Black Dog Publishing

I had to make a new shelf for this one as I generally don't own a lot of (any) religious texts, but I am a sucker for illuminated manuscripts and this is a beautiful modern-day collection of various illuminations set to the full text of the book of Psalms. I also have to admit that it was a great opportunity to passive-aggressively poke a finger in the eye of a brother-in-law who lives under the delusion that his pseudo-intellectual atheism makes him superior to those whose faith lies show more outside themselves. I'd had it up to my eyeballs with his snide comments the last few months and this book came to me at the right time for it to conveniently reside on my coffee table for the duration of his visit.

No, this does not make me a good person. It was immature really, but it seemed better than sticking him with a fork during Christmas lunch, which is what I really wanted to do. I have no idea if he even saw it, but it made me feel better to do it.

(N.B. Please know that I do not make any judgements about atheism in general, just this one person's profoundly insulting and disrespectful attitude.)

I spent a few hours on January 2nd flipping through it, enjoying the truly breathtaking artistry and combination reading/skimming the psalms themselves. I grew up hearing quite a few of them at mass, but I enjoyed discovering the ones I'd never heard; some can be quite entertaining; some stirring and some are downright epic.

I don't read much in the way of religious texts; I was extremely fortunate to have a very solid education in theology growing up and I don't have a lot of patience for what a lot of mainstream texts consider important to being a "Christian". But this book, this book is one that I'll take down and enjoy from time to time, with its painstaking artistry and its prose that offers a little bit of something for whatever mood you're in. show less

Libretto by Ghislanzoni, English translation by Dale McAdoo. This is part of my "reading" of the great operas and composers. Verdi was commissioned by the the Khedive of Egypt, who asked him to write an opera for the opening of the Italian Opera House in Cairo in 1869, honoring the dedication of the Suez Canal. Verdi did not finish in time, but did complete Aida in 1871.

Aida is the story of an Ethiopian slave, lady in waiting to Amneris, the daughter of the King of Egypt. Radames, the show more Egyptian captain of the guard is madly in love with Aida, much to the jealous disgust of Amneris. There is no happy ending!

I listened to the opera on You Tube after reading the libretto and reading some history concerning Verdi. I liked this one! show less

this is a very nice introduction and overview of the popular Puccini opera. a 1964 production featuring Renata Scotto is on two CDs and the full libretto is annotated for each track by the author. a history of the opera and its inauspicious premier is included with a biography of Puccini.

Probably the nicest part of this set is the 2-CD presentation of the opera, featuring Beverly Sills and all the arias occasionally cut in live performance. Also, there are biographies of Sills, Verdi, and others along with a synopsis and full, annotated libretto.