Word: verdis
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...riotous Paris premiere of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring in 1913? The hostile demonstration in Vienna that prevented the first performance of two of Alban Berg's Altenberg Lieder a couple of months earlier? The disruptive reception accorded Verdi's La Traviata or Puccini's Madama Butterfly...
...Fiacco), whose threatening nature is underlined by a snap-pizzicato line in the low strings; a good-natured, bibulous ensemble lauding the joys of wine. In his handling of the choruses, Rochberg is especially skillful; indeed the final chorus, extolling the virtue of confidence, recalls the Falstaffian spirit of Verdi. For the interpolated minstrel show-the liveliest and dramatically most effective scene, although almost entirely unrelated to the rest of the work-Rochberg has composed memorably effervescent mock folk music...
...country just the same as the Senate does or General Motors or Alexander Haig, junior." The Mob is funnier. When the Prizzis give a testimonial banquet for one of their number, they hire the world's greatest tenor to sing one song: the number is an aria from Verdi's Les Vépres Siciliennes recounting the slaughter of the defenseless French by Sicilian patriots. The overcrowded hall is set afire by a rival gang, and 89 guests are parboiled. "Miraculously, the Congressmen and the judges came through the fire unharmed...
London's Royal Opera House and the Teatro Comunale in Florence-was entirely under Giulini's supervision, from the selection of the singers to the sets and costumes. In Giulini's hands, the final masterpiece of Verdi's old age emerged not as a simple, sometimes cruel romp, but a wise, humanistic view of life's pleasures and follies. Brimming with a youthful freshness and ardor, the seamless music of Falstaff could have been written only by a man well versed in the ways of the world. Giulini's interpretation went straight...
...Bruson was totally in harmony with the conductor. His Sir John was not the lecherous, cardboard heavyweight of operatic cliche but a man of complex emotions-however inappropriately addressed to two married ladies of Windsor After a somewhat tentative start, Bruson's sharply focused voice proved equal to Verdi's demands, from the boisterous "L'onore" monologue at the end of the first scene to the sprightly C major fugue that closes the work...