ENDACOTT SOCIETY — February 2006
Retired Faculty and Staff of The University of Kansas — www.ku.edu/~emeritus
SCHEDULED EVENTS
All activities meet at the Adams Alumni Center unless otherwise noted.
SNOW POLICY REMINDER — There will be no meeting on Wednesday morning if the Lawrence Public Schools are closed due to bad weather. This will directly affect the Computer Study Group, Gardening Seminar, Ten O'Clock Scholars, and the Music Group. KANU, KLWN, and Channel 6 as well as the KU Alumni office will be informed. All other groups should develop their own policies.
Afternoon Lecture Series
Roberta Spires (rspires@ku.edu, 842-6820), Mary E. Schweppe (schweppe@ku.edu, 842-1147), and Howard O'Connor (843-1884). Bill Hambleton (wwhamble@ku.edu, 843-2508), Tom Eblen (teblen@sunflower.com, 865-3634), and Jerry Niebaum (jniebaum@wizardofkansas.com, 842-3127) are in charge of programs.
February 9 —Program at 2:30; sherry at 2:00. The guest speaker is Paul Carrtar, Vice Chancellor for External Affairs, who will address plans and directions.
Armchair Travel
Stitt Robinson (wsrobin@ku.edu, 843-1499)
February 23 —Coffee and tea available at 2:00; program at 2:30. Stitt and Connie Robinson will present the program on Scotland.
Card and Game Theory
Ruth Ann Culvahouse (jwcul@ku.edu, 842-0626)
February 16 —1:30 in the Paul Adams Lounge. The usual games of bridge and scrabble will be played. In addition, anyone interested in other games is urged to contact Ruth Ann Culvahouse, who will try to find others with an interest in playing.
Cinema Studies
Grant Goodman (plim@ku.edu, 841-1066) and Fred Madaus (fmadaus@ku.edu, 841-4939)
February 21 —Film at 2:00; coffee at 1:45. This month we will see the classic musical film Top Hat with Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. Everyone is welcome.
Computer Study
Jerry Niebaum (jniebaum@wizardofkansas.com, 842-3127)
All Computer Study Group programs are subject to change, so check our Web site: www.wizardofkansas.com/oldku for the most recent listing of programs.
February 1 —9:00. Computers in KU libraries: Sarah Thiel.
February 8 —9:00. Genealogy, part 1.
February 15 —9:00. Genealogy, part 2: Judy Sweets
February 22 —9:00. History of Computing at KU: G. Bailey Price (video lecture)
Domestic Public Policy Study
Jim Drury (jdrury@ku.edu, 842-3308) and John Poertner (jpoertner@sunflower.com, 749-2599)
February 6 —3:30. "The Good, the Bad, the Beautiful, your Kansas River." Presentation by
Laura Calwell, Kansas Riverkeeper.
Drama Study Group
Arnold Weiss (ahweiss@ku.edu, 842-5502)
February 10 —1:30 in the Music Room. Reading of Shakespeare's Richard II will commence with the short (single scene) Act IV and continue with the longer Act V (the play's final act). It is entirely possible that reading of the play can be completed at this session, in which case consideration of the next vehicle to be undertaken will be in order. Please therefore come prepared to make suggestions of plays to be read at forthcoming Drama Study Group meetings.
Evening Lecture Series
Tom Eblen (teblen@sunflower.com, 865-3634) and Sue Nishiwaka (nish@ku.edu, 842-6165)
February 2 —5:30 wine and cheese, 6:00 dinner, Wayne Osness will share the "Simple Rules to Good Health and Fitness." An emeritus professor of education, Osness formerly chaired health, sport and exercise sciences at KU.
Foreign Policy Study
Marilyn Bradt (mbradt@carrollsweb.com, 843-7751)
February 13 —3:30 in the Adams Library. The day's discussion leader, Ev Swartz, is awaiting final confirmation that Prof. Phil Schrodt, Political Science, freshly returned from Ramallah, will be our resource person for a discussion of Iraq and whatever other Middle East questions he is prepared to field.
Gardening
Arno Knapper (knapper@ku.edu, 312-9422) and Dick Shiefelbusch (843-5869)
February 1, 8, 15, 22 —9:00.
Great Books Study Group
Art Lamb (artlamb@sunflower.com, 856-8450) and Dave Hiebert (gundave@sunflower.com, 842-8706)
February 8 —1:45. Don Chambers will lead discussion on An American Childhood by Annie Dillard.
Music
Arno Knapper (knapper@ku.edu, 312-9422)
February 1, 8, 15, 22 —immediately following coffee.
Opera Study
Jim Seaver (jseaver@ku.edu, 843-4081) and Al Sellen (jnalsellen@aol.com, 841-7432)
Coming attraction— At 1:00 on Friday March 3, we will be presenting the fifth and last in our series about the operas of Richard Strauss. This fascinating work is based on an eastern fairy tale, Mozart's The Magic Flute , and Hofmanstahl's play The Emperer and the Witch . The librettist for the three-act opera was Hugo von Hofmanstahl, and it is entitled Die Frau Ohne Schatten (The Woman Without a Shadow). The opera, which is Strauss's last "Big" opera, had its premiere in Vienna in 1919. Scored for an orchestra of 120 players, six major artist roles, and many small roles, it lasts for three hours and twenty minutes. Many critics think that this is the greatest operatic score Strauss ever wrote, but the story—mixing the real and the fairy-tale world—has always proved difficult for audiences and has inhibited the opera's popularity.
The story, set in present times, tells us that the Emperor of the South Eastern Isles has married the daughter of Keikobad, ruler of the fairy world. The Empress, because she is a fairy, casts no shadow, and after two years of marriage she is barren. Her nurse, also a fairy, is told that the Empress must cast a shadow within three days or she must return to the spirit world and the Emperor will be turned to stone. The Empress and her nurse go to a couple in the real world—Barak, a poor dyer, and his wife—and try to get the dyer's wife to give her shadow to the Empress in return for riches and jewels. In order to discover how all this works out, please come to the opera on Friday 3 March .
Our opera will be presented on the second floor of the Alumni Center. The Decca DVD will be presented with our new surround sound system. The major singers will include tenor Thomas Moser as the Emperor, soprano Cheryl Studer as the Empress, mezzo soprano Marjana Lipovsek as the nurse, baritone Bryn Terfel as Keikobad's messenger, baritone Robert Hale as Barak, and soprano Eva Marton as Barak's wife.. The conductor of this production from the Salzburg Festival of 1992 will be Sir Georg Solti. Coffee, tea, and cookies will be served during the intermission after Act I. The DVD provides subtitles in English.
In spite of the complicated story, the music of this opera is very beautiful!
Metropolitan Opera Radio
Al Sellen (jnalsellen@aol.com, 841-7432) and Vic Wallace (wallace@ku.edu, 842 7930)
Radio broadcasts of the Met can be heard in crystal clear sound via the Internet each Saturday at the home of Vic and Mary Wallace, 1509 Massachusetts. Parking is in the church lot next door. Jim Seaver comes with his knowledge and librettos.
February 4 —12:30. Cyrano de Bergerac, Alfano.
February 11 —12:30. La Traviata , Verdi.
February 18 —12:30. Aida, Verdi.
February 25 —12:30. Samson et Dalila, Saint-Saëns.
Pre-Concert Dinner
Grant Goodman (841-1066)
February 17 —5:00, in the Smith Center at Brandon Woods. The first preconcert dinner of the spring term will be offered prior to the ballet performance of Mozart's Magic Flute . Sign-ups will be available at the 10 o'clock scholars meetings prior to February 17 or reservations can be made by calling Grant Goodman at 841-1066. The price of the meal wil be $11.50 per person.
Ten O'clock Scholars, AKA “Wednesday Coffee”
Genevieve McMahon (841-2116).
February 1, 8, 15, 22 —10:00.
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Newsletter Copy
Copy for the February newsletter should be in the hands of the editor no later than Sunday, February 12 . Email Vic Wallace (wallace@ku.edu)