Evening star., 1955-01-02
News of Music
News Of MUSIC
'Cosi fan tutte' Concert
Deserves 'Opero' Billing
BIZ Doy Thorpe

By Doy
It Is generally conceded
that washington needs an
opera house. Oddly enough.
the aHitation for opera Is not
90 vigorous. IN America We
take II for granted that Il
We have the package the mer-
claandise win be snugly Ill-
side. Color television Is very
exciting -i1ore 50 than the
prospect Of what win be tele-
ytsed In color.
"A friend cf mine found 1Il-
der his Christmas tree q
phonograpll that VIII play
for IL hours without being
touched BY hand. but included
ID no suggestion Of how TO
foC1s his attention for even
half q day.
We are proud of our United
Nations. but few are so pre-
s,nnutuous as to take an In
terest IN its deliberations; We
are possibly more intrigued BY
book clubs than by books;
more interested In the vial
than III the perfume.
We take the transmission
levers Of our autos on the
fioor, where they are unhandy,
and put them on the steering
post where they are convell-
lent. Then our obsession with
paclkaging forces us to put
them on the dashboard. where.
God save the mark, they are
again iInhandy.
II the English are . nation
Of shoplkeepers. we are more
reined specialists who worship
primarily the Well-wrapped
parcel.
Concert Version Pldnned
The National symphony Or
chestra seems mildly un-Amer-
ican in being more interested
in the omelette than in which
end the eggshell is opened.
Lacking en- opera house, IT Is
nevertheless going to present
washington with an opera
next week.
Its peculiarly modest an
nouncement is that Mozart's
@Cosi fan lutte" viii be q
sconcert version" although, IN
fact, there will be acting, stage
properties, costumes and light
ing everything, In fact, that
an opera house could provide
except q curtain and q prompts
er's box. Indeed. in Salzburg.
the home Of Mozart opera, this
years performance of "Cosi
fan lutte" made use neither OF
curtain nor Of realistic scenery.
yet it was far from q concert
version" Many even considered
it legitimate opera.
M pnrse's LIE Reviewed
T,,ara u,,ii - tir,a 81 tha
S.,. 80 u cn,,,a y bsfora Stha * sy,n-
ohorv,s tu,a ,,e,sory,a meas IN
Ian,,s,.v 10 and "a to consider
+,,e o,,sra,s connoser Mozart
Yts u,riter Io1snzo "a Pnnte is 4
Z ra,,-r,hose lifa ana acl,ieve-
ment merit some aftentinn,
,Tlose whn rememIer nnera
hilIbnards IN TtaIy car recaIl
seeing .sRiQolettoo IA letters
eighteen inches high the name
of its librettist Piaye in let
ters 4 foot high. and that 81
verdi in letters two inches
high. This is typical Of the
European billboard and is 4
hold-oyer from the days when
the story was the important
aspect Of opera, and the music
Mes olliy sIuusinsy toierateQ.
sSong, " Ine way. became g
pa5e " opera long aIter reel
ssslvs--tnat conventional oe-
W. " Wnlcn tne story is ad-
salcsu. MANY early operas
WeIe no.aiils put recitatlVeD
NV laAs-neil u any popu-
ra,s - Ms.o.lca, .,, noye,, ana IeW
ylola. l,i.etiec.uals y IacI.
Oal uliiOiu Z ille sIoIy so iurio
.u y tunlaiislc az lorenzo ua
,., ee, Dorn GInahuel Cone
nsn aio a Seheua, Venice, ~
ssS. 1., -. g Ssw, ne became g
a..olU ptles. priest, he
,.. psaine poeI lauies man.
~ lslcai asl.asoF, nnrettise.
c.scken aarmer professor at
o.unDla University ~ new
1orA, ana e oozen otaer ois-
aIase ano amazing aii-too-
nulliaii ineil'
bonished From Venice
S.ASA A-AA NShtNSs