Evening star., 1954-11-14
News Of Music

~ VAAO OAAAS0AAANNA oVSAA SA4At5
time. # prior performances of
such popular pieces by the
/ Washington and Cathedral
kchoral societies are a forecast
Sof what to expect, there win
Rbe few If any vacant seats by
1880. The concert is free, and
Ethe only reserved seats go to
sponsors of the group.
Adele Addison, soprano: Eu-
snice Alberts, contralto; and
Leslie Chabay, tenor. are all
2well-known to Washington au-
diences. Kenneth smith, bass.
will complete the solo quartet.
The orchestra will be made
up of members of the National
Symphony, with additional
brass players brought in to
meet the requirements OF Ver-
5di's large and dramatic score.
+ Paul Galloway will conduct
the work, which was given on
the first concert of the Cathe-
.dral Choral Society IL years
ago.
CIoque and Prompter
One Of the two oldest insti-
.tutions Of modern opera was
lin evidence last week in the
SMetropolitan's television per-
formance at the Capitol Thea
ter. The Met. like virtually
every present-day company,
uses a prompter to give each
singer the first word Of his
cue in advance of his vocal
entrance. Unlike the drama
prompter, this opera backstop
does not wait for evidence a
singer is having trouble with
his lines-virtually every en-
trance is intoned in a voice
that In all but the largest
houses is as conspicuous as 1t
was in the television show.
The sensation the prompter
creates on the audience is like
that of the bit of conversation
one hears when a door is
opened and closed quickly, ex-
posing speakers in another
room. It has seemed to me
that nothing could be more
disconcerting to a singer than
this constant and monotonous
anticipation of his line. Sew
eral singers have told me that
1T is almost impossible to break
the convention of the prompter
even If a singer does not want
one. The singer must train
himself not to hear the inter-
Eruption Of his attack.
a I have heard the solemn
prompter hiss q warning "Si,"
when that syllable is the only
Tone sung by the Commentators
Tin Don Giovanni" in the en-
sstire movement, and it is not
Runcommon for prompters to
Mgive the cue to those who are
writing or reading a letter, and
thus can have all the words be-
fore their eyes, and the music
too, if they want it.
I The claque, on the other
hand, Is no longer common in
America, although it still is not
unusual in Europe. Members
= of a claque are not only sup
piled with free tickets, but are
also in some theaters paid a
wage. They attend rehearsals
to learn the precise psyche
logical moment to instigate
wild. spontaneous applause.
The Concertgebouw
Beethoven's fourth SYM
phony, Debussy's "L'Apres
midi" 1.-THE Firebird" Of Stra-
whisky, and a work by the
modern Dutch composer, Ru-
sdolph Escher, will make up
the program of the Concertge-
Sbouw Orchestra when it plays
in Constitution Hall a week
from Tuesday under the baton
of Eduard van Beinum.
The famous orchestra from
Amsterdam, for many years
conducted by Willem Mengel-
burg, is we'll known in America.
since it made a large per-
centage of the earlN orches-
trail records in the early days
of electrical phonograph rec
ords.
It is one of two very famous
orchestras, strangers to these
parts, to be heard in Wash
ington this season. The Berlin
Philharmonic will play twice
later in the year.
X 4 y
Money and Music
4 If you think opera company
directors are more concerned
with dollars than with art.
consider Joseph Rosenstock,
general director of the New
York City Opera Company. Mr..
Rosenstock's interest in the
salaries of his singers is post
afacto; his familiarity with his
scores is phenomenal. The
story is from the press agent Of
the company:
i e.. Roy Urhausen was en-
ployed for a solo assignment
in /. +. 3. Tales of Hoffman, re-
Eceiving So i. for singing the
words Ia harpe' (three syl-
lables) offstage. -. Urhausen's
pay was subsequently esti-
mated at 81 per note. When