What time is the next swan?
"One of the most famous ad-libs in theatrical history came from the great tenor Leo Slezak. One night, while playing the title role in Wagner's opera Lohengrin, he ran into an unexpected problem. At the end of the opera, a swan appears at the back of the stage, drawing a boat that is to return Lohengrin to his place with the Knights of the Holy Grail.My favorite Leo Slezak story is about when he went to Bayreuth, and was permitted to audition there for the grand dame herself, Frau Cosima Wagner. Herr Slezak obtained a very hard reception indeed when he chose to sing Vesti la giubba from Pagliacci for his stunned audience. Slezak later said that he did not know that the works of Italian composers were strictly verboten in the home of Richard Wagner. “Even the attendant who had ushered me in tottered when I sang," he admitted.
This night, however, a stagehand erred and sent the swan boat off prematurely. It was the end of the opera, but there stood Slezak, watching the swan boat sail off without him. It was an awkward moment for the performers on stage and members of the audience, who were familiar with the opera's famous ending. As people began to fidget in their seats, Slezak brought the house down when he turned to a singer next to him and ad-libbed:
"What time is the next swan?"
His memoir, Song of Motley: Being the Reminiscences of a Hungry Tenor is a fun read for opera aficionados.
As an aside, Leo's son Walter became a famed character actor in his own right, with a memorable role in Lifeboat, and published a delightful memoir titled 'What Time's the Next Swan.' After his long career he settled in New Hope, PA.
Rather, I am wondering when the next black swan will make its arrival. It seems a bit overdue.
As the big retail names in the commodity brokerage world keep collapsing in various frauds, like Refco and MF Global, one has to wonder what event will cause the next wave of failures and collapses, in highly leveraged operations that are dashed on the rocks of hard reality.
As the great economist John Kenneth Galbraith observed, "All successful revolutions are the kicking in of a rotten door." And as rotten doors go, the current financial system run by the Anglo-American banking cartel run out of NYC and London is teeming with vermin.
When the action starts it might come in a hurry. So now is the time to prepare.
