Word: contraltos
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
From the time Contralto Marian Anderson first realized that she had a remarkable voice, she wanted to sing at the Metropolitan Opera. In those days, hiring a Negro artist was unthinkable at the Met. She went on the concert stage instead, and became one of the great recitalists of all time. But last week, fiftyish and famous as ever,* she sat down with the Met's General Manager Rudolf Bing and signed up for a starring role this winter...
Mahalia still sings in churches. But her deep, creamy contralto has also been heard five times in Carnegie Hall, where she fills the house without benefit of advertising ("You just get a feeling she's coming," explains one New York fan). Two years ago, on a European tour, greetings came from Queen Elizabeth and Winston Churchill before an Albert Hall concert...
...instrument cleared its throat and got going. But soon the movement ended in a romp, with orchestra and tuba neck and neck. The second movement came off beautifully. In a slower, sustained tempo. Catelinet poured out a rich sound, often booming up from the bass into a fruity contralto. Warmed up now, he launched into the difficult final movement with confidence. The tuba lumbered along in its elephantine way and right into another cadenza. This time Catelinet's solo came off well, and tuba and player ended with a fine flourish...
Their show sails through a dozen musical numbers, with Margo chanting in her smoky contralto, Eddie singing, when he sings, in about the same vocal range, both of them whirling and capering between times. The act begins at breakneck tempo, works itself into an autobiographical lather (Never Marry a Dancer), takes a breather when Albert throws all his theatrical technique into September Song a la Walter Huston. Then it sidles off into a calypso tempo (Man, Man Is for the Woman Made), goes serious again when Margo dramatizes a mother's prayer (from Irwin Shaw's Sons...
...qualifies as the perfect showcase for his hats." Under the terms of the contest, it was not surprising to find some familiar names among the winners. The top eleven and their milliners: Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower (Sally Victor), Mrs. Lauritz Melchior (John Frederics), Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney (Mr. John), Contralto Claramae Turner (Robert Dudley), Soprano Mary Bothwell (Rose Saphire), Nightclub Singer Juliana Larson (Margaret Cody), Radio Commentator Ruby Mercer (Marion Valle), Coloratura Soprano Barbara Gibson (Helen Liebert), Cinemactress Jan Sterling (Walter Florell), Actress Dorothy Stickney (Anita-Andra), TV Star Arlene Francis (Emme...