Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-01-16
BY DAY. THORPE

y
Yesterdays big event in the
life of the musical Wsshing-
tonian was not exclusively hi:
!. own but was shared country.
fRide by music lovers who own
itelevision sets. The National
sBfoadcasting Companys Magic
sEiute" of Mozart was in its con-
tsption. its meticulous attention
TO details. its artistic sensitiyity.
and telthougfr to a much lesser
uegreel its general presentation,
She most magpificently executed
opera TV has TO its credit.
It's opening was a stroke of
dramatic genius. There were no
Commercials Ia few frantic ones
iS9ere interjected at the station
break. no long and pretentious
spreambles. no dramatic per-
!: kSnae. no credits. no overture,
even. Il suppose the suppression
of, the overture, unsuitable for
nv unless disfigured by stimuli
: teneous visual announcements
Of cast and credits, was decided
upon for this reason. The over
ttire appeared. however at the
end Of the opera. as background
music for a safe driving mes
sage.) The program opened ef-
fsctively with the first scene Of
the opera. and the entire first
act progressed with a life, a
sri1oothness and dramatic con-
tinuity seldom seen on the con-
ventional stage. The camera
work was unostentations and,
marvellous. One never had the
feeling Of being in the clutches
of an operator trying to show
on every trick in the trade. yet
there must have been few tricks
unused in a production that
always kept singer and action
, at the center Of the screen with
.htNe noticeable movement Of the
camera:
I The singing was on the whole
good. Leontyne Price. the Pa
:n,ina. was outstanding: Chester
Watson. the FIRST priest. was In
voice and demeanor so good a
Serastro that it is a puzzle whv
Yi-Kwcs-sze, who was In actual
sisR assigned that role. and who
had nssel and unconvincine
vuice and the, accent not Of a.
divinity but of a BROOKLYN pug,l-
list, ives selected. Papaeeno
tJohn Reardonl sang with a
certain charming fair and buoy
ancy, and his Interpretation of
the role was the most subtle I
have ever seen In a lifetime of
Magic Flutes. He was neither a.
simpleton nor a clown. but
rather a msn with blood in his
veins rather than beliefs in his
brain.
The Queen Of the Night Lau-'
rel Hurley mace pretty pic
ture. at first appealing and then
threatening. but she vas entirely
unable to cope with the vocal
difficulties Of her part. Tamino.
played by william Lewis. was an
ingratiating and manly prince, !
but he had voice of no great
distinction. particularly in the.
top register.
cThe orchestra as musical
body was very good. but the di-.
rection. under Peter Adler. was
not up to the general standard
of the production. The tempt
were sluggish particularly in
the quintet in Act One). and the
ensemble numbers were occa-
sionally ragged. although ex-
tremely interesting usually !.
since. thanks to exemplary mi
crophone handling, the actors
could devote themselves to stage
business without the necessity of
always facing the audience. as
live opera singers must If they
want to be heard.
up to the end Of the first act
this was a Magic Flute, one con-
sideration taken with another.
to rank with the very best. Stage
direction. costumes, sets. music.
and q rare and thrilling sense of
timing. Of security. and compe-
tence can not easily be described.
After the intermission. things
were inclined 10 fall apart. NBC.
having assumed responsibility
for the two most expensive op-l
erations In the world, opera and
4 major TV show, could not come
up with the extra half-hour to
make the two-hour show end as
well as 1t began. Many scenes
were cut out - those Of the
two priests. the three boys. the
armed men and the rest Of that
sequence. Only one verse of I'm
diesen heil'gen Hallen" was
given, only few bars Of Papa
geno's song. and the chorus Of
priests was used as background
music for unimportant spoken