Evening star., 1954-04-25

penhein, clarinet, Philip Solar,
contrabass, and Bernhard Gar
field, bassoon. Mr.. Oppenheim
is in charge Of the longhair
department Of Columbia Rec
ords. and likes to tell you that
he hasn't touched q clarinet
in 10 months. that he borrowed
an instrument from somebody
in Grand Central Station. or
some other likely-in fact,
probably true-story, but he
always manages to play as
though the clarinet were the
only thing in life Of any great
concern to him. Philip Solar.
o virtuoso with q limited rep
ertoire. is always one good rea-
son for programming the For
ellen Quintet or the octet Of
Schubert. The only other clas-
sic contrabass solos I know Of
are an aria Of Mozart for bass
voice and contrabaSs, and an
octet by Hummel. In modern
music there Is Of course the
"Histoire du Soldat" Of Stra-
whisky.
Schultz Revival
Time magazine this we0A
carried q story about the re-
turn to popularity Of the music
of Heinrich Schultz, the great
German composer of church
music, born just o hundred
years before Bach. In Phila-
delphia there Is q Schultz fes-
tival In progress, which. Time
says, Is enthralling public and
singers alike.
There has been a great deal
of Schultz heard in Washing
ton this season. This week
John Yard. Of the Mozart Trio.
sings "Paratum Cor Meum,"
and next week the Cathedral
Choral Society will devote half
of its spring program to works
of the master.
The most interesting aspect
of the local Schultz revival is
that at least one piece, THE
Seven Last Words of the
Saviour" is finding a place in
many modest churches as
practical service music. This
Easter. goodness knows, per-
formances of the Dubois
Seven Last Words" were still
numerous enough to please the
remaining admirers of that
waning favorite. but several
were displaced by the Schultz
setting. Whether contempt
will be bred by this familiarity,
and whether contempt is pref
erable to obscurity, are ethical
questions, and as such, Of
course, out of my line.
A Footnote
The press agent of Robert
Ellsasser, organist. who gives a
recital here this week, is au-
thority for the news that his
man is going to play 5000
pedal notes with his feet in 3
minutes. That's stepping on
seventeen notes a second, and
that's unquestionably pretty
fast. I trust that Mr.. Ellsasser
knows that his rival pedaler,
Virgil Fox, is careful to hold
his hands in the air when he
plays footie, so that there can
be no doubt he's not cheating.
A Thomas Progrom
When I mentioned two weeks
ago that the Beethoven ninth
symphony was usually pref
aced in performance by the
third Leonore or the first or
eighth symphony, I had for
gotten for the moment the
programs of Theodore Thomas
and the Chicago Symphony.
Mr.. Thomas used to play both
the ninth symphony and the
Missa Solemnis on the same
program, but. Of course, the
rest of the concert would be
brief. limited to perhaps only
an overture and a concerto.
The FIomineo Hot'
A try-out of a new operetta,
1.-THE Flamingo Hat" by Frank
Baer, with music by Richard
Dirksen. will take place May 7
and 8 in Whitby Hall in the
National Cathedral Close.
Produced by Madeline Hicks
and directed by Lake Bobbitt,
the show has a cast and chorus
of 81. AS Whitby Hall holds
only $50 persons, tickets for
both nights are almost if not
entirely exhausted. For infor-.
nation concerning reserva-
tionS, call WO. 6-3500.