Opera telecast displayed virtuous attributes
By SAM LEVY
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
Powerful acting, convincing singing
and fine staging were all evident in
Monday night's live PBS telecast of
Verdi's "Rigoletto" from New York's
Metropolitan Opera House.
It was said that this performance was
being seen by more people than had ever
seen the opera since its premiere over a
century ago.
The new 'production •by John Dexter
was dramatically convincing, opening
many common cuts in the score and
restoring the opera to its original three
acts. The adaptations made for the
telecast were skillfully handled but there
were signs of poor microphone
placements when voices' seemed to get
lost in some locations.
Trumpet player, organist in concert
Edward Tarr, trumpet soloist, and
George Kent, trumpet soloist and
organist, will perform at' 8:30 p.m.
tonight in the Music Building recital
hall. The concert is part of the Wed
nesday Music Series of the Artist Series.
Tarr and Kent have appeared together
since 1968 and have toured the United
States, Canada and Sweden. Their
record album, "Baroque Masterpieces
for Trumpet and Organ, Vols. 1&2" was
named one of "Stereo" Magazine's "Top
Ten Recordings of 1974."
Tarr was born in the United States and
attended Oberlin College and North-
Western University. He studied trum
Recall classic moments?
,HOLLYWOOD (UPI) Fate
sometimes singles out a classic scene or
line for a performer in a movie with
which he or she is forever after iden
tified.
Greta Garbo to this day is associated
With "I vant to be alone," more than 40
years after she spoke the line in
'fNinotchka."
Paul Henried will ever be remem
bered for simultaneously lighting two
cigarettes with Bette Davis in "Now
Voyager "
"Hire's looking at you, kid," was
immortalized by Humphrey Bogart
toasting Ingrid Bergman in
"Casablanca."
Clark Gable managed two un
forgettable scenes. The first was
stripping to the waist in "It Happened
One Night" to reveal he wasn't wearing
an undershirt. That bit of schtick ruined
the undershirt business for a decade.
The second was his final line to Vivien
Leigh in "Gone With The Wind,"
''Frankly, my dear, I don't give a
damn."
Katharine Hepburn's line, "The calla
lillies are in bloom again," in "The
Philadelphia Story" remains an in
gable part of her image. •
Of them all, perhaps Richard Wid
,
mr
lark is stuck with the most un
orgettable scene. As the maddened
Cornell Mac Neil performed the title
role with the authority and skill of the
veteran that he is. His voice was not at.
its best, possessing • the wobble and,
dryness that has plagued it more or less
for the past five years. The sheer power
and intensity of his acting, however,
especially in the opera's last moments,
made one forget any vocal shortcomings
and in his crying out of Monterpne's
curse his voice range out in true for i ffi.
Placido Domingo was a handsome
Duke of Mantua, performing the role
with all the proper light-heartedness and
grace. His singing started out a bit
cautious and uneasy but he soon found
himself and his voice, too, rang out.
Ileana Cotrubas performed Gilda with
the all-too-rare combination of vocal
purity and intelligent acting. She sang
pet with Roger Voisin of the Boston
Symphony Orchestra and Adolph
Herseth. He later moved to Switzerland
to study musicology with Leo Schrade.
Tarr lives in Basel, Switzerland,
where he teaches at the Schola Can
torum. He is noted as a composer,
publisher, researcher, historian and
lecturer as well as recording artist. He is
an authority on trumpet literature and
instruments of the Renaissance and
Baroque Periods and performs on both
modern and Baroque.
Kent was born in Rhode Island and
graduated from the University of Rhode
Island and the New England Music
criminal in "Kiss of Death" 1947 he
pushed Mildred Natwick, an invalid in a
wheel chair, down a flight of stairs,
laughing maniacally all the while. •
Widmark, starring in Irwin Allen's
new disaster epic, "The Swarm," shakes
his head in disbelief at public memory.
"I've made 70 movies in the past 30
years," he said, "but that is the scene
that stands out most. I'm reminded of it
almost every time .I meet somebody.
- "It was my first picture and I was
nervous as hell. That laugh, which
everyone associates with me, wasn't
written into the script. When I didn't
know what to do, I laughed. Just so
happens I have a weird laugh.
"I imagine it's a good thing for an
actor to have a catchphrase. or an un
forgettable scene as long as it doesn't
detract from his performances in other
roles. It certainly hasn't hurt me."
During his 30 years of movie stardom
Widmark has played a variety of heavies
and heroes. In recent years he has been
cast as hard-nosed establishment
figures and military men.
"At this stage I'm a character guy,"
he said„ grinning. "I *guess I, have an
authoritative personality. It seems I've
played nine million generals. They're
rough, unsympathetic guys. But who the
hell is sympathetic in movies anymore?
her big arias with beautiful tone and fine
phrasing.
Justino Diaz was a sonorous and
properly sinister Sparafucile,
.his voice
sounding better than it has recently.
Isola Jones was an unsatisfactory
Maddelena. Her voice had too much of a
chesty quality and there was an all-too
common break between her upper and
lower registers.
James Levine's conducting was too
slow in spots but was tasteful at all times
and was in the Verdian tradition for
which he is noted
The second intermission featured Tony
Randall on tape interviewing Domingo
and Mac Neil in his usual disgustingly
corny style as well as showing the
costume department. There was, also,
an excerpt from a taped question and
Conservatory. He also studied with
Voisin and in 1969 studied Baroque
trumpet' performance with Tarr in
Switzerland. Since then, Tarr and Kent
have worked together hi concert tours,
workshops and recordings.
In addition to the Wednesday's con
cert, Tarr will hold a workshop on the
Bolognese sonata at 10 a.m. on Thurs
day, Nov. 10 followed by a session with
the Penn State Brass Ensemble at 12:45
p.m. Both workshops will be held in the
Music Building recital hall and are free
to the public. They are being sponsored
by a grant from the Institute for the Arts
and Humanistic Studies.
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Under Mid-State Bank
College Ave. at McAllister
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answer session between
.Dexter and
some school students.
The plot outlines beginning each act
were done this year by photographs
from a previous performance along with
subtitles, sparing us the hammed-up
synopses by Randall that were featured
last year.
concert capsule
The following is a listing of concerts
scheduled for term break in
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and several
state colleges:
At the Spectrum in Philadelphia:
The Doobie Brothers, 8 p.m. Nov. 18.
Queen, 8 p.m. Nov. 23 and 24. Tickets
start at $6.50.
Gino Vanelli, 8 p.m. Nov. 28. Tickets
start at $5.50, he also will appear 8 p.m.
Nov. 27 at the Civic'Arena, Pittsburgh.
At the Tower Theater in Philadelphia:
Hot Tuna, 8 p.m. Nov. 19. Tickets start
at $5.50.
Average White Band and Crackin',
7:30 and 11 p.m., Nov. 21.
Dolly Parton and Timberline, 8 p.m.
Nov. 22.
Jerry Garcia Band, 7: 30 and 10:30
p.m. Nov. 25.
Rush and Tom Petty and the Heart
breakers, 8 p.m. Nov. 26.
Brick and Michael Henderson, 8 p.m
and midnight Dec. 3.
J. Geils, Edgar Winter's White Trash
and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers,
7:30 p.m. Nov. 23 at the Civic Arena,
Pittsburgh.
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To the sisters and pledges of
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The Daily Collegian Wednesday, November 9,1977_,
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