This is both a documentary and a performance tape, with many excerpted vocal numbers and a multifaceted discussion of the belated but successful participation of African American singers in opera. Topics discussed: Is there such a thing as the "black voice," recognizable without seeing the singer? Is Porgy and Bess truly a "black opera"? Do black women fare better in opera because, unlike black men, they are not perceived as threatening? Do black baritones have better operatic prospects than black tenors because tenors usually get the romantic roles? Is the Metropolitan Opera using fewer black singers today than it did in the 1960s? What is being done to develop young black singers? The tape raises more questions than it answers and would be useful for launching group discussions. The performances include glimpses of Shirley Verrett in a seductive aria from Samson et Dalila, Leontyne Price in an excerpt from Der Freischutz, Jessye Norman in music from Ariadne auf Naxos. Some of the best musical moments are not strictly operatic--for example, Paul Robeson at a concert in Moscow singing "Old Man River" with some of the words changed to fit his own agenda. Marian Anderson has a monumental stature and makes several appearances: singing Schubert's "Ave Maria" in the tape's most beautiful segment, singing at John F. Kennedy's inauguration, and, in her most famous concert, singing to an audience of 75,000 at the Lincoln Memorial after she had been excluded from Constitution Hall. --Joe McLellan
