User talk:Smerus/Archive 2

Archive 1

Archive 2

Archive 3

Archive 4

Archive 5

DYK for Fiacre (carriage)

The DYK project (nominate) 15:08, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

An enjoyable ride ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:11, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

Felix Mendelssohn

You are, of course, entitled to edit whatever you like on Wikipedia. However, I would expect that an intelligent person such as yourself might have tried to learn a bit about the CADASIL syndrome before deleting my entry on Felix Mendelssohn so perfunctorily. I am a Professor of Pathology at the University of Virginia, and do not idly throw medical opinions around.

MRWick1 Mrwick1 (talk) 16:31, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

@Mrwick1: Nu? I am a PhD and have published books and papers, am a Grade VIII piano player and speak mediocre Slovak, but despite these emblems of glory I stick to Wikipedia rules about citation. I don't think being a Professor exempts you from this, but you could try pinging Jimmy Wales to see if he will give you a dispensation. Best, --Smerus (talk) 16:42, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

Chopin

Hi. Sorry I took so long getting to this! You may remember that I wanted to contribute to the article. I hadn't realized you'd got it so far as on a few occasions you edited it and then left it for a while! Apologies for not adding more while you were writing it. I've made some additions which I think help it, I hope you're not alarmed with them. I'll continue to look in google books over the weekend and see if I can find anything further. We could probably use a section on Alkan and Chopin like the Liszt one I added. It's really very good though and clearly a future FA!♦ Dr. Blofeld 12:05, 11 July 2014 (UTC)

This is very helpful, esp. the additonal stuff re Liszt, which helps to plug a bit of a gap in the niography section. Many thanks ---Smerus (talk) 12:07, 11 July 2014 (UTC)

Thanks. It can always be trimmed later if there's too much weight on anything. Your strength is definitely writing about the musicality of such composers, virtually flawless what you've written! ♦ Dr. Blofeld 12:33, 11 July 2014 (UTC)

Do you think you could find enough in your resources to write a section for Alkan like the Liszt one or don't you think it's worth it? You're the Alkan expert! I see stfg has now posted comments. I've expanded it pretty much as well as I can, reaching at least 12 or 13 pages in google books, keeping in mind length. After stfg's comments have been addressed I think it might be worth running for FA. I can envisage a wealth of comments of course, but I really think it's near enough the top level to go for it and would be more productive to be bold and go for it. If reviewers want more detail in areas that can be addressed during the FAC. Only if you're ready of course! If you're waiting for other reviewers to comment at the peer review though probably best to wait, there's no rush.♦ Dr. Blofeld 15:40, 11 July 2014 (UTC)

Fine, I'll butt out :-). Good luck with the FAC whenever you want to nom it!♦ Dr. Blofeld 20:45, 12 July 2014 (UTC)

Chopin was such a genius! Just listening to one of his nocturnes in B flat minor and he manages to convert D diminished, a half step above D flat major into D major and play for a bit in that key and then use the D diminished as a tritone substitution for A flat 7, leading back to the D flat major!! In may ways he was one of the earliest jazz pianists!♦ Dr. Blofeld 07:15, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

Enjoyed his gifts today --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:52, 8 August 2014 (UTC)

Shameless canvassing

If your efforts chez Chopin leave you with energy to look at other composers resident in Paris in the 19th century, may I invite you to drop in at Jules Massenet, whom, rather to my surprise, I have at FAC. Quite understand if you don't fancy the task or are otherwise engaged, but your thoughts would be most welcome. Tim riley talk 19:58, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

DYK for Chopin (opera)

 — Crisco 1492 (talk) 01:21, 10 August 2014 (UTC)

Nice, a meeting in a DYK set with Klesie Kelly, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:34, 10 August 2014 (UTC)

:-} --Smerus (talk) 09:25, 10 August 2014 (UTC)

She was convincing as the widow who thought her boy was dead, as the boy seeing the little cloud, and singing "Höre, Israel", --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:17, 10 August 2014 (UTC)

playing Chopin pictured, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:29, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

FA Chopin, congratulations, here's an ensemble playing for you, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:30, 17 August 2014 (UTC)

Thanks Gerda!!--Smerus (talk) 09:25, 17 August 2014 (UTC)

I put him pending for TFA 17 October, hope that's what you want? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:53, 17 August 2014 (UTC)

Yes that wd be great--Smerus (talk) 11:41, 17 August 2014 (UTC)

Now Wagner is on the Main page again, DYK? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:12, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Special Barnstar
	For getting Chopin up to FA status!!! ♦ Dr. Blofeld 10:13, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

Mon cher docteur, you also deserve credit for your sterling contributions! Very many thanks.--Smerus (talk) 19:00, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

The SPI (you know which)

Well done! (I was wondering whether to do that too.) Cheers, --Stfg (talk) 17:15, 30 August 2014 (UTC)

Yes, well, it was a bit bleedin' obvious :-) !--Smerus (talk) 18:35, 30 August 2014 (UTC)

FA congratulations

I was going to leave you the standard {{FA congrats}} but as Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Frédéric Chopin is already underway, it's probably a bit late/unnecessary...! Best wishes, Bencherlite^Talk 14:06, 1 September 2014 (UTC)

Awesome news, thanks for letting me know!!♦ Dr. Blofeld 20:41, 3 September 2014 (UTC)

Question about Chopin

Hi. I have one question for you regarding the great article on Chopin: In the introduction it says that Chopin was a great admirer of Schubert (amongst others). I also believed this until recently. I just finished reading "Chopin - Prince of the Romantics" by A. Zamoyski, and was surprised to see that this might not be the case. In page 93 it says: "Chopin did not appreciate any of the more modern composers; he was lukewarm towards Weber, never bothered to pass comments on Schubert, thought little of Mendelssohn's music, and less still of Schumann's". I must add that I haven't read any other bios about Chopin, but Zamoyski's bio seems to be one of the greatest there is. I'm sorry if this should have been written in the talk session of the article, I just want your insight (as the key creator of the article). Best regards Thuen (talk) 15:06, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

@Thuen: Thanks for this comment. Zamoyski's biography is excellent, but he's not a musician. Musicologists' comments (e.g. those by Taruskin quoted in the article) note the clear influence of Schubert (and others) in Chopin's music (whether or not he talked about them!). But I agree with you that the wording in the header is therefore unclear - I will change the wording to 'all of whose music', instead of 'all of whom'. Best,--Smerus (talk) 15:20, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

Thanks! Thuen (talk) 15:28, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

Today's Featured Article: Notification

This is to inform you that Frédéric Chopin, which you nominated at WP:FAC, will appear on the Wikipedia Main Page as Today's Featured Article on 17 October 2014. The proposed main page blurb is here; you may amend if necessary. Please check for dead links and other possible faults before the appearance date. Brianboulton (talk) 23:21, 7 October 2014 (UTC)

Enjoy his day ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:51, 17 October 2014 (UTC)

Happy Holidays

May you have very Happy Holidays, Smerus...

and a New Year filled with peace, joy, and beautiful music!

Best wishes, Voceditenore (talk) 18:34, 20 December 2014 (UTC)

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and productive 2015! Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 00:07, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

poet of the piano

I thought that Chopin was referred to by that epithet? Finding a published source might be difficult. - Hoops gza (talk) 20:41, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

• Referred to by whom? I think it would be difficult too! It's not stuff for an encyclopaedic hatnote anyway.--Smerus (talk) 20:46, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

Very well, I will request deletion of the redirects. - Hoops gza (talk) 21:39, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

• Thanks! All best for 2015.--Smerus (talk) 09:36, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

Friendly Layout Change to CFD Nomination Format

Smerus,

Thank you for submitting the opera categories for review in the categories for discussion. I took the liberty of combining those into a single nomination to make the page more readable and because I think other editors will most likely support all of the nominations or none of them so a single conversation makes sense. If I edited your nomination in a way that offends you, let me know and I'll switch it back. RevelationDirect (talk) 16:13, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

@RevelationDirect:, thank you for your very helpful edit - I should have though of it myself. Best, --Smerus (talk) 16:17, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Wrong pages

If you accidentally create a user page when moving, the deletion call isn't U1, it's G7. U1 is for your own user space - G7 covers anything you are the only contributor to. Most admin will know what you mean, though. Peridon (talk) 16:52, 25 January 2015 (UTC)

@Peridon: - Many thanks for explaining this - I will try to remember in future!--Smerus (talk) 16:54, 25 January 2015 (UTC)

DYK for Die heilige Ente

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 12:02, 1 February 2015 (UTC)

The duck was widely seen! Looking forward to the violet ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:35, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Es war ein herzigs Veilchen (Goethe/Mozart) :-).--Smerus (talk) 08:14, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

DYK for Violet (opera)

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 00:03, 4 February 2015 (UTC)

Re Portillo

There is currently a discussion at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents regarding an issue with which you may have been involved. Thank you. -- John (Daytona2 · Talk · Contribs) 16:21, 7 February 2015 (UTC)

Anyone who is interested at this curious intervention by Daytona2 (which imho is quite a dandy) can see it and my response on the Admin noticeboard.--Smerus (talk) 17:10, 7 February 2015 (UTC)

Politeness and fairness

"Of a Rose, a lovely Rose", - politeness is what you request. Politeness, as I understand it, would be to listen to the female editors, to not revert the same a (?) time, to not revert the good-faith efforts of several editors, to not revert any infobox as an involved party while others are limited in even commenting. (This is my third comment in the same discussion, a transgression worthy of an arbitration enforcement block.) Consider to revert yourself, for fairness. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:18, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

Thanks Gerda, I always consider my actions. I do not discriminate on the basis of the sex of editors, and I rather take offence at your suggestion that I do. Nor do I understand the implication that the opinions of female editors might have precedence over those of male editors (which would surely be just as bad as the other way round). I agree with you that the reinstatement of the infobox whilst the disucssion was proceeding was not polite. Particularly as Arbcom ruled that the installation of an infobox should follow, not precede, discussion at the article concerned. Best, --Smerus (talk) 09:51, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

If you are unable to detect the sarcasm in my comment, I am at a loss. Or did I miss some in your reply? - Please point me at the "arbcom rule" that allegedly the installation of an infobox should be preceded by discussion. That would require clarification, because I believe that the addition of an image, a table, an infobox doesn't require prior discussion. - Now this is my forth comment in the matter, two more than am permitted to make, - report me. Happy Valentine! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:32, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

Gerda, I don't have a clue what you are going on about. The Arbcom comment is quoted in full in my comments at the Chopin talk page. Best, --Smerus (talk) 14:24, 14 February 2015 (UTC).

I must be blind because I don't see where it would say that discussion has to precede (!) an edit. - If so, it would be not in the spirit of Wikipedia, allegedly the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:34, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

Dear Gerda, I am sorry you are having eyesight problems. Best, --Smerus (talk) 14:41, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

This might help. [1]. Sorry for butting in, but it's all over my watchlist and hard to ignore. Victoria (tk) 15:00, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

Help whom? To my understanding, it doesn't say discussion is a prerequisite for an edit, which contradicts the interpretation above, "an infobox should follow, not precede, discussion". - Needless to say, I did one infobox revert since the "decision" and was threatened with a block of a month for it. It's hard to accept that as fair ;) - If the "ruling" really needs clarification, I will officially seek it, but not today. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:18, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

This correspondence is now closed. (Ed.)--Smerus (talk) 15:26, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

Gerda, I love you to bits, but I really don't get the infobox thing. I just don't see it as a big deal. I'm not objectionable to infoboxes where they have real informational value but I really don't see it as an essential part of the furniture. I hope that someday wikidata will control infoboxes and they can become optional according to user preference, not forced upon everybody.♦ Dr. Blofeld 13:26, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Thank you for the bits ;) - The header is not infoboxes. The topic of a related arbcom case (under review) was not infoboxes. The question raised here was how to deal with innocent newbies who enter an alleged minefield (which they can't possibly know) with good-faith edits, - politely and fairly, we hope. As for the specific infobox where the question came up again: I think it was resolved politely and fairly. (Only someone needs to take me to arbitration enforcement because I made many more comments than my allowance in the process.) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:38, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Now really guys and gals - this correspondence is closed - on my talkpage, anyway. Best,--Smerus (talk) 13:43, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Books and Bytes - Issue 10

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 10, January-February 2015
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), Sadads (talk · contribs)

• New donations - ProjectMUSE, Dynamed, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, and Women Writers Online
• New TWL coordinator, conference news, and a new guide and template for archivists
• TWL moves into the new Community Engagement department at the WMF, quarterly review

Read the full newsletter

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:41, 4 March 2015 (UTC)

Van Biene

That's a nice bit of detective work you did there. Thanks also for the link which I enjoyed listening to very much! Cassianto^Talk 19:46, 9 March 2015 (UTC)

Sing-Akademie zu Berlin listed at Redirects for discussion

An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Sing-Akademie zu Berlin. Since you had some involvement with the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin redirect, you might want to participate in the redirect discussion if you have not already done so. Robert Weemeyer (talk) 08:58, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

Speak Russian?

Looking at your user page, it appears you speak Russian. I am working up a new article in a draft sandbox of a solar eclipse that happened in 1185 that will become a DYK. In the Russian Encyclopedia they have such an article already. Would you like to work together to make an English version? We can share the DYK. My email is - Douglas_Coldwell at Yahoo since it appears you have none in Wikipedia.--Doug Coldwell (talk) 09:38, 21 March 2015 (UTC)

DYK for Figaro Gets a Divorce

— Coffee // have a cup // beans // 12:03, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

Template:Peter Kemp

There may not be citations or references on the articles using this template because, to be honest, I don't necessarily know what to cite. The background is that this was originally a case of copyright violation (some anonymous user I believe copied material Mr. Kemp had written for CD liner notes), but was satisfactorily resolved. Mr. Kemp contacted us when he became aware of the situation, but was willing to allow the content to remain provided that credit was given along the lines of this template. His permission is documented in the correspondence from OTRS ticket 114610. --Michael Snow (talk) 15:40, 29 March 2015 (UTC)

DYK for Ferdinand Praeger

Thanks for your contribution Victuallers (talk) 00:02, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

Nice

	Accolade
	A cookie for you for being so nice. In America, we only have devil's food. Doug Coldwell (talk) 13:49, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

As you probably noticed that Template:Did you know nominations/1185 East Midlands earthquake has been placed into a Prep area. It will officially become a DYK in a few days. Thanks for review. BTW Accolade is an article I created.--Doug Coldwell (talk) 12:27, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

A new reference tool

Hello Books & Bytes subscribers. There is a new Visual Editor reference feature in development called Citoid. It is designed to "auto-fill" references using a URL or DOI. We would really appreciate you testing whether TWL partners' references work in Citoid. Sharing your results will help the developers fix bugs and improve the system. If you have a few minutes, please visit the testing page for simple instructions on how to try this new tool. Regards, MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:48, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

TWL HighBeam check-in

Hello Wikipedia Library Users,

You are receiving this message because the Wikipedia Library has record of you receiving a one-year subscription to HighBeam. This is a brief update to remind you about that access:

• Make sure that you can still log in to your HighBeam account; if you are having trouble feel free to contact me for more information. When your access expires you can reapply at WP:HighBeam.
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Thank you. Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) at 16:45, 13 April 2015 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Dennis Marks (music director)

Hello! Your submission of Dennis Marks (music director) at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and some issues with it may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Yoninah (talk) 23:21, 18 April 2015 (UTC)

DYK for Solar eclipse of 1 May 1185

Materialscientist (talk) 06:52, 19 April 2015 (UTC)

DYK for Dennis Marks (music director)

Panyd^{The muffin is not subtle} 20:32, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

Thank you, for great hook on an interesting person! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:12, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

@Gerda Arendt: he was a school friend. I only had occasional later contact with him, but we met while he was director of the ENO when my daughter sang in the chorus of Königskinder and other productions. By the way I know you are always busy :-} but if you have a spare moment you might care to look at this DYK proposal which seems to have got left behind.....--Smerus (talk) 04:49, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

Seen, not only when I added him to the opera talk ;) - Will look when I need a qpq, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:20, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

DYK for Carrie Pringle

Panyd^{The muffin is not subtle} 07:01, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

Carl Nielsen

Hi. Ipigott and myself intend getting him up to at least GA status, ideally for his 150th anniversary. Would you be interested in helping work on User:Ipigott/Carl Nielsen? Sadly it's too late now really to get it to FA and feature it on his 150 th anniversary but we should be able to manage GA and a lead DYK hook for the 9 June.♦ Dr. Blofeld 22:08, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

Will have a look although I am away from my reference books at present (in Kiev).--Smerus (talk) 05:01, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for your useful advice on the Carl Nielsen talk page but I am present battling with the sfn approach which I have been trying to get right for the past week. Dr. Blofeld is helping to sort it out but what I have done up to now seems to have been a step in the wrong direction. BTW, very impressed with all your work on Jews in music and their return to cities in the east of Europe. While working at the European Commission, I was also a frequent visitor to Eastern European cities including Krakow, Warsaw, Prague and Vilnius and have had close contacts with Kaliningrad and Petersburg. For me, the most striking case of the banishment of the Jews was Krakow which owes so much to its Jewish community which represented about half its population for centuries. Perhaps we should do more to cover Jewish contributions to these cities on Wikipedia? Most of the Wikipedia focus has been on the 20th century ghettos and the death camps. As for Jewish musicians, I always remember a meeting with Menuhin when I was about 16 and studying the piano -- extremely helpful and so unassuming.--Ipigott (talk) 14:54, 29 April 2015 (UTC)

I think you are right. I am always conscious, as I travel in Central and Eastern Europe, of the absence of a people who were once an integral part of its life - this is what I wrote about that some years ago. One problem I have with the 'Holocaust industry' is that it seems to relegate Jews to passive 'people who were killed by Hitler', instead of perceiving them as active (and positive) elements in European life, science and culture. --Smerus (talk) 06:06, 30 April 2015 (UTC)

Yes, I had a good look at your website and at all the links from your profile at UCL. There is of course good general coverage of the history of the Jews in several Wikipedia articles but the history sections on many of the main cities (e.g. Krakow and Vilnius) fail to reflect the important part the Jews played in cultural development and there is very little anywhere on the part the Jews are now playing in culture across Europe. I see there is a snippet from your own work in the article on "Secular Jewish music" but your research seems to be far more comprehensive, both on composers and instrumentalists. It seems to me there is a need for well-referenced articles (and additions to existing articles) addressing the role played by the Jews in European cultural and social development. Any suggestions as to how to proceed? ¶ On Nielsen, I am going to have another go today at converting the refs into the sfn format.--Ipigott (talk) 06:42, 30 April 2015 (UTC)

There's already a series of articles "History of the Jews in [Country]". These seem mainly to deal with social and political perspectives. One could perhaps add sections on "Jews and national culture." Or, looking at towns, one could add sections in articles of the type "History of [Town]". For example, History of Vilnius refers briefly to "Jewish culture" in the city but does not explain this - in fact it was notable for both Jewish religious culture (the "Jerusalem of the North" under the Vilna Gaon) and for Jewish 'European' culture. The problem here is that, as with the Vilnius article, many articles about cities in Eastern Central Europe are largely written by and maintained by local editors (of variable competence in English) who you will find get very heated when others add material or change the emphasis in the article. (They go over the top on nationalist issues (especially those relating to Russia)). Therefore proceed with caution! If you like I would join you at some appropriate moment in working on one article (say Vilnius) as an experiment.......--Smerus (talk) 08:33, 30 April 2015 (UTC)

But back to Nielsen, good for you for taking on the thankless task of sorting out the references! When you have done this, maybe the article is OK to go to peer review for GA? Btw my editing on this has inspired me to add some (well, a little) Nielsen to the Levoca music festival.--Smerus (talk) 08:41, 30 April 2015 (UTC)

On Nielsen, thanks for creating greater awareness. On Jewish culture, I was thinking of trying to bring Vilnius up to GA over the medium term. As with many articles about important cities, it requires a lot more inline refs and also needs to be updated. And as you suggest, the history section could be extended.--Ipigott (talk) 14:48, 30 April 2015 (UTC)

DYK for Sophie's Choice (opera)

 — Crisco 1492 (talk) 21:14, 6 May 2015 (UTC)

Signpost inquiry

Hi, I've emailed you (via the Meta function). Thanks. Tony (talk) 16:31, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

Falstaff

Hello, Smerus. I wonder if I can interest you in the FAC for Verdi's Falstaff? I had been working on the article on and off in collaboration with Viva-Verdi (John Webber), who died in March. This FAC is by way of being my personal valediction to him, and any suggestions for polishing it further will be particularly gladly received. – Tim riley talk 12:01, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

Carl Nielsen

Me again, by complete coincidence. I have posted a few minor comments at the GAN review, and am alerting you, Dr B and Ipigott accordingly. Tim riley talk 13:39, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, Smerus, for all you assistance in improving the article for GA. In a couple of months, I would like to add content resulting from the anniversary performances and their reception. We could then perhaps go for FA.--Ipigott (talk) 14:34, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

I see that Dr. Blofeld has already nominated the article for FAC. It would indeed be great if work could be completed in good time for 9 June. Any further assistance you can offer would be greatly appreciate.--Ipigott (talk) 06:35, 17 May 2015 (UTC)

I am no the case. I am presently looking athe 'music' part which I think needs a deal of bolstering.--Smerus (talk) 06:38, 17 May 2015 (UTC)

Yes, if anything is left to do it is best done now before comments come in as it really needs to be relatively stable. I'm sure the delegates will understand this anyway and allow for some leeway in improving it still.♦ Dr. Blofeld 06:44, 17 May 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, Smerus, for all the tremendous amount of additional work you have bee doning on Nielsen. All very useful. I saw you had also worked on the alt text descriptions. I have expanded and modified them as the idea is not simply to repeat the caption (which the screen reader will cover anyway) but to describe the images themselves. I am still battling with the Commons info on the images although I have little experience here. I don't know whether you can offer any assistance?--Ipigott (talk) 10:08, 20 May 2015 (UTC)

sorry I am not an image maven. There are editors that know all about this but life is too short for me I'm afraid! Thanks for adding to the alts.--Smerus (talk) 15:20, 20 May 2015 (UTC)

I don't think Dr. Blofeld wants to deal with these either. We hope has been helping out a bit and I was hoping Elekhh might help too, but he does not seem to be very active these days. I really don't know who to consult. I'll try to battle through it myself tomorrow. Once again, thanks for all your contributions. You are really helping this article along even if we don't make it for the anniversary.--Ipigott (talk) 16:51, 20 May 2015 (UTC)

Hi Ipigott, I'm indeed very time poor these days, only spending a few minutes per week on Wikipedia. I think what's needed is clear indication of the name and date of death of the photographer, to demonstrate that the image is in the public domain. Unfortunately Commons operates on the 'guilty until proven otherwise' principle, which I fought against in the past and lost. I also see many of the image issues have been solved, can you direct me to the outstanding issues? --ELEKHH^T 04:44, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Thanks Elekhh for offering assistance. We have been continuing to work on all these and I think most of the problems have been solved. In several cases, though, it seems virtually impossible to identify the photographer.--Ipigott (talk) 08:31, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Carl Nielsen has been nominated for Did You Know

I'm not too happy with the hook. Don't you think it would be more appropriate to mention the fact that he is widely considered to be Denmark's national composer? Maybe also a word about his 150th anniversary?

I think it's a lousy hook (as misleading as well) but a 'straight' hook is not so enticing - for DYK you need something to engage non-specialist's attention - e.g. 'DYK that Carl Nielsen considered himself a foolish dreamer' o that 'CN's last words were "You are standing here as if you were waiting for something" ' - not that I particularly commend either of these but my brain isn't working so well this morning.--Smerus (talk) 09:06, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Orphaned non-free image File:Front side of Danish 100 kr note (1997 series).jpg

⚠

Thanks for uploading File:Front side of Danish 100 kr note (1997 series).jpg. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, the image is currently not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).

Note that any non-free images not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described in the criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. --B-bot (talk) 17:16, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

Unfortunately I cannot see how to prevent its deletion apart from asking help from INeverCry as suggested by Rosiestep. I should perhaps point out to other readers that we would like to include this image in the article on Carl Nielsen and are trying to obtain assistance with copyright tagging in the light of the information provided by the Danish site which has been included on the file.--Ipigott (talk) 12:33, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

I've now changed the licence to non-commerical which I think should justify the image's use in Carl Nielsen. I have again included the image in the article (which ought also prevent its deletion). I hope the new licence will be acceptable. I apologize for deleting it earlier but I was simply trying to safeguard the article for FAC. It had been suggested to me that given all the problems with images, the article should be withdrawn from FAC and reintroduced later in the year. Of course there is still no firm indication that we can go forward with it.--Ipigott (talk) 12:59, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Well done, andmany thanks -I'm on holiday this week (in theory) - good luck! - Smerus 22:20 25 May 2015.

Precious again

centenary
Thank you for quality articles, based on scientific background and a life in Europe, with a passion for music shown in playing instruments and organising a music festival, crowned by Richard Wagner to celebrate 200 years, a life of drama, for progress, without compromise, - you are an awesome Wikipedian!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:12, 22 May 2013 (UTC)

Two years ago, you were the 492nd recipient of my PumpkinSky Prize, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:33, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

ps: I was away on the anniversary of the centenary which we both enjoyed, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:39, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

• Gerda, you are very kind - many thanks! Do visit us at the music festival this year, 9-12 October!--Smerus (talk) 10:49, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

Congratulations to being among the trusted! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:45, 6 June 2015 (UTC)

Candidate for Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees

Followers of this page may be interested to know that I am a candidate in the elections for the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. The elections start today and are open until 31 May. Please feel free to vote for me (and/or other candidates) and encourage others to do so. Best, --Smerus (talk) 06:35, 18 May 2015 (UTC) (David Conway).

dear Smerus, I would love to ask you a question (maybe two). am I to do it here? or is there any other project that would suit you best (meta, perhaps)? --アンタナナ 17:53, 18 May 2015 (UTC)

You are welcome to ask me here! Best, --Smerus (talk) 19:33, 18 May 2015 (UTC)

thank you. the page here gives the info about your language skills as follows: English-N, ru-4, fr-4, de-3, it-2. the location is: Kyiv, Ukraine/ Levoča, Slovakia / London, UK. does this mean that you do not speak Ukrainian at all? or that you just forgot to mention this? --アンタナナ 20:56, 18 May 2015 (UTC)

I have not learnt Ukrainian separately, in Ukraine I generally speak Russian which nearly everyone understands. I can understand Ukrainian as it is quite similar to Russian.--Smerus (talk) 22:11, 18 May 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for your candidacy, I voted trust in you. - Side note, not to blow up Nielsen more: the comment by RexxS wasn't addressed at you ;) - Thanks for the alts, a good start. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:02, 19 May 2015 (UTC)

I voted for you too - it was a nice surprise to see your name on the list. I wish you good luck, Mr. Conway! --Vejvančický (talk / contribs) 06:12, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Děkuji!!--Smerus (talk) 07:08, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

• Hey can someone explain the election results to me? (By the way, I voted for you as one of the three votes I actually placed.) I noticed Gerda just congratulated you. I can't really understand the results page -- some names are bolded, and some names (in fact every single candidate's name) are listed even though they got (much) less than 50% support. What does it all mean? Does it mean all of the names listed are elected? Cheers, Softlavender (talk) 08:13, 6 June 2015 (UTC)

UPDATE: Never mind I've got it figured out: There were three positions open, so the three bolded names were elected. In any case, it was nice that you stuck your neck out and ran, and a got a good amount of support. Keep on keepin on .... Softlavender (talk) 11:08, 6 June 2015 (UTC)

Yup, looks like Gerda was being over-enthusiastic, but I am grateful to you, her and the other 1189 who punted on me! Seems however that the insider apparatchiks once again get their feet under the board table......--Smerus (talk) 12:29, 6 June 2015 (UTC)

My mistake, corrected below, - - I have a tendency for being over-enthusiastic but don't regret that ;) - Music instead of apparatus seems like a good idea, - going to celebrate tomorrow, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:34, 6 June 2015 (UTC)

FA for Carl Nielsen

I would really like to thank you very sincerely, Smerus, for everything you have contributed to the article. Your expertise on both music and the technicalities of Wikipedia has been most useful. I see you now have helped to promote three composers up to FA level. Are you interested in making it four with Jean Sibelius (with less of a rush this time)?--Ipigott (talk) 15:13, 5 June 2015 (UTC)

9 June 2015

Carl Nielsen made

Main Page history

and you were part of

working for his works!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:40, 9 June 2015 (UTC)

Ta Gerda!--Smerus (talk) 05:11, 10 June 2015 (UTC)

Your plowing on Verdi is admirable! Viva! - Singing the Nielsen praises today, I came across three psalms and was reminded that the coverage of this early music is (too) modest when it comes to single psalms. What can we do? Work on a psalm of the week (compare Psalm 19)? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:05, 9 June 2015 (UTC)

Congrats, Smerus. But while I'm here, why is Category:German male composers a "useless Cat"? Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 09:36, 10 June 2015 (UTC)

I though it was a sort of joke. But by all means revert if you think it's useful.--Smerus (talk) 09:42, 10 June 2015 (UTC).

Oh, lol. The joke is lost on me. I just thought someone might genuinely want to see a list of "German male composers" without that list having to exist as a very dull dedicated article! Martinevans123 (talk) 09:46, 10 June 2015 (UTC)

Mea culpa, I crouch corrected.--Smerus (talk) 09:52, 10 June 2015 (UTC)

I think you'll find he was English. Martinevans123 (talk) 10:03, 10 June 2015 (UTC)

Verdi: there is a treasure in this sandbox, - if you know already it's for your watchers ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:37, 22 June 2015 (UTC)

Thanks Gerda- didn't know this, will definitely plunder it in grateful memory of Viva-Verdi.--Smerus (talk) 10:54, 22 June 2015 (UTC)

When you do, credit openly on the talk, as we do when copying from other articles and translated content, - well, you would have done that anyway, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:37, 22 June 2015 (UTC)

Verdi question

Do you by any chance have Cecil Hopkinson's A bibliography of the works of Giuseppe Verdi. 1813-1901. vol. I. Vocal and instrumental works? There's a signature on an Aida cover I'm working on, but it's slightly damaged, and I can't quite read it: C. Wo_denmüller or C. We_denmüller, maybe? Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 02:30, 13 June 2015 (UTC)

Apologies, this is out of my range! Best, --Smerus (talk) 07:00, 13 June 2015 (UTC)

• After discovering you had finished for the day, I undertook an initial copy edit of Verdi, just sorting out the most important issues. It seems to be coming on very well. I look forward to seeing the development of the music section. (I'm progressing more or less in parallel on Sibelius.) I have always loved Verdi since I first saw Rigoletto when I was about 13. If there's anything I can do to help you on your way to GA/FA, just give me a buzz.--Ipigott (talk) 21:05, 22 June 2015 (UTC)

Very many thanks indeed for this, any contributions/corrections etc. are more than welcome. Also perspectives about what to expand/cut!--Smerus (talk) 07:31, 23 June 2015 (UTC)

Category:English trip hop musicians

Category:English trip hop musicians, which you created, has been nominated for possible deletion, merging, or renaming. If you would like to participate in the discussion, you are invited to add your comments at the category's entry on the Categories for discussion page. Thank you. SFB 20:27, 27 June 2015 (UTC)

I did????--Smerus (talk) 08:25, 29 June 2015 (UTC)

Verdi now up for GA

For those who are interested, Giuseppe Verdi is now up for GA - anyone is welcome to start the review. Best, --Smerus (talk) 10:31, 29 June 2015 (UTC)

London buses, anyone? None for ages and then three all at once! I'm committed to reviewing GANs for the two separate articles on the two versions of the Bach Magnificat, and I'm as mad as a wet hen that I haven't got time to review Verdi. If he is still up for grabs when I get back from foreign parts on 13th inst I'll certainly bag him, though I greatly fear someone will get in first and deprive me of the pleasure. From a swift once-over I think he'll be a shoo-in, but I must not prejudge. Sir J. Falstaff talk 13:48, 3 July 2015 (UTC)

My dear Sir John, no need yet to utter "ingemisco tamquam reus, culpa rubet vultus meus"; I don't notice thundering hordes rushing to the opportunity so you may yet have your chance....best,--Smerus (talk) 14:01, 3 July 2015 (UTC)

Aida

Could you possibly have a quick look-over the image selection in Aida and give me your opinion? I'm trying to get a good, representative selection, since it was an absolute mess of badly-used images (For example, 20th-century images in the section on the 19th century, images in the wrong act, and ridiculously many) before. It's at nine images and a few audio tracks at the moment, and seems about right, but if there's anything that feels like it could use an illustration, or which isn't helping... Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 19:07, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

The range of pix seems OK to me. I have moved a couple of them slightly so as not to distort the text-flow too much. The Act IV set design is very big at uptright=1.4 - I can see why you want it large, but perhaps you could remove the large border to the image, which is very distracting? Best, --Smerus (talk) 06:40, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

I've tweaked your rearrangement slightly - one thing that worries me is that one big thing I was fixing was misplaced images which allowed a lot of low-value images to slip in. Think that shrinking the 2011 image is better than putting it in the 19th century.

As for the Act IV image - the border is definitely an intentional part of the image. I coudl CSS crop it, though, for article use, but that hard-codes size. Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 15:44, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, all noted. Question: the border may be an intentional part of the image per se, but is it important as regards the article? If the answer is, (as I suspect), no, then it would be legitimate to crop it and present the resulting image as 'Act IV, scene 2 (detail)'. Actually it's not a very good article, if I ever get the time I'll give it a going over.....--Smerus (talk) 20:46, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

I really, really don't like making the primary image one that's mangled. It is an artwork, after all. The Act I image has a lot more justification to crop, as the blue paper is clearly not part of the artwork, and I will be cropping that one. I think, if we're going to change the display, CSS crop would be a better choice, as it makes sure people find the uncropped image (I've implemented this).

I work with images a lot. You may notice I've overthought everything about them. =)

Anyway, as for Aida the article, I'm inclined to agree about the article. It's... not a terrible start, and we certainly have far worse opera articles, but it's pretty clearly grown from a lot of people working on it in little bits, without anyone ever trying to pull everything together, or trying to check completeness. The 20th century section is fairly terrible; I'm not sure whether every performance in the 19th century is as notable as made out, and I've been eyeing that "image next to the cast list table" trick, as that breaks badly at narrow screen widths. Think we could reasonably cut Stolz? Or do you think somewhere else for her image will crop up?

Opera FAs are hard. I've only done a few, and all were ones I knew very well (mainly Gilbert and Sullivan. I've been tempted to try and work on something like Tosca or The Flying Dutchman, but it's far easier to work on ones you already have all the resources for and have familiarzed yourself with, so doing one opera tends to encourage another by the same composer I find.) I kind of wish I could get back into them; I should. Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 21:11, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

THe CSS crop is a great improvement, thanks. Overall we have different approaches - I rank text way ahead, with images supporting. E.g. Stolz to me is highly important to the article, both as the first European creator of the role and for the part she played in Verdi's life (which a revised article might expand upon a little). You have far more concern with images per se than I do - and know a lot more about them. Somewhere between the two is a great recipe! The list of premieres is way over the top for the article , I agree. Could at some point be hived off to a 'List of premieres of Aida'.--Smerus (talk) 17:20, 11 July 2015 (UTC)

I think the only reason I'm concerned with Stolz is that her image has issues with where it's placed. If there was room elsewhere, I'd be happy to include her. (Also, technically, she's in the article already - the Leopoldo Metlicovitz drawing is from the European première, though I agree a photo adds a bit.) Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 19:46, 11 July 2015 (UTC)

La forza del destino

I'm not as familiar with the opera as I should be; as such, I'm not 100% sure which scene this depicts. I think it's early Act IV? Could it be anything else?

I want to swap it out in the lead position for this:

Although, in a pinch, that will do to illustrate the ending. Lovely image, isn't it? Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 22:22, 11 July 2015 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the 'existing' illustration must be Act IV (Alvaro vs. Carlo) but I agree the poster is far finer.--Smerus (talk) 09:03, 12 July 2015 (UTC)

Right! I'll keep the postcard because, well, it's not like La Forza is loaded with images - but I've swapped in the poster for the lead. Think I have a line on a rather nice photograph with Enrico Caruso. Thinking of adding File:Ponselle Caruso Forza del Destino.jpg as well, at which point I'll have illustrated it about as well as I can manage. I'm not very convinced by the libretto, and the two photos next to the cast lists were dangerous (narrow screens = pictures go above the table). My inclination is to just remove them, as they aren't in costume, but I'm open to arguments otherwise. Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 14:02, 12 July 2015 (UTC)

The libretto pic I would leave, as the premiere was in St. Petersburg. Again presently a pretty feeble article. Nice to have the Caruso pic if possible.--Smerus (talk) 15:43, 12 July 2015 (UTC)

Ah, of course. It's not the first libretto to be bilingual, it's the first libretto which was bilingual. Bad caption, that. (You had fixed it up after I mentioned the libretto, I've tweaked it a little more.) I'm trying to get the illustrations on at least all the major Verdi operas up to some minimum standard - a good image or two, and avoid too much image bloat. They vary - some, like Aida, were really over-stuffed, others lacked anything particularly good; I'd prefer to fix both, although I suspect I'm not going to get much for, say, Atilla or Oberto, though I'll keep trying. Jérusalem benefits from a Parisian premiere: the National Library of France is very good with image releases; if you don't mind, I'll be asking your advice on what we can best use for it soon. Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 16:25, 12 July 2015 (UTC)

Just watched a video of Atilla last night; it's certainly not one of his best - though getting images for Oberto or Un giorno di regno maybe even trickier......--Smerus (talk) 19:49, 12 July 2015 (UTC)

Aye. And if I don't get an image for rarely-performed minor Verdi operas, I'm not going to worry too much. And I have a few that won't be featured picture quality because of resolution - Stiffelio, Don Carlos, etc - that will still improve articles, and that's also okay. But I'd like to see what I can do. Once that's done, well, there are other operas, now that I've found good resources. Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 20:03, 12 July 2015 (UTC)

Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 19:58, 12 July 2015 (UTC)

Finished restoration

By the way, the La forza restoration is done. Doing pretty well at FPC; not quite at quorum yet, but I have little doubt it'll reach quorum. It's only been a day, and it's nearly there. Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 19:50, 15 July 2015 (UTC)

Books and Bytes - Issue 12

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 12, May-June 2015
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), Sadads (talk · contribs), Nikkimaria (talk · contribs)

• New donations - Taylor & Francis, Science, and three new French-language resources
• Expansion into new languages, including French, Finnish, Turkish, and Farsi
• Spotlight: New partners for the Visiting Scholar program
• American Library Association Annual meeting in San Francisco

Read the full newsletter

The Interior 15:23, 16 July 2015 (UTC)

DYK for Family Quarrels

 — Chris Woodrich (talk) 00:37, 21 July 2015 (UTC)

Suggestion

Are you familiar with User:Ucucha/HarvErrors? It's how I'm easily spotting the problems with your links in Giuseppe Verdi. Given your propensity for minor typos in references (I just fixed a "Gosset" for "Gossett", for instance), you'd probably be doing yourself a favour if you installed it yourself, so you'd know instantly if there was something to fix. =) Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 08:50, 21 July 2015 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Giuseppe Verdi

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Giuseppe Verdi you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Tim riley -- Tim riley (talk) 22:40, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

I shall strangle that bloody bot if it doesn't stop putting the phrase "Hi there!" into my mouth, damn it. I have left a few exceedingly minor comments on the review page – nothing to impede the serene progress of this article to GA. Tim riley talk 17:52, 25 July 2015 (UTC)

Verdi

Should be done now, but one question: In the sentence: "...all six Verdi operas written in the period 1849–53 (La battaglia, Luisa Miller, Stiffelio, Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata)..." I think we should definitely use the article on Il trovatore and La traviata - it's a bit more formal, and, I think, easier to understand - but should we write out "La battaglia di Legnano"? I'm kind of inclined towards "yes", especially as it's been a long time since it's been mentioned.

One thing for FA: I'm kind of wondering whether we should include a simplified list of his operas. The link to List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi is a bit awkwardly placed, and that article, since it includes every single revision as a separate listing, could use a simplified form. Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 08:35, 26 July 2015 (UTC)

• Many thanks for your work. I've changed Requiem to Requiem as per Requiem (Verdi), Requiem (Fauré), etc. as standard WP practice.) There is a list of the operas in the template. To add a list in the text would duplicate information already present in the article and the template. That could be discussed further if we ever go to FA.--Smerus (talk) 09:38, 26 July 2015 (UTC)
  • True, but the template's way down at the bottom, and there's no obvious link to it in the Table of Contents, etc. Just want to have something for people not that familiar with the more obscure Verdi operas in order to help them follow things. =) Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 09:42, 26 July 2015 (UTC)

Macbeth

File:Frédéric Lix - Auguste Trichon - Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth (1865 revision) - Original.jpg

Could you buy this being Act I, Scene 2? The Paris production has some really weird scene numbering (Act II seems to go up to Scene 6), and this looks so very much like the Banquet scene that I'm honestly kind of wondering if the opera failed in Paris because the directors screwed around with scene order and never told Verdi. Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 09:46, 26 July 2015 (UTC)

Hmm. Well, there IS at least an appropriate Banquet scene set that's different to this one: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b7001077r.r=Macbeth+verdi.langEN

An intriguing mystery! I can't alas offer any authoritative comment.--Smerus (talk) 11:22, 26 July 2015 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Giuseppe Verdi

The article Giuseppe Verdi you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Giuseppe Verdi for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Tim riley -- Tim riley (talk) 12:01, 26 July 2015 (UTC)

Great work! What next for Verdi? I'm thinking that that image check I did had best get finished. We may lose a couple images in the process, unfortunately, but I'll do my best to find appropriate substitutes. Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 12:05, 26 July 2015 (UTC)

Luisa Miller tried to raise Giuseppe Verdi to featured article. Almost everyone died from the complicated intrigues and Wikidrama.

More seriously, how would you feel if we had to lose Solera's photo? Because I'm trying to find some way of showing his image was published, a necessary requirement for it appearing in a featured article, but the image is VERY badly documented. I think I can get all the other images sorted, but that one's going to be tough. Do you by any chance have this Budden book on Verdi: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wKpapMfOp8kC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false - because there's apparently a photo of Solera between pages 110 and 111 of that work that, if it's the same image, might get us up to enough copies of the image to demonstrate wide distribution. Or it might be documented better... Adam Cuerden ^(talk)

Adam, I'm miles away from my sources at the moment (in Slovakia) and won't be able to check sources til I'm back in London end-August. We should try to find some image of Solera if we can as he's important in V's story. I love the Luisa image btw! - and it's likely to prove only too prophetic! --Smerus (talk) 18:57, 26 July 2015 (UTC)

I'll do my best, but I honestly can't promise Solera. Think I can handle everything else, at least. I'm going to see how many independent copies of the Solera image I can find in different museums - that MAY prove widespread publication. Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 19:20, 26 July 2015 (UTC)

I think I've saved Solera! I could see minor issues with Verdi in Russia, but otherwise, we're fine, and if we lost that (which we probably won't), we could just put in the La forza poster or something; I'm doing a restoration of a couple Verdi photos we can put somewhere else. Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 23:52, 26 July 2015 (UTC)

By the way, the Luisa Miller is a little too small to be featured, but quite worth having, I think. I figured that, if I can't get an exceptional image, getting a pretty good image is still an improvement. Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 03:52, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

@Adam Cuerden:, I noticed btw that the image for Margherita Barezzi has some query in Commons relating to the PD-art template. This site lists the picture as by Augusto Mussini (1870-1918), and in Museo Teatrale of La Scala, suggesting it is a late-19th century confection. Other websites (e.g. here), show an engraving which ? could? have been the basis for the later painting (?).--Smerus (talk) 09:50, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

It would be very strange to have an engraving be used as the basis for a painting. Paintings are frequently the source of engravings, though. Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 10:32, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

@Adam Cuerden:, my guess is that in this case it's the other way round (given that the artist was born 30 years after Margherita's death!). Probably La Scala wanted a paitning and comissioned Mussini to come up with something based on the only image they had available (i.e. the engraving or whatever). The Casa Barezzi website shows a drawing or engraving (I'm not sure which) with no attribution, which may be the basis for Mussini's 'portrait'.--Smerus (talk) 10:39, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

Ah, I hadn't actually checked the dates. Yes, I was going to say "except in rare cases where the engraving is about all that exists of someone who becomes latterly famous", but didn't think it was relevant. that said, do be careful about presuming accurate attributions. To give a good Wikipedia example, Roberto Focosi made a lot of Verdi's vocal score frontispieces. I have a source for that. However, we don't have an article on Roberto, but have one on his son, Alessandro, and I've corrected so damn many misattributions, one which would have made Alessandro a VERY precocious four year old. Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 11:16, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

DYK for New Synagogue, Žilina

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 12:57, 30 July 2015 (UTC)

DYK for Giuseppe Verdi

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 01:12, 30 July 2015 (UTC)

Nice work! Though I think the text of the notice is a bit out of date given the GA options now. Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 01:36, 30 July 2015 (UTC)

Indeed, excellent. BTW you've had trouble with Francis Schonken on various articles haven't you? Not arrogant in anyway now is he? ;-)♦ Dr. Blofeld 10:20, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

a native of the Low Countries, I believe, m'sieur le docteur; he has certainly been known to be assertive but generally when he makes a suggestion everyone else disagrees with him, saving the trouble of argument.--Smerus (talk) 14:51, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

People like Schonken and Kleinzach give the classical project a bad name. One of the reasons why I'd not get involved with it. The level of superciliousness towards others makes it seem like the project is general like that, when you're not like that at all. I'm amazed how people like you and Gerda put up with the people like Schonken, a few hours spent in his company is quite enough for me!.♦ Dr. Blofeld 06:57, 19 August 2015 (UTC)