Word: kirstein
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Lincoln Kirstein, boss man at City Center, knew the company of young singers were willing to tackle anything, even coloratura. Moreover, Kirstein himself is tiring of the heavy melodrama of Verdi and the heavy orchestras of Wagner. He is betting that the future lies with compositions that combine high spirits and vocal acrobatics. He decided that Cenerentola might help him test his theory...
...with Trills. The test could hardly have pleased Lincoln Kirstein more. Mezzo-Soprano Bible, whose best roles heretofore have been a couple of light-hearted male impersonations (Cherubino in Figaro, Octavian in Rosertkavalier), never looked prettier. She trilled out her coloratura passages like a flute, and also shook the rafters with a few stunning fortissimos. Baritone George Gaynes, who is Rosalind Russell's leading man in Broadway's Wonderful Town, took a night off to play the part of the prince's scene-stealing valet, and indulge in some jaunty clowning. Biggest joke of all was John...
City Opera seemed to have found its best audience-pleaser yet. Kirstein, with some solid evidence for his theory, is now talking about reviving Vincenzo Bellini's pyrotechnical 19th century operas I Puritani and La Sonnambula...
...Lincoln Kirstein is now managing director of the New York City Center, with theater and opera groups also under his wing. He aims to raise these two groups to the same level of esteem the ballet troupe has won. Kirstein already has blueprints for a new Manhattan theater building with room for a ballet school, theater workshop and an opera studio. When will it be finished? "Within ten years." Its chances of success? "A sure thing...
...selling about 70% of our seats every week now," says Kirstein. "I don't have to spend money except for commissions." Next week the troupe will finish the longest run (twelve weeks) any ballet company has ever had in the U.S., and should wind up with an actual profit...