STATE HOUSE — In the wake of reports of long-time state employees walking into retirement with lucrative compensation packages boosted by payouts for unused sick time, Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday unveiled legislation to cap sick leave accrual at no more than 1,000 hours, or six months of work.
The governor believes the state can save up to $3.5 million in cash payouts annually with the reform, but a legislative sponsor of similar legislation predicted just last week that the idea would face a tough road toward becoming law this session with strong union opposition.
Ask anyone to hum a bit of Swan Lake, and they'll give you that heart-wrenching Tchaikovsky theme we all know so well. It's the epitome of classical ballet music and, arguably, one of the most recognizable scores in the entire classical music repertoire.
One of the most undervalued features of Swan Lake are Peter Tchaikovsky's violin solos. These gems are not your run-of-the-mill solos. Instead of the usual brief dances that can be as short as 47 seconds, the three violin pieces in Swan Lake are, on average, about six minutes. They are very similar to operatic arias and duets. Tchaikovsky's solos are lyrical, technically difficult, and melodically complex — only they're just sung by violins rather than sopranos.
