Enricho Stinchelli is a stage director of opera in Italy. I suspect his
use of the word "colored" was either translated from Italian, and thus the
unfortunate choice was the fault of the translator, and not Sig.
Stinchelli, or it was a result of an Italian's faulty use of English and
possible lack of understanding of the "weight" that certain seemingly
innocuous words have in the U.S. cultural context. In either case, I would
not read racist intent into Sig. Stinchelli's use of the word "colored".
It's quite likely that the Italians aren't completely au courant with the
latest PC term for Americans of ancestrally African origins.
None of which explains his mislabeling of three great non-Italian
contraltos. My only defence for Sig. Stinchelli on this one is the fact
that today, at least, a heck of a lot of contraltos are calling themselves
mezzos, mezzos are calling themselves contraltos and sopranos, and no-one
really seems to want to be categorised in a way that could possibly keep
them from singing all the roles they want to sing.
As for me, I'm a mezzo-contralto with dramatic soprano overtones. :)
Karen Mercedes
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
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One must be something if one
wishes to put on appearances.
- Ludwig von Beethoven
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