Word: wagnerian
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Died. Lauritz Melchior, 82, golden-voiced Wagnerian tenor of New York's Metropolitan Opera for 24 seasons; of a liver ailment; in Santa Monica, Calif. (see Music...
High jinks and high Cs reigned supreme throughout the operatic career of the Danish-born heldentenor (heroic tenor). For 24 seasons (1926-50) at the Met, it was impossible to imagine Wagner without "the Great Dane." He sang in more than 1,000 Wagnerian performances-more than three times the total of any other singer-with no hint of diminution of the robust tenor that could swoop from a splendorous high to a deep, resonant...
...quarter-century he was in constant demand in the world's great opera halls, sharing the stage with such stellar Wagnerian sopranos as Kirsten Flagstad, Frida Leider, Maria Miüller and Helen Traubel. Despite his rigorous schedule, Melchior never canceled a performance, something of a landmark for temperamental opera stars. Once while he was in Götterdämmerung he developed a swollen polyp that choked him; he found that by holding his head to one side he could sing-and sing he did for three hours...
...some, the name of Melchior will always have a Wagnerian ring. Others will remember him singing The Star-Spangled Banner on opening day of baseball season-another of his passions-at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. But for most of the world, Lauritz Melchior will simply remain the grandest heldentenor in memory-a magnificent giant with a golden voice...
...filmmaking. There were references to movies, countless movies, everything from early Godard to Red River. Bertolucci continues this tradition of paying homage to his mentors: In The Spider's Stratagem, made in 1969, the camera lingers briefly over a poster for Robert Aldrich's Wagnerian western The Last Sunset; in Tango there is a scene aboard a barge, between Maria Schneider and Jean-Pierre Leaud, that is meant to evoke Jean Vigo's classic L'Atalante...