ENDACOTT SOCIETY — January 2008

Retired Faculty and Staff of The University of Kansas — groups.ku.edu/~endacottsociety

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SCHEDULED EVENTS

All activities meet at the Adams Alumni Center unless otherwise noted.

Afternoon Lecture Series

Maxine Patterson (843-7905), 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 Bill Hambleton (wwhamble@ku.edu, 843-2508) are in charge of programs.

     January 10—Program at 2:30, sherry at 2:00, in the Summerfield Room. Following the celebration of January birthdays, Dr. Richard Schrock, chairman of biology and director of biology teacher training at Emporia State University, will speak on "The Shortage of Teachers in Kansas Public Schools."

Armchair Travel

Stitt Robinson (wsrobin@ku.edu, 843-1499)

     January 24—Program at 2:30, coffee and tea at 2:00. "Russia, Including Travel Along the Volga and Don Rivers," will be presented by Hal and Charlyn Orel.

Card and Game Theory

Art Lamb (artlamb@sunflower.com, 749-4647)

     January 17—1:30 in the Paul Adam Lounge. The usual games of bridge and scrabble and whatever will be played. A sign-up sheet is available at the Wednesday Coffee.

Cinema Studies

Grant Goodman (plim@ku.edu, 841-1066) and Fred Madaus (fmadaus@ku.edu, 841-4939)

     January 15—Film at 2:00, coffee at 1:45, in the Paul Adam Lounge. We will show San Francisco, with Jeanette MacDonald, Clark Gable, and Spencer Tracy.  This wonderful old film features the San Francisco earthquake on the back lot of MGM.  Bring your friends!

Computer Study

Jerry Niebaum (jniebaum@wizardofkansas.com, 842-3127)

     All meetings are at 9:00 in the Paul Adam Lounge. Check out our year's tentative schedule at our Web site at www.wizardofkansas.com—OLDKU

     January 2—Introduction to Word processing, Part 2.

     January 9—Introduction to Macintosh (Vic Wallace).

     January 16—Introduction to Mac OSX 10.5: Leopard (Vic Wallace).

     January 23—What's inside? Dismantling your computer (Jerry Niebaum).

     January 30—Dr. Fixit: (Jerry Niebaum).

Domestic Public Policy Study

Jim Drury (jdrury@ku.edu, 842-3308), John Poertner (jpoertner@sunflower.com, 749-2599) and Ev Swartz (evswartz@ku.edu, 841-4065)

     January 7—3:30.  Topic: "The State of the University" by Richard Lariviere, Provost.

Drama Study Group

Arnold Weiss (ahweiss@ku.edu, 842-5502)

     January 11—1:30 in the music room. The group will conclude the reading of Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession. Copies will be available at Wednesday Coffee.  The group will also settle on play(s) to be read at forthcoming meetings.

Evening Lecture Series

Tom Eblen (teblen@sunflower.com, 865-3634) and John Mullens (841-0958)

     January 31—5:30 wine and cheese, 6:00 dinner, 7:00 presentation. The speaker will be Rex Buchanan, associate director of the Kansas Geological Survey. His topic: "Water".

Foreign Policy Study

Marilyn Bradt (mbradt@carrollsweb.com, 843-7751)

     January 14—3:30 in the McGinnis Library. Jim Seaver will lead the discussion on "Talking Turkey:  The U.S.–Turkey Relationship".

Gardening

Arno Knapper (knapper@ku.edu, 312-9422) and Dick Schiefelbusch (843-5869)

     January 2, 9, 16, 23, 30—9:00 in the Music Room.

Great Books Study Group

Dave Hiebert (gundave@sunflower.com, 842-8706) and Ellen Gold (843-6933)

     January 9—1:45. The subject is Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self Reliance. The discussion will be led by Art Lamb.

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 live over the internet and played in comfortable surroundings with fine audio equipment. Jim Seaver brings his expert knowledge and librettos. Snacks are served too. All are welcome! (Parking is available in the church lot next door.)

     January 5—12:30. Un Ballo in Maschera, Verdi.

     January 12—12:30. Macbeth, Verdi. (New production, also live in theaters)

     January 19—12:30. La Bohème, Puccini. (Rebroadcast from 1977, with Scotto, Pavarotti, and Plishka in their prime.)

     January 26—12:30. Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Rossini.

Music

Arno Knapper (knapper@ku.edu, 312-9422)

     January 2, 9, 16, 23, 30—Immediately following coffee.

Opera Study

Jim Seaver (jseaver@ku.edu, 843-4081) and Al Sellen (jnalsellen@aol.com, 841-7432)

     January 18—1:30, on the second floor. The third opera presentation in our series concerning the Italian verismo operas will be Francesco Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur.  The composer–Cilea–was born at Padua, Italy, in 1866 and died at his home in Verazza, Italy, in 1950.  He was much admired by the Italian public.  He wrote his first opera–Gina–in 1889 while attending the Naples Conservatory of Music.  In 1892 his opera La Tilda was a failure, but his L'Arlesiana of 1896 was successful and is still heard occasionally in Italy.  His next work was his masterpiece, Adriana Lecouvreur, which is still heard at La Scala, Milan, Covent Garden, London, and the Metropolitan, New York.  Adriana had its premiere at the Teatro Lirico of Milan in 1902, with Caruso singing the leading tenor role.  Cilea's last opera–Gloria ( 1932)--was not successful. 

     The action of the opera takes place in Paris in 1730, when Adriana Lecouvreur was a famous actress at the Comedie Francaise.  Adriana is a rival of the Princesse de Bouillon for the love of Maurice, Count of Saxony.  The princesse kills Adriana by sending her a bouquet of poisoned flowers.  In the finale, Adriana dies in the arms of Count Maurice.  The opera is very melodious, with splendid arias for all of the major singers.

     Our lavish production comes from La Scala, Milan, in 1989.  Soprano Mirella Freni sings and acts the part of Adriana very well.  Mezzo-soprano Friorenza Cossotto is Adriana's angry, vengeful enemy, and the handsome Czech tenor Peter Dvorsky is Maurice, Adriana's lover.  The opera takes about two hours and forty minutes.  Coffee, tea, and cookies will be served at the end of Act II.

Singing for Fun

Roberta Spires (rspires@ku.edu, 842-6820)

     January 3—2:00 in the Music Room.  Please join us for a fun-filled song fest down memory lane with Winnie Gallup on the piano and Roberta Spires leading.

Ten O'clock Scholars, AKA “Wednesday Coffee”

Genevieve McMahon (841-2116).

     January 2, 9, 16, 23, 30—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, January 20.  E-mail Vic Wallace (wallace@ku.edu).