Evening star., 1957-04-25
NEWS OF MUSIC
BY IRVING LOWENS


the sopera Society Of washinston:
conductor: James Waring. director.
n Lisner Auditorium. Prosram: The
she tie aorSon o nnS and sas the % aanticore M 1S Par.
ticipating artists: Eunice Alberts, con-
tralto; Adelaide Bishop, soprano: Ellen
Faull, soprano; Robert Rue. baritone:
Chamber Chorus of Washington: Mem
bers Of the National symphony Orch
estra.
The flourishing state of the
Opera Society of Washington was
eyinced last night in the Lisner
Auditorium, where a capacity
audience was on hand to greet
its second offering of the cur
rent season, a Clan Carlo Men,
otti double bill consisting Of The
Old Maid and the Thief" and
the most recent Of the Menotti
successes, THE Unicorn, the
Gorgon and the Manticore." or
"The Three Sundays of a Poet. "
The "Old Maid and the Thief, /"
a creampuff of a piece. started
its career back in 1899 as a radio
opera commissioned by NBC and
since then has established itself
as a hardy perennial.
Just why it has managed to
keep the affection Of the public
is difficult to understand. The
plot--if such it can be called
is little more than an expanded
anecdote, and not very funny
one at that. The book is cute
rather than clever. The music
Is pretty tawdry stuff. full of the
most resounding cliches.
II Goes Over
Still, it all hangs together,
and If you don't happen to have
seen it before, the opera is anus
ing and not without q certain
amount of charm. The secret of
its effectiveness is no doubt
Menotti's phenomenal at-home-
ness with the problems of stage
craft, and his instinct for what
will go over and what won't. And
the >Old Maid" does go over, for
all its weaknesses.
Last nights unreasonable mid
summer temperatures helped to
make the isn't the weather aw-
full" chatter between Eunice Al
berts and Ellen Fault seem fun
nier than it actually was and the
occasional bright lines like
"virtue is mighty. but sin has
variety" were as funny as ever,
The main singing role in the
piece, that Of the maid Laetitia,
was superbly carried of by So
prano Adelaide Bishop. In the
operas only genuine aria. she
revealed a voice Of lovely quality
particularly in the silvery top OF
her range.
Those who heard Eunice Al
berts a fortnight ago in the "St
Matthews Passion" must have
been properly amazed at thi,
fine artists versatility. AS Miss
Todd. the old maid Of the title
she demonstrated considerable
fair for the comic and a deli.
cious sense Of timing. Ellen Faul
was a first-rate Miss Pinkerton
both vocally and histrionically
and Robert Rue was an appro.
priately handsome and confused
Bob.
Menotti's Best
"The Unicorn. the Gorgon anc
the Manticore" thereafter re-
ferred to as UGM) is a horse
of an entirely different color
Having attended the exciting
world premiere Of this work last
fall at the Library Of Congress
where 1t thoroughly over
whelmed an audience consistinG
of music notables from all ovel
the country, this reviewer Il
still Of the opinion that 1t II
Menotti's finest opera to date
after having heard 1t AGAR
yesterday.
The Opera Society OF Wash.
ington production OF UGN
brought back the original con-
ductor. the original chorus. tn,
original dance troupe and th'
original instrumentalists. New
was a stunning set by Catholi'
University's talented jane
Waring: In the Coolidge Audi