Mary McCormic
Encyclopedia
Mary McCormic was an American operatic soprano and a professor of opera at the University of North Texas College of Music
(1945–1960).
For more than a decade (early 1920s to late 1930s), McCormic was among the most famous sopranos in the world. She was most known for her leading roles with the Paris National Opera, the Opéra-Comique
(14 years), the Monte Carlo Opera, and the Chicago Civic Opera
(10 years). She spent much of 1937 touring with the Kryl Symphony Orchestra
.
A onetime obscure housewife in Arkansas, McCormic rose to stardom filled with a colorful personal life — four marriages and four divorces (men of no resemblance to one another), almost a fifth, a high-dollar lawsuit defense for assaulting an unauthorized female biographer, boom and bust personal wealth, witty humor, and brush with royalty. McCormic captured world intrigue with the panache of the operas she starred in, all with the backdrop of being born at the end of the Gilded Age
, growing up as a teenager during World War I
, flourishing as an opera superstar through the Roaring Twenties
, Prohibition
, the Jazz Age
, the Great Crash, and failing in her last two high profile marriages in the throes of the Great Depression
.
Mamie's interest in becoming an opera star began at age nine, and continued while attending Ola High School
of Ola, Arkansas
. She, with her family, moved to Portales, NM, in 1907, then to Amarillo in 1909.
Emil Frey Myers (1886–1957) gave McCormic's her first voice lessons in Amarillo. He was the conductor the Amarillo Civic Chorus and was a major concert promoter in the Texas Panhandle
. Myers, with his wife, Lila, founded the Amarillo School of Music, Inc.
McCormic's father and two brothers, Odell and Williard, built a grocery store business — "J H Harris & Sons" and "Harris Food Stores" and "Rolling Stone Stores" (as many as 10 stores located in Borger, Pampa, Dalhart and Amarillo). The business was sold in 1946, shortly before the death of the father. The father, Odell, and Williard also operated a 58000 acres (234.7 km²) ranch in Union County, NM, 15 miles (24.1 km) north of Clayton. The father purchased the first portion of the ranch in 1915.
During a 1914 Tri-State Fair Music Festival in Amarillo, McCormic became aware of the operatic possibilities of her voice. By way of a Methodist Choir in Chicago and a singing contest sponsored by Mary Garden
, her operatic potential became known to others.
, University of Arkansas
and then, with the intention of becoming a lyric soprano, Northwestern University
where she took vocal lessons. McCormic became a protégé of Mary Garden
(1874–1967). Both McCormic and Garden had been vocal students of Mrs. Sarah Robinson-Duff ( -1934)
, recruited Mary McCormic to create and direct an Opera Workshop. McCormic transformed herself from diva to artist-in-residence educator. She founded, defined, directed, and, when necessary, defended the school's first Opera Workshop. She built the Opera Workshop from scratch – on a shoestring budget – molding it over 16 prolific years into what has become her crowning legacy that, for years, has enriched the Southwest
. Wilfred Bain went down in history as one of the greatest music school deans of all time. In books and memoirs of accomplishments, Bain often tells of the hiring of Mary McCormic as one of this great accomplishments at North Texas.
The North Texas Opera Workshop was the first collegiate touring opera workshops west of the Mississippi and, at the time of its founding, was the only opera production company in existence in the Southwest. The San Antonio Grand Opera, Houston Grand Opera
, Dallas Opera
and others were not yet in existence.
Through the opera workshop, McCormic pioneered an approach to opera in an era that wiped out major opera companies on the heels of the Great Depression. The new "low-cost workshop" model also offered new opportunities for composers who otherwise would never have their operas produced. And the workshop model gave hope for opera itself, when many in the world dismissed opera as a bygone luxury of the rich. The new "low cost model" also gave access in regions of the world that otherwise had little hope of having opera.
Under McCormic, the opera workshop performed locally, toured, and did broadcasts in radio and TV often with near quality of a reputable professional company.
When the Dallas Opera
was founded in 1957, the UNT Opera Workshop and Vocal Studies provided a steady supply of singers for the Dallas Opera Chorus.
In 1966, McCormic retired and moved to Amarillo to make her home with her widowed sister-in-law, Mrs. Odell Harris.
The UNT Opera Workshop is an integral part of one of the most comprehensive music schools in the world; a school that, since the 1940s, has been among the largest in the country, and in recent years, holds the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music
. The UNT College of Music is also the oldest (and first) in the world to offer a degree in jazz studies.
University of North Texas College of Music
The University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, and the oldest in the world offering a degree in jazz studies...
(1945–1960).
For more than a decade (early 1920s to late 1930s), McCormic was among the most famous sopranos in the world. She was most known for her leading roles with the Paris National Opera, the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
(14 years), the Monte Carlo Opera, and the Chicago Civic Opera
Chicago Civic Opera
The Civic Opera Company was a Chicago company that produced seven seasons of grand opera in the Auditorium Theater from 1922 to 1928, and three seasons at its own Civic Opera House from 1929 to 1931 before falling victim to financial difficulties brought on in part by the Great Depression.-...
(10 years). She spent much of 1937 touring with the Kryl Symphony Orchestra
Bohumir Kryl
Bohumir Kryl was a Czech-American financial executive and art collector who is most famous as a cornetist, bandleader, and pioneer recording artist, for both his solo work and as a leader of popular and Bohemian bands...
.
A onetime obscure housewife in Arkansas, McCormic rose to stardom filled with a colorful personal life — four marriages and four divorces (men of no resemblance to one another), almost a fifth, a high-dollar lawsuit defense for assaulting an unauthorized female biographer, boom and bust personal wealth, witty humor, and brush with royalty. McCormic captured world intrigue with the panache of the operas she starred in, all with the backdrop of being born at the end of the Gilded Age
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
, growing up as a teenager during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, flourishing as an opera superstar through the Roaring Twenties
Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties is a phrase used to describe the 1920s, principally in North America, but also in London, Berlin and Paris for a period of sustained economic prosperity. The phrase was meant to emphasize the period's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism...
, Prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
, the Jazz Age
Jazz Age
The Jazz Age was a movement that took place during the 1920s or the Roaring Twenties from which jazz music and dance emerged. The movement came about with the introduction of mainstream radio and the end of the war. This era ended in the 1930s with the beginning of The Great Depression but has...
, the Great Crash, and failing in her last two high profile marriages in the throes of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
.
Chicago Opera Association
- 1921-1922 Season — Operatic debut as Micaela in CarmenCarmenCarmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
. McCormic was a protégé of Mary GardenMary GardenMary Garden , was a Scottish operatic soprano with a substantial career in France and America in the first third of the 20th century...
, who, rather than sing, debuted as General Director for what became the final year of Chicago Opera AssociationChicago Opera AssociationThe Chicago Opera Association was a company that produced seven seasons of grand opera in Chicago’s Auditorium Theater from 1915 to 1921. The founding artistic director and principal conductor was Cleofonte Campanini, while the general manager and chief underwriter was Harold F. McCormick...
.
- 1922, Feb 1 & 8 — New York debut as Musetta in La BohemeLa bohèmeLa bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
at the Manhattan Opera House.
Chicago Civic Opera
- 1923 — Referred to as "the Cowgirl Soprano" by The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, McCormic and Charles Marshall sang the leading roles in the premier of The Snow BirdTheodore StearnsTheodore Stearns was an American composer. Born in Berea, Ohio, he wrote a number of operas. Of these, The Snowbird was given at the Chicago Civic Opera in 1923; this work won the Bispham Memorial Medal Award. He taught music at the University of California, Los Angeles from 1932 until...
, an American one-act opera.
Paris Opera
- July 24, 1926 — McCormic was honored by receiving the title role for a special presentation of Romeo and JulietRoméo et JulietteRoméo et Juliette is an opéra in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique , Paris on 27 April 1867...
at the Paris Opera House in honor of Mulai YusefYusef of MoroccoSultan Yusef ben Hassan ruled Morocco from 1912 until his death in 1927. Born in the city of Meknes to Sultan Hassan I, he inherited the throne from his brother, Sultan Abdelhafid, who abdicated after the Treaty of Fez , which made Morocco a French protectorate. He was a member of the Alaouite...
, Sultan of Morocco.
Opera Comique
- July 23, 1929 — Opera ComiqueOpera ComiqueThe Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, between Wych Street and Holywell Street with entrances on the East Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway...
debut, singing the title role in ManonManonManon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost...
. She and William MartinWilliam Martin (tenor)William Martin was an American classical tenor. Born in Massachusetts, he studied singing with Leveret Merrill, A Sujol, and Florence Holtzman. A graduate of Harvard University, he was for many years a member of the Harvard Glee Club. He made his professional opera debut in 1923 in the title role...
, in July 1927, earned the distinction of being the only American natives singing in leading roles with Opéra-ComiqueOpéra-ComiqueThe Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
. McCormic was the first American woman in 60 years to sign a long-term contract with Opera ComiqueOpera ComiqueThe Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, between Wych Street and Holywell Street with entrances on the East Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway...
.
Artistic management
- 1924 — McCormic, early in her career, gained the artist management services of Charles L. Wagner (1869–1956), who also managed world figures that included Mary GardenMary GardenMary Garden , was a Scottish operatic soprano with a substantial career in France and America in the first third of the 20th century...
, Amelita Galli-CurciAmelita Galli-CurciAmelita Galli-Curci was an Italian operatic soprano. She was one of the best-known coloratura singers of the early 20th century with her gramophone records selling in large numbers.-Early life:...
, Walter GiesekingWalter GiesekingWalter Wilhelm Gieseking was a French-born German pianist and composer.-Biography:Born in Lyon, France, the son of a German doctor and lepidopterist, Gieseking first started playing the piano at the age of four, but without formal instruction...
, Jussi BjörlingJussi BjörlingJohan Jonatan "Jussi" Björling was a Swedish tenor. One of the leading operatic singers of the 20th Century, Björling appeared frequently at the Royal Opera House in London, La Scala in Milan, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City as well as at other major European opera...
, Alexander KipnisAlexander KipnisAlexander Kipnis , was a Ukrainian-born operatic bass of great artistry and vocal endowment.Having initially established his artistic reputation in Europe, Kipnis became an American citizen in 1931, following his marriage to an American...
, and Jeanette MacDonaldJeanette MacDonaldJeanette MacDonald was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy...
.
- 1938 — McCormic, later in her career, was managed by Mme. LaReine.
Early life
Born in Belleville, AR, and reared in Dardanelle, AR, and Ola, AR (all three in Yell County, AR), McCormic, was known growing up as Mamie Harris. Mary McCormic was one of 4 born to:- John H. Harris (1860, Forsyth, GA - Nov 9, 1946) and wife,
- Mary Jimmie Harris, née Williard (1865, TennesseeTennesseeTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
- Dec 31, 1929, Amarillo, TX)
-
- Odelle Crawford Harris (July 4, 1886, Belleville, AR - May 26, 1950 Amarillo, TX)
- Thurman Harris (died young)
- Mamie Harris (Nov 11, 1889, Belleville, AR – February 10, 1981, Amarillo, TX)
- Williard Harris (Feb 20, 1892, Yell County, AR - Mar 24, 1949 Amarillo, TX)
- Norborn Harris (approx 1898 - Feb 10, 1944, San Francisco)
-
- Johnnie Harris (a girl, died young)
Mamie's interest in becoming an opera star began at age nine, and continued while attending Ola High School
Ola High School (Arkansas)
Ola High School is a public high school located in Ola, Arkansas on 307 W. Hill St. Student teacher ratio is 9.5 to 1. Ola High School is administered by the Two Rivers School District....
of Ola, Arkansas
Ola, Arkansas
Ola is a city in Yell County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 1,204 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Russellville Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Ola is located at ....
. She, with her family, moved to Portales, NM, in 1907, then to Amarillo in 1909.
Emil Frey Myers (1886–1957) gave McCormic's her first voice lessons in Amarillo. He was the conductor the Amarillo Civic Chorus and was a major concert promoter in the Texas Panhandle
Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...
. Myers, with his wife, Lila, founded the Amarillo School of Music, Inc.
McCormic's father and two brothers, Odell and Williard, built a grocery store business — "J H Harris & Sons" and "Harris Food Stores" and "Rolling Stone Stores" (as many as 10 stores located in Borger, Pampa, Dalhart and Amarillo). The business was sold in 1946, shortly before the death of the father. The father, Odell, and Williard also operated a 58000 acres (234.7 km²) ranch in Union County, NM, 15 miles (24.1 km) north of Clayton. The father purchased the first portion of the ranch in 1915.
During a 1914 Tri-State Fair Music Festival in Amarillo, McCormic became aware of the operatic possibilities of her voice. By way of a Methodist Choir in Chicago and a singing contest sponsored by Mary Garden
Mary Garden
Mary Garden , was a Scottish operatic soprano with a substantial career in France and America in the first third of the 20th century...
, her operatic potential became known to others.
Attending college
McCormic studied music at Ouachita CollegeOuachita Baptist University
Ouachita Baptist University is a private, liberal arts, undergraduate institution located in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, which is about 65 miles southwest of Little Rock. The university's name is taken from the Ouachita River, which forms the eastern campus boundary. It is affiliated with the Arkansas...
, University of Arkansas
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
and then, with the intention of becoming a lyric soprano, Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
where she took vocal lessons. McCormic became a protégé of Mary Garden
Mary Garden
Mary Garden , was a Scottish operatic soprano with a substantial career in France and America in the first third of the 20th century...
(1874–1967). Both McCormic and Garden had been vocal students of Mrs. Sarah Robinson-Duff ( -1934)
Marriages
| Kenneth Joseph Rankin |
Born January 27, 1886, Perryville, Arkansas Perryville, Arkansas Perryville is a city in and the county seat of Perry County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 1,458 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:... ; died June 8, 1946, Sacramento, CA; Joseph and Mary married around 1908 in Arkansas. During their marriage, they had a daughter:
|
| Chester Adrian Macomic |
Born approx. 1883, Saugus, MA; marriage ended in divorce — Chester, a reputed Chicago mob lawyer, was Mary's "second husband." But Mary, in a Liberty Magazine article, described the marriage as a "sham." The marriage occurred in secret in Kalamazoo. Chester later revealed that the marriage was not valid because it took place while both were married to others. Chester had married Ava (née?) in 1908. Mary began using the name "McCormic" after a Chicago Civic Opera Chicago Civic Opera The Civic Opera Company was a Chicago company that produced seven seasons of grand opera in the Auditorium Theater from 1922 to 1928, and three seasons at its own Civic Opera House from 1929 to 1931 before falling victim to financial difficulties brought on in part by the Great Depression.-... employee misspelled Macomic. The 1920 US Census records show them as being married. Chester died at the age of 64 on April 16, 1956, in Oak Park, IL. |
| Prince Mdivani Mdivani is the name of a family of nobility, originating from the nation of Georgia. The best known bearers of this name were the children of Zakhari and Elizabeth Mdivani. The five siblings fled to Paris after the Russian Revolution of 1917, and became known as the "Marrying Mdivanis", as they... Serge Mdivani Mdivani is the name of a family of nobility, originating from the nation of Georgia. The best known bearers of this name were the children of Zakhari and Elizabeth Mdivani. The five siblings fled to Paris after the Russian Revolution of 1917, and became known as the "Marrying Mdivanis", as they... M'Divani Mdivani Mdivani is the name of a family of nobility, originating from the nation of Georgia. The best known bearers of this name were the children of Zakhari and Elizabeth Mdivani. The five siblings fled to Paris after the Russian Revolution of 1917, and became known as the "Marrying Mdivanis", as they... |
Married April 27, 1931, Phoenix, AZ; divorced Nov 14, 1933, Los Angeles County, CA |
| Homer V. Johannsen |
Married Nov. 25, 1936, Kansas City, MO; divorced July 14, 1937 |
Quotes on men & marriage
Teaching at the University of North Texas College of Music
In 1944, Wilfred Bain, dean of the University of North Texas College of MusicUniversity of North Texas College of Music
The University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, and the oldest in the world offering a degree in jazz studies...
, recruited Mary McCormic to create and direct an Opera Workshop. McCormic transformed herself from diva to artist-in-residence educator. She founded, defined, directed, and, when necessary, defended the school's first Opera Workshop. She built the Opera Workshop from scratch – on a shoestring budget – molding it over 16 prolific years into what has become her crowning legacy that, for years, has enriched the Southwest
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
. Wilfred Bain went down in history as one of the greatest music school deans of all time. In books and memoirs of accomplishments, Bain often tells of the hiring of Mary McCormic as one of this great accomplishments at North Texas.
The North Texas Opera Workshop was the first collegiate touring opera workshops west of the Mississippi and, at the time of its founding, was the only opera production company in existence in the Southwest. The San Antonio Grand Opera, Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing and Charles Cockrell...
, Dallas Opera
Dallas Opera
The Dallas Opera is an opera company located in Dallas, Texas . The company was founded in 1957 as the Dallas Civic Opera by Laurence Kelly and Nicolà Rescigno, both of whom had been active with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the first as administrator, the second as artistic director.-The company's...
and others were not yet in existence.
Through the opera workshop, McCormic pioneered an approach to opera in an era that wiped out major opera companies on the heels of the Great Depression. The new "low-cost workshop" model also offered new opportunities for composers who otherwise would never have their operas produced. And the workshop model gave hope for opera itself, when many in the world dismissed opera as a bygone luxury of the rich. The new "low cost model" also gave access in regions of the world that otherwise had little hope of having opera.
Under McCormic, the opera workshop performed locally, toured, and did broadcasts in radio and TV often with near quality of a reputable professional company.
When the Dallas Opera
Dallas Opera
The Dallas Opera is an opera company located in Dallas, Texas . The company was founded in 1957 as the Dallas Civic Opera by Laurence Kelly and Nicolà Rescigno, both of whom had been active with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the first as administrator, the second as artistic director.-The company's...
was founded in 1957, the UNT Opera Workshop and Vocal Studies provided a steady supply of singers for the Dallas Opera Chorus.
In 1966, McCormic retired and moved to Amarillo to make her home with her widowed sister-in-law, Mrs. Odell Harris.
The UNT Opera Workshop is an integral part of one of the most comprehensive music schools in the world; a school that, since the 1940s, has been among the largest in the country, and in recent years, holds the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music
National Association of Schools of Music
The National Association of Schools of Music is an association of post-secondary music schools in the United States and the principal U.S. accreditor for higher education in music...
. The UNT College of Music is also the oldest (and first) in the world to offer a degree in jazz studies.
Composition dedicated to McCormic
- Blanche RobinsonBlanche RobinsonBlanche Robinson was an American composer and well-known piano accompanist. During her prolific years as a composer, she lived in New York City. During her more active years as a piano accompanist, she lived in Los Angeles...
(Mrs. Martin Hennion Robinson) (née Williams b. May 18, 1883, near Liberty, KansasLiberty, KansasLiberty is a city in Montgomery County, Kansas, United States. The population was 95 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Liberty is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
; d. Aug 1969, Los Angeles, CA) composed Love Was a Beggar for Mary McCormic.
External links
- Mary is buried at Llano Cemetery, Amarillo in section D, lot 6 space 1 (Feb. 12, 1981). By her is:
-
- Pat Harris, Section D lot 6 space 1A (Feb. 22, 1993)
- Mary Elizabeth Harris, Section D lot 6 space 2 (Feb. 6, 1990)
- Willard Harris, Section D lot 6 space 2 (Mar. 26, 1949)
- McCormic's Grave Marker and Llano Cemetery in Amarillo
- Biography of Mary McCormic (in German), Operissimo Concertissimo, MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, ZurichZürichZurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
-