Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-10-30

pacity seemed to be completely
uninterested in the Met. the
staging, the other singers. the
orchestra, or Bellini's opera,
Norma. Their interest CEN
tered on Americas most uhe-
nomenal singer from Italy.
Bellini's Norma" is not a
great dramatic piece. 1t is an
almost never-ending torrent Of
intense, neurotic and passionate
melody, a kind of Chopin noe
turne with a plot.
Chorus and singers wandered
about the stage, getting involved
in all manner of fierce passion,
such as love, hate and jealousy.
Staging Effective
The Metropolitan staging is
very effective. The orchestra
under Fausto Cleva is in top
form, and the chorus, some
times a pitiable aggregation. is
excellent, good in both ensemble
and tone quality.
Most of the singers are neither
better nor worse than an aver
age cast. Mario Del Monaco. the
Pollione, can sing louder than
any other tenor I can remember,
and that's about the greatest
praise one can give him. Cesare
Slept, the Oroveso, is very i'm
pressive and in excellent voice,
but his is only q very minor
role. Fedora Barbieri, the Adal-
gisa. seems to be singing a role
that lies a trifle low for her
natural voice which inclines to
be harsh and out of control. She
works under the enormous han
dicap, however, of almost always
being a foil of Maria Callas. re-
peating phrases or whole tunes
after she has shown everybody
the proper way to sing them.
And what about CallaS? The
great shock comes in finding
that she does not have the tor
rental voice such as one would
suppose would enrapture Italy,
but rather small, almost thin,
one. 1t is delicate and refined
and capable Of endless infiec-
ton. I'm sure that in reality her
projection is as strong as a steel
band. but the effect is one of
the greatest ease and simplicity,
Of complete lack of strain or
tension. It is as though she said
why, yes. do you want to hear
'Casta Diva?' Here is how it
goes" The melody comes out
limpid, smooth and intoxicating.
Little Change Of Pace
Norma" does not allow the
singer Of the title role much
opportunity for a wide variety of
musical ability. There is little
change in pace, and none but
the most conventional ensemble
singing There is no coloratura
comparable to "Cenerentola" or
1.-THE Barber of Seville" But it
is a masterpiece of sustained
romantic melody, and none but
the greatest singer can manage
the role. Calais is surely one of
the greatest.
Not only as a singer but also as
an actress she is remarkable. She
moves very little. but every mo-
ton is telling. In Norma" her
voice and her presence are all
that really matter on stage. It
would be interesting to know
whether in the roles Of Des-
demons or Susanna. where other
things decidedly do matter, she
is so magnificent an artist.
1t is not my meter to report
the colorful social life Of the
Metropolitan Opera opening
night. Washington will be in
terested to know, however, that
her own opera composer of a
fortnight ago, Clan Carlo
Menotti. was there as the escort
Of Marlene Dietrich.
At the conclusion Of the
performance, the Metropolitan
standing rule against solo cur
tain calls was in effect broken
when. after a tremendous ova-
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