Word: songs
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...century ears, Cowell's once-daring innovations sounded misty and soothing. His forearm "tone clusters'' (in Trumpet of Angus Og and Deep Tides) aroused no indignant gasps. When he reached into the vitals of the piano to stroke and pluck the strings (in How Old Is Song), the effect was gently harplike. One movement of his Violin Sonata sounded rather like a Danny Boy whose melody had been opened out like the parts of a dismantled Swiss watch. The Cowell impact was both easy and light...
...soft-textured tones are naturally appealing, and she treated Mozart's 18th century melodic affectations with unassuming ease. Best of all, she managed to throw her voice into the heart of every note, with the inevitable result that her singing stirred her listeners. When she sang her love song in Act IV, they kept clapping even after Conductor Fritz Stiedry turned and signaled for silence. "Enchanting." said the professionally tough-guy Daily News. "The shining light of this performance," said the professionally serious Times...
...Katherine Grayson helps to hide her usual insipid manner. If she is not spirited enough to be a convincing shrew, however, she does seem ill-tempered while kicking about the stage in "I Hate Men." As Kate's younger sister, bombastic Ann Miller is wisely given the song, "Too Darn Hot." And in the show-within-a-show, Miss Miller taps through "Tom, Dick, and Harry," one of those songs typical of Porter--unimportant in his score, good enough to be a show-stopper anywhere else. Regrettably, Miss Miller must share. "Always True to You in My Fashion...
...brace the plot, Bella and Sam Spewak, Shakespeare's collaborators on the book, provide two mobsters to luck backstage during the performance. Before they return to gangland, the thugs have stolen Porter's wittiest song, "Brush Up Your Shakespeare." Advice on love couched in the titles of Shakespeare's plays, the lyrics are studded with lines like "If she says your behaviour is heinous, kick her right in the Coriolanus...
Also included this month is Richard Eder's translation of Garcia Lorca's "Song" from the play Dona Rosita La Soltera. Light in metre and ethereal in imagery, the piece is too frilly to be effective...