Word: figaro
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Pope's youth wasn't happy," says Father Joseph Vandrisse, a former French missionary in the Middle East who now covers the Vatican for the French daily Le Figaro. Wojtyla lost his mother when he was nine, his father when he was 21, and his only brother, a doctor, died during a scarlet-fever epidemic. "He has meditated a lot on the meaning of suffering. Now that he is weakened in a world that is horrified by sickness and death, he thinks that the image of someone who is suffering is important for the church." To the sick whom...
Whatever the alchemy that makes a star of a fine singer, Terfel has it. All his Metropolitan Opera performances this fall in the title role of The Marriage of Figaro and as Leporello in Don Giovanni "went clean" -- theatrical slang for sold out -- before the first curtain went up, and there were scuffles in the line for tickets to his New York City lieder recital last month. Onstage his presence is riveting. Both Figaro and Leporello are servants, but there is no trace of the oaf or the buffoon in Terfel's portrayals. In both parts he can be physically...
...rare treasures, impresarios tried to persuade him to take mighty roles. If he wanted to, he could be singing Wotan in the Ring cycle all over the world. But Terfel has another quality: intelligence. He aims to conserve his voice for a long career, so for now it is Figaro and Leporello and a few comparably medium-weight roles. He also loves to sing lieder and other nonoperatic works. Conductor Claudio Abbado remembers the "beautiful vocal subtlety and understanding" that he brought to their recording of Schumann's difficult Faust...
...never been busier. This fall she sings Mozart at the Met (The Marriage of Figaro, Idomeneo) while preparing a January recital for Lincoln Center at which James Levine will accompany her. She has recently released two classical albums: songs by Aaron Copland (with baritone Thomas Hampson), and lieder by Schumann, Schubert, Wolf and Mozart, with texts by Goethe, accompanied by pianist Richard Goode. Due out in October is a record that shows yet another departure: music from Eastern Europe with the Kronos Quartet...
...stars at Glyndebourne are the conductors -- Bernard Haitink led Figaro -- and the directors. Sir Peter Hall has done some of his best stagings here, as have Trevor Nunn and Jonathan Miller. But the key to Glyndebourne's success is the dozen or so coaches who prepare each opera meticulously. Beneficiaries liken their teaching to having a superb master class every day. Christie notes that "coaches have an awkward job mediating between the conductor and the singer. They need a feeling for what's best for the composer." Their ranks tend to be drawn from people on their way to becoming...