Evening star., 1960-12-11
NEWS OF MUSIC
BY DAY THORPE
Star Music Critic


champagne and kisses New
Years eve, but for the cast
of the Washington Opera
Society they will be life it
self. The singers of Stravin-
sky's lie Rossignol" and
Schoenberg's "Erwartung"
after having given three per-
formanceS of these two
operas that week in Lisner
Auditorium will finish re-
cording the work for Colum-
bia Records sometime in the
afternoon or evening Of
December 81. Then they will
dissolve into the homes of
friends and probably, since
singers are usually prodieal
of their voices, join in the
happy, maudlin singing at
the stroke of IL.
The last two weeks of this
month will be an exciting
and doubtless memorable
time for the Washington
Opera. Igor Stravinsky him.
self will be in town to con-
duct his opera, which has
never been seen in this coun-
try, and to supervise its pro-
duction. At the same time
another premiere, Schoen-
berg's "Erwartung" will be
prepared. and the two operas
will be given December %,
20 and 80 as a double bill.
ct will not be a long eve
ming at the opera, however.
since the Stravinskiy is only
IS minutes long and the
Schoenberg only IS minutes.)
The sets for both productions
are now being built, and the
unusually large orchestra
REQUIRED for the two operas
will soon start rehearsals.
Hebert and stravinsky
The association Of Bliss
Hebert, manager and director
Of the Washington Opera,
with Stravinsky started in
1858 when the composer
came to Boston University
where Hebert was teaching
to conduct "The Rake's
Progress" which had Just
had its American premiere
at the Met. Three years later,
Stravinsky and the conductor
Robert Craft, a leading au-
thority on the music Of
Stravinsky. suggested to John
Crosby Of the Santa Fe Opera
that Hebert would be an ex-
cellent addition to his staff.
Hebert went to Santa Fe and
worked with Stravinsky on
two different productions Of
THE Rake" the second Of
which he directed to the
great satisfaction Of the
composer. When Hebert join
ed the Washington Opera,
Stravinsky was not too hard
to persuade to come and
present lie Rossignol."
Two Here from Europe
Two singers will be brought
from Europe especially for
this production. Stravinsky
himself chose the American
Negro soprano Reri Grist, a
star Of the Zurich Opera, to
sing the title role of lie
Rossignol," while Helga
Pilarczyk. of the Hamburg
Opera, will come to sing
"Erwartung." She is the
choice of Mr.. Hebert, who
heard her sing the role in
Paris in 1855.
This spectacular produc-
tion Is the first witness of the
impact Mr.. Hebert has had
on the Washington operatic
scene since he assumed his
position as manager last July.
After Mozart's "Idomeneo"
and Rizet's Carmen" (Which
had already been scheduled)
he hopes to do yet another
opera late this season, while
for next year he has sched-
uled a season almost twice as
ambitious as this. His major
innovation will be the stimuli
taneous presentation of two
operas, each for three per-
formances on alternate
nights. While next years
repertoire has not been final
ly decided upon, it will prob
ably include die Zauber-
f1ote," "Ariadne auf Naxos,"
"Oedipus Rex" "Manon," n
Barbiere di Siviglia," Jeanne
dare au Boucher" "L'Enfant
ct les Sortileges," and "Tos-
ca"
Based on Fairy Tale
We will see many artists
who have appeared in previ-