Modern History Notes

Alan Riding,"From a Vault in Paris, Sounds of Opera 1907," NYT, 16 February, announces the recovery of early recordings at the Paris Opera. At the link, you can hear Francesco Tamagno's 1904 rendition of"Nium mi tema" from Verdi's Otello, Nellie Melba's 1907 recording of"Caro nome" from Verdi's Rigoletto, and Enrico Caruso's 1908 version of"Celeste Aida" from Verdi's Aida. The recordings of works by over a dozen different composers will be released this spring on three CDs.

On the 100th anniversary of Geronimo's death, his great-grandson gives notice of intent to file a lawsuit for the recovery of the Apache chief's remains.

CNN and the Washington Post cover the tour by Martin Luther King, III, marking the 50th anniversary of his father's and mother's tour of India. From that tour, King, Jr., learned to speak much more authoritatively of Mahatma Gandhi's understanding of non-violence.

K. Anthony Appiah,"Seven Habits of Truly Liberal People," Slate, 16 February, reviews Alan Wolfe's The Future of Liberalism.

There are, by now, hundreds of tributes to Alison Des Forges and messages of condolence to the family of the historian and human rights activist who died in the airplane crash near Buffalo, New York, on 12 February. See: ABC News, BBC News, CNN, Huffington Post, Human Rights Watch, International Herald Tribune, New York Times, Slate, and Washington Post.