Word: amonasro
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...past the Lyric has put on many a fine, star-heavy performance, and last week's cast was again impressive: Viennese Soprano Leonie Rysanek as Aïda, Italian Mezzo-Soprano Giulietta Simionato as Amneris, Swedish Tenor Jussi Bjoerling as Radames, Italian Baritone Tito Gobbi as Amonasro. But the stage sets looked as though they had been resurrected from an early copy of the Victor Book of Operas: cluttered scenes with every temple, tower and palm frond rendered in tedious detail. And Paris Opera Conductor Georges Sebastian throttled the tempo to a crawl, once even goaded Tenor Bjoerling into...
...sang the title role in the opera house at Nice but had never attempted it with a big-league company before her debut at the Metropolitan Opera last week. Soprano Davy was thrown in with a strong cast-Kurt Baum as Radames, Irene Dalis as Amneris. Leonard Warren as Amonasro-which might well have overpowered her. Tentative at first, Singer Davy warmed up as the evening progressed, sang her low tones with a throaty richness, her upper ones with limpid, free-flowing clarity. Her O patria mia was a triumph of yearning beauty. She lacked the sheer vocal force...
...Famed Contralto Marian Anderson broke the singers' color barrier two years ago in the role of the Negro Ulrica in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera. Three weeks later, Baritone Robert McFerrin made his Met debut as Amonasro in Aïda. Ballerina Janet Collins was the first Negro ever to be featured at the Met (in 1951), also...
...even in a role calling for a dark skin. Marian Anderson's Metropolitan Opera debut as the Negro Ulrica, in Un Ballo in Maschera (TIME, Jan. 17), made fortissimo headlines, and this week Baritone Robert McFerrin is causing another stir at the Met by singing the Ethiopian king Amonasro in Aida. The NBC Opera Theater was even bolder: this week it cast Leontyne Price, 26, as the Italian opera singer Tosca...
...biggest individual triumph belonged to young (30) U.S.-trained, Vienna-seasoned Bass-Baritone George London (TIME, Jan. 9, 1950), making his Met debut as Amonasro. The Herald Tribune's exacting Virgil Thomson reached deep into his accolade box for a proper one, decided that London "took his place among the greatest singing actors we have any of us known or remembered...