Evening star., 1962-01-20

1IlC opGI d COClCIy ldoU IllSllJ
honored Igor Stravinsky, this
year celebrating his 80th birth
day, in the way in which the
great composer should be hon
ored-with a superb perform
ance of one of his major works,
the opera-oratorio "Oedipus
Rex"
Preceding the Stravinsky, the
maestro's disciple and gifted
colleague. Robert Craft, directed
Maurice Ravels utterly delight
full "L'Heure Espagnole" with
obvious affection and the
greatest skill.
Altogether, the unusual twin
bill was far and away the most
memorable evening the OSW
has presented to Washington
opera-lovers this year. and it
is good to be able to report that
everything went off in fine
style.
The physical presence of
StravinSky on the podium made
a distinct difference. There
was an almost tangible aura of
excitement and heightened re-
ceptiveness in the audience,
and this was reflected by a
performance that was beauti-
fully paced, had a genuine feel
ing of growth and climax, and
built up cumulative power. 1t
was the kind of performance
where the piece itself had more
eloquence and impact than
seems possible from a reading
of the score.
Language Solved
In "Oedipus," Stravinsky bal
anceS himself with the greatest
delicacy on the horns of the
operate dilemma. He neatly
illnesses the language problem
by telling the story in English
through the mouth of mar
rator. At the same time he
forces the audience to listen
to the music by utilizing Latin
for the song text.
He manages to have his cake
and eat 1.-THE unlikely combi-
nation of English narrative,
Latin poetry, Greek legend,
operate convention and static
oratorio actually works I'M
practice. All of which just goes
to show how much a genius can
do by way of fusing disparate
elements into a unified, con-
Sistent artistic entity.
1t must be admitted that the
composers task was consider
ably lightened yesterday by a.
magnificent cast, simple but
brilliantly effective staging by
Bliss Hebert, marvellous light
ing and a fine set by James
Waring, first-rate costumes by
Constance Mellen and a Won
derfully trained chorus.
Two newcomers to the Wash
ington scene, tenor George
Shirley and mezzo- soprano
Shirley Verrett-Carter, scored
heavily as Oedipus and Jocasta.
The opera sinks or sWims with
Oedipus, and Mr.. Shirley. last
years winner of the Metropoli-
tan Opera Additions, demon
strated himself completely
equal to the difficult challenge,
both histronically and vocally.
He uses his flexible voice with
the greatest sensitivity, and is
definitely a singer to be
watched.
Miss Verrett Carter, who has
been outstandingly successful
in Europe and, more recently,
in her own country, holds the
spotlight only for a brief time
as Jocasta. 1t was long enough
yesterday for her to establish
herself as an outstandingly tai
ented artist, and singer.
Top Vocal Form
Donald Gramm, Chester
Watson, John Reardon and
Loren DriScoll, all of them
familiar to OSW audiences
from previous appearances
here, were in top vocal form,
with the first two especially
effective in their brief but i'm
portant roles.
The tremendous impact of
the "Oedipus Rex" perform
ance pretty thoroughly over
shadowed Ravels slight mas
terpiece, which rarely gets a
hearing because of the diff
Guilty of matching it with any,
thing else. What blends with a
bedroom farce set to music?
Actually, "L'Heure Espa-