[mascagni-interest] New Mascagni.org home page and other updates

[Erik Bruchez]

Dear list,

The home page of Mascagni.org has drastically changed. It is now
better-looking (I hope) and focuses on "news" organized in sections,
currently: general news (including web site udpates, upcoming
performances, etc.), recordings (featuring the latest releases), and
articles. This has the benefit of making much more content directly
accessible from the home page and, hopefully, of making the site more
attractive especially to newcomers. Check it out at:

 http://www.mascagni.org/

I liked the photograph of a relatively mature Mascagni that was on the
home page until now:

 http://www.mascagni.org/framed-images/503272

But I replaced it with another beautiful picture of a younger-looking
Mascagni, that I obtained recently and cleaned-up a little bit:

 http://www.mascagni.org/framed-images/507781

The web site features a few other cosmetic changes. It should display
nicely with relatively recent versions of Internet Explorer (6.x),
Netscape (7.x), and Mozilla, but I will use the opportunity to
recommend the FireFox browser: it is free (no strings attached), more
secure than IE, easy to use, has great features like tabbed browsing,
and out of the box removes annoyances like pop-up and pop-under
windows. Download it from:

 http://www.mozilla.org/

But please, do not use any old version of Netscape (4.x). Those will
definitely produce terrible results with Mascagni.org.

Of course, feedback is welcome!

Finally, a couple of updates, that you can find as well directly on
Mascagni.org:

1. Four performances of Cavalleria Rusticana and Rapsodia Satanica
   will take place a the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Rome Opera) in
   March 2005. All the details are on the news page:

     http://www.mascagni.org/news/#id81

   The Rome Opera has (almost) promised us in the past a Nerone, an
   Amica in French, and it looks like we'll have to wait a little bit
   to see those. Still, Rapsodia Satanica is a beautiful work, and it
   is good to see an all-Mascagni program rather than the typical
   Mascagni / Leoncavallo. I can only hope that they will project the
   colorized version of the movie as well, but if they plan to do
   this, they don't mention it on the web site of the Rome Opera.

2. A new DVD of Zanetto has been released on label Kicco. The DVD is
   from a live November 2003 performance in Savona, Italy. Denia
   Mazzola Gavazzeni and Romina Basso are conducted by Bruno
   Aprea. The DVD also includes a concert with Denia Mazzola Gavazzeni
   as well as interviews.

   All the details are available here:

     http://www.mascagni.org/recordings/507726

   A notable detail: the opening chorus of Zanetto has been replaced
   with an orchestral introduction. I have to say that it sounds
   pretty good: it is light and subtle, like the rest of the opera,
   and a good way of doing Zanetto if you don't want to hire a chorus.

   This is not a bad performance of Zanetto, although Denia Mazzola
   somtimes sings too much in her loud "verismo" style. The Orchestra
   Sinfonica di Savona is good, but doesn't play as well during Denia
   Mazzola's concert, which features one Mascagni piece, "Fa chei
   pensier" from I Rantzau.

   All in all, a recommended DVD.

Enjoy,

-Erik
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