Elaine Calder
@calderbennett.bsky.social
Retired. Used to manage arts organizations: orchestras, theatres and an opera company, in both Canada and the US. Working on my Italian, in part by visiting Venice once or twice a year and studying at the Leonardo da Vinci Centre in Victoria, BC.
"Beasts of the Southern Wild" (2012) starred an unforgettable Quvenzhané Wallis, who was nine years old. She was the youngest Best Actress Oscar nominee in history.
November 19, 2025 at 2:23 PM
"Beasts of the Southern Wild" (2012) starred an unforgettable Quvenzhané Wallis, who was nine years old. She was the youngest Best Actress Oscar nominee in history.
Who needs Christmas? The West Wing returns to Netflix on December 9th: seven seasons of sanity, integrity and public service in the Oval Office.
November 18, 2025 at 3:50 AM
Who needs Christmas? The West Wing returns to Netflix on December 9th: seven seasons of sanity, integrity and public service in the Oval Office.
I'm in Montréal for the month and my essentially transactional French is working fine. But it's been decades since I lived here and it doesn't come as instinctively as Italian does now, so I'm using far too many "permesso"s and "grazie"s. I remain in awe of people who speak many languages fluently.
November 1, 2025 at 10:16 PM
I'm in Montréal for the month and my essentially transactional French is working fine. But it's been decades since I lived here and it doesn't come as instinctively as Italian does now, so I'm using far too many "permesso"s and "grazie"s. I remain in awe of people who speak many languages fluently.
The 4 room hotel I've found in Cannaregio has several advantages besides supporting a Venetian: no bridges to cross to the Ca' d'Oro stop; close to Boccadoro, Bacanera, Il Sbarfelo and Bepi Antico; and no gondoliers singing O Sole Mio beneath my windows. It's on a quiet alley near Santi Apostoli.
September 12, 2025 at 1:07 AM
The 4 room hotel I've found in Cannaregio has several advantages besides supporting a Venetian: no bridges to cross to the Ca' d'Oro stop; close to Boccadoro, Bacanera, Il Sbarfelo and Bepi Antico; and no gondoliers singing O Sole Mio beneath my windows. It's on a quiet alley near Santi Apostoli.
My daughter Allegra last weekend, wearing my twenty-year-old Armani gown to a wedding in Dubrovnik:
September 4, 2025 at 5:45 PM
My daughter Allegra last weekend, wearing my twenty-year-old Armani gown to a wedding in Dubrovnik:
Sometimes amid the clutter you think I'm really glad I saved this photo.
September 2, 2025 at 4:02 AM
Sometimes amid the clutter you think I'm really glad I saved this photo.
I have to see this film, which received a lengthy ovation at the Venice Film Festival and is getting great reviews:
August 29, 2025 at 6:45 PM
I have to see this film, which received a lengthy ovation at the Venice Film Festival and is getting great reviews:
Ezra Pound e Olga Rudge, sul ponte di fronte a San Moisé.
This is a found photograph, with no photographer credited.
This is a found photograph, with no photographer credited.
August 25, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Ezra Pound e Olga Rudge, sul ponte di fronte a San Moisé.
This is a found photograph, with no photographer credited.
This is a found photograph, with no photographer credited.
When I can't sleep, this feels like music for our time.
August 21, 2025 at 11:11 AM
When I can't sleep, this feels like music for our time.
And I'm going back to Vienna for another quick opera visit! Last year I saw a wonky Don Carlo at the Staatsoper; next year it's my friend from Victoria Josh Lovell in a previously unknown to me 18th C work called L'Opera seria. It's at Theater an der Wien, yet another jewel box house.
August 17, 2025 at 3:10 AM
And I'm going back to Vienna for another quick opera visit! Last year I saw a wonky Don Carlo at the Staatsoper; next year it's my friend from Victoria Josh Lovell in a previously unknown to me 18th C work called L'Opera seria. It's at Theater an der Wien, yet another jewel box house.
The photo that he said was a single shot, taken on the way to work, and that if the overcoat on the man with his back to us had been white instead of black the picture wouldn't have worked:
August 14, 2025 at 8:19 PM
The photo that he said was a single shot, taken on the way to work, and that if the overcoat on the man with his back to us had been white instead of black the picture wouldn't have worked:
Gianni Berengo Gardin is dead, at the age of 94. He said in an interview in The Guardian in 2014 that his most famous photo, taken in 1960, was a happy accident. He only took one shot and if the man in the black coat with his back to us had been wearing white the picture wouldn't have worked.
August 7, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Gianni Berengo Gardin is dead, at the age of 94. He said in an interview in The Guardian in 2014 that his most famous photo, taken in 1960, was a happy accident. He only took one shot and if the man in the black coat with his back to us had been wearing white the picture wouldn't have worked.
It's about 14 C warmer in Venice than Victoria these days, and I've decided I'll never go to Italy in July. And then I see a photo of the Redentore fireworks:
July 20, 2025 at 1:11 AM
It's about 14 C warmer in Venice than Victoria these days, and I've decided I'll never go to Italy in July. And then I see a photo of the Redentore fireworks:
My friend Brett Polegato is getting superb reviews for his Golaud in Longborough Festival Opera's Pelléas. As the world descends into darker chaos, a trip to the Cotswolds to see a friend achieve greatness seems like a sane use of my time and money. I'll be at the final performance on Thursday.
July 8, 2025 at 3:50 AM
My friend Brett Polegato is getting superb reviews for his Golaud in Longborough Festival Opera's Pelléas. As the world descends into darker chaos, a trip to the Cotswolds to see a friend achieve greatness seems like a sane use of my time and money. I'll be at the final performance on Thursday.
Nicholas Kenyon of The Telegraph reviews Longborough Festival Opera's Pelléas et Mélisande:
"As Golaud, lost at the beginning of the opera, despairing at the end, Brett Polegato captures perfectly the intensity of Debussy’s writing but also its restraint."
My friend Brett "captures perfectly".
"As Golaud, lost at the beginning of the opera, despairing at the end, Brett Polegato captures perfectly the intensity of Debussy’s writing but also its restraint."
My friend Brett "captures perfectly".
June 30, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Nicholas Kenyon of The Telegraph reviews Longborough Festival Opera's Pelléas et Mélisande:
"As Golaud, lost at the beginning of the opera, despairing at the end, Brett Polegato captures perfectly the intensity of Debussy’s writing but also its restraint."
My friend Brett "captures perfectly".
"As Golaud, lost at the beginning of the opera, despairing at the end, Brett Polegato captures perfectly the intensity of Debussy’s writing but also its restraint."
My friend Brett "captures perfectly".
My friend Dan Hart manages the Buffalo Philharmonic, and he recently sent me a package of CDs all led by their long-time music director JoAnn Falletta. I never paid much attention to Scriabin, but I'm loving this.
June 29, 2025 at 1:30 AM
My friend Dan Hart manages the Buffalo Philharmonic, and he recently sent me a package of CDs all led by their long-time music director JoAnn Falletta. I never paid much attention to Scriabin, but I'm loving this.
I'm in Niagara-on-the-Lake for a few days, and when I spotted The Maple Syrup Store I had to take a picture for @monicacesarato.bsky.social. Lo
June 13, 2025 at 1:26 AM
I'm in Niagara-on-the-Lake for a few days, and when I spotted The Maple Syrup Store I had to take a picture for @monicacesarato.bsky.social. Lo
Enrico #Berlinguer, leader of the Italian Communist party, died four days after his last rally on June 7, 1984. Millions lined the streets of Rome for his funeral. He remains revered and remembered today. I found this in Naples in October 2024.
June 9, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Enrico #Berlinguer, leader of the Italian Communist party, died four days after his last rally on June 7, 1984. Millions lined the streets of Rome for his funeral. He remains revered and remembered today. I found this in Naples in October 2024.
On a Thursday evening in Canada, stirring a risotto that includes Italian rice and cheese along with a dash of heavy cream and fresh peas while listening to late Shostakovich string quartets, is an easy way to remind yourself how truly lucky you are.
May 30, 2025 at 3:38 AM
On a Thursday evening in Canada, stirring a risotto that includes Italian rice and cheese along with a dash of heavy cream and fresh peas while listening to late Shostakovich string quartets, is an easy way to remind yourself how truly lucky you are.
That archway marks a water entrance to Teatro San Cassiano, which was torn down in 1812. The big picture was taken through the arch, on the original wall on the right, and shows a torch holder that would have lit the way for theatergoers. With thanks to Paul Atkin, who wants to rebuild the theatre.
May 23, 2025 at 12:03 PM
That archway marks a water entrance to Teatro San Cassiano, which was torn down in 1812. The big picture was taken through the arch, on the original wall on the right, and shows a torch holder that would have lit the way for theatergoers. With thanks to Paul Atkin, who wants to rebuild the theatre.
Meanwhile I'm slowly simmering a Marcella Hazen tomato sauce on my stove, with lots of butter, oil, basil, oregano, salt, pepper - and time. Later I'll cook some orecchiette and sausages, and make dinner for one. #learningtolivealoneaftermorethanayear
May 19, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Meanwhile I'm slowly simmering a Marcella Hazen tomato sauce on my stove, with lots of butter, oil, basil, oregano, salt, pepper - and time. Later I'll cook some orecchiette and sausages, and make dinner for one. #learningtolivealoneaftermorethanayear
Riso Vialone Nono makes a great risotto!
May 18, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Riso Vialone Nono makes a great risotto!
I watch for the memorial to 1848/49.
May 16, 2025 at 6:21 PM
I watch for the memorial to 1848/49.
White wisteria blooming in Victoria, BC.
May 15, 2025 at 5:24 PM
White wisteria blooming in Victoria, BC.
The controversial statue of D'Annunzio, installed in Trieste a few years ago. The right-wing mayor says it's to celebrate a great writer - who neither lived in nor wrote about Trieste. Left-wing locals think it's a pro-fascist political statement.
May 9, 2025 at 3:31 PM
The controversial statue of D'Annunzio, installed in Trieste a few years ago. The right-wing mayor says it's to celebrate a great writer - who neither lived in nor wrote about Trieste. Left-wing locals think it's a pro-fascist political statement.