Evening star., 1955-07-10


burgh Festival In q new
Glyndebourne production Of
Fora del Destino," sharing
honors with Sena Jurinac.
Surprises in "Falstaff"
In Florence, the Musical
May" was drawing to q close.
and Thursday nights per-
formance Of ''Falstaff" at the
Teatro Communale was the
last premiere but one.
t'sNorma," in the Boboli Gar
ems, was still to follow0 The
house was filled to the last
inch with a gala audience and
the new production was sung
and staged with splendor.
The cast. headed by Tito
Cobb as Falstaff. presented
some surprises. Gobbi's beau
tiful voice sounded subdued.
sometimes almost mufhed,
enough SO to make one wonder
whether the exaggerated ro-
tundities Of his costumes were
not throttling him.
The great Renata Tebaldi
lived up to expectations as
Alice; her voice is continuous
ly thrilling and she has a real
gift for comedy. Fedora Bar
bieri was a magnificent Mis-
tress Quickly. Her duet with
Falstaff in the second act was
deliciously insinuating and the
deep tinge of her voice is amaz-
ing.
One Of the best things Of the
performance was the singing
Of basso Giulio Neri as Fal-
staff's servant Pistola. Neri
is a tall, dark man with q dark
voice Of great beauty. Perhaps
the greatest surprise was the
endearing performance Of the
tenor Renato Ercolani as the
second servant, Bardolfo. This
astounding package Of good
nature and good voice, not five
feet tall, was bounced, bat
tered, shaken and tripped by
everyone else on stage while
continuing to emit some of the
brightest sounds heard in a
long time.
A Distinguished Audience
Anyone who wants to quibble
might say that this ''Falstaff"
was overplayed, over star
studded and underripe as q
musical entity.
Conductor Antonio Votto
held the orchestral reins, most
capably. except for moments
when the singers were almost
overwhelmed. Giancarlo Bar
tolini-Salimbeni's scenery was
airy, fresh and spare, and with
his handsome costumes created
an effect of gaiety. In the
curious Walpurgis Of the last
scene the stage became too
congested with antlers, elves in
long underwear and leaden
ballet dancers.
Audience response was, sadly
enough. only lukewarm. There
was far warmer enthusiasm
for the attractive wife of Italy's
President, whose appearance in
her box was heralded by sys-
tematic cries of "Evviva ST.
gnora Gronchi" from the upper
tiers Other distinguished
listeners were Gloria Swanson
and contralto Evelyn Swar-
thout, looking handsomer than
ever. Last but not least, Ru-
dolph Bing, whose lowering
presence gave a FLIP Of sus-
pense to the evening.
"Otelle" Excitingly Done
Two nights later was the
much-talked-a -about "Otello,"
with Tebaldi, Mario Del Mon
AGO and Cobb in the chief
roles. Needless to say, it was
an exciting performance, al
though Monaco, despite his
splendid, faultless voice. lacks
the insight to project the pas
sions of Otello.
His Moor Is a handsome au-
tomation.
Quite otherwise with Te-
baldi. She was dazzling in
looks and voice. but she has
a sympathetic understanding
Of Desdemona which in the
last act was a great triumph.
The audience went wild after
each aria.
Cobb is an arresting and
powerful stage figure. His con-
ception of Iago is plastic and
builds up to the end, with
every gesture projecting the
meaning of the text. Again
his fine voice suffered in COM
petition with stronger ones.
ct must be added that Cobb
was taken Ill the next day.
The Communale sets for
"Otello," designed by Veniere
Colasanti. are a remarkably
successful frame for the music;
dark colors, storm driven
clouds, and a dramatic use of
huge swag draperies drawn
back from high on the pro-
scenium arch to a deep point
on the stage. And a word for
the marvellous choruses Of the
first act. No mistake about
audience reaction to this per-
formance. When we left they
were still cheering the stars
with no signs Of stopping.