L’Amiral Horthy, amazon.fr

A biography in French of Admiral Horthy, who was regent of Hungary from 1920 to 1944, is scheduled for release at amazon.fr on 4 September 2014.

In the Spirit of Monte Carlo, amazon.com, release date 7 October 2014

In the Spirit of Monte Carlo, amazon.co.uk, release date 30 September 2014

LEGENDE DE MONTE CARLO, amazon.fr, in French, release date 23 October 2014

The soon-to-be-published book In the Spirit of Monte Carlo  “chronicles the 700-year-old Grimaldi dynasty, the artists and socialites who first brought the luxury and glamour, the fairy-tale story of how Hollywood darling Grace Kelly attracted the celebrity spotlight, the city’s vibrant arts and culture scene and legendary Grand Prix race, and the recent, controversial metamorphosis of the cityscape. This gorgeous volume also includes an insider’s guide featuring the best hotels, restaurants, bars and clubs, shopping, attractions, and activities in Monte Carlo and its environs.”–amazon.com

Ces reines qui ont gouverné la France, amazon.fr

28 August 2014 is the scheduled release date at amazon.fr
for a new book in French about those queens who ruled France as regent. They were Blanche de Castille, Isabeau de Bavière, Catherine de Médicis, Marie de Médicis, and Anne d’Autriche. A woman was not eligible to inherit the throne, but the mother of a king was the preferred choice for regent if the king was under age.

Du bist die Welt für mich, doppel-CD, amazon.de

Jonas Kaufmann’s double CD Du bist die Welt für mich is being released in Germany on 19 September 2014, while in the United Kingdom a single CD You mean the world to me is being released on 15 September 2014. Will there be more tracks on the double CD? One would think so, but I have not seen any list of the tracks for the German double CD. The tracks for the U. K. single CD are:

1. Paganini: “Girls Are Made to Love and Kiss”
2. The Land of Smiles: “You Are My Heart’s Delight”
3. Der singende Traum: “Du bist die Welt für mich”
4. Frasquita: “My Little Nest of Heavenly Blue”
5. Liebeskommando: “Im Traum hast Du mir alles erlaubt”
6. Gräfin Mariza: “Grüß mir mein Wien”
7. Ein blonder Traum: “Irgendwo auf der Welt”
8. My Song Goes Round the World
9. Giuditta: “Freunde das Leben ist lebenswert!”
10. Victor und ihr Husar: “Reich mir zum Abschied noch einmal die Hände”
11. The White Horse Inn:”It Must Be Wonderful”
12. Die Blume von Hawaii: “Diwanpüppchen”
13. The Song is Over:”Don’t Ask Me Why”
14. Das Lied einer Nacht: “Heute Nacht oder nie”
15. Die große Sünderin: “Das Lied vom Leben des Schrenk”
16. Die tote Stadt: “Glück, das mir verblieb”
17. Das Land des Lächelns: “Je t’ai donné mon coeur”

You Mean the World to Me (Standard 1 CD Version), amazon.co.uk

I have seen no mention so far of a U. S. release.

From 17 April 2015 to 23 May 2015 Jonas Kaufmann will make a number of appearances in Germany as well as in Lucerne, Vienna, and Paris for “Du bist die Welt für mich” concerts. Details are on the singer’s website.

In October 2014 American soprano Renée Fleming releases her first-ever holiday album entitled Christmas in New York.

Guest artists include, Alison Krauss, Gregory Porter, Kurt Elling, Chris Botti, Joshua Bell, Brad Mehldau and Wynton Marsalis.

The release of the album will be supported by Renée’s appearance on the broadcast of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade followed by a confirmed December pledge PBS Christmas Special first air date being December 4th, 2014.

While Renée is known mostly as an opera singer, her career has encompassed numerous genres and styles of singing. For Christmas in New York, Renée sings in a more intimate style.

Source: amazon.com

Christmas in New York, CD, amazon.com

Christmas in New York, CD, amazon.co.uk

Christmas in New York, CD, amazon.fr

An apparently interesting new book is scheduled for release in August.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, hardcover, Barnes and Noble

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, hardcover, alibris

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, hardcover, amazon.com

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, audiobook, downpour

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot — David Shafer, iTunes

Overview:

Three young adults grapple with the usual thirty-something problems—boredom, authenticity, an omnipotent online oligarchy—in David Shafer’s darkly comic debut novel.

The Committee, an international cabal of industrialists and media barons, is on the verge of privatizing all information. Dear Diary, an idealistic online Underground, stands in the way of that takeover, using radical politics, classic spycraft, and technology that makes Big Data look like dial-up. Into this secret battle stumbles an unlikely trio: Leila Majnoun, a disillusioned non-profit worker; Leo Crane, an unhinged trustafarian; and Mark Deveraux, a phony self-betterment guru who works for the Committee.

Leo and Mark were best friends in college, but early adulthood has set them on diverging paths. Growing increasingly disdainful of Mark’s platitudes, Leo publishes a withering takedown of his ideas online. But the Committee is reading—and erasing—Leo’s words. On the other side of the world, Leila’s discoveries about the Committee’s far-reaching ambitions threaten to ruin those who are closest to her.

In the spirit of William Gibson and Chuck Palahniuk, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is both a suspenseful global thriller and an emotionally truthful novel about the struggle to change the world in- and outside your head.

–Barnes and Noble

Some of us have been reading frequent mention of a decline in ticket sales in recent years at the Metropolitan Opera. No doubt there are many factors responsible, including, most likely, the quality of the performances. I, for one, certainly do not believe that the potential audience has suddenly died off or has become too infirm to attend the opera. One potential factor that I have not seen mentioned is the decline in readership of newspapers. Newspaper readership in the United States has declined in the past twenty years, and especially in the past ten years. I wonder whether the Metropolitan Opera attracted a significant part of its ticket buyers from newspaper readers, and has yet to find a new way to remind people of its existence and its performances.

For information on newspaper readership, scroll down to “Audience” at the web page The State of the News Media 2013.

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Six by Sondheim, Amazon Instant Video, amazon.com, U.S. release June 9, 2014

Explore the life and career of renowned Broadway lyricist and composer Stephen Sondheim through six of his best-known songs.

West Side Story, MP3, amazon.co.uk