Word: dictional
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...choral high point was the group of three light, spirited chansons by Janequin, executed with superb timing and diction. They also pointed up the poignancy and dramatic expression of the following Cruda Amarilli by Marenzio, the greatest Italian madrigalist, who shows the influence of the oncoming Baroque...
...great credit to the leadership of conductor Michael Greenebaum. From an organizational standpoint alone, the cantata is a huge undertaking; Greenebaum succeeded in offering both a well-rehearsed ensemble and a measure of interpretive continuity. He was especially fortunate in soprano soloist Jean Lunn. To her customary refinement of diction and gifted insight into the music as a whole. But her singing and a few instrumental solos were the only high spots. The chorus sang with colorless tone and indifferent diction most of the time. Furthermore, Greenebaum made the texture bottom-heavy with a basso continue of four cellos, double...
...laurels must go to Simon, who was in perfect voice, with ne'er a hint of a rough-edged tone. His diction, in four languages, was always impeccably clear. I was particularly impressed by his singing of the medieval Sainte Marie, Alonso de Mudarra's Triste estaba, and Oswald v. Wolkenstein's Der May. The last is one of the oldest descriptive pieces, wherein the calls of many birds are imitated at great speed, in the manner of a Gilbert & Sullivan patter song...
Amherst conductor Charles W. Ludington seems not to share Professor Woodworth's views. Largely because of poor diction and breathy tone, the Glee Club's sound was nearly always pale in upper voices and muddy in the bass. These failings actually enhanced the plain chant Te Lucis, but consistently spoiled the music of later composers. Even Charpentier's lovely Magnificat almost became an insipid bore--despite the excellence of violinists John Goodkind and John Barson, and Harvard cellist Stephen McGhee. After a mediocre Schubert cantata, the visitors offered a Bacchanals from Offenbach's La Belle Helene. At its close...
...best performance, and the best comic part in the whole play, belongs to George Turner, the stuffed shorted, Edwardian butler. Turner's carefully measured pace and diction add a rare ludicrosity to the otherwise shabby proceedings. Joan Wet more, as the young man's sister, brings a facile smugness to some of the play's better lines...