Word: diaz
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Pamir a, the doomed daughter of the governor of Corinth, Sills successfully re-established her claim as the most radiant and musical of prima donnas. The dilemmas that Pamira finds herself in would try even Aida, and Sills rose to them all. Briefly, Pamira loves Maometto (Bass Justino Diaz), the leader of the attacking Turks. Her father wants her to marry the Greek warrior Neocle (Mezzo Verrett...
...like a man to make the impersonation halfway acceptable. Hers is not a warm voice, but it is clear and brilliant. Dramatic coloratura lines spun out in the third act's "Non temer" brought Verrett a three-minute ovation of her own. As Maometto, the tall, athletic Justino Diaz not only displayed one of the richest, manliest basses around, but actually made this terrible Turk a figure of dignity and believable emotion...
...favorite parts has been the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni: the Italian equivalent of Don Juan who, having seduced over 1000 women before the opera starts, goes on to seduce a few more before he's packed off to hell. Diaz says that he tries to portray this character as a glorious rebel rather than as a rank scoundrel, adding. "From a chauvinistic point of view you could say, look at all the women he made happy! Apparently he was an irresistible character--a terrific lover, a wonderful human being, at least for those few minutes or hours...
...Diaz stresses his belief that the Met's hiring practices are based firmly on talent, and he has reason to be pleased with his career there. In addition to opening the season next year in Siege, he will sing the title role in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro in November. "I can now say yes or no to anything they want me to do. I don't have to take whatever they dish out. But I think that all of those problems have been ironed out very naturally and very cordially." Problems? Who said anything about problems...
Sills is contracted at the Met through 1977. Diaz will probably be there as long as he chooses to stay. Diaz's career is proof that the Met system has been basically a meritocracy in the past; Sills's debut now demonstrates that general manager Schuyler Chapin has made it a more perfect...