With a red whip on your desk I suppose.

It must be great to be able to think the Nutcracker is real.

Perhaps you listen to Tsjaichovsky while writing to experience that same feeling?

Your godson wants to make it real.

Just bought Cecilia Bartoli's Sacrificium.
Dedicated to "The sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of boys in the name of Music ."

Dear Mieke,

If you have heard the CD, you think the sacrifices were worth while?

yours,

Eric W.

Eric W.

Isn't that more a question for a man?
Keep in mind however that most of the boys eventually couldn't sing.

Arnon

Let us write it on the wall: 'Is it real?'
Beautiful!

Anybody performing Balachine choreography is more than real.
They're tough.

Dear Mieke,

No, I don't think it's more a question for a man.
It's a question you might ask yourself while enjoying the music.
And the fact that most of the boys ultimately couldn't sing, or died during the castration, makes this question worthwhile.

yours,

Eric W.

Eric W.

Dear Eric,
As a todler it was my biggest ambition to become an operasinger. I would gladly have sacrificed my balls to be able to sing like that. It's my adage , that one should be willing to suffer a little for his art. So though it seemed a cruel practice, it was not without benefit; thrilling music was the result.
Yours,

Dear Mieke,

you think being castrated is "to suffer a **little** for his art."?

happy new year,

Eric W.