Word: arias
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...right for him to be half-sighted, with a black patch over one eye. But he must not talk at half speed; after all, he "will speak more in a minute than he will stand to in a month." Yet Rounds delivers his delicate and dazzling "Queen Mab" aria in a leaden manner, with lots of pauses. Vivace has become andante. I've said before--and I repeat--that the best guide here is the Queen Mab vocal scherzetto and orchestral scherzo from Berlioz's symphony. Furthermore, for a man who revels so in words, Mercutio should know that "lamentable...
...Caldwell was operating on the premise that beneath the breast of the war horse beats the heart of a thoroughbred. The Barber ranks as a 19th century buffa masterpiece because its music is so innately ingratiating and so illustrative of both character and comic situation. Figaro's patter aria Largo al factotum ("Feeegaro! Feeegaro!") quickly defines him as one of the most likable hustlers in all opera. Rosina's Una voce poco fa is a song of such poise and bravura style as to remove all doubt that she will get her man, Count Almaviva...
...melody: Judy Garland traveling the yellow brick road in The Wizard of Oz; the unfinished face of Frank Sinatra apostrophizing Manhattan in On the Town; Fred Astaire, the world's most sophisticated stick figure, dancing on the ceiling in Royal Wedding; Gene Kelly's soaking-wet aria in Singin'in the Rain...
...third excellent wind soloist, Stephen Hammer, played the oboe for Bach Cantata No. 56. His contribution was the most exciting aspect of the piece. His phrasing of the obbligato line in the second aria demonstrated a facility with the instrument coupled with great sensitivity to precise imitation. The basso for the cantata, David Evitts, had been recruited in extremely short order. He sounded tired, with several lapses of diction and little variation of timbre or volume. In general, he was a shadow of the big, confident singer he had been just one night before as soloist with the Collegium...
...people are shoved into Groucho's "stateroom," or the Take-Me-Out-to-the-Ballgame interlude at the opera. That funny foreign language the brothers speak before a throng in New York is the soundtrack running backwards, but the New Yorkers couldn't tell. Vesti la Giubba is the aria from Pagllacci that Groucho is always humming (It was also Caruso's most popular record.). Don't forget the two hard-boiled eggs...