetical response on one level to the military universalism of the kind begun by Alexander the Great and continued by the Romans. But the question is whether an abandonment of the idea of a united world is not fundamentally a result of the consequentialist arguments that have been skeptically undermining the cosmopolitan intentions of ethics and political Philosophy that people intuitively embrace on the grounds that a world divided against itself will always produce war. Did the consequences of Westphalia take three hundred years to play themselves out, in the two world wars of the last century the dropping of two atomic bombs on civilian populations and a cold war which almost ended in nuclear disaster? Did the treaty of Westphalia unleash a wave of consequences which we almost failed to control? The Philosophy of Kant was both non-consequentialist and cosmopolitanism, identifying war as the natural and inevitable consequence of a world that cannot live under a common commitment to law and human rights. According to Kant, if humanity does not destroy itself it will continue on its hundred thousand year-long journey to the promised cosmopolitan world in which human rights and the law would be more important than power and deception. The Kantian argument then demands that we register with approval everything that takes us further along the road of progress. We may not have any great-souled cities or nations but perhaps a prior condition to these cities or nations existing is the building of an international educational system with cosmopolitan intentions. Plato once thought that we are destined for ruin and destruction unless philosophers become kings or kings become philosophers. Aristotle thought that the virtues must be embodied in a large middle class for a city to prosper and education was, of course, one of the instrumental means to achieve such a city-state. Certainly a reflective and critical knowledge of ourselves, ethical Philosophy and Political Philosophy would inevitably have to be a part of that education but unti it is we may have to satisfy ourselves with mass-demonstrations aagainstwars and weapons of mass desruction.


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