LOCAL LEADERSHIP TRAINING ABOUNDS; WHY GO STATEWIDE?

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

Jack Jewett is a former Arizona legislator, businessman, health-care industry executive and higher education executive. In it all, he has seen great leaders, good leaders and the need for strong leadership.

Now as CEO of the Flinn Foundation in Phoenix, Jewett is helping focus on development of strong leadership for Arizona. He has helped create the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership and in partnership with Tucson's Brown Foundations created the Flinn-Brown Leadership Academy.

The academy will graduate its first class of new and ongoing civic leaders for Arizona in ceremonies on Friday, with each of the two dozen class members pledged to take on a bigger role in civic life, through an organization or even running for public office.

On Friday's Arizona Week, we will speak with Jewett for the story behind the founding of the academy, his leadership philosophy and what needs he sees it fulfilling in the state.

IMPROVED CIVIC LEADERSHIP IN AZ IS GOAL

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

Friday's Arizona Week will explore the new Arizona Center for Civic Leadership and its affiliated Flinn-Brown Leadership Academy.

The academy, based in Phoenix, will graduate its first group of civic leadership trainees on Friday. They will have completed a dozen seminars on a wide array of public issues and topics,

The goal of the program, according to the civic leadership Website: "As Arizona looks toward its second 100 years of statehood, its challenges are increasingly complex. Arizona must ensure its future leaders have the commitment, knowledge, and skills to work together to carry out creative, long-term solutions to pressing problems."

We will interview the founders and leaders of the center and the academy and speak with two of the graduating academy fellows for Friday's program.

MET DELAY

posted to Cue Sheet by James Reel

If you were wondering why the Metropolitan Opera performance began (and ended) about 35 minutes late last Saturday, here's why. It was yet another problem with the Ring cycle's elaborate stage machinery.

NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS IN TV LAND

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

The typical three-segment Arizona Week is never shot in one sitting, yet tonight's program is a marvel of technical planning and execution and the art of TV direction.

Typical is that the lead interview is shot on location and edited for the program. We did that for this week's program on Arizona water and the drought.

Then, a second segment is shot, either on location or in what is called "live-to-tape" in our studio.

Live-to-tape means that while it is taped, the shoot is captured as is from beginning to end, as if it were live. In other words, no "Take 2" or beyond.

Finally, the journalists' panel segment is shot in the studio, again "live-to-tape."

For this week's program, the second segment was shot after the third, because the interviewee couldn't make it at the usual time. So the journalists went before the interview, and then in post-production editing, the order of presentation was reversed.

It all worked seamlessly, and viewers will see the seamlessness when it airs at 8:30 p.m. MST on PBS-HD 6.

Only you blog readers will know how the stitches were sewn to create the seamless appearance.

WATER SUPPLY: TOUGHER TIMES AHEAD

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

Water harvesting, water rationing, a cultural shift in urban water use and even more dire steps should be expected in Arizona as water managers and politicians seek to stretch the limited water supply.

That's the picture painted by University of Arizona climatologist Gregg Garfin, who has studied drought and water flows and who consults with water officials in the state.

"We've reached actually a crossing point between supply and demand in the Colorado River, so that we're actually drawing more water off the Colorado on a year-to-year basis, Garfin said in an interview for Friday's Arizona Week broadcast.

He said that for city dwellers in Phoenix and Tucson, that will mean water rationing at times, imposition of more conservation measures, including greater limits on outdoor water use, and water harvesting, or capture of rain runoff and reuse of water.

Garfin said his research and that of others shows that Arizona is prone to droughts of 10 to 30 years over the centuries. The current dry spell started in 2000, reached its wordst in 2002 and has had only three above-average water years, Garfin said.

One of those years was this past winter, when Upper Colorado River Basin snow pack and subsequent melt off has been big enough to allow a five-year pushback of any drastic rationing measures in the state.

Most water in Arizona is still taken by agriculture, Garfin said. But he said the priority for water use when the Colorado runs low are Native American tribes first, then urban users and finally agriculture. That means agriculture would be the first to lose supply when flow is low.

Garfin's full interview and an interview with David Modeer, general manager of the Central Arizona Project, will be featured on Friday's Arizona Week, 8:30 p.m. MST on PBS-HD Channel 6.

REVIEWS: LA FINTA AND LA RONDINE

posted to Cue Sheet by James Reel

I've gotten way behind in posting reviews and features I submit to various print publications, so let me now reach back a couple of years to a pair of my Fanfare reviews of video productions of not-quite-standard-repertory operas.

MOZART La finta giardiniera • Nikolaus Harnoncourt, cond; Eva Mei (Violante/Sandrina); Isabel Rey (Arminda); Julia Kleiter (Serpetta); Liliana Nikiteanu (Ramiro); Rudolf Schasching (Don Anchise); Christoph Strehl (Belfiore); Gabriel Bermudez (Roberto/Nardo); Zürich “La Scintilla” Op O • TDK DVBD OPFINT (Blu-ray Disc: 187:00)

Christopher Williams reviewed the conventional DVD version of this, along with a competing Salzburg Festival DG issue under Ivor Bolton, in Fanfare 31:1. Williams found that this Harnoncourt performance on TDK offered “a fulluer text, tighter ensemble, and more ‘traditional’ stagecraft,” but less dynamism in individual roles. Still, wrote Williams, “Harnoncourt delivers a lively and captivating performance with that characteristic Harnoncourt ‘bite’ and penchant for surging hairpin dynamics.” That Harnoncourt “bite” is difficult to discern on the DTS-HD audio track, which softens the orchestral attacks and puts the singers at a great distance; they’ve got less volume to cut through the swimmy acoustics than in the closer, clearer PCM stereo version, which presents everyone to much better advantage.

I agree with Williams that Christoph Strehl displays “a voice of spun (and occasionally crooning) gold,” but with the exception of Eva Mei, whose performance is notable for its balance of warmth with lightness and delicacy, the other singers fall a bit short of perfection. Liliana Nikiteanu lacks the stamina to carry her all the way through some phrases, and Rudolf Schasching can be a little coarse, vocally. Furthermore, the cameras aren’t always pointing at the right character. Even so, it’s overall an enjoyable performance, for more details on which you should consult the earlier review.

About this Blu-ray version, I’ll say that the picture is very crisp, with subtle gradations and shadings of color. There are no extra video features, though, and no onscreen scene selection menu beyond the division of acts; on the other hand, individual numbers are indexed, and listed in the booklet, which also includes a little multilingual essay by director Tobias Moretti on his concept—and that’s about it. So in terms of both packaging and performance, this is a very good release that could have been better. James Reel

PUCCINI La rondine • Carlo Rizzi, cond; Fiorenza Cedolins (Magda); Sandra Pastrana (Lisette); Fernando Portari (Ruggero); Emanuele Giannino (Prunier); Stefano Antonucci (Rambaldo); George Mosley (Périchaud); Iorio Zennaro (Gobin); Giuseppe Nicodemo (Crébillon); Andrea Zoppa (Majordomo); Sabrina Vianello (Yvette); Giacinta Nicotra (Bianca); Annika Kaschenz (Suzy); La Fenice O & Ch • ARTHAUS 101 330 (Blu-ray Disc: 106:00) Live: Venice 2008

Joel Kasow reviewed the DVD release of this production in Fanfare 32:3. My colleague is generally intolerant of updated stagings and Regietheater in general. Unlike Kasow, I believe that the story of Magda, a kept woman in fairly high society, still makes sense when transferred to the 1950s, so director Graham Vick has done absolutely no harm there. Some of his blocking, though, does the singers a real disservice. Fiorenza Cedolins has to sing the first half of her second major aria lying on her back on the floor, which does her tone and support no favors. Similarly, roly-poly Fernando Portari looks unintentionally comic when he’s playfully rolling around in the sand in the resort scene near the end (if he dropped a few pounds he could be a matinee idol, which is what every lead tenor should be). Kasow couldn’t warm up to most of the vocalism in this production, and indeed it’s competent but not special. The singing on a recent Naxos video of this opera (not issued on Blu-ray) is apparently quite mediocre, judging from Ray Tuttle’s review in Fanfare 33:1. This Arthaus release is clearly preferable. Alas, the surround-sound mix is cavernous and unpleasant, so stick to the PCM stereo. There were apparently no microphones in the audience, so during the applause we hear more chatter from the pit than clapping from the hall. There are no special video features, and the printed booklet consists only of a brief synopsis and background essay. Still, if you have Blu-ray capability, get this version, because the colors on the women’s party dresses in the first act really pop. James Reel