Declaration of the first book of the Amarantion series

I have been a writer at least since I was six years old, when I started my own school newspaper entitled "Stuper News" and documented the history of battles among my action figures. For the past seven years I have been engrossed in serious soul searching and research of a wide array of subjects in my own determination to produce a cohesive body of work in the scifi/fantasy vein that is both truthful and inspirational--an Ice Breaker that clearly exposes the illusions of the current world paradigm and visualizes a new one.

The central themes are to embrace love as given, rather than as we want it to be; to seek salvation within, instead of outside yourself; and to focus on the formation of an international Brotherhood that can deliver the new paradigm. Hence the birth of the Solenicon. I hope to release the first book of this series entitled Amarantion: Gospel of the Pearlfisher Bard later this year, and begin the journey of sharing its message with all of you.

A review of the Urantia Book from the Solenicon viewpoint

The Urantia Book is another in a series of attempts to advance the hold of the Messianic belief system on our collective psyche. It offers no new significant insight into its subject matter.  It is, quite frankly, tedious and boring. It is alarmingly conscious of its modern audience and aims to please through its elaborate use of pseudo-science to explain its cosmology, and detailed prose to give an exhaustive account of Jesus’ life. However, its cosmological terminology is trite to the point of senselessness, relying strictly on vague modifiers to give the same word endless meanings; and its endless narrative apparently aims to prove that Jesus’ life was certainly eventful, but spiritually ordinary. It helps us in no way see what it took for a man to finally kick the money lenders out of the Temple, and relegates whatever spiritual inspiration the man might have had to a “Thought Adjuster,” whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean. We’re told it’s not the soul or the conscience. It sounds more like a throwback to the Jewish concept of an “extra soul”—that little extra something that sets them apart from gentiles.

Nowhere in the Urantia Book is there recognition of the Feminine Divine; once again, we are relegated to the ever-masculine Trinity of Father, Son and Spirit, or Holy Ghost. And with it there is lacking, as there is in all the religions, the sense of compassion and sensuality that are core to the human expression of Beauty, Truth and Wisdom. All you get is a not-so-neat, not-much-clearer set of rules and guidelines for what is Good and what is Bad in life—the very words William Blake detested and labored to remove from our lexicon. 

Lucifer’s Rebellion is a lot less organic here than in Milton, and therefore lacks impact to sway one’s mind to even care. It could have happened in Venezuela for all we know. What bearing those it have on our souls what some ET/angelic “System Sovereigns” did to express their sense of individuality? And why in bloody hell should we be punished with isolation for living on a planet that happens to fall under their jurisdiction? The human sensibility is completely lacking.

If that weren’t enough, let’s make up characters like Caligastia to fabricate a now-more-confusing unholy Trinity of Lucifer, Satan and the Devil. Let’s populate the world with yellow people and blue people and purple people—Good grief!—and turn Adam and Eve into the first ineffectual rulers, who could not help but lose Utopia, and are relieved of their responsibility for blighting mankind through the exploitation of those same human weaknesses we all could relate to.  And in the end, after investing countless of our productive hours to this poorly written melodrama/textbook, what do we walk away with? Love as Jesus did? Didn’t we already know that? Do we need to embrace yet another confusing, ineffectual belief system to grasp the value of that principle?

These new Revelation books are hypnotic. They snatch up a new generation of youngsters looking for an excuse not to feel responsible for the world they’ve accepted at wholesale value. Do what you want or do nothing, it doesn’t matter: a Messiah will come (or return) to set things right. You might as well jump into the fiery furnace of Moloch for what good that will do you. There are no Revelations or Good Books to follow; there is only the life you create for yourself. You want an excuse to be lazy? Your excuse is Freewill. And the one to blame is not Lucifer, it’s your own damn self ‘cause you know better.

My Amazon review of Tito Gobbi in Mozart's Don Giovanni

Mozart: Don Giovanni ~Archipel  (1)

High Quality Singers, Poor Quality Recording, December 10, 2012 By Julianus Dante (So Cal, USA) Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Mozart: Don Giovanni (Audio CD) I got this CD because Tito Gobbi is my favorite baritone of all time. I was delighted when I found out this recording was available, and by this time I was already familiar enough with Don Giovanni to enjoy the music without trying to follow the story line. There are some marvelously beautiful voices in this recording. Unfortunately, the live recording suffers from the singers appearing to be too far or the orchestra getting muffled with the voices. Also, and to my surprise, I didn't feel Gobbi truly owned his role. I don't know if it's me or if he was uncomfortable and disoriented in the German arena. I want to say the latter was the case. I simply did not get to enjoy his Don Giovanni like I have others. It's a shame. I know he's perfect for it. His Figaro and Scarpia are proof enough of his suave bravado, but here he seems lost at best or drowned out by the orchestra. Un Italiano perduto in Alemania. Still worth having in your collector's box, but not as your first recording of this Mozart masterpiece.

Rossini's Le comte Ory starring Juan Diego Florez (2003)

This recording of Rossini's Le comte Ory stars Florez in his best form and is a rare Rossini delight. The composer had a knack for writing beautiful music that at the same time was so comical, not just in a theatrical sense, but in the musical composition itself. I burst out laughing at the choruses; the trios and duets were delicate enough to make Mozart proud yet still retain their Rossini picaresque quality.

The Act One Finale became an instant favorite of mine. The voices literally skip over each other in a delightful, fanciful melody that builds to a booming crescendo that celebrates vitality. Curiously, the mezzo didn't have a solo. The bass solo was pleasant but repetitive and lacked the ingenuity of The Barber of Seville's bass solo "La calunnia e un venticello." The demand for high notes from the soprano were beyond what seem humanly possible yet were executed here with such grace it is to marvel at.

The tenor truly carries the weight of the entire opera and he is practically in every scene. Florez here was masterful and carried the pacing well, which is rare of me to say of him normally and especially recently. This role requires the tenor to be a team player and lead the way without drowning out the other voices. Florez took that initiative and proves to be a great lirico leggero.

The opera as a whole is so light-hearted that it feels too short. The most impressive quality of this opera is the seamless way in which Rossini blends voices in and out of each other in every form of song available, whether duet, trio, quartet or chorus. Even in the arias the singers are never alone. It truly feels like a comic ensemble piece and a tour de force of coloratura. Thank Heavens for such rare gems of the classical music world!

My Amazon review of Mozart's Don Giovanni

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Mozart: Don Giovanni ~Decca  (12)

Making Mozart proud, September 23, 2012 By Julianus Dante (So Cal, USA) Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Mozart: Don Giovanni (Audio CD) This is my first experience with a Mozart opera. It's hard getting into it after being so used to the Italian masters. But once I watched a video of the Karajan production and played this over and over, I became truly in love with it. It's long but shock full of great arias, duets and quartets. The more you listen to it, the more its style stays with you and the genius of each piece strikes you. You can see why Mozart is Mozart and influenced all major composers who came after, most noticeably Rossini, who clearly uses musical phrases from here in his own operas, including _The Barber of Seville_. I truly enjoyed hearing the similarities. I have yet to experience Mozart's other operas but this one will certainly stay with me as a tour de force. Performed well, as it is in this recording, its three-hour length becomes negligible as the stream of events unfold seamlessly towards the great resounding finale with the Commendatore. Still, it's an opera best admired seen first than purely heard and this CD package does not come with a libretto, making it impossible to follow if you're not already familiar with the opera. Purely as a recording of Don Giovanni, this is quality at its best and will not disappoint. Every voice is in top form and moves masterfully over the vocal challenges presented by Mozart.

My Amazon Review of the Carreras Foscari CD

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Verdi: I due Foscari ~Philips  (6)

The quintessential Foscari, September 23, 2012 By Julianus Dante (So Cal, USA) Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Verdi: I due Foscari (Audio CD) This recording of this obscure early Verdi opera is heavenly. The voices are beautiful and in their prime. Unfortunately, some of the drama is lost as this opera is a less-inspired version of Nabucco and must be seen to appreciate the drama. The music and voices alone don't do the trick. Carreras sounds simply heavenly singing "Dal piu remoto esilio." And Ricciarelli sounds like an angel dropped from the heavens to please our ears with her exquisite voice. The soprano is in nearly every scene of this opera and, in true Verdi fashion, carries the weight of the opera and is challenged continuously. It may not be his most beautiful sounding opera, but it's certainly not any easier on the voices. You truly have to be a master to pull this opera off. It's quickly become one of my favorites, both for its rarity and theme. There is still plenty of Verdi to enjoy here. He does some amazing transitions, has a powerful prelude, and gives the Doge, Jacopo, Lucrezia and the Council of Ten each their own theme music that adds a dramatic quality to an otherwise uneventful opera. I'm proud to own it.

My Amazon Review of Verdi's The Two Foscari

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Verdi - I Due Foscari / Bruson,... ~BBC / Opus Arte  (12)

Quality Singing, Meager Staging, September 23, 2012 By Julianus Dante (So Cal, USA) Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Verdi - I Due Foscari / Bruson, Roark-Strummer, Cupido, Roni, Gavazzeni, La Scala Opera (DVD) I just saw the LA Opera's production of this rare Verdi opera starring Placido Domingo and while the LA Opera's production design and costumes are far superior to this 80's La Scala production, the voices in this video are far superior. Renato Bruson does great early-Verdi. I have La Scala's production of Nabucco with him and he never disappoints. The production design on this stage is very sparse and makes it hard to get into this already obscure opera, but if you love Verdi and the challenges he gives his sopranos as well as the seamless way in which he goes from a duetto to a terzetto to a quartet, this production demonstrates it effortlessly. Bruson definitely steals the show in the finale. To his credit, Placido does the same in the LA Opera's production but he definitely tires faster in his old age. His theatricality, however, is matchless! One hopes they have a DVD of the production for the sake of the costumes and production design. The soprano and tenor, however, leave much to be desired. Alas! A great age of operatic voices has ended.