12 Nov 2005

The End of the Great Big American Voice

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/13/arts/music/13midg.html

By ANNE MIDGETTE [NY Times, 13 November 2005]

IN March, Jennifer Wilson, an unknown 39-year-old soprano, suddenly burst onto the international opera scene by jumping in for Jane Eaglen as Brünnhilde in Wagner's "Götterdämmerung" at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, just a day after singing the same character in a rehearsal of "Die Walküre." Artistry aside, this is a stunning athletic feat. Few people today have the vocal heft and stamina to get through even one of these roles, let alone take on both back to back.