Word: gedda
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...until late Monday afternoon that his whereabouts became public. At 4 p.m., Soviet Embassy Press Counselor Boris Malakhov called the Associated Press's State Department correspondent to inform him that there would be a press conference in 90 minutes. "We'll have Vitaly Yurchenko," he said. Replied Reporter George Gedda: "Wait a minute. Did I miss something? He defected three months ago." Said Malakhov: "Ah, there have been reports that he defected, but come to the embassy to find out what really happened...
...veiled timbre and somewhat muted personality. Jon Vickers, 52, can match Pavarotti's intensity and puts more serious thought behind his performing, but his is an entirely different kind of voice: rugged, heroic, best suited to dramatic works such as Otello, Les Troyens and Peter Grimes. Nicolai Gedda, an elegant, unfailingly attractive singer, is a supremely versatile stylist, at home in several languages; at 54, however, he is understandably not a powerhouse. Perhaps the challenge ultimately will come from a younger singer like Jose Carreras, 32, though to date he has shown neither the strength nor the subtlety of Pavarotti...
Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, Tenor Nicolai Gedda, Bass Dimiter Petkov, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Mstislav Rostropovich conductor, Angel; 3 LPs). Soviet critics thought they heard a masterpiece when this, Shostakovich's second opera, was premiered in 1934. Then Stalin walked out of a performance and they listened again. This time they heard "din, gnash and screech" (Pravda). The work was withdrawn, and Shostakovich pursued more orthodox ways. A sanitized version, unveiled in 1963, found its way to the West on records, but this is the first recording of the original score. Harsh, erotic...
...Bartered Bride, April 28. The Met's new production of Smetana's bouncy peasant drama boasts great singers but a botched translation and presentation. Teresa Stratas, Nicolai Gedda, and Jon Vickers (who cancelled his Tuesday Otello performance and may not show here) all are first-class artists, but some miscastings mar their contribution...
Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov (Bass Martti Talvela, Tenor Nicolai Gedda, Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra, Jerzy Semkow conductor, Angel; 4 LPs). At long last, here is the Boris Godunov that Mussorgsky actually wrote. For too many years the work was heard in the brilliant, often gaudy revision of Rimsky-Korsakov, who in the guise of correcting a friend's mistakes dispelled much of Mussorgsky's haunting, earthy musical originality. This new recording measures up to both the music and the debt owed Mussorgsky. Martti Talvela is rich of voice (less a black bass than a walnut) and unforgettable...