Evening star., 1937-05-22
Five Artists
InSynphony
Wagner Day
Preparations M a d e
for New Season in
Local Music.

FIVE of the worlds finest Wagner
ian singers will join the National
Symphony Orchestra in gala concert
opening its 1878 season in Consti-
tuition Hall on October 81, DR.. Hans
Kinder, conductor and musical direc-
tor, announced last week, as he sailed
for Europe to conduct several concerts
there. An entire program will be de-
voted to highlights from Wagner's
music dramas, according to DR.. Kind
Ter, and included will be the finale
from Die Meistersinger."
Presented as the Wagnerian Festival
Singers, the artists to appear on the
program represent outstanding Wag-
merriam talent in five countries. From
Russia comes Alexander Kipnis, basso,
generally labelled the successor to
Chaliapin. Hilda KonetZni, another
member of the company. is a famous
Viennese dramatic soprano. Marta
Krasova, before joining the Festival
Singers, was the principal singer OF
the State Opera at Prague. Czecho-
slovakia. Henk MORT, the company's
sterling tenor, is native OF Holland.
And Joel Berglund baritone, is a
Swedish star, native OF Stockholm.
Each Of these artists possesses an
outstanding international reputation.
and was induced to arrange busy
opera schedule to make this intensive
tour possible only because Of the op-
portunity offered them to present the
Wagnerian masterpieces to concert au-
diences, many of which, like those in
Washington, do not have the chance to
see real opera performances.
Alexander Kipnis is widely known
and admired by American audiences
both by his numerous recordings, and
his appearances here with the Chicago
and Metropolitan Opera Companies.
In recent years he has been engaged at
most of the leading opera houses OF
the world including Covent Garden
IN London, the State Operas Of Berlin
and Vienna, and the Colon Theater
in Buenos Aires. His repertoire con-
sists of 33 operatc roles and about
800 songs.
Joel Berglund, the baritone of the
quintet, received his training at the
Royal ConServatorie of Stockholm and
gave his first public performance there
in 1928. The next year he made his
operate debut in performance Of
The Flying Dutchman" at the Stock
~ u,ho hic
was such that he was retained imme-
diately, and has since played some 40
principal parts. For his recent debut
with the Vienna State Opera, Berg
und sand The Flying Dutchman"
with Kipnis, with sensational success.
= Nine. Krasova began her career in
her native Czechoslovakia Shortly
after her debut there she was engaged
at the Prague State Opera and has
sung a score of important roles there
In Hilda Konetzni the company has
one of the outstanding opera sopranos
of the present day Although she has
only recently entered operatic circles
(she was for four years Austria's wom-
an swimming champion), she has Is
roles to her credit. In both Prague and
Vienna her performances have been
regarded as the vocal high spots of the
season.
Henk Mort made his operatic debut
IN Koblenz in 1923 and since that time
has gone on to achieve great popu-
larity in both operas and concert
through all of Europe. Moor has a
repertoire of 81 operas and, n addi-
ton II oratorios
Because of the public enthusiasm
tor Wagnerian music, as evidenced
In the response of last seasons oper-
attic and symphony performances of
the German composers music, DR..
Kinder hailed the opportunity to
laun-h the orchestra's coming season
suspiciously with Wagner concert