Word: operas
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...falsetto, a trend that holds up throughout the disc. This tendency toward wild fluctuations gives an effect of purposely pathetic overextension (see the absurd choir-boy-to-demon shift in “Among Dreams”), as if he’s playing every part in a soap opera. He’s shooting for the platonic ideals of theme songs and television commercials, and hitting upon something far darker. In fact darkness is the only real unity, other than production values, that holds the disc together. Most every track is saturated with ghostly echoes and reverb, making...
...DIED. ROBERT MERRILL, 87, powerful baritone who was a favorite at the Metropolitan Opera for three decades; in New York City. In his 30 years at the Met, he was regarded as one of the greatest Verdi baritones of his generation, singing the title role in Rigoletto many times. Unlike many opera singers of his age, Merrill never avoided the mainstream: he appeared occasionally in Las Vegas and his recording of the national anthem was used for many years to open games at Yankee Stadium...
...opera was written in 1710 but never produced in the composer’s lifetime. It was kept in the Hamburg Library until World War II, when the score, along with many others, disappeared (apparently hidden from anticipated bombing raids...
...BEMF was contacted and offered the world premiere rights of the opera, says Fay. “We then traveled to Germany where we got to see and touch the original score. We also went to Russia where we auditioned Russian opera singers, since the story is Russian, though the composer was German...
After the gigantic task of picking an opera comes the even bigger task of producing it. “There are generally 150 costumes per opera, plus very demanding sets,” Fay says. “But that’s what I love the most about my job: the production, development, and realization of the opera. It’s incredibly rewarding...