Producers' Showcase: Festival of Music, Volume 2
2014; Routledge; Volume: 70; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2769-4046
Autores Tópico(s)Theater, Performance, and Music History
ResumoProducers' Showcase: Festival of Music, Volume 2. Victoria de los Angeles, soprano; Marian Anderson, contralto; Barry Morell, tenor; Christoff, bass; Artur Rubinstein, Franz Rupp, piano; Andres Segovia, guitar; Showcase Symphony Orchestra and Chorus; Alfred Wallenstein, conductor. (VAI 4245; 89:00)Verdi: Act One-abridged {La traviata) Mussorgsky: Death of Boris (Boris Godunoy. Burleigh: Heav'n, My Lord, What a Mornin'. Hall Johnson: Roll, Jordan, Roll. Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. J. S. Bach: Gavotte. Torraba: Allegretto.One of the most exciting and tantalizing classical music releases of the last decade was a VAI disk which unearthed a stunning classical music cavalcade that had aired live on network television on January 30, 1956 for the series Producers' Showcase. There were superlative instrumentalists featured, but it was the singers who emphatically stole the show. In the space of a few minutes, one could revel in Leonard Warren's thundering prologuefrom I pagliacci, Roberta Peters's dazzling Doll Song from The Tales of Hoffmann, and Renata Tebaldi and Jussi Bjoerling in the love duet from La boheme. Add to that the Canio of Jan Peerce, the Carmen of Rise Stevens, and the Tosca of Zinka Milanov (in her only television appearance), and one begins to understand what a glittering event this was. Knowing that there were thirty-seven editions of Producers' Showcase, opera fans everywhere could not help but salivate at the thought of many more such extravaganzas being released to the public in the coming years.It turns out that the aforementioned program (reviewed in Journal of Singing61, no. 5 [May/June 2005]) was one of only two episodes of Producers ' Showcase to feature classical music. There were treasures aplenty in the other showcases, ranging from plays by Noel Coward to the first telecast of Peter Pan starring Mary Martin. Alas, there was only one other occasion in which Producers' Showcase focused exclusively on classical music, and that program is finally available to the public for the first time since its initial telecast on December 10, 1956. The most significant difference between the two programs is that this later one features fewer musicians in lengthier segments, as though it were conceived for more sophisticated, seasoned viewers. One may also notice that Jose Ferrer is a much more polished host than Charles Laughton was for the preceding show. Otherwise, both of these programs exemplify the primitive charms of early television while giving us a priceless glimpse of some treasurable artists from the golden age.Front and center is an abridged performance of the first act of Verdi's La traviata with the roles of Violetta and Alfredo essayed by Victoria de los Angeles and Barry Morell. It's no small matter to winnow thirty-five minutes down to twenty while retaining the essential arc of the story and the heart of the musical score, but this is as successful as any such effort could possibly be. The haunting prelude is completely discarded (a wise choice in this scenario), and many of the subsequent cuts, including one in the Brindisi, are nearly subtle enough to avoid detection. Perhaps the most ingenious alteration happens at the end of Alfredo's arietta, when he leaves Violetta to ponder what he has just expressed to her. Rather than have Violetta return to her guests to bid them farewell, she simply remains where she is and begins the great aria that ends the act, with her guests presumably left to fend for themselves. All in all, this abridgment works well for what it is, even if one can't help but long for the intact original.Opera fans accustomed to such glamorous, telegenic divas as Anna Netrebko and Diana Damrau might be quick to dismiss the short, somewhat stout and decidedly unglamorous de los Angeles. In fact, she is a thoroughly charming and radiant presence, and it's all but impossible to take one's eyes from her; she is living proof that charisma and beauty come in various varieties. …
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