Word: mezzos
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...tilt of her head or the angle of her body, but also electrified the crowd with slashing moments of violence, as when she confronted her faithless lover in Act II. Her voice ranged from flutely pianissimos that penetrated to the last row of the distant balcony to mezzo-fortes of melting sweetness to fortes of trumpeting and often edgy fierceness. She may not have the most beautiful voice in the world (a credit often reserved for Italy's Renata Tebaldi or the Metropolitan Opera's Zinka Milanov), but she is certainly the most exciting singer...
...life of the party from birth. That occasion came one memorable evening in the back of a theater box at Keokuk, Iowa. Her mother had miscalculated and had confidently gone to the opera that evening. Elsa's birth cry rose mightily in the middle of a road company mezzo's big aria and overpowered an ill-fated Mignon. After that impressive debut, Elsa grew up poor, plain and plump. Her father was an insurance man and part-time drama critic. But she could play the piano and, to hear her tell it, attracted people "by the gaiety...
...Sanders Theatre concert. An instrumental Septet (1953), the Cantata (1952), and Three Songs from Shakespeare (1953) comprised the program. The quality of performance throughout was superb with the exception of William Hess' tenor; and its strained quality was probably attributable to a cold. Both Mr. Hess and mezzo-soprano Eunice Alberts mastered vocal parts of exceptional difficulty. The modulations of mood and expressiveness which Miss Alberts achieved were striking. The precision and suppleness of conductor Spies' rhythmic impulse and the virtuosity of the instrumentalists resulted in a vital reading of the Septet...
Only a day and a half after leaving Milan and her last La Scala performance in The Devil's Daughter (TIME, April 5), Mezzo-Soprano Rise Stevens made a pretty transatlantic commuter's picture as she landed at New York's International Airport, that same afternoon was on stage at the Metropolitan Opera to sing the title role of Carmen...
...audience gave Figlia sufferance while clapping up seven enthusiastic curtain calls for the cast itself. Afterward, exhausted but unfazed by the prospect of mixed reviews, Mezzo Stevens stood up stoutly for the opera. "It has a lot of melody," she said. "I was very excited right from the start. Acting-wise it was wonderful for me. Besides, nobody could compare me with anybody...