Catrani/Accademia Dell’Annunciata/Doni
(Arcana)
A sumptuous, elegant account of Barbara Strozzi’s 17th-century vocal music – performed with warmth, clarity and persuasive expressive freedom

Barbara Strozzi was a true 17th-century revolutionary. The adopted and quite possibly the natural daughter of poet and librettist Giulio Strozzi, she grew up in the bosom of the Venetian intelligentsia, taking part in debates from the age of 15. Her tally of 120 published works for solo voice was unequalled by any of her contemporaries. Despite remaining single, she managed to support four children on the income from her music alone. The quality of her output is matched only by Monteverdi.

Virtuosissima Sirena comprises a handful of cantatas and arias interspersed with effervescent trio sonatas by Legrenzi and Castello. Accademia dell’Annunciata’s lineup of two violins, cello, theorbo, double harp and harpsichord lends the music a shimmering sweetness that’s perhaps more sumptuous than the composer would have expected but is nonetheless enchanting.

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With hundreds of thousands of homes still without power, we spoke to residents affected, many confined indoors

More than 40 people have died in a huge winter storm in the US. Schools were closed and flights cancelled as people grappled with heavy snowfall and icy conditions.

Nearly 300,000 households are also still without power, several days later, according to poweroutage.us. We spoke to people affected by the storm. Here are some of their responses.

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Sinds president Trump begin vorig jaar terugkeerde in het Witte Huis is de dollar aan een glijvlucht bezig. Dat lijkt goed nieuws voor Europa, maar schijn bedriegt. Vier vragen over een wereldmunt.

Pieter Omtzigt is weer aan het werk. In april vorig jaar stopte hij als Kamerlid en voorzitter van zijn partij NSC. De ex-politicus kampte opnieuw met burn-outklachten. Inmiddels is hij zijn eigen adviesbureau begonnen.

"Sinds een paar maanden ben ik weer aan het werk", aldus de zelfstandig ondernemer tegen RTLZ. "Op dit moment ben ik in opdracht van IKT Twente bezig om te inventariseren bij ondernemers, overheid en onderwijs welke stappen op het gebied van AI in Twente gezet kunnen worden. Dat is een project van de Twenteboard. Het is fijn om weer aan de slag te zijn."

Daarnaast gaat Omtzigt, die al langer gespecialiseerd is in AI, lezingen geven en onderzoek doen op het gebied van AI, demografie en mensenrechten. "Het bevalt me heel goed om op dit moment even niet in het publieke debat aanwezig te zijn na 22 jaar in de Kamer en de Raad van Europa", klinkt het.

Wat hij exact verder gaat doen, is nog onduidelijk. "Er is nog geen precies, vastomlijnd plan. Schrijven en onderzoek doen, wat ik ook deed voor en tijdens mijn Kamerlidmaatschap, trekken me op dit moment zeker."

Bron: RTL Nieuws

Twee mannen hebben kennelijk grote behoefte aan apotheekartikelen. Maar ze willen er niet voor betalen.

J22 in Berkel en Rodenrijs is failliet. Na bijna dertig jaar sluit de modewinkel de deuren. Het faillissement werd op 27 januari uitgesproken door de rechtbank in Den Haag.

DirtyGlassEye has added a photo to the pool:

All along the Arashiyama path are some of the neatest residents I've ever seen (and believe me I've seen the fanciest, most cultured neighborhoods in the US, this was truly special). This particular property was on the branchout walkway to Gio-Ji. The structure within the walls looked big enough to be a temple but I'm not 100% sure. I didn't stick around long enough to find out.
But what I could appreciate was the sheer value of the doorstep alone. I crouched down to get this awesome shot combining architecture and nature. This is how ya make the most of a closed gate. This kinda looks like a promotional shot on zillow or bnb.
In editing I turned the temperature up on the entire image to simultaneously drain the sky and boost the gate/wall's saturation. the trees and stone steps didn't stand out as much but they didn't from the start so it was nothing new. Admit it, you'd definitely want to live here now right? I totally own this and will give it to you for the sum of- wait, why are the feds at my door?

Woven Hand

Nothing’s harder to watch than an older person desperate to look cool to younger people, and this might be the most egregious example we’ve ever seen: This woman is trying to seem hip to her daughter by wearing a shirt featuring a big bedazzled R-word. 

Yikes. ‘How do you do, fellow kids?’ much?

Durham, NC, resident Patricia Wilson, 53, is putting on a masterclass in cringe for all the girls at her daughter Sabrina’s sleepover by wearing a t-shirt with a massive, glittery R-word on it, apparently under the impression that using the ableist slur is ‘in’ among today’s youth. After hearing about how the R-word has become re-normalized, now regularly employed on the Internet and by influential celebrities like Joe Rogan and Elon Musk, Patricia saw the slur as an opportunity to connect with her 14-year-old daughter and decided to make the bedazzled R-word shirt herself. Despite her good intentions, the sparkling R-word shirt has only been met with eye rolls by her daughter and her friends, who Patricia later overheard whispering about how “sad” it is for “an old lady to dress like an edgelord e-girl” and declaring the R-word “so over.”

“Is my [R-word] shirt giving snatched or what, fam? Momma [R-word] is highkey mogging in this fit, mm-mmm,” Patricia said to the girls, who just exchanged dirty looks and ignored Patricia’s offer to make them R-word shirts too. “Don’t leave me on read after I dropped my guap on pizza for y’all [R-words]. Sabrina, you can take a seat with that skibidi camp side eye, m’kay little miss [R-word]? Quit acting delulu or this slaycation’s over. I’ll send the baes home. Bet. Well, I’ll let you [R-words] cook. Don’t sleep on bedtime. Lights out at 11.”

What an absolute trainwreck. Please, please, please, just act your age…

If Patricia’s goal with her bedazzled [R-word] shirt was to win her daughter’s favor, she failed, to say the least. On the bright side, people opposed to the R-word’s return to the mainstream might have a reason to celebrate here, because try-hard parents like Patricia are about to make it uncool all over again.