Word: lyrically
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...Devil's Disciple is George Bernard Shaw. Lyric productions' latest captures only part of The Great Man's internal satire. He was fooling fewer people than he thought when he called this one "threadbare melodrama." At the Fine Arts...
...Association of Stage Managers and Stage Handlers is currently picketing Lyric Productions' second try at winter stock. Whether the pickets are necessary is open to some question. Lyric presents one of Tennessee Williams' great plays, with a fine female lead performance. For the rest, the production is semi-professional, in the sense that only half the cast performs with much competence. Given a bit of amateurish inadequacy, however, Summer and Smoke can be enjoyable to those who just want to see a good Williams play or to those who admire a good single performance in the midst of discouraging surroundings...
Astringent and idiosyncratic, The Green Crow brings out the crackerbarrel philosopher strain in O'Casey. But the flashes of lyric power are there still, since fortunately, like the leopard, the proud "paycock" cannot change its spots...
...singing of Gina Cigna as Turandot and the haunting Calaf of Giulio Masini. Now London has issued a beautifully recorded version that is one of their most satisfactory operatic sets. The taxing role of Turandot finds Inge Borkh lacking in the most dramatic moments, but her voice in the lyrical passages is ravishing. Renata Tebaldi has too heavy a soprano for the role of Liu, but she gives a more sustained performance than has been her wont of late. As the Calaf, Mario del Monaco is properly stentorian; recent years' wear in his voice is apparent only in the lyric...
...both contribute uneven performances. Although del Monaco is the outstanding Italian dramatic tenor of our day, too much forcing has taken its toll on his voice and he can no longer sustain the line as well as he should. He is still effective in declamatory passages, but the many lyric moments are sung roughly. Tebaldi tends to be shrill as Leonora, although parts of her performance are controlled and lovely. The opera itself is uneven, so the singers must sometimes surpass their material. They have only partial success: contralto Giulia Simionato is fine, but basso Cesare Siepi is a disappointment...