Rita Gorr

Although Belgian by birth and training, mezzo soprano Rita Gorr was regarded as a lingering example of the great French tradition of lyric/dramatic singing. Her large, powerful instrument, narrowing in the top register to a point that was (usually) just short of shrillness, was remarkably even; no abrupt shifts into or out of the chest register intruded in her grand utterance. The larger the role's stature, the more apt her qualifications for it. While some found the voice's coloration too bright, in the theater its penetrative power was electrifying and Gorr's acting, command...