Word: pianissimos
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...finger-mangling minefields in the thickets of their pieces, but Rostropovich negotiates them with cheerful ease. "I don't even know why my hands do certain things sometimes," he says. "They just grab for the notes." His dynamic range, from the greatest fortissimo down the line to a pianissimo that comes on little cat feet, is nothing short of phenomenal. "You played like a god!" swooned a woman one night in New York. "Yes," replied Slava with a twinkle and a verbal pinch on the cheek, "but like a god with...
James W. Harrington '77, manager of the Harvard Glee Club, which also practices in Sever 11, said sometimes "you get a pianissimo sound, and the pipes come in on the wrong interval...
...between the narrow side balconies). Similarly, the main floor and stage are constructed of wood (darkly stained oak) over an air space, so that they will act as sounding boards. The hall is snugger than before (650,000 cu. ft., v. 850,000), and since any pianissimo needs silence, each air-conditioning duct is lined, and the tightly sealed doors weigh 370 Ibs. each. Every piece of plaster and wood is the solidest money...
Ideally, Hillis would like a chorus of Kirsten Flagstads. Says she: "I still have the sound of Flagstad in my ear. Her pianissimo was right out of the rafters. When she opened up, she never sounded loud, but she created somehow a tower of sound." Actually, about 100 members of her chorus have voices of professional solo caliber. But even they earn only about $2,000 per year-the rest get nothing-and most of the singers have full-time jobs elsewhere, so it is up to Hillis to keep drilling them. She is just as demanding as Reiner...
...Scala Siege made her an international star. Last week one could see and hear why. In lesser hands, Rossini's florid vocal writing might be just that-little more than tedious vocalizing. With Sills, a mistress of bel canto, each triplet, each double-octave run, each pianissimo high note was given musical and dramatic meaning. At one point in the second act, she sang lying on her back on one of Maometto's couches. At another, she held a soft high D while strolling away from the audience. None of that is especially conducive to perfectly calibrated tones...