Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 52

Rivalry mw 1 1 a i LAN" of Three Top Singers Ooeia Cilias kubs.titu.t8 1 1, I'rifoitunatelv, the par- at the tii'pohun Opeia Callus hubstitutts style, I'rtfoilunately, the par Makes achievement. a Great Kit" 1 Year for 'Met' i fTJJP .7" I r.i i I By ROLAND loniirinrtl from 11 Kfptirlff er since M.ii ui Mali-bran New Yorkers agog 130 years ago with l.ery in-trrprf tnt inns of Rossini heroines, we have to the opera to hear celebrated Singers. Vivid st.n iiiii.K u- f.ir mure potently than faultless ensemble. In recent sears, however, it has become omethir.g of a chore to provide American opTa-goers with smgeis of adequate stellar magnitude. JOIt A Dl C'ADK mure Impresarios have had to contend with a sad shortage cf first-rate Italian ten ors and baritones fortunately there dues exist at present a small apply of dramatic sopranos who ran be successfully measured against yesterday's standards.

'Ihree of these divas Are on hand allel with Heifetz must he pursued further; Like the violinist, Miss Tehaldi often uses this technical infallibility to obtain some rather drab results. THE IMSr few measures of an ana sung by her are invariably enthralling by reason of that sumptuous vocal control; there atter, though the singing is as opulent as ever, attention may begin to wander, and by the end one is sometimes tempted to employ the quip Ernest Newman applied to Melba; "I'n-interestingly perfect and perfectly unintersting I say "tempted" advised-Iv, for it would be foolish in this day and age to dis hiss offhand a vocalist of Miss Tebaldi's competence. If it were only for her lies-ilemoiu in Verdi's "Otello" she would he remembered as a soprano of high 7 A MARIA CALLAS Mind onr mattrr and lister, to her in pood voice, sou will hear a musician of parts who, though not a stylist in the Callas manner, seldom gives a dull performance. Partisanship for eaih of ii.m.i. i ...,1.

wwli mi il ii i JM Books-Music-Art MINNEAPOLIS SUNDAY TRIBUNE Dee. HO, 'Count' Skated Into New Orleans It Monteux to Lead Symphony Friday Pierre Monteux, world famous I renih conductor, will make his first appearance directing the Minneapolis Symphony orchestra at 8:30 p.m. Friday in Northrop auditorium. Monteux, now 81. retired as conductor of the San Fran cisco Symphony two seasons His musical leadership began before World War I.

After that war he became musical director of the Di-aghilev ballet. He conducted at the Metropolitan Opera 1917 to 1919 and for a time was musical director of the orchestra. He was associated with Amsterdam's Conccrtgc-bouvv orchestra for 10 years, but his principal European activity was the founding in 1929 of the Orchcstre Sym-phonique of Paris which he led until going to San Francisco in 19 iG. Monteux has chosen a program of three symphonies for Friday night. They are Beethoven's No.

2 in I) major, Paul Creston's No. 2 and Brahms' No. 4 in minor. Monteux will be the first of three conductors while 5. 7 I i A monotype by Henri Matisse of a 5ylVaniNUae nude in a woodland is the jacket illustration of "Matisse: 50 Years of His Graphic Art," by William S.

Lieberman (Braziller, a survey in 132 reproductions of the French artist's work in etchings, dry-points, linoleums, lithographs and colored paper designs. EN ATA TEBALDI 7ie lliitit: of tinem these is certain to run high. But we are for. tunate in hav mg today three singers of this caliber tn compare, not only with each other, hut with their predecessois. fanatically to that art and exercise he commonly called Count Roller Skates.

On one of hi stops New Orleans he pocs ashoir with a shipmate and meets his friend's sister. Hilda Moreau is the daughter of a lower-middle class family, hard -working and levelheaded. The spark of love is ignited and Casmir and Hilda get married, which they never should have done. EVENTS thereafter tun about Hilda's demand for Necunty and Casmtr'a wild show business schemes and for personal freedom. No good results from this situation.

The brothels and political conuption of New Orleans half a century ago figure Sancton's story and there is a parade of other characters, assorted from good to weak or vicious. The earnest reader m.s find a lot of symbolism the extravagantly drawn figure of the count. Tl book's principal appeal it its weirdly amusing quality. HOOKS Hunk of tht H'ffA; II SKKMS LIKE EST KM) AY by II. Y.

Haltciihtirn Uvie in ive handsome trv'-ami picture volume are tl.e jrr-at events of the Uvith crt -t as i by If. V. Kalte iiborn. ack now If de i ian (if hru.vlraj-tort ai.ii wnrM-rrtinu r.rI I.S rOHl (IIMIMINt mr ni B'X'K 1)1 MM Ml COUP! rurrfiil. saleable book no mattrr lirre purrliaird it rxrhaniralile at anr Doulilrday Book 921 Nicollet hetwern 9th A loth FFderal 2-5319 Open Mondays 'til 9 P.M.

('( ItOl.Lt.li SKM I by a a Sancton (Ih)ublcday, pngtt, 5 1.9,1 Reviewed bv NORMAN IIOL'K This picaresque novd of New Orleans in the early vears of this century centers around as balmy a character as you are going to find in this winter's fit turn crop. HE IS Count t'axmir I'd-liatoffsky. lie always protests not very strongly that he isn't really a count, but he never discourages use of the title. South American-born, his father was from a Polish noble family, lbs mother was half Mayan. He reads and speaks several languages, is a skilled machinist, a ship's engine room officer, and fancies himself a predestined agent in an impending revolution in human relations.

His greatest glory, however, v. as when he skated in a travel ing roller skating show in Europe. He is devoted so Sherman Names Books of 1956 In the Saturday Review's year-end poll of book reviewers on the year's best in fiction, non-fiction and poetry, K. Sherman, literary editor of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, chose "The Fountain Overflows" by Rebecca West. "This Hallowed Ground" by Brine Catton, and "Homage to Mistress Hrad-street" by John Perryman.

In fiction, Edwin O'Connor's "The Last Hurrah" won most votes from reviewers, with John I Jersey's "A Single Pebble" ranking second and "The Fountain Overflows" third. Non-fiction choices brought Winston Churchill's "History of the English Speaking Peoples" to the forefront, with "This Hallowed Ground" as runnerup. Five books of poetry received approximately equal votes. II Yulrlitle found nu ubumhmlh tlrsrd with twin npir of the fame tnmt, rrmcinher in rrlv on PnublrJiiy's nomli rjul Boot, Exchange Policy temperament and dramatic conviction all qualities in conspicuously short supply among singers of the present generation. She wrings from each word its full emotional import.

On stage Miss Callas is formidable artist. Her con-iern for style, allied to keen theatrical sensibility, enables her to dominate a vast opera house with im pert ret vocal equipment. Kenata Tebaldi, whom alias seems to regard as her arch-rival, is a musician of wholly opposite characteristics, She sings the way Jascha Jleifet plavs the violin with pitch se-turely centered, tone well joised. rapid passages cleanly articulated. Hers is (or at least seem-, to be) completely effortless vocalism.

and the sheer virtuosity of it captivates the listener. Twilight Pops Concerts Sel Twilight Pops concerts of the Minneapolis Symphony orchestra will close trie old year and open the new one. At p.m. today in Northrop auditorium the orchestra will be conducted by (Ward Samuel in a pro gram of orchestral favorites with Rafael Druian, coneertmaster, as soloist. Samuel will present "Der Freischuetz" overture.

Faurc's "Pavanc." Biet's "L'Arlesienne" suite No. 2. Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours." the waltz from Tschaikovvsky's Sere nade for Strings and Offenbach's "Gaite Pansienne." Druian will be soloist i favorite Fritz Kreisler melodies. Next Sunday at 3:30 p.m. the orchestra under Samuel will present "Patience" by Gilbert Sullivan, with soloists, chorus, costumes and settings.

This is prompted by the success of last season's Twilight Pops Gilbert Sullivan production. Druian Will Perform at Carnegie Hall Rafael Druian, Minneapolis Symphony coneertmaster, is scheduled to ap pear with the Symphony of MUSIC the Air in New York's Carnegie CHAT Hall Feb. 14. playing the violin concerto of Earl George, former University of Minnesota faculty member This will be only three days before the Minneapolis Orchestra performs there for the first time in three years Feb. 17.

The Apollo club's junket to Chicago Dec. 12-13 to sing at Cinerama's opening was no picnic. There was a flat tire on the trip down, two of its three buses stalled in front of the Black-stone hotel and the 95 men on the tour sang on empty stomachs. But Lowell Thomas, Introducing them at the Palace theater, called them "the finest male chorus I ever heard." The Cleveland orchestra will tour Europe next spring on a six-week itinerary Benjamin Britten, English composer, will com to Ontario next summer for the performance of his opera, "The Turn of the Screw," at the Stratford festival. Debussy Fine Program ic world of Greek legend (probably more Ravel than Greek).

The rich and glittering tonal palette of Ravel is revealed in delicious detail. CONCERTO NO. 2 (Rachmaninoff) Eugene Malinin, pianist, Philharmonic orchestra under Otto Ackermann (Angel 35396). This is disappointing man-' nered and draggy phrase-fondling, swampy tone, a "soft" interpretation throughout. The young Moscow-born pianist also offers Chopin's flat nocturne.

SYMPHONY NO. (Tschaikowsky) Paris Conservatory orchestra under Georg Solti (London LL-1506). Solti achieves the right combination of virility, forward purpose and unsentimentalized emotion in the quieter episodes; a sound and still a moving presentation of an old She is, over the loud speaker and in the opera house, utterly dependable. Perhaps too dependable. Miss Tebaldi's chief shortcoming is her matter-of-fact approach to the high art of musical characterization.

Callas and Tebaldi are in their early 30' and remain relative newcomers to the domestic operatic scene, inka Mdanov is .10 and has been heard at the Metropolitan off and on for almost two decades. WE TEND, as a result, to take this Junoesque soprano from Yugoslavia too much for granted and to allow memories of her mediocre performances to obscure those in which she has sung sublimely well. The trouble is. Miss Mdanov doesn't always perform at her best; on an off night the top notes waver and the once supple legato There's No Poetry in House Study Modern housing developments are blistered in a book titled "The Crack in the Picture Win- dovv," written BOOK bv John Keats (descendant of GOSSIP an urtcle of the famous poet) and published by Houghton Mifflin Jan. 17 The American Library association will distribute $30,000 in awards, from a grant by the Fund for the Republic, to authors of books in 1956 and 1957 that "make distinguished contributions to the American tradition of liberty and justice." Publishers' Weekly reports a copy of "How to Win Friends and Influence People" was recently returned to the Toledo public library's circulation desk by a man with a blackeye Alger Hiss book about his trials, "The Court of Public Opinion," will be published by Knopf in March Poet Louis Untermeyer claims these 10 words excel as "sheer musical sounds" hush, golden, lovely, lullaby, melody, murmuring, fleeting, wearily, tranquilly, violet Pat Maloney Markun, former publicity gal of Hotel Nicollet now living in Canal Zone, sends a holiday card: "Our book, 'The Pelican is now in its second printing, and have just completed a manuscript on 'Blessed Martin de Por-res' for Farrar, Straus Cudahy.

Would write more were it not for the four little interruptions on the other side of this card!" (Jhe "interruptions" are four cute children, well worth four books.) HI-n AMPLIFIER KITS ECKCO SOUND EQUIPMENT CO. 1210 NICOUIT AVI. MS! tun Thun. trt. I PH.

house during the present season: Mai a Callas, Re-naU Tebaldi and Zmka Mdanov. The rivalry among them should do much to illumine the repertoire and keep the "Met'' solvent. Maria is a lean, intense, self -const ions woman who demonstrates better than any singer Mary Garden the supiemacy of mind over matter. Her voice, considered simply as a voice, is riot a great one. It can negotiate florid arabesques with nimble ability, and in the middle range--particularly in quiet passages it can sound be-witching.

ht an ana climb above the staff and the alias oice prows thin and often strident. K) COMPENSATE for vocal shortcomings. Miss ago. I', 7f PIERRE MONTEUX Conduct here Friday Antal Dorati is on mid-season vacation. George Szell will appear next week and Fernando Previtali the week after that Previtali conducted a highly success-full Minneapolis concert last season.

-s i J-i -v. era in Naples comes a two-disk DON PASQUALE by Donizetti in a briskly-paced production of the opera buf-fa under Francesco Molin-ari-Pradelli (Epic SC-6016). The farcical furores are neatly managed, the vocalism conveys both the entrancing melody and humor in fine Italian tradition, orchestral tone is limpid and vigorous. Sample, if you're interested, Norina's piquant cavatina on side 1 (Bruna Rizzoli) and Ernesto's lovely serenade on side 4 (Pe-tre Munteanu). Antal Dorati and the Minneapolis Symphony are making much of their disk reputation these days with complete ballet recordings, and Ravel's DAPHN1S AND CHLOE is their latest (Mercury MG-50040).

With Ian Morton's Macalester 1-lege choir lending its aid in the wordless chants, the performance probes a mag vi i i 1 ZINKA MII.ANOV Shut yuur jri becomes unwieldy. Moreover, as an actress she leaves an impression of un-gainliness; she has neither the forcefulness of Callas nor the radiance of Tebaldi. But if you shut sour eyes This Family Won't Learn by Experience tmiMHXT. I'U John Shumun (I'agtnnt I'rt, Reviewed by JOHN K. SHFRM.W John Shuman's pifts as a social satirist, with a keen and wicked eye on the misconduct of his fellow creatures, never have shone brighter than in this mock-ins story of an unhappy Minnetonka family.

His latent novel may be less ambitious than his two earlier ones, certainly less complex, but it is more successful: it has a clearer narrative line, and motivations are more out in the open. ESSENTIALLY its style is that of a comedy of manners, but in the progress of its crackling between bristling and incompatible egos it reaches a more serious theme than its opening implies. What starts as wryly amusing ends as wryly tragic the self-centered members of the family, what remains of them after sudden death and murder, have obviously not learned from experience and will continue their willful and damaging ways. There's acid in this ending, but there is comedy, too. its tone having been skillfully sustained throughout the story but deepened as events pile up at the finish.

Probably the niot memorable portrayal in the book is that of Gertrude, the mother, a strong-willed, selfish woman who badgers her scholar husband and is torn between rejecting a rebellious daughter and helping her through an unlucky marriage. GERTRUDE'S brilliant il-logic, her constant shift in position that wins her every argument, her gradual change from mere eccentric to monster, make her a dreadful and fascinating creature: we have all known her like. Shuman has described, almost wholly by conversation, a family closely bound by its antagonisms, and the conversation often has epigrammatic sharpness. Gertrude herself, following her wandering stream of consciousness, comes up with some pungent remarks: "It seems so odd to me that it is easier to get help from a psychiatrist than to get useful help in the kitchen." And: "Nothing is more awkward than a happy event protracted too long." State Native Explains 'The Flowering World' ALL AliOl THE FLOW-Fit ISC WOULD, hu Ferdinand C. Lane Random House, 111 page, In this addition to a sound series of fact books, a Minnesota native has writen the answer to many questions about growing things.

It's reliable and readable, with very clear illustrations. HI-FI Components CUSTOM TV carry compl' lint of Hi-Fi compontnti it Chicago citalcq pricti Dtmontrtien room opn from to will diyi, Sat. 'fit 5 30. audio king 1127 I. Lok.

St. PA. t-7451 -V .17.1 I I 1 '1 iw "n's photograph of Angora VVOOIiy lexanS g0ats, taken in Texas in 1942, is included in an exhibition of work by Alfred Eisenstaedt, world-noted news photographer, covering a 25-year period. It is one of numerous photographs making up a pictorial essay on Texas. The show is on view at Walker Art center through next Sunday.

Atonal fchool Subject of, Music Lecture Glenn Glasovv, music faculty member at College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, will lecture and lead a discussion on the atonal school of composition at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Walker Art center. the lecture, open to the public, will be the last in a series of pre-concert discussions for the contemporary music series sponsored by the Center Arts council at the center.

Glasovv, former student of composer Ernst Krenek, will discuss compositions of Schoenberg, Webern and Al-ban Berg of the 12-tone school of composers, whose music will be played by the Walden String quartet Thursday, Jan. 9, at the center. Art Instructor Shows Sketches A new exhibition of work by William Dietrichson, made up mostly of drawings done in Europe, will open Friday for a month's at Kilbride-Bradley gallery, 17 N. Sixth street. Dietrichson attended the Minneapolis School of Art and the Art Students league, New York.

He has taught at the Minneapolis school since 1948. Work by the other 10 artist members of the gallery also will be on display. Concert Calendar TODAY Minneapolis Symphony orchestra Twilight I'ops conrert, Gerard Samuel conducting, 3:30 p.m., Northrop auditorium. Soloist, Rafael Druian, concf rlmas-ter. $1.

Singing Boys of Norway, RdRnvalii Bjarne director, 8 p.m., Wcslpy Methodist church. music. Benefit for hovs. Si 5(). FRIDAY Minneapolis Symphony orchestra Pierre Monteux." jiuest, conductor, 8:30 p.m., Northrop auditorium.

SUNDAY, JAN. 6 Minneapolis Symphony orchestra, Gerard Samuel conducting, 3:30 p.m., Northrop auditorium. Staged production of Gilbert Sullivan's "Patience." Tht Largest om shop in Minneapolis 4 ersonaii GIFTS KECORDS 44 W. itth St. HO.

4-7444 1 Firkusny Excels With New Disk Offers Rare Enjoyment, has hundreds of expert foreijtn correspondents who cover every key area of the world. Special reports from By JOHN K. SHERMAN Rudolph Firkusny has competition as a Debussy exponent (Robert Casade-sus, the late Walter Giese-king) but he needn't worry too much about it on the basis of his playing in SUITE BERGAMASQUE. CHILDREN'S CORNER and ESTAMPES (Capitol P-S350) a piano disk offering rare enjoyment of imaginative artistry. Firkusny gives delicacy and nuance to this music without making it hothouse, he can phrase crisply or meltingly at will, his patterns are nimble or misty depending on the mood of the piece.

The program is well selected to show Debussy's gamut the early formalism of the suite, the humor and tenderness of the "Children's Corner," the pictures and atmosphere of the "Estampes." From the San Carlo Op 1 thnso pYnfrifnced newsmen are transmitted by leased wire to the Minneapolis Morning Trib une and made available to Tribune' readers throuRhout the Upper Midwest. TV Vn mnro frtllv informed vv 9 a If Vtartnnotn nil nnrts of the world, read the special New York limes reports ip tne jttmneapolis jfflorning tribune.