ENDACOTT SOCIETY December 2006 /
January 2007
Retired
Faculty and Staff of The University of Kansas groups.ku.edu/~endacottsociety
SCHEDULED EVENTS
All
activities meet at the Adams Alumni Center unless otherwise noted.
Afternoon Lecture Series
Roberta
Spires
(rspires@ku.edu, 842-6820), Mary Schweppe
(schweppe@ku.edu, 842-1147), and Howard
O'Connor (843-1884). Stan and
Janet Roth (sdroth@ku.edu, jroth@ku.edu, 843-4764), and Ellen Gold (8436933) are in charge of
programs.
December 14Program begins at 2:30;
sherry at 2:00. Following the celebration of January birthdays, we will
hear from Janet Hamburg, Professor of Dance and Associate of the Gerontology
Center. Her topic will be Movement Tips for Better Balance and Flexibility.
January 11Program begins at 2:30;
sherry at 2:00. Following the celebration of January birthdays, Joseph
Steinmetz, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will speak on The
Value of a Liberal Arts and Science Education in a Rapidly Changing
World.
Armchair Travel
Stitt
Robinson (wsrobin@ku.edu,
843-1499)
January 25Program at 2:30, coffee and
tea at 2:00. Dick Moore and Barbara McCorkle will take us to Turkey. A great
trip!
Card and Game Theory
Ruth
Ann Culvahouse (842-0626)
January 181:30 in the Paul Adam
Lounge. The usual games of bridge and scrabble will be played. If you have
an interest in playing a different game, please add it to the sign-up sheet at
the Wednesday Coffee.
Cinema Studies
Grant
Goodman
(plim@ku.edu, 841-1066) and Fred Madaus
(fmadaus@ku.edu, 841-4939)
January 16Film at 2:00, coffee at
1:45, in the Paul Adam Lounge. we will begin the New Year with a screening of
the Jerome Kern musical Roberta
starring Irene Dunne with Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. You will be amazed at Irene Dunne's gorgeous
rendition of "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes."
Computer Study
Jerry
Niebaum
(jniebaum@wizardofkansas.com, 842-3127)
December 69:00. Early users: system
management, file management. (Jerry Niebaum).
December 139:00.
Applied computing: education. (Ed Meyen).
December 209:00.
Herb Harris Computing Lab.
Mem. Union. (Jerry Niebaum).
January 39:00. Early users: email,
part 1. (Kathy Pribbenow).
January 109:00.
Applied computing: libraries. (Deb Ludwig).
January 179:00.
Application software: presentations. (Jerry Niebaum).
January 249:00.
Application software: Quicken. (Barbara Neff).
January 309:00.
Dr. Fixit. (Jerry Niebaum).
Domestic
Public Policy Study
Jim
Drury
(jdrury@ku.edu, 842-3308) and John
Poertner (jpoertner@sunflower.com, 749-2599)
December 43:30. Bruce Flanders of the
Lawrence Public Library will discuss plans for expansion.
Drama Study Group
Arnold
Weiss
(ahweiss@ku.edu, 842-5502)
December 81:30 in the Music Room.
January 121:30
in the Music Room.
At
the November meeting the Group's members handily negotiated Act I of
Shakespeare's King Lear. They will
advance once again into the breach continuing with King Lear at their December and January meetings.
Evening Lecture Series
Tom
Eblen
(teblen@sunflower.com, 865-3634) and John
Mullins (841-9658)
February 15:30 wine and cheese, 6:00
dinner, 7:00 presentation. The speaker
will be Mike Hayden, former governor and now Secretary of Parks and Wildlife.
Changes are accelerating in Western Kansas, which have broad implications for
the state..
Foreign Policy Study
Marilyn
Bradt
(mbradt@carrollsweb.com, 843-7751)
December 113:30 in the McGinnis
Library. John Conard will lead the discussion on "Human Rights In An Age
of Terrorism."
January 83:30
in the McGinnis Library. Hob Crockett will lead the discussion on UN Reform.
Gardening
Arno
Knapper
(knapper@ku.edu, 312-9422) and Dick
Schiefelbusch (843-5869)
December 6, 13,
20, and 279:00.
January 3, 10, 17, 24, and 309:00.
Great Books Study Group
Dave
Hiebert (gundave@sunflower.com,
842-8706) and Art Lamb (artlamb@sunflower.com, 856-8450)
December 131:45. Don Chambers
will lead the discussion of Yukio Mishima's Something
Called Patriotism.
January 101:45.
Ellen Gold will lead the discussion of Plato's Symposium.
Music
Arno
Knapper
(knapper@ku.edu, 312-9422)
December 6, 13,
20, and 27Immediately following coffee.
January 3, 10, 17, 24, and 30Immediately
following coffee.
Opera Study
Jim
Seaver
(jseaver@ku.edu, 843-4081) and Al Sellen
(jnalsellen@aol.com, 841-7432)
January 191:30, on the second floor.
The third of our programs on French operatic masterpieces of the late
nineteenth century will present a very fine DVD of Janques Offenbach's Les Contes D'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann). The performance
comes from the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, in London, where it was filmed in
1981. Placido Domingo will portray
Hoffmann, soprano Luciana Serra will sing the role of Olympia, mezzo-soprano Agnes Baltsa will sing the part
of Giulietta, the courtesan, and soprano Ileana Cotrubas will be Antonia.
Jacques
Offenbach was born in Germany in 1819, the son of an itinerant fiddler and
cantor. He was born Jacob Eberst, but
since most of the Eberst family came from Offenbach, he referred to himself as
"O. de Cologne." In 1833 his
father sent him to Paris, where he became a good cellist but spent most of his
time at the Theatre Francais and
writing comic operas, which soon became the rage of Paris, especially his
spoofs of antiquity, such as Orphee dans
L'Enfer and La Belle Helene. He became rich and famous, causing the great
Italian composer Rossini to call him "the Mozart of the Champs
Elysees."
Offenbach,
however, longed to be recognized as a composer of serious as well as comic
opera, so in 1876 he asked Jules Barbier to revise a play that Barbier had
written in 1851 about some of the stories of E. J. A. Hoffmann into a libretto
for a three-act opera with a prologue and an epilogue. The serious basis of the three acts is that
the youthful hero is caught up in three romantic affairs (one per act) in which
the young man is repeatedly disillusioned by youthful credulity, naive love,
and finally fate. In the three acts
Hoffmann's unhappiness is caused by three different villains who lead him to
sadness and despair. All of this is
clothed in some of the most beautiful melodies in all of opera.
Offenbach
died on 5 October 1880, just over four months before the great success of his
masterpiece at the Opera Comique. He
did, however, have a private reading of Les
Contes D'Hoffmann at his home in Paris on 18 May 1879.
The
opera will consume about two and one-half hours. Coffee, tea, and cookies will be served at
the end of Act II of the opera.
Metropolitan Opera Radio
Al
Sellen (jnalsellen@aol.com,
841-7432)
Radio
broadcasts of the Met at the home of Vic and Mary Wallace, 1509 Massachusetts
St., begin in January. The Saturday broadcasts are received over the internet
and played in comfortable surroundings. Parking is in the church lot next door.
Jim Seaver comes with his expert knowledge and librettos. Snacks are served
too.
January 612:30.
I Puritani, Bellini.
January 1312:30.
The First Emporer, (world premier
broadcast of a brand new opera by Tan Dun).
January 2012:30.
Lucia di Lammermoor, Donizetti
(rebroadcast of 1956 Maria Callas' Met debut).
January 2712:30.
Madama Butterfly, Puccini (new
production for the Met).
Out of Town Travel
Ev
Swartz
(evswartz@ku.edu, 841-4065)
December 8KC Tour: Our trip will include a tour
of the K. C. Star Press Room, a tour of the Kansas City, Mo. public library,
shopping on the Plaza, dinner at the Grand Street Cafι, and a tour of the Plaza
lights.
December 21Deadline
for reservations for the Union Station and Dead Sea Scrolls Trip. The trip will
Be on April 16, 2007, and tickets are $15.95 each. The cost is not refundable.
Make checks to Endacott Society. If you have questions, plese get in touch with
Ev Swartz.
Pre-Concert Dinner
Grant
Goodman
(plim@ku.edu, 841-1066)
February 105:00 at Maceli's at 1031 New Hampshire. The dinner will be served prior to the
performance of Don Giovanni scheduled
for the Lied Center at 7:30 p.m. Sign-ups are available at the Wednesday
Coffees or by telephone to Grant Goodman.
The cost of the dinner is $12.00 per person, and checks should be made
payable to the Endacott Society.
Singing for Fun
Roberta
Spires
(rspires@ku.edu, 842-6820)
December 72:00
in the Music Room or Paul Adam Lounge.
January 42:00
in the Music Room or Paul Adam Lounge.
We
will be singing our regular "oldies
but goodies" as well as a few traditional and secular Christmas carols at
the December session.
Ten O'clock Scholars, AKA Wednesday
Coffee
Genevieve
McMahon
(841-2116).
December 6, 13,
20, and 2710:00.
January 3, 10, 17, 24, and 3010:00.
OTHER NEWS
New Endacott Society Web Site
The
Endacott Society now has a revised Web site and new Web address at:
http://groups.ku.edu/~endacottsociety
Please add this new address to your
Web browser favorites.
ENDACOTT SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP LIST
Copies of the Endacott Society
membership list may be obtained from Bryan Greve at the KU Alumni Association.
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Endacott Society Newsletter online?
Check groups.ku.edu/~endacottsociety.
Newsletter Copy
Copy
for the February Newsletter should
be in the hands of the editor no later than
Sunday, January 14. E-mail Vic Wallace (wallace@ku.edu).