Art is not an end in itself. It introduces the soul into a higher spiritual order, which it expresses and in some sense explains. Music and art and poetry attune the soul to God.

- Thomas Merton


The amount of noise a person makes- and can put up with- is in inverse proportion to his intellect. Stupid people love noise and make a lot of it. Intelligent people are quiet people and like silence. As usual in a democracy, intelligent people suffer much at the hands of stupid people.

- Donald Vroon

I am a lifelong aficionado of classical music, opera, and operetta. Among the composers I enjoy most are Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Grieg, Mahler, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, and Kalman. Favorite operas? Eugene Onegin and Prince Igor. Dislikes include the operas of Britten, R. Strauss, and Prokofieff, as well as virtually all atonal and dodecaphonic music. Nor do I care for countertenors or most period performance ensembles. Visitors to my channel might conclude (correctly) that I am a Slavophile. I am in fact an avid enthusiast of Russian opera. romances and folk songs- largely uncharted territory for most Western listeners and singers. It infuriates me to no end that opera companies chase after such contemporary rubbish as Grendel, An American Tragedy, and The Fly, while a treasure trove of Russian (and other Slavic) repertoire remains unexplored.

When it comes to singers, those that I hold closest to my heart are Beverly Sills, Mario Lanza, Boris Shtokolov, and Georg Ots. My aim is to promote little-known, unjustly neglected operatic artists (particularly those of Eastern European origin), as well as singers whose recorded legacies have been marred by persistent rumors, gossip, and misinformation (i.e. Lanza). I also enjoy posting rarities from well-known and loved stars of opera.