Word: aria
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Tongue-Lashing Aria. Menotti is a master melodist and an excellent hand at concocting workable dramatic episodes. Moment by moment, he has his audience believing in his action, even if it is laden with stereotypes. Each of his five scenes works to a strong, stirring climax. Michele drives the gawking neighbors out of his cold-water flat after Annina's vision. During a religious parade, he is beaten and shackled to a steel fence in symbolic martyrdom. He stabs his mistress after she accuses him of incestuous love for Annina. In a bleak subway station, he curses Annina when...
Dorothy Dandridge's Carmen has her best moments in the Habanera aria where she establishes the brand of sultriness which is to drive men mad. Miss Dandridge seems a little relenting for this demoniac task but her equipage is more than adequate. Harry Bellafonte, as Joe--nee Don Jose--relies too much on eye-popping and nerve-straining, emotional displays which the Cinema-Scopic screen shoves into the realm of the ludicrous...
After explaining the supers' positions during the Toreador Song, "that--uh--classic aria," he led them to the dressing room on the fourth floor. Long rows of light bulbs were reflected from the broken mirrors of a communal dressing table. It was all very romantic. The gypsy costumes were filthy and smelled bad, which everyone agreed was an authentic touch. One super reached for a pencil to paint on a moustache. "Touch that make-up kit and I'll break yer arm," said a muscular ballet dancer...
...from birth. That occasion came one memorable evening in the back of a theater box at Keokuk, Iowa. Her mother had miscalculated and had confidently gone to the opera that evening. Elsa's birth cry rose mightily in the middle of a road company mezzo's big aria and overpowered an ill-fated Mignon. After that impressive debut, Elsa grew up poor, plain and plump. Her father was an insurance man and part-time drama critic. But she could play the piano and, to hear her tell it, attracted people "by the gaiety I radiate as naturally...
...long last, Bender sat down, after nary an aria. The meeting's chairman arose, tried to get in a few words, and was promptly interrupted. George Bender was sorry, but he wondered if someone would come forward to lead the singing. He waited all of two or three seconds for a volunteer, then lifted his arms−and his voice-in a rendition of God Be With You Till We Meet Again. It was a typical Bender performance...