Word: wagnerians
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...which begins with an unusually long (14 minutes) aria by Home. Rossini's lyrical melodies shimmer and flow as beautifully as a moonlit Aegean. Then, before the curtain falls on the burning, ravaged Corinth, the orchestra sweeps through a series of harsh, barbaric chords that sound almost Wagnerian...
Sweden's Birgit Nilsson is the world's reigning Wagnerian soprano. Austria's Herbert von Karajan has no superior as a conductor of the Ring cycle. Alas, two great melodies do not always pro duce a single pleasing harmony. Ever since she began singing under his demanding baton, Miss Nilsson's relation ship with the Salzburg-born maestro has become increasingly sour. Among other things, she has been irked by his insistence on unusually time-consuming rehearsals and is not too keen about his dark, brooding lighting effects, which often keep the singers in the shadows...
...heralded by the sepulchral drumbeats at the close of the Agnus Dei. The four first-class soloists (Maria Stader, soprano; Hertha Töpper, alto; John van Kesteren, tenor; Karl-Christian Kohn, bass) enter into the spirit of their conductor's classical conception: they never struggle to achieve Wagnerian eminence of tone but modestly blend into the musical architecture. The vocal texture of the Munich Bach Choir is glowingly transparent, despite its 90-odd members, even in the tumultuous contrapuntal sections...
John Russell, 36, has never sung a role with a professional opera company, and only learned about the audition four days ahead of time. As a Negro, he is an unlikely looking Wagnerian hero. The father of six children (soon there will be seven), Russell makes his living as a research chemist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Philadelphia. Until he started lessons at Philadelphia's Settlement Music School at the age of 26, he had done most of his singing in church choirs and shower -stalls. Instead of a Wagnerian selection, he sang an aria from Verdi...
Both singers will probably end up in Germany next season. Cochran has offers from the Stuttgart and Munich operas, and Russell wants to learn the language while developing his technique in a Wagnerian atmosphere. Meantime, Melchior took them both in tow after the audition for a basic introduction to the Heldentenor regimen: a trip to a Danish restaurant in Manhattan for smorgasbord, aquavit and beer in truly heroic quantities...