Word: splendid
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...brash, confident Wotan of Das Rheingold and Die Walkure, the splendid American bass James Morris served notice that he will be a Teutonic god of vocal power and majesty for years to come. Proud, haughty and resolutely amoral, Morris dominated the drama as he must to give depth to the tragedy that is, ultimately, Wotan's doing. Equally impressive was the Hungarian-born soprano Eva Marton, a legitimate contender for the mantle of Birgit Nilsson with impassioned performances of Brunnhilde in Siegfried and Gotterdammerung. Awakened by Siegfried on the Valkyrie rock, Marton sang Brunnhilde's Heil dir, Sonne greeting...
...last week's outpouring of public warmth and support for the veterans was massive and genuine beyond dispute: a gesture of splendid grandeur. As sheer spectacle, the tribute was a rousing success. It was vintage Big Apple, a ticker-tape parade through the canyons of lower Manhattan. Blizzards of litter (duly calculated to be 468 tons). Bands blaring (God Bless America and The + Caisson Song). Onlookers shouting down from skyscraping heights. Placards and posters flashing and bobbing (YOU'RE OUR HEROES and THANK YOU FOR YOUR SACRIFICES). Throngs (perhaps a million, according to police) cheering, clapping and even weeping...
...vibrancy most noticably her awe-inspiring solo, "Glitter and be Gay." Here, she mixes her characters sorrow and desolation at being separated from Candide and at being a where with her absolute glee with the baubles and jewels given her. Her vocal strength during the song combines with her splendid duties with Meredith to bring a unique flair to this production. Harvard drama will sorely mourn her loss next year...
...literary bestiary, Flaubert's Parrot is actually a centaur--a splendid hybrid with the scholarly countenance of literary criticism and the powerful headquarters of a good novel. Such crossbreeding of genres is not mythical or even uncommon in 20th century literature--take Nabokov's career, for example, which includes a novel in the guise of an annotated poem. Pale Fire, and a literary biography that's also a comic masterpiece. Nikolai Gogol. What makes Julian Barnes's achievement so remarkable, however, is the sheer lack of artifice and pyrotechnics involved...
...romanticizing the sport, his striving to provide a sense of the special impact it has upon players and New England communities is not appreciated because Roger Angell has already done it all before, and done it much better besides. True, the New Yorker writer-whose essays do make splendid books--has the advance of observing all twenty six teams, but ever, Angell's portrayal of the Red Sox his discussions of New England's affection for its team has the touch of an artist. Gammons is correct in noting that the Sox are "sports' first and foremost regional franchise...