Word: aria
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...Most important, Vespri contains a lot more good music than any but scholars would have deduced from its century or so of neglect. The over ture is more or less an orchestral favor ite. The first-act aria, "O tu, Palermo, " is a recital staple for basses. What a surprise, though, to discover the power of the quartet and chorus with which Verdi concludes the second act - a moment of grand confrontation in which every body perceives everybody else's seeming treachery. Or to find that Verdi has rarely written anything lovelier than Elena's farewell to Arrigo...
...Sills, usually the best prepared of singers, became momentarily confused. At the full-dress rehearsal of Bolena, she lost her way in Anna's prayer scene and began to repeat herself. Ever the pro, Sills tossed off the mistake with a quip: "It is such a pretty aria, once is good but twice is better...
...marvelously anticipated by Sills' clutching at her neck at the final curtain. As Henry, Baritone Robert Hale, 40, is a believably gruff, gout-ridden and girl-crazy monarch, dominating the stage in a way that disguises the fact that he does not have one solo aria...
Perhaps deciding not to waste any of her remaining high Cs in what looked suspiciously like aria-to-aria combat, Callas withdrew into doctor-ordered seclusion until rehearsals start for her second scheduled Royal Festival Hall appearance...
PART II OF The Oratorio contrasts vividly with the trumpets-and-drums splendor that precedes it. The scoring eliminates the festive instruments entirely and the accompaniments are lighter: a flute is used in two obbligato roles. The one aria had a trio-sonata texture with tenor soloist, flute, and continuo. This form was a special favorite of Bach's for which be wrote some of his best counterpoint. The simplicity and clarity of singer and flutist filled the entire church and maintained the spell throughout the aria...