This is from the senior voice recital of Nicholas Sluss-Rodionov, a former voice student of mine who was killed in a car accident earlier this year; He was 33 years old.
His recital was chock full of difficult music, and he began the program in blazing fashion: with “Why do the nations so furiously rage?” from Handel’s Messiah. Every time I listen to this I am newly amazed at how a voice as rich and opulent as Nic’s could move through this fiendishly difficult, intricate music.