Word: sopranos
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...recording is a knockout, fully comparable to London's history-making Ring cycle. Conductor Georg Solti, today's top conductor of Wagner, makes the opera brilliant and unabashedly grand. As Venus, Mezzo-Soprano Christa Ludwig seethes with eroticism, suggesting a world of impossible sexuality. Soprano Helga Dernesch as Elisabeth, Wagner's virginal opposite to Venus, is the perfect embodiment of pinched Victorian purity. Best of all is Tenor René Kollo, a German pop singer metamorphosed into a Heldentenor, who sings Tannhäuser with a gleaming tone, power, and a dramatic force unequaled since Lauritz Melchior...
...proudest of his crusades. Above all, I crusaded for Anton Bruckner, who until 1952 was not recognized by anybody in New York except me. I feel that I am at least partially responsible for the revival of his music. Then, of course, I had a little crusade for Soprano Beverly Sills, about whom the New York Times never said a decent word...
...original conception of a resident repertory company by drawing on a "really good" new generation of British-trained singers. Figaro, for example, boasts several comparative youngsters who had never sung important roles at Covent Garden before the Davis regime (among them Tenor Robert Tear and pearly voiced Soprano Kiri Te Kanawa, who scored a sensation as the Countess). Says Davis: "If I find a dozen first-class singers, we shall have what we want. Then we can stimulate ourselves and our audiences by importing guests. But I don't want international singers coming in here and fighting with their...
MASSENET: MANON, 4 LPs; DONIZETTI: LUCIA Dl LAMMERMOOR, 3 LPs (both ABC). When operatic tastes are weighed, the soprano who tips the scales-and the trills and roulades and fioritura-in favor of the French lyric and Italian bel canto repertories is Beverly Sills, here in two exemplary roles...
...only flaw in programming was the dull Bach Cantata No. 51. Not even a magnificent trumpet obbligato part could redeem the initial aria. Joan Heller, the soprano soloist,' has a beautiful voice remarkable for its evenness. Her diction was good and one could only wish for more variation in dynamics. It was a mistake to use a harpsichord against the full string body: Gerald Moshell pushed the instrument as much as possible and all it produced was a distracting non-tonal jangle. With smaller forces, though, it was quite adequate; and the continuo playing included some appropriate ritards...