Word: norma
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...essence of bel canto is making the vocally difficult sound delectable. Long, lung-stretching phrases, rococo trills, breathtaking leaps of voice slide into the air and ear with soft, summery ease and grace. The quintessential bel canto role is Norma, the most taxing female part in all opera. Giuditta Pasta, the first singer to try the part after Bellini created it in 1831, found it so difficult that the violins had to play out of tune deliberately to disguise her failures...
...with Aïda and Leontyne Price, and there are plans for brand-new productions by Franco Zeffirelli of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, along with Renata Tebaldi's Tosca and a so-far-uncast La Traviata. Thereafter, apparently, except for Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Home in a new Norma, the 16 offerings will be familiar...
Consumer resistance shows up most sharply in home furnishings and appliances. "We went to four different places before we finally bought a color TV set," says Norma Piel, a Pittsburgh housewife, "and I'm sure that we saved at least $100." Apparel sales are strong almost everywhere, but stores in Los Angeles and St. Louis report a declining demand for shoes, partly because the new styles, which many people consider ugly, have not really caught on. The fur industry is having its shabbiest year in decades; women are not buying as many minks and Persian lambs as in recent...
...Norma Jean, Guiles...
...Italy. Born in Deepwater, Mo., Miss Swarthout started her singing career in her home-town church choir, then joined the Chicago Civic Opera in 1924 and learned more than 20 complete roles in her first year. By 1929 she was with the Met, winning acclaim for her roles in Norma, Faust, Lakme, Romeo and Juliet and particularly Carmen. Between performances, she popularized opera on radio, starred in movies, and went on innumerable concert tours. "There is a feeling, particularly around New York," she once said, "that audiences around the country want only the potboilers and insist on them. This simply...