Word: coloratura
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...duet could have luxuriated longer in its loving lyricism, and Weigle’s charge into part two of the Queen of the Night’s big first act aria was a bit too fast for soprano Mary Dunleavy, resulting in an awkward adjustment as her coloratura fireworks begin. Nor was Dunleavy vocally perfect. In her Act II showstopper she seemed so obsessed with hitting those high Fs that the other notes of her arpeggios were just a bit sharp. Yet she nevertheless awed the audience and enchanted Tamino. The literal pyrotechnic flashes that accompany her appearance...
...Some of his stunts were wacky or zany (two words best applied to the '50s) and would be punctuated by the two forms of the Steve Allen laugh. One was low and desert-dry ("Eh eh"), the other high and hysterically musical ("Ee! Ee! Ee!"), as if a coloratura were being goosed. But Allen was no more wacky and zany than Steve Martin (who parodied Allen's song "Impossible" by singing "It's impossible/To stick an airplane up your nose/Yes, it's impossible") was wild and crazy. Few comics did Steve Allen impressions; his demeanor was too straight, too assured...
Though Daniels' vibrant voice has made him the first contemporary countertenor with the potential to become an international operatic superstar, many others have had major careers. In the 18th century, falsettists regularly alternated with castrati on the operatic stage, singing the virtuoso coloratura roles of Handel and Gluck. But once the castration of boys was banned, and unaltered male singers started belting out high notes in the manner of the modern tenor, the demand for countertenors began to decline. By the end of the 19th century the voice type had all but vanished; on the rare occasions when baroque operas...
...vocal and stylistic range is almost unfathomable: in the course of roughly 10 minutes at the end of the first act, she goes from airy coquettish high notes to the wistful, delicate "Goodbyes" to the passionate lament of the "misterioso" theme that haunts the entire opera. She pulls off coloratura singing--that ornamented style of singing with lots of extra notes, scales and vibrato thrown in for effect that is so easily botched by less capable and confident sopranos--remarkably well, jumping up and down the scale and throwing in lots of trills and other musical treats with consumate ease...
...century have been able to see and hear their predecessors from the century's beginning. It used to be that only the plastic arts could be preserved--in print, paint or objects. The performing arts were evanescent. A dancer's line, a comedian's schtick, a singer's coloratura vanished as soon as the performer walked into the wings, and could only be remembered, described, perhaps glimpsed in a third- or fourth-hand imitation. Now recordings, film and videotape form a permanent database of old-time show biz. A young actor can summon up Marlon Brando's performance...