Word: sopranoes
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...incident. But despite its effectiveness, The Devils seemed episodic, eclectic, and the complex Penderecki (pronounced Pen-der-ete-key) score sometimes trod meekly behind the drama instead of forcefully alongside it. What gave absolutely no grounds for complaint were the performances of Baritone John Rear don and Mezzo-Soprano Joy Davidson. As a sensual priest who is burned at the stake, Reardon in particular gave the production just the sort of personal force it needs...
...there is evidence that it is less a matter of fact than fashion. Birgit Nilsson, though she sings no contemporary opera at all, points out that composers are usually ahead of performers. Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, she observes, was abandoned as un-performable, "yet nowadays no dramatic soprano can be considered accomplished if she is incapable of singing an Isolde." Beverly Sills, who sang many modern roles before going on to fame in Italian bel canto operas, endorses Nilsson's and Reardon's sensible attitudes. "Contemporary opera kills your voice," she says flatly, "only if your...
...Metropolitan Opera's beautiful soprano Anna Moffo has had more than her share of movie offers. But most of the roles were not for her, she said. They were just plain "dirty." Now Anna has apparently found the film she was waiting for. She is in Rome starring in Una Storia d'Amore, playing the long-suffering mistress of a flashy young cad who makes love to her (while taking blue movies with a remote-control camera), then tosses her out into the street. Doesn't all the naked grappling and wrestling qualify as dirty...
Against such scenic showmanship, Veteran Soprano Leonie Rysanek held her own, reaffirming the belief of many critics that she is the world's greatest interpreter of the role. New Zealander Donald Mclntyre, who was impressive last year as Barak in Richard Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten at Covent Garden, used his deep baritone voice as an apocalyptic Dutchman. Alabama-born Tenor Jean Cox, as Erik, successfully followed Everding's instructions to behave as if he were "the only normal human being in the action...
Withal, the Zoo Opera generated a rapport between artists and audience that made for something special. "It was a fun palace," says Peerce. "An alfresco thing, where you asked a soprano to hold your Coke bottle while you went out and did your death scene. The peacocks never snouted me down. They liked tenors, it was only coloratura sopranos they hated...