Word: diva
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Some 10 wealthy passengers have each paid $15,000 for a 10-day cruise through the Mediterranean aboard the Narcissus. The luxurious ship provides both musical and gastronomical delights. A virtuoso pianist and a renowned diva perform nightly to passengers who dine on gourmet food and turn adulterous in the moonlight. Indeed, affair after affair develops among the passengers...
Meanwhile, Clarisse's husband is enduring an emotionless affair with a vapid starlet, while the sensual diva leads on a young gigolo who ultimately kills himself over his love for her. The subplots enthrall, but all fade away as Clarisse's and Julien's love reaches its promising resolution...
...lost on a ten-day Mediterranean cruise, The Painted Lady is more than entertaining; its verve and humor disguise a serious work. Sagan's cruise has a musical motif; the deluxe passengers have each paid $15,000 to listen to a virtuoso pianist and a celebrated diva perform aboard a ship pointedly christened Narcissus. The lure is also gastronomical: "The port of call determined the musical work, and the musical work determined the menu. These delicate musical relationships, hesitant at first, had bit by bit been transformed into invariable ritual, even if it occasionally happened that the sudden decay...
Impossible the job may be; it is unquestionably important. Says retired Diva Beverly Sills, now director of the New York City Opera: "The Met has the funding, wonderful facilities, glamour, international stars. It is the most prestigious opera house in the world." As such, the Met must act as an aural museum, preserving and displaying the standard repertory: works such as La Traviata, Tosca and Die Meistersinger. But an opera house must also be active in reviving worthy pieces and commissioning new ones. Under Levine's artistic administration, the Met has successfully explored new territory in such operas...
...certain voices are total," complains a Met singer. "When he finds a voice he likes, he uses it over and over." Like any other conductor, Levine has a roster of singers he finds congenial, among them Soprano Teresa Stratas, Tenor Placido Domingo and Baritone Milnes. Sometimes, as with veteran Diva Scotto, their voices are long faded but still histrionically effective. Sometimes they are not up to major-house standards, as with Tenor Philip Creech, whom Levine has pushed beyond the limit of his modest gifts. But his commitment to certain singers has paid off in the development of several young...