Ok, even worse -- Richard Dawkins is still alive. I've confused him with William Hamilton. Both very interesting biologists.

Ok, the clue is obvious after all.

Carlo Urbani was the one who died (SARS).

Then the remaining answers are Bernard Kouchner and Médecins sans frontières. (This was what tricked me -- I didn't think that "Doctors without Borders" was French and number of letters didn't match.)

Yeap, you finally got it!

I really like Sawallisch, and kind of wish I had gone to more of his concerts before he departed Philadelphia. He did return last season for several concerts which I attended. Despite his old age and appearance (staggering across the stage), he turns into a different person once the baton is in his hand.

He's supposedly very fragile. He must be in his 90s now. I heard him conduct the orchestra in a Bruckner Symphony (forget which -- I think that it was #5). I've heard the very charming story of how he entertained the audience during one concert when Philly was struck with a heavy snow storm. He played the piano transcription of a Wagner opera (was it Tannhauser?). A third of the orchestra couldn't show up to work or something. Apparently the Symphony released a CD of the concert (but I think it's all sold out).

Ok, I need to work for a bit. So hopefully this will keep people busy.

This author (name = 9 letters, 5th = "a") was injured in a significant naval battle (name of battle = 7 letters, 4th = "a"). He went on to write (2 words, 3, 7), which is also the title of a musical work by this composer (7 letters).

(This shouldn't be a difficult clue if you've been paying attention in this game.)

Sawallish is *only* 81, but definitely looks a lot older now compared to just a few years ago.
I went to his Bruckner No. 5 in Jan 2004, and I know he conducted at Carnegie as well after the Philadelphia concerts. Maybe you went to that one???

Very likely. I know that it was a pretty well-known Bruckner Symphony, which means that it had to be 4, 5, 7, 8 or 9. And I know it wasn't 4, 8 or 9. :-)

Did I give you enough time to do some work? :)
I think the answers are:
Cervantes
Lepanto
Don Quixote
(Richard) Strauss

Right answers.

I think that I need to do some work. You can always give a clue and I can take a look later. :-)

This following clue is a bit of a stretch (in terms of keeping it European), but I thought it was interesting:

This non-European city recently unveiled its plan for a new opera house AND a theatre. Upon completion (by end of this decade, hopefully), this city will be the only city in the world to have FOUR buildings designed by FOUR different Pritzker Prize winners located within one contiguous block.

Name:
City 6 letters ("a" 5th letter)
The four architects (last names only):
#1 5 letters ("a" 3rd letter)
#2 3 letters
#3 6 letters
#4 8 letters ("a" 7th letter)
"a" taken from Cervantes

Dallas
Piano
Pei
Foster
Koolhaas

Yes, DT. I thought that was pretty cool... Now on to you.

Missed this clue, but definitely interesting. I think that NYC has at least four Pritzker architects (but not within the same city block) -- Koolhass, Pei and Piano have buildings here, I think, along with Philip Johnson, and I think Gehry has a project planned.

Richard Meier actually has at least one building here as well. A new one is the Perry Street condo -- I find this quite interesting, actually. Hadn't realized that the architect is Meier. The prices are outrageous and lots of celebrities have bought in the building, I think.

http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildi...c_Project.html

clue to follow!

Can't say that I'm a huge fan of Gehry. But apparently the Walt Disney hall in LA is getting rave reviews -- even though he's sort of disowned it. The acoustics are supposedly great also.

I've already mentioned "My Architect" somewhere in this thread. It's an interesting documentary, and some of the architects make rather telling remarks. Pei was pretty humble and said something like "it's not necessary to design a lot of buildings (as he did) but it suffices to have one masterpiece (implying that this is a goal that Louis Kahn has already achieved)."

Anyway, I think that I'm going to get some dinner. I'll check the thread tomorrow.

FWIW, on my recent weekend trip to LA for a wedding, I had minimal time for sightseeing, and ended up going to Getty Museum & Walt Disney Concert Hall (both were new since my last visit). Not really knowing much about architects at that time, I enjoyed both buildings. Getty is really nice, probably augmented by its hilltop location and panoramic vista. WDCH is interesting, but the outside "coating" is annoying as it is so reflective. Just by standing outside I felt like I got a sunburn. The inside was much more warm & calming. Unfortunately they had a matinee concert and I wasn't able to tour the hall itself.

I've not been to the Getty, but I've read stories that the reflective surface of the Walt Disney increases the temperatures of surrounding buildings by a couple of degrees.

The continuation as part #7 can be found here:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=34518909