Word: sopranoes
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...ever a role is going to expose a rising soprano's skills and flaws, it's that of Alcina. Running over four hours, the Baroque opera presents its leading lady with aria upon aria of fiendishly difficult coloratura singing (Ah! Mio cor! alone is a 12-minute, seven-stages-of-grieving emotional roller-coaster) with minimal orchestral backing. With typical understatement, Durkin calls it musical "Ping Pong." Only the finest sopranos can survive such exercise. Handel's original Alcina, Anna Strada, was unkindly described by a contemporary as having "so little of Venus in her appearance, that she was usually...
...best-seller charts, as did their next release, Monday, Monday. Papa John Phillips, 25, an Annapolis dropout, is the group's songsmith, and what his lyrics lack in depth his melodies make up in lilting appeal. Phillips' wife Michelle, a willowy ex-model, is the spiraling soprano; Denny Doherty, 24, sings a secure tenor. Anchor girl is rotund (200 lbs.) Cass Elliot, 23, whose ringing contralto gives the quartet its oomph. Together they build a buoyant vocal blend that floats easily through intricate harmonic shifts, toying with rhythms that are as fresh and bracing as ocean breezes. The quartet...
...sitting the children down for a reading of The Little Engine That Could, some gramps will tell them, "Once, kids, there was a thing called harmony." There's no richer reminder of how lovely three voices singing as one can sound than this album by the New Jersey sibs: soprano Terre, contralto Maggie and alto Suzzy. The sisters' neo-traditional sound works wonders on a range of Christmas songs. A third of the 24 cuts are of secular songs, including a Caribbean-flavored "Deck the Halls," a "Sleigh Ride" whose percussion is horse-clop tongue clicks and a very heavily...
...favorite songs of the night, the sailors welcome their captain as a much-loved coach. Throughout the opera, Hill’s expression wavers between happiness and anxiety—fitting for the slightly-out-of-touch, nervous father of the desired Josephine.Forbess as Josephine is a wonderful soprano, but her character nonetheless falls flat in Act I—perhaps because it is difficult to distinguish her words as she sings. But Forbess comes to life in Act II, going beyond the cartoonish aspect of Gilbert and Sullivan to portray Josephine as a character with emotion and intelligence...
...whose purse was perched on the railing. Her seat was immediately above Professor L***, and I could not help but recall her recent failure in the general examination by a committee he had chaired. To my surprise, the purse seemed to twitch. The orchestra was about to begin, the soprano poised. The first chords sounded, but instead of an ethereal voice, a dreadful scream pierced the air. Professor L*** was struggling with a hairy white form, a small dog clinging to his head. It was clawing at his face. Those around eventually pulled the animal off, though it still seemed...