Does Your Avatar Look Anything Like You?

[MTL]

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Sorry, I probably should have replied to your last post, instead of adding onto my own!!

Then you would have seen it.

but I like the avatar, regardless.

I am by no means an expert on opera, but I am certainly open to it.
Do you have any favourites?

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Montreal is also known for its bagels, which differ from the standard New York style of bagel.
Montreal is very proud of its unique bagels.
They are mainly in either sesame seed or poppy seed,
but the style with which they are made is different,
and they look different too.

Two good bagel shops to try in Montreal are both in the Plateau neighborhood;
one is called St-Viateur Bagel, the other is called Fairmount Bagel.

And if you've never had a real Montreal poutine, you should try that, too.
La Banquise is best, but you can get lots of good poutine all over Montreal.
But go easy....it's delicious and it's easy to pack on the pounds quickly!
Especially in the cold Montreal winters.

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I like the avatar regardless of its supposed significance, too.  I chose it without knowing what it was supposed to represent, and only learned afterwards what it is supposed to be.

As for opera, my taste is fairly normal.  I very much like (please note, the links are to the versions I like best, but you might find a better price elsewhere):

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Madama Butterfly (my favorite tragedy):
http://www.amazon.ca/Madama-Butterfly-Co...B0000041S8

La Bohème
http://www.amazon.ca/Puccini-Bohème-Mire...B0000041TD

Turandot
http://www.amazon.ca/Turandot-Comp-Ital-...B0000041Q3

All three of the above were in a set called "Puccini:The Definitive Collection" which would be worth getting if not overpriced, but it seems out of print and crazy expensive now.  The other operas in the set are lesser performances, as Pavarotti's voice was aging, as was Freni's.


Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville, my favorite comic opera)
http://www.amazon.ca/Barber-Seville-Gioa...B0000041W2


Here are three discs of operatic type songs that I love:

http://www.amazon.ca/Love-Cecilia-Bartol...B00000420F

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0000042H2

http://www.amazon.ca/Rossini-Recital-Gio...B0000041YF

All three feature Cecelia Bartoli from some years ago, when her voice was still fairly young, with piano accompaniment.  It took me a little while to warm up to her, as I do not think her voice is as extraordinary as many seem to think, but she seems to convey a sense of joy in her singing that makes me enjoy hearing her more than someone else whose voice might be better.  She also has had a knack for performing only with other people who are talented, which helps her discs as well.


I will stop with that for the moment, as that is probably more than you are going to buy anyway.  I also like Mozart and Wagner and some Verdi.  Carmen is a good opera, though I find I don't like French in opera as much as I like Italian and German.  Rather ironically, I like the sound of French spoken better than those languages, and I like French songs very much.  But for opera, I think Italian and German are best.

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wow, that's a very generous list!  thanks for going to the trouble!

I can't buy anything right now, but I will tuck them away for future reference;
of course I know Puccini!