Word: oompahs
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...affair that looks as if it could land on the Sea of Tranquillity. The main walkway in the Olympic Park is more down to earth. Called Spielstrasse (Play Street), it is a kind of carnival midway with restaurant, beer garden, refreshment booths, street theaters, pantomimists, painters, puppet shows, oompah-pah bands in Lederhosen, folk dancing, and stands displaying such wares as Olympic dice ($1) and Olympic paperweights...
...season with a work like Ernani, one of Verdi's least mature operas. As a tale of romance and intrigue among 16th century grandees, Ernani mostly creaks where it should crackle. As music, it is an example of early Verdi that too often comes out merely as early oompah-pah. That Bing succeeded at all merely proves his mastery of his craft...
...discothèques and rock-'n'-roll joints, the trouble is not so much in the instruments themselves, or even the sustained fortissimi or the close quarters. The blame goes to the electronic amplifiers. An old-fashioned oompah military band, playing a Sousa march in Central or Golden Gate Park, generated as much sound. But the sound was not amplified, and was dissipated in the open air. A trombonist sitting in front of a tuba player might be a bit deaf for an hour or so after a concert; then his hearing returned to normal. A microphone hooked...
...arms. The work is laced with musical and verbal wit. Widow Popova's complaints about her dead husband ("What could a poor, weak woman do / But humor his caprices,/ When acts more suited to a zoo / Took place with neighbors' nieces?") are set to an oompah rhythm and sardonic melody. Though The Bear is no immortal work from the Olympian heights of human creativity, it is blessed with fine craftsmanship and expert musicianship. The album's cast and orchestra are excellent as well...
Despite these gifts, he failed to invest his orchestra with enough expressiveness or subtlety to rival Doc Severinson's band. Carmen's rousing prelude came out as a consistent, if uninspiring, series of oompah-oompahs, and in the orchestral finale to the Gypsy Song the melody somehow got lost beneath the percussive power of the tambourine...