Six Wagnerian Sopranos. 6 Discographies. Frieda Leider, Kirsten Flagstad, Astrid Varnay, Martha Mödl (Modl), Birgit Nilsson, Gwyneth Jones. [1994].
The Classical Beat (Free subscription) | 12/27/2009
The year-end top-ten list is an occupational hazard of a career in arts journalism. While there are far worse things to contend with, I always have trouble with the concept of a "ten-best" list: if I have to create a list, I'd prefer to identify the most important things that have happened, rather than the ten "best," in a given year or decade. But "ten-best" it is. My...
Intermezzo (Free subscription) | 10/14/2009
Plácido Domingo, presented tonight with the inaugural Birgit Nilsson prize by King Carl Gustaf of Sweden, won't be spending the whole $1m award on crisps. He announced that it will be used instead to finance a special Birgit Nilsson category...
The Rehearsal Studio (Free subscription) | 08/21/2009
I did not immediately jump to my keyboard when the news of Hildegard Behrens' death first broke. However, having now read Joshua Kosman's excellent San Francisco Chronicle obituary for her, I realize that I have a few personal points to add. Without in any way trying to diminish either her talent or her stature, Behrens was, for me, the "post-Nilsson" soprano, since she took on many of the...
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