Word: aria
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...climactic aria belonged to Mamma Callas, who works at the Manhattan jewelry shop of Mamma Gabor. Last week she recalled with gratitude how Meneghini once sent her $40, while Maria sent her nothing. Said Evangelia of her daughter: "Meneghini was a father and a mother to Maria. Now she no longer needs him. But Maria will never be happy; my soul says it. Women like Maria can never know real love...
Prokofiev's music, written in the early '205, is taut, economical and superbly dramatic, consisting of almost continuous recitative, punctuated with an occasional soaring aria. The opera reaches its vocal and dramatic climax in the Inquisition scene, in which Renata. a group of nuns and the Inquisitor weave eleven different vocal lines into a complicated polyphony, terminated by a staggering explosion of brass and cymbals...
Bach's cantata No. 133 "Ich Freue Mich in Dir," was performed by the orchestra and a small vocal ensemble. Under Harbison's forceful leadership, the instrumentalists consistently produced a luminous full-bodied tone. A highlight was provided by the sensitive oboe and continuo accompaniment to the contralto's aria; it had the cohesiveness of chamber music at its finest...
Vocally, the performance did not go as well. Though Nancy Shelton's lower register was solid and assured, her soprano was far too insecure on the high notes to make her long and beautiful aria really affecting. On the other hand, the low notes of the contralto aria were the ones that gave Barbara Blanchard the most trouble; perhaps a reversal of the parts might have benefitted both ladies. In the incisive opening chorus and the stirring chorale at the work's close, the small chorus proved to be simply too small. One can appreciate Harbison's attempt to scale...
Munch cut, among other numbers, the recitatives describing the suicide of Judas and the love of Mary Magdalene, the lovely bass aria "Mache dich, mein Herze, rein," and the masterful tenor aria "Geduld, geduld...