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BULLETIN

C E N T R A L O P E R A S E R V I C Esponsored by

METROPOLITAN OPERA NATIONAL COUNCIL147 West Thirty-ninth Street, New York 18, N.Y. Telephone: PEnnsylvania 6-1200

MARCH - APRIL 1963

NEW OPERAS AND FIRST PERFORMANCES

Gian-Carlo Menot t i ' s l a t e s t opera, scheduled for i t s American premiere a t theMetropoli tan Opera next season and o r i g i n a l l y announced as "Superman", w i l l bepresented under the t i t l e " T h e L a s t S a v a g e " . The opera has i t sworld premiere a t the Opera Comique i n Pa r i s on Apri l 2 .

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The drama and music departments of Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.,announcetheir joint presentation of the world premiere of Elie Siegmeister's new opera" D u b l i n S o n g " on May 15> with repeat performances through May 19.The libretto by Edward Mabley is based on Sean O'Casey's play "The Plough andthe Stars", Composer and librettist will be in St. Louis for the last rehearsalsand the performances. Nelson Magill, associate professor of drama of WashingtonUniversity, will produce and direct the work; Dorothy Ziegler, director of theSt. Louis Opera Guild, will be the musical director.

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Ernest Lubin, composer and new C.O.S. member, informs us that he and Ted Harthave written a one-act opera " T h e P a r d o n e r ' s T a l e " , for fivesoloists and chorus. It is another contemporary opera freely adapted fromChaucer's poem (see Jan.Bulletin, New Operas). Performance time is fifty minutes;orchestration is for strings, 1 flute, 1 oboe, 2 clarinets, 1 bassoon, 2 trumpets,2 horns, 2 trombones, and percussion. The voices required are 1 tenor, 2 baritones,1 bass, and 1 countertenor, who may be replaced by an alto. The vocal-piano scoreis available from Ernest Lubin, 305 Riverside Drive, New York 25, N.Y.

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Canadian composer Raymond Pannell saw the premiere of his one-act opera " A r i ad a C a p o " performed by the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto on April 5and 6 under the direction of Herman Geiger-Torel. The story of the opera isbased on Edna St. Vincent Millay's play of the same name and deals with the time-ly problem of a dividing wall. On the same bill was " S i l e n t N i g h t "written by Italian composer Nino Rota. This opera, under the direction of AndrewMacMillan} was performed for the first time in Toronto.

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I N D E X P A G E 14

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Kurt Herbert Adler, general director of the San Francisco Opera, announces thecommission of a new opera under a Ford Foundation grant. The American composerPeggy Glanvilie-Hicks ("Nausicaa", "Homer's Daughter", and "The TransposedHeads") is to write a full-length opera entitled " S a p p h o " , based onLawrence Durrell's free verse play of that name* Mr. Durrell has been commissionedto write the libretto; portions of the score are to be ready in the fall forMr. Adler1s approval.

Harold Stark, director of the Opera Workshop at the State University of Iowa,informs us that his Opera Theatre presented Haydn's rediscovered two-act opera" L ' I n f e d e l t a B e 1 u s a " at the National Biennial Convention ofMusic Teachers in Chicago on March 11, 1963. A repeat performance took place inthe University's auditorium at Iowa City on March 16. With these dates, theUniversity of Iowa can claim'the American premiere of the work, rather thanKaramu House who performed it only 11 days later (see Feb. Bulletin).

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In this column of the February Bulletin the opening of the NationalTheater in Munich, Germany, should have read November 1963 and not 1962.

NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS

JOSEF BLATT, director of the Opera Theatre at the University of Michigan in AnnArbor and well known for his many English operatic translations, announces thecompletion of two more translations: Pergolesi's "La Serva Padrona" and Lortzing's"Der Wildschuetz". The Lortzing opera, "The Hunters", had five very successfulperformances at Ann Arbor in March under the musical direction of Mo. Blatt, withRalph Herbert directing and also singing the comique role of Baculus.

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C. F. PETERS CORP., 373 Park Avenue South, New York 3, announces the arrival ofa new score of Bizet's one-act opera "Djamileh", published by Editions Choudens ,Paris. The original French libretto by Louis Gallet has been revised by PierreForval and an English translation by Jess Perlman is incorporated into the vocalscore. Peters recommands this gay and entertaining work especially for perform-ances by conservatories and by college or university opera workshops since itcan be produced easily and at little cost.

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G. SCHIRMER, INC. will publish three of Walter Ducloux's translations of Verdioperas - "Aida", "Falstaff", and "Otello" in vocal-piano score and also inlibretto form. — Another new vocal-piano score with English text published bySchirmer will be Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" in the Ruth and Thomas Martintranslation. — The Metropolitan Opera and G. Schirmer have entered into anagreement whereby, beginning with the 1963-64 season, G. Schirmer will publishthe libretti of the standard repertory to be performed by the Metropolitan Opera.

COS BULLETIN, 3-4/63

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All libretti will have the original language texts as well as the English trans-lations, exceptions will be works like "Eugene Onegin" which will be printed inEnglish only as sung at the Metropolitan.

SETS FOR REFT OR SALE

The OPERA SOCIETY OP WASHINGTON, INC., at 1835 K Street N.W., Washington D.C.,is making the following sets available on a rental or straight sale basis toall C.O.S. members:

Robert O'Hearn's designs for "Ariadne auf Naxos", "Falstaff", "Idomeneo",and "Zauberfloete"; - James Waring's designs for "Carmen", "L'Heure Espagnole","Oedipus Rex", and "Otello"; - Gordon Micunis1 designs for "L'Enfant et lesSortileges", and "Gianni Schicchi"; - William Pitkin's design for "TheMarriage of Figaro".

The sets were all built for use at the Lisner Auditorium of the George WashingtonUniversity in Washington, D.C. The principal measurements of the proscenium areheight 17-18 ft., width 35-45 ft., footlights to back wall 37 ft. 5 in., foot-lights to cyclorama 34ft. 5 in.

In addition to the sets, costumes designed by Constance Mellen are availablefor rental for the following operas: "Ariadne auf Naxos", "Cosi Fan Tutte","L'Enfant et les Sortileges", "L'Heure Espagnole", "Oedipus Rex", and"Zauberfloete".

MORE OPERA WORKSHOPS AND MASTER CLASSES

CHATHAM COLLEGE in Pittsburgh, Pa., will hold its fourteenth summer opera work-shop August 4 through August 31. Leonard Treash of the opera department of theEastman School of Music in Rochester will be the director and Evan Whallon ofthe Columbus, Ohio, Symphony Orchestra will be associate director. Other namesmaking up the summer faculty include Mme. Sylvie Derdeyn, Suzanne Szekeley, RuthPerry Topping, Jerome Wenneker, and Richard Woitach. Auditions will be held atChatham College on May 11. If tapes or discs are submitted the deadline is May 4.

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French baritone, PIERRE BERNAC, is holding a series of ten master classes atNorthwestern University in Evanston, 111., April 15 through 26.

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LESLIE CHABAY, professor at Washington University and formerly a tenor with theMetropolitan Opera, will hold classes at Toho University in Tokyo next winter undera Fulbright grant of the U.S. State Department's Educational Exchange Program.

OPERA TOUR THROUGH EUROPE

Walter Herbert, Director of Music at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta,is directing THE GRAND OPERA IN EUROPE TOUR. Leaving New York on a KLM flight


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on July 10, the tour will take the sightseeing-listener to 18 European musicfestival centers and will return to New York on August 10. A minimum of 15 per-formances are guaranteed. This is the third year Mr, Herbert is leading thistour and in previous years visiting guest commentators included Priedelind Wagnerand Mrs. John DeWitt Peltz. For further information contact Grand Opera in EuropeTours, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, 3376 Peachtree Rd., Atlanta, Ga.

TV AMD OPERA

On April 10, the CBS Television News and Public Affairs Department presented anhour long film entitled "In the Mouth of the Wolf1' (in bocca al lupo). The filmshows the preparation and the actual performance of opera at the Parma Opera House,with special attention given to Parma's legendary audience. For those that are notfamiliar with Parma's reputation in operatic circles it must be added that itsaudience is the most dreaded in all Italy, and there are many famous artists whohave refused to be subjected to the Parma critics - made up of Parma residentswho all consider themselves opera experts. When something goes wrong the boosand groans almost drown out the music, but the enthusiasm runs just as high whenthe audience takes an artist to its heart. "Louisa Miller" (1962-63 opening night)was the opera shown in the film "In the Mouth of the Wolf", produced by G.C.Shearsand directed by George Malko. American soprano Margherita Roberti sang the titlerole and also acted as commentator. In bocca al lupo, the Italian phrase of wish-ing an artist good luck before his performance, must take on a more literal mean-ing in Parma, for as the singer steps unto the stage, he steps "Into the Mouthof the Wolf".

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The producers of THE VOICE OF FIRESTONE have announced that the show will giveits farewell performance on June 16. The program, which began on radio in 1928,later switched to TV and continued until 1959« I"t resumed last fall but it seemsthat this will be its final season. Most of opera's greatest stars have been heardon Firestone, and the final program on June 16 will present scenes from "Faust"and will feature as soloists Mary Costa, Richard Tucker, and Jerome Hines.

CONFERENCES

The U.S. INSTITUTE FOR THEATRE TECHNOLOGY is holding its third annual conferenceon April 15 and 16 at Juilliard School of Music. The subject for discussion:Performing Arts Centers - Civic - Community - Academic. Participating arearchitects and major consultants of projects like the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre inMinneapolis, the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth, the Arkansas Art Center at LittleRock, the Playhouse and Opera House in Seattle, and the Los Angeles Music Center.-Mr. Thomas de Gaetani, President of the USITT, and until recently a member of thefaculty of the Juilliard School, has been appointed Managing Director of Theatersand Concert Halls at Lincoln Center as of April 1, 1963.

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The AMERICAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA LEAGUE announced its eighteenth National Conven-tion to be held in San Francisco June 19 through 22. The Community Arts Councilswill meet at the same time and both conferences are planned for joint participa-tion. There are meetings scheduled for orchestra board members, orchestra managers,orchestra musicians, conductors, composers, women's symphony associations, musiceducators; representatives of music business firms, civic and cultural organiza-tions, and arts councils. There will be sessions devoted to fund raising andbudget problems, to the publication of symphony newsletters. There are even twoclosed sessions for wives of managers and conductors. For reservation forms writeto American Symphony Orchestra League, Symphony Hill, FOB 66, Vienna, Va.

NEW YORK WELCOMES TWO LEGENDARY FIFURES OF OPERA

LAURITZ MELCHIOR, celebrating his fiftieth anniversary of his operatic debut,participated in a gala benefit concert of the American Symphony Orchestra underthe baton of Leopold Stokowski on April 18. Mr. Melchior sang Wagnerian ariasin the concert at Woodruff Hall at Adelphi College, Garden City, N.Y.

HELGE ROSVAENGE, another Danish tenor of world fame but strangely enough one whohad never sung in the U.S., made his American debut at Carnegie Hall on April 17.The concert was presented by Anthony Amato's National Music Theatre and Mr. Ros-vaenge, who was the leading tenor at the Berlin and Vienna State Operas in thethirties, sang a recital of arias and art songs.

AUDITION WINNERS

The finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council's regional auditions tookplace on stage of the Metropolitan Opera on March 29 (see Feb.Bulletin), beforean audience of 2,000 guests.

JUSTINO DIAZ, 23 year-old bass from New York (formerly from Puerto Rico), wona one year contract from the Metropolitan Opera and in addition a cash prizeof $2500 (Stuart and Irene Chambers Scholarship and part of the new N.Y.Community Trust/Schoen-Rene'Award). JUNETTA JONES, 25 year-old soprano fromBoston was awarded a short-term Metropolitan Opera contract and $2500 incash (Fisher Foundation Scholarship and part of the Schoen-Rene" Award).RUSSELL CHRISTOPHER, baritone from Grand Rapids, Mich., also won a short-termMetropolitan Opera contract and a cash award of $2000 (Frederick K.Weyerhaeuser),MICHAEL TRIMBLE, tenor from Texarkana, Texas, was awarded $2500 (John S. New-berry Scholarship., Euclid W.McBride Memorial Scholarship and a third of theSchoen-Rene'Award). As part of the N.Y. Community Trust/Schoen-Rene"'AwardMISS JONES, MR. DIAZ, and MR. TRIMBLE will be presented in a joint recital inNew York on November 24. - Because of the high caliber, all finalists are in-vited to join the Metropolitan Opera Studio or to attend the Kathryn TurneyLong School. - Two semi-finalists, CAROLYN HAEFNER of Austin, Texas, andDAVID SMALL of Arlington, Va., shared the Mr. and Mrs. Hans Schneider Awardof $500, an award reserved for young singers with great potential but who arenot yet ready for the National Finals.

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The Canadian 7/omen's Club of New York announced the winner of the club's 1963scholarship, bass-baritone WILLIAM C. STEINSON from Wynard, Saskatchewan. Heis a student at the Manhattan School of Music.

BRIEF RESUME OF THE 1962-63 SEASON AT THE METROPOLITAN

April 13 marked the last New York performance of the Metropolitan Opera 1962-63season and on April 15 the company embarked on its annual spring tour (itineraryJan. Bulletin). The twenty-six week season just completed was the longest inMetropolitan Opera history. 23 operas were presented in a total of 192 per-formances (including 7 student matinees sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera Guild).The Italian repertory was represented ty a total of 127 performances: "The Barberof Seville" 15, "Aida" 12, "Andrea Chenier" 11, "Adriana Lecouvreur"*, "DonGiovanni", "Madama Butterfly", "Sonnambula"*, and "Traviata" each 10, "Cavalleria"and "Pagliacci", and "Un Ballo in Maschera" each 9, "Ernani", "Otello"*, and"Turandot" each 7. The German repertory was made up of "Die Meistersinger" 10,"Der Rosenkavalier" 9, "Ariadne auf Naxos"* 8, "Fidelio",and "Der FliegendeHollaender" each 7, "Tristan und Isolde" 5; a total of 46 performances in German.Operas sung in English translations were "Die Fledermaus" 8, and "Boris Godunov"6 performances. There was one opera from the French repertoire, "Pelleas etMelisande", given 5 times, and five new productions, marked with * above.

FIRST ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THE 1963-64 SEASON

The BIRMINGHAM CIVIC OPERA ASSN. is planning "Rigoletto" and "Cavalleria Rusticana"for its productions in February 1964.

Herman Geiger-Torel, general director of the CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY of Torontoannounces the dates of his fall season - September 23 through October 12. Therepertoire will be "Der Rosenkavalier", "La Boheme", "Don Giovanni", "Hansel andGretel", and "Aida". All operas except Aida will be sung in English. Mr. Geiger-Torel will stage all productions, except Aida, for which Dino Yannopoulos hasbeen engaged. Among the singers announced so far are Ella Lee, Helen Vanni,Cecilia Ward, Richard Cassilly, and Jan Rubes.

The CHICAGO LYRIC OPERA CO. will open its tenth anniversary, eight-?/eek seasonon October 4 with "Nabucco", featuring Tito Gobbi and Boris Christoff. Otheroperas to be presented in Chicago during the fall season are "Un Ballo in Maschera"with Regine Crespin and Richard Tucker, "Otello" with John Vickers and Tito Gobbi,"Faust", "The Barber of Seville", "Don Pasquale", "Tannhaeuser", and "Fidelio".Other artists under contract with the Chicago Lyric next season include MariellaAdani, Teresa Berganza, Grace Bumbry, Sesto Bruscantini, Fernando Corena, NicolaiGhiaurov, and Alfred Kraus.


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1963-64 SEASON,ANNOUNCEMENTS cont.

September 17 to October 19 will be the fall operatic season for the KANSAS CITYLYRIC THEATRE. The repertory has not been selected but the following works areknown to be under consideration: "Don Giovanni", "L'Elisir d'Amore", "The Merry-Wives of 'Windsor", "Otello", "Tosca", and "The Secret of Suzanna" together with"Pagliacci". All operas will be sung in English.

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Rudolf Bing, general manager of the METROPOLITAN OPERA ASSN., announced the completerepertory and artist's roster for the 1963-64 season. In addition to the twenty-sixweek season in New York, the Metropolitan will participate in the N.Y. World'sFair with a two-week gala (April 27 - May 10). Opening night at the Metropolitanwill be October 14 with the regular season ending April 11. After two weeks ofout-of-town engagements the company will return to thirty-ninth Street for thespecial two-week presentation and then complete the spring tour.- Twenty-fiveworks will make up the repertory, of which four will be new productions: openingnight "Aida" (Georg Solti,cond., Katherin Dunham, choreogr., Nathaniel Merrill,dir., Robert O'Hearn, desgn., and soloists Nilsson, Dalis, Bergonzi, Sereni, Tozzi);Massenet's "Manon" (Thomas Schippers, cond., Guenther Rennert, dir., Ita Maximowna,desgn., with soloists Moffo, Gedda, Guerrera, Tozzi); American premiere of Menotti's"The Last Savage" (Thomas Schippers, cond., directed by the composer, Beni Montresor,desgn., with soloists Peters, Stratas, Chookasian, Gedda, London, Meredith, Plagello);"Falstaff" (Leonard Bernstein, cond., Franco Zefirelli, dir. and desgn., withsoloists Tucci, Raskin, Resnik, Elias, Colzani alternating with Corena, Alva, Sereni).The other operas in next season's repertory will be: Italian - Bellini's "LaSonnambula", Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor", Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci", Mascagni's"Cavalleria Rusticana", Mozart's "Don Giovanni", Puccini's "La Boheme", and inhonor of the 150th anniversary of Verdi's birth "Don Carlo", "Macbeth", "Otello","Rigoletto", "Traviata", "Trovatore", and the "Requiem", in addition to "Aida"and "Falstaff"; German - Richard Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos", and Wagner's"Goetterdaemmerung", "Lohengrin", "Meistersinger von Nuernberg"; English - Mozart's"The Magic Flute", Johann Strauss' "Fledermaus", Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" andMenotti's "The Last Savage"; French - Gounod's "Faust" and the new production ofMassenet's "Manon".

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Kurt Herbert Adler, general director of the SAN FRANCISCO OPERA CO., has announceda seven-week season at the War Memorial Opera House in the fall of I963 (comparedto six weeks in 1962). Opening night will be on September 13 and the company willperform in San Francisco until October 31. November 1 through 24 will mark guestengagements in Los Angeles with 21 performances, in San Diego with 3 performances,and one performance each in Sacramento and Berkley. - "Aida" will be performed onopening night with Leontyn Price in the title role and Regina Resnik, Sandor Konja,Giorgio Tozzi and English baritone John Shaw as featured soloists; FrancescoMolinari-Prandelli will conduct and Paul Hager will direct. New productions areannounced for Tchaikovsky's "The Queen of Spade" (in Eng.), Richard Strauss'"Capriccio" (in German) - both operas will make their San Francisco debut,- Verdi's"La Forza del Destino" to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the passing ofGaetano Merola, and Rossini's "Barber of Seville", a gift from the San Francisco


Opera Guild. Other operas in the forthcoming season are "Les Carmelites"(Poulenc), "Cosi Fan Tutte", "Falstaff", "Mefistofele" (Boito), "Samson etDalila'1, "La Sonnambula", "Tosca", "La Traviata", and "Die Walkuere". Thecomplete artists roster: Mmes. Sona Cervena, Dorothy Cole, Mary Costa, SiwEricsdotter, Reri Grist, Dorothy Kirsten, Janis Martin, Jolar.da Meneguzzer,Leontyne Price, Regina Resnik, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Amy Shuard, Joan Suther-land, Carol Todd, Lee Venora, Sandra Warfield; - Messrs. Peter van der Bilt,Russell Christopher (Metropolitan National Council audition's award winner),Renato Cioni, Richard Cross, Slfego Esparza, Geraint Evans, Howard Fried, JulienHaas, Colin Harvey, Joshua Hecht, Sandor Konya, Walter Kreppel, Raymond Manton,James McCracken, Glade Peterson, Hermann Prey, Richard Riffel, John Shaw, ThomasStewart, Giorgio Tozzi, Cesare Valetti, John Vickers, and Leonardo Wolovsky. -The conductors will be Richard Bonynge, Janos Ferencsik, Leopold Ludwig, FrancescoMolinari-Pradelli, and Georges Pretre$ - the stage directors Paul Hager, LoftiMansouri, and Gunther Rennert.

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Jeanette Turner, manager of the TULSA OPERA INC., is planning two performancesof "Tosca" for the company's fall season, featuring Dorothy Kirsten in thetitle role.

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Bliss Hebert, general manager of the OPERA SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON, B.C., hasannounced operas and performance dates for the 1963-64 season as follows:"Vanessa" - November 8, 10 and 11; "The Abduction from the Seraglio" -January 3,5 and 6; "Tosca" - February 7, 9 and 10. Paul Callaway will again be themusical director.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dear Sir:Ken C. Baumann's article entitled "Master of the Operatic Arts",

printed in the February issue of the C.O.S. Bulletin, is of special interest tome, and is in line with my experience and convictions.

My "Certificate of Specialization in Opera" was conferred by T.C.Columbiain recognition of 30 credit units beyond the Master of Arts, and awarded in viewof my professional experience in the field of opera gained previously, ratherthan for any subject matter covered in the college,which could only give creditfor original work, as no courses in opera were presented there.

In 1955 I worked up a curriculum for a complete course of study forthe "Opera Arts" to be presented at the Master Institute of United Arts in NewYoEk City, in cooperation with Community Opera Inc. for actual experience develop-ment. The plan was far too ambitious for the facilities and substance available -and it remained a plan on paper. It is, however, a comprehensive plan built onmuch study and experience, - the only one of its kind that I have ever seen.Obviously, no one could have worked out so elaborate a course of study for thedevelopment of artists in the field of opera who believed in the "workshop" method.This course might add up to an MA, after the BA, or with the necessary additional


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LETTERS, cont.

subjects integrated on an undergraduate level, comprise a BS in Opera.Inasmuch as the subject is under consideration the pamphlet might be of interestto you. Perhaps it may be of some practical use to the cause of opera after all.

Sincerely,Gladys MathewPresident, Community Opera Inc.,New York.

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Dear Sir:The following item might be of interest to you and your readers:

The Student Senate and Student Body of Louisiana Tech voted in February to assessthemselves a "Musical Stage Production Pee" of 25 cents per registration. We haveapproximately 4000 students who register twice each year and a summer registrationof about half that number. This goes a long way toward providing an adequatebudget for the presentation of opera on the campus. The Department of Music re-tains complete control of the opera workshop, but we feel somewhat obligated topresent a lighter musical during the summer in addition to our usual operaticventures of the regular school year. Tickets are still sold to the general publicbut Tech students are now admitted without further charge. I'd be happy to supplyany further information about this that would be of interest.I enjoy, very much, your Bulletin. It keeps me up to date on a lot of things thatwould otherwise go unnoticed. Thanks for the good work.

Sincerely,James G. SmithDepartment of Music, Louisiana Polytech.Inst.Ruston, La.

C.O.S. INSIDE INFORMATION

The March 29 morning session of the Metropolitan Opera National Council's SpringMembership Meeting was devoted to Central Opera Service. Mr. R.L.B. Tobin delivereda PROGRESS REPORT to the M.O.N.C., the organization which sponsors the CentralOpera Service. Highlights of the report included: substantial increases in member-ship; enlarged information service, which handled over 2000 inquiries during thelast season; new publications (Opera Company Lists, Awards for Singers List, etc.)and the expanded and more informative Bulletin. - Regional Chairmen then reportedon activities in their region, with Mrs. Frank Bowman (Upper Midwest) and Mrs.StuartChambers (Midwest) also reporting on plans for their regional conferences inMinneapolis and Kansas City respectively (announcements Jan. and Feb. Bulletins).-After all reports were in, there was a brief exchange of ideas and suggestionsof how to expand assistance to C.O.S. members and to further the cause of operain the U.S. There was also a preliminary discussion of possible plans for nextseason's National Conference.

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Mrs. Frank W. Bowman, regional chairman, entertained C.O.S. members at a luncheonin her home in Minneapolis in honor of visiting assistant manager of the MetropolitanOpera, Mr. Francis Robinson. While in Minneapolis Mr. Robinson addressed the Woman'sClub and spoke to secondary school music teachers at a tea at Mrs. Bowman's Home.


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NEW C.O.S. MEMBERS - WELCOME!

Mrs. D. Thomas Bergin, Route 5, Brackett Point, Wayzata, Minn.Brandon College, School of Music, Lucien Needham, Brandon, ManitobaDelphi Studio, Joan Brainerd, Mariomi Road, New Canaan, Conn.Miss Cordelia Eastwold, 4901 Sheridan Soouth, Minneapolis 10, Minn.Lawrence S. Gregory, Jr., P.O. Box 127, Wayzata, Minn.Mrs. John R. Lampert, 4810 Highway Seven, Park Towers, Minneapolis, Minn.Ernest Lubin, 305 Riverside Drive, New York 25, N.Y.Northrup Collegiate School, Miss Janet Gray, 511 Kenwood Pkway, Minneapolis,Minn.C.F. Peters Corp., Walter Hinrichsen, Pres., 373 Park Ave. So.,New York 16,N.Y.Mrs. Herman Roe, 5 Waiden Place, Northfield, Minn.Southwest Missouri State College,Robert Ruetz,Dir.Opera W1shop, Springfield,Mo.Michael Henry Strater, 1226 Sierra Alta Way, Los Angeles 69, Calif.

PERFORMANCE LISTING - 1962-63 SEASON (not previously listed)

BRITISH COLUMBIAVancouver International Festival, D.Yannopoulos,art.dir.,Queen Elizabeth Theatre,5/29, 6/1,3,5/63 "Macbeth" Vancouver 3, B.C.6/10,12,13,21,22/63 "The Merry Wives of Windsor"5/30, 6/7,8,15,16,18,19/63 "Floradora" (for casts see Jan.Bulletin)

CALIFORNIASan Francisco State College, Department of Music,San Francisco, Cal.March '63 "Le Coq. d'Or" 5pfs.; cond. La Rue Knapp

University of Southern California,Walter Ducloux,dir.opera theatre,Los Angeles4/20,26,28/63 "Peter Grimes" w. Richard Riffel, Nat.Council regional aud.winner

COLORADOCentral City Opera Assn.,E. Buckley,art.dir., Central City, Colo.6/29 through 7/27/63 - "Don Giovanni" first perf.6/29; "Trovatore" firstperf. 7/6) (for casts see Jan. Bulletin),

Lamant School of Music,Genevieve McGiffert, Univ. of Denver, Denver,Colo.4/5/63 "The Marriage of Figaro"f Eng.

IOWAState University of Iowa, Herald Stark,dir.opera workshop, Iowa City, Iowa7/31, 8/1,3,4/62 Robert Ward's "The Crucible"3/ll5I6/63 Haydn's "L'Infedelta Delusa" American prem.(see New Operas)

LOUISIANALa. Polytechnic Institute,Tellinghuisen and Smith, dirs.opera dept.,Ruston,La.3/28,29/63 "The Telephone" and "The Medium"

MASSACHUSETTSBoston University, Ludwig Bergmann,chmn. dept. of music theatre, Boston,Mass.5/9?10,11/63 Gluck's "Orfeo et Euridice", cond. Bergmann,' dir. Mac Morgan,choreogr. J. Gifford.


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PERFORMANCE LISTING cont.

MICHIGANUniversity of Michigan, Josef Blatt, dir.opera theatre, Ann Arbor,Mich.10/19/62 "La Traviata"ll/l7/62 "La Nozze di Figaro"March '63 Lortzing's "The Hunters" 5pfs» (see New Translations)

MINNESOTASt. Paul Opera Workshop, Mady Metzger-Ziegler,exec.dir., St. Paul, Minn,3/16,23/63 scenes from "Carmen","La Boheme'V'Fledermaus", "Faust", "La Traviata".

MISSISSIPPIUniversity of Southern Miss.,Clifford Reims,dir. Division of Fine Arts,Hatties"burg4/4,6/63 Ward's "The Crucible",cond. Harold Avery;Leonard Stocker,assoc.dir.(second performance at Gulfport,sponsored by Gulf Coast Theatre of the Arts)

MISSOURISt. Louis August Opera Festival, St. Louis, Mo.8/16,17/63 "Madame Butterfly"8/23,24/63 Rossini's "Cinderella"8/30,31/63 "The Magic Flute"

NEW MEXICOSanta Fe Opera Assn., John Crosby, dir., P.O.B. 1654, Santa Fe, N.M.6/26,29, 7/5,12, 8/10,21,24/63 "Fledermaus" (season: June 26 - August 24)6/28, 7/3,13,31/63 "Don Giovanni"7/6,10,20, 8/2,17,23/63 "Madame Butterfly"7/l7,19,27, 8/3/63 "Der Rosenkavalier"8/7,9/63 Alban Berg's "Lulu" Am.prem.8/14,16/63 "L'Enfant et les Sortileges" and "Le Rossignol"7/24,26/63 "Joan of Arc at the Stake" (for casts see Jan. Bulletin)

NEW YORK CITYBrooklyn Opera Co.,Guido Salmaggi,dir., at Brooklyn Academy, Brooklyn 1,N.Y.4/20/63 "La Traviata" w.Dolores Mari,James Wainner, Met.aud.winner R.Christopher4/27/63 "La Boheme" w.Olivia Bonnelli, Marcia Lang, Enrico di Giuseppe5/4/63 "Cav. and Pag." w.Francesca Roberta,Thomas Hayward;Rosalia Maresca,E.Ruhl5/ll/63 "Rigoletto" w.Josephine Guido,Jerome Lo Monaco,Benjamin Raysonconds.:George Barati, Anton Coppola; stage dirs.:Robert Ackart,Anthony Stivanello,Richard Flusser.

Hunter College Opera Workshop,William Tarrasch,Carolyn Lockwood,dirs.,Park Ave.NY5/2,3/63 Rossini's "The Turk in Italy" revision,recitatives and Eng. transl. byBoris Goldovsky and Sarah Caldwell; musical revision and orchestration byHelmut Wolfes; w. Nat.Council's Rita S. Tritter as Fiorilla.

The Lyric Players of the Church of the Covenant, 310 E 42 St.,New York4/18,25/63 Debussy's "The Prodigal Son" (staged)

Mannes College of Music, Carl Bamberger,dir.opera dept.,157 E 74 St.,New YorkA/22,23/63, "The Abduction from the Seraglio",Eng. by Martin, cond. CarlBamberger; stage dir. Emil Renan. At Fashion Inst. of Technology


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PERFORMANCE LISTING cont.

NEW YORK CITY (cont.)New York City Opera Co.,Julius Rudel, gen.dir., 131 W 55 St., New York4/25,28, 5/8/63 Britten's "A Midsummer Nights Dream" East coast prem.4/26, 5/4,10/63 Weill's "Street Scene"4/27, 5/5,11/63 Prokofieff's "Love for Three Oranges"4/28, 5/4,12/63 Moore's "Ballad of Baby Doe"5/l,7/63 Stravinsky's "Oedipus Rex" and Orff's "Carmina Burana"5/3,11/63 Floyd's "Susannah"5/5,12/63 Menotti's "Amelia Goes to the Ball" and "The Medium"

NEW YORKAdelphi College, Alfredo Valenti,dir.opera workshop, Garden City, N.Y.May '63 "La Traviata"

Lake George Opera Festival,Diamond Point Theatre,F. Patrick,dir.,Diamond PointJuly 1 - Sept. 2, '63 "La Traviata" 11 pfs, "The Barber of Seville" 8 pfs.,"Tosca" 8 pfs., "Hansel and Gretel" 4 pfs., "The Marriage of Figaro" 9 pfs.,"Carmen" 7 pfs., "The Mikado" 7 pfs. ( see Jan. Bulletin)

North Shore Community Arts Center, Felix Popper,mus.dir., Great Neck,N.Y.4/20/63 Hugo Weisgall's "The Stronger" and "Purgatory" w. Adelaide Bishop

Rosenflale Opera Workshop, Mrs. E.R. Bee, dir., Schenectady, N.Y.5/10,11/63 Elizabeth Caldwell's "Pepito's Golden Flower"

OHIOCincinnati Summer Opera Assn.,John Onysko,gen.mgr., Cincinnati, Ohio6/19,20/63 "Tosca" 6/21,23/63 "Fledermaus" E^gl6/26,29/63 "La Boheme" 6/28,30/63 "Cosi Fan Tutte"7/3,6/63 "Carmen" 7/5,7/63 "Madame Butterfly"7/10,13/63 "Andrea Chenier" 7/l2,14?63 "Ea Traviata"7/17,20/63 "Cav. and Pag." 7/l9,2l/63 "Rigoletto" ( see Jan.Bulletin)

Miami University, Otto Froehlich, dir.opera workshop, Oxford, OhioDec.'62 "Rosalinda" (Fledermaus), April'63 "La Serva Padrona","01d Maid and Thief"

ONTARIORoyal Conservatory of Toronto, Opera Theatre, Toronto,Ont.4/5,6/63 Pannell's "Aria da Capo" and Rota's "Silent Night", prems.(see New Operas)

OREGONUniversity of Portland, Felice Wolmut,dir.opera workshop, Portland,Oreg.3/8,10/63 "Fidelio"

QUEBECMontreal Opera Guild, Mme.Pauline Ponalda,founder, Montreal, Queb.Jan.'63 "Faust" 3pfs., w.Marguerite Gignac, Richard Verreau, Richard Cross.

TENNESSEEOak Ridge Festival, Franklin Choset,mus.dir., Oak Ridge, Tenn.6/26,28,29/63 "The Marriage of Figaro"

TEXASBeaumont Civic Opera,Naaman Woodland,Jr.,vice-pres.,Peter P.Fuchs,mus.dir.Beaumont4/5,6/63 "Fledermaus" perf. at S.F.Austin Jr.High School Audit.


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EDUCATION OF THE SINGING ACTOR

Ken C. Baumann

We are leaving the field of education for opera conductors and stage directorsfor one brief interlude to talk about the training of opera singers in the artof dramatic expression. We will have to look first at two different sides of theproblem - one is, what kind of singer needs what kind of dramatic training, andthe other, what kind of teacher should teach which type of student.

Taking the student first, experience has shown that there are roughly two typesof singers: one type is born with an innate talent for dramatic expression where-as the other is mainly a vocal talent with often great difficulties of imaginationand technical equipment to live himself into a foreign character.

The first type of student will usually only be limited in his dramatic potentialby physical requirements of singing. The problem of teaching him operatic partswill be mostly to discipline his motions and to prevent overacting or hamming.The second type will be the greater problem.

Since the imagination of a purely musical oriented talent will be based on hisinnate musicality, explanations of characterization and movement, especially ofhands and arms, will have to come from the musical characterization exclusively.In practical terms this means that it will be less difficult for this kind ofperson to express in some way intended characterization as long as he is singing,whereas, the filling out of musical interludes between vocal lines will presentthe real problem. It has been the experience of this writer that one possiblesolution lies in having the student translate the instrumental fill-line into avocal sequence and let the singer silently sing the instrumental filling part tobridge in his imagination that for him empty space.

In addition, the non-dramatic talent should be taught to use all his physicalmotions sparingly but decisively in order to make his fewer motions count. Theportrayal of the same operatic character in physical terms has almost limitlesspossibilities; it is not necessarily the better actor who is constantly inphysical motion. Intensity and clearness of less activity can sometimes be moreimpressive than wild animation without pauses and clearly discernible dramaticpurpose. It is an old experience on the acting stage that intensity of impressionstemming from the eyes of the actor can often have a much stronger effect thanshort and wild facial distortions.

It goes without saying that a heavily built person will have to work with fewerand more decisive motions than a slightly built actor with a high rate of nervousimpulses. - Another danger of overacting lies in the desire of stage directorsand singers to "enliven" long arias by lots of motion which is not only detrimentalto the steadiness of the vocal line but very often confusing as to the emotionalcontent of the piece. It goes without saying that any motion, and especially walkson the operatic stage should never be tried for the sake of the motion alone butonly for the logical expression of dramatic necessity. In other words, if thesinging actor walks, it should be clear where he walks from and where he walksto, and there must be a reason for it; if hands are used for pointing or under-lining dramatic situations, it should be done to the fullest extent and only tofulfill a dramatic need.


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That does not prevent a good singer from singing in all positions on the floorof the stage nor in walking up and down stairs or even in a spirited dancingmovement. The problem in the latter case is mainly breath control and theability to sing while momentarily turned away from the conductor. Eoris Goldovskyhas shown how much can be done in this respect without the slightest loss ofmusical accuracy.

It seems to be a superfluous question after all that has been said, to ask whatkind of teacher should teach what type of student. But I shall try to prove thatthere is a difference which spells out complete or incomplete success.

Speaking in historical terms, the ideal teacher for a singing actor was and mightbe still today the dancing master who in his training and experience should bebest equipped to teach physical motions based on musical material. But in modernoperas the strict concurrence of music and motion has been substituted by dramaticimpersonation which, in some instances is independent of the musical line. Theanswer that comes to mind the fastest would be an acting coach since the musicalbasis does not seem to be important. I like, however, to venture the opinionthat a teacher with strong musical background would possibly be preferable inthis case since every operatic acting is ultimately based on the musical material,even if at times the music does not necessarily express the momentary positionof the acting singer.

There are many instances, as we all know, where the musical intermediate line be-longs to a different character from the momentarily acting one which necessitatesa reaction rather than a personal characterization on the part of the singer. Inthis way we avoid the most common pitfall of operatic performances, namely thatthe singer stops acting as soon as his own vocal line is at an end.

It follows therefore that any dramatic coach of opera singers should be musicallycompletely trained in addition to his capacities as a coach for motion, bodycontrol and dramatic expression because in the last analysis, no operatic actingis possible away from the basis of the musical material.

Ithaca, New YorkMarch, 1963

This article belongs to Mr. Ken C. Baumann1s series "From a Notebook of a StageDirector" and it is number X in this series.

I N D E XSubject PageNEW OPERAS AND FIRST PERFORMANCES 1NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS 2SETS FOR RENT OR SALE 3MORE OPERA WORKSHOPS AND MASTER CLASSES 3OPERA TOUR THROUGH EUROPE 3TV AND OPERA 4CONFERENCES 4HEW YORK WELCOMES TWO LEGENDARY FIGURES OF OPERA . . . . 5AUDITION WINNERS 5RESUMEE OF THE 1962-63 SEASON AT THE METROPOLITAN . . . .6FIRST ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THE 1963-64 SEASON 6LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 8C.O.S. INSIDE INFORMATION 9PERFORMANCE LISTINGS 10EDUCATION OF THE SINGING ACTOR (K.C.Baumann) 13


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