Word: sopranoes
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BELLINI: NORMA (London; 2 LPs). Bellini's sylvan tragedy is rarely heard onstage, for since Giuditta Pasta introduced it in 1831, only a handful of sopranos have felt equal to the task of impersonating one of the most complex, heroic and appealing roles in opera. The latest soprano in the noble line of Normas is blonde Greek-Argentine Elena Suliotis, 25, who makes the role's demands sound like a cinch. But to entice those who already own the superb Callas Norma, or Sutherland's less successful try, London has reduced this album's price...
...Kempff played for us in the big salon. Everybody could feel the boat rolling and swaying ever so gently. Later, he said: "Sometimes the keys elude your touch like fishes swimming away from under your fingers." What a sport! In a few days we are going to hear the soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf at the Ribat of Monastir, Tunisia. Then, while cruising to Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, there will be a recital by the Amadeus Quartet and Jean-Pierre Rampal, the flutist. Then on to Catania, Naples and Cannes, where Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli will give a piano recital...
...FESTIVAL. "Elisabeth Schwarzkopf." The world-famous soprano in a recital of songs and arias by Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Wolf and Strauss. Repeat...
...major asset: Bernstein had persuaded Mezzo Christa Ludwig to abandon her accustomed role as the youth Octavian for the lead role of the aging Marschallin, usually sung by a soprano. Ludwig's vocal prowess, womanly softness and pathos proved her a perfect choice. Said Bernstein: "She was so marvelous in the last scene that I cried watching her." And that was no Viennese exaggeration...
Surrounding The Bald Soprano are two lesser creations, one camp and one original. The former, Kenneth Koch's George Washington Crossing the Delaware, recites the story of this lackluster incident in history with a super-patriotic relish, thereby mocking the origin and purpose of this country. While the actors, under the direction of Gary Byrne, do not often look at each other and usually smile or pause to forewarn the audience of a punch line, quite a bit of Koch's zaniness gets through. At one point. Terrence McNally, as the title character, heroically informs his soldiers, "We have nothing...