Judith Blegen sings a popular film song with splashy obbligato

Описание: THE SONGBIRD: Judith Blegen is from Kentucky. Born in 1943, she attended high school in Montana and began studying voice and violin. Her operatic debut was as Olympia in Nuremberg in 1965, followed by a Vienna State Opera debut as Rosina in 1968. The Met first hired her in 1970 as Papagena; she became a favorite there, singing over 200 performances of 19 roles, and several galas. She was very active in commercial recordings in the 1970s and 80s, appearing as the soprano soloist in recordings of nearly all the popular concert works, as well as several operas, and at least three solo recital discs. She was a regular guest on The Johnny Carson Show.

THE MUSIC: Ignacio Herbert Brown (aka Nacio Herb Brown) was an American composer of popular songs, movie scores, and Broadway theatre music from 1920s through the early 1950s. Amongst his most enduring work is the score for the 1952 musical film "Singin' in the Rain." He composed the songs for the 1948 Hollywood musical "The Kissing Bandit" starring Frank Sinatra and Kathryn Grayson -- the most enduring of which is "Love is Where You Find It," a jaunty bolero with a high soprano obbligato. This chestnut only occasionally turns up these days as a showy encore on recital programs.