Since the late great Lillian Nordica's gaslit heyday (1890-1910) U.S. woman's weight has dwindled. One result : a scarcity of great U.S. Wagnerian sopranos. Today few U.S. women singers have the beef and brawn that helped Nordica and her famous U.S. contemporaries (Olive Fremstad,* Emma Eames, etc.) to shout down batteries of Wagnerian trumpets and trombones.
One large exception is Helen Traubel, a redhaired, green-eyed, 200-lb. Midwesterner who for the past four years has been singing more & more Wagnerian leads at Manhattan's Metropolitan Opera. Rated by some critics the vocal equal...
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