The Belles of Saint Mary’s
REMINISCENCES OF AN
OPERA-GOER
Very soon now, of a Saturday aft
ernoon, a flood of golden sound will
come pouring from our radios: the
opulent voices of soloists, swelling
choruses, thrilling masses of orches
tral tone, and Milton Cross’ resonant
word-paintings bringing the source
of this richness to our eyes as well
on.
Galli-Gurci, with her dumpy lit
tle figure and homely face, superb in
voice and characterization as Gilda;
Bori as Manon, trying to set scared
Richard Crooks at ease at his debut,
until he sang “The Dream” divine
ly; Jeritza’s golden beauty in Tann-
haiiser, and Tibbett’s beautiful apos
trophe to the Evening Star; Mignon
singing “Know’st Thou the Land?”
to tall, sympathetic Norman Cordon
as the old Harper; Parsifal—glori
ous memories, all!
E. H. S.
as our ears. “The Season” will be
‘OFF THE RECORD”
Carmen Cavallabo
Opera, the most complex, spectac
ular, glamorous of all the arts, and
the most inconsistent! For with so
many diverse elements making up
the art of drama with music, each
cannot always be carried through to
perfection. The true opera lover
realizes this, and forgives much.
My first opera was perfect, how
ever,—the San Carlo Company’s
Butterfly. Pinkerton was a tall, be
guiling, American tenor. Butterfly a
tiny Japanese with a lovely vo’ce.
I sat in the top balcony of the old,
up-state opera house and wept my
self sick. But in Faust the next day,
^Marguerite was scrawny and sang
like a crow, and the way she flung
herself out of the window onto
Faust’s neck was ludicrous! La
Boheme’s Mimi was too tall for
Rodolfo, but one forgot that when
she lay dying, surmounting in limpid
tones the diffieulty of singing pages
all on one note while lying flat on
her back. Another short tenor, sing
ing Lohengrin in Philadelphia, wore
three-inch soles on his silver shoes
to appear knightly beside his Elsa.
The Philadelphia’s Faust’s shoes
squeaked (like Figaro’s in Raleigh)
and Siebel’s paper-flower bouquet
rustled so crisply one, had difficulty
in concentrating on the “Flower
Song.” The ballet in Thais at Paris’
famous L’Opera looked odd to me
in long white stockings—a far cry
from the modern ballet of the San
Carlo’s Aida here last winter! And
that reminds me of the fantastic
under-water ballet in Rimsky-Kor-
sakoff’s Sadho at the Metropolitan,
staged with weirdly costumed fishes
and strange sea-creatures cavorting
in intricate patterns, the dancers on
their stomachs on little wheeled
trucks, pushing themselves around
with their hands.
Despite such amusing sidelights,
opera is thrilling. I shall never for
get Fidelia and Tristan in Salzburg
in 1934, although they had felt
the strain of Chancellor Dolfuss’ as
sassination the week before. There
was certainly perfection in the Wag
ner performances at Bayreuth, Ger
many. Die Meistersinger is still my
favorite stage-show, barring none.
Tristan, again, performed uncut by
the Philadelphia Orchestra with a
group of fine singing actors was a
rare experience; and singing like
Flagstad’s and Melehior’s at the
Metropolitan will never be heard
again in my lifetime.
Dancing in the Dark
Lover
Decca 3112-A
Jack Leonard (Ray Block’s Orches
tra)
I Could Make You Care
If I Had You
Okeh 5777
For a disc of pure vocals I Could
Make You Care does well. The
mellow voice of Jack Leonard has
improved, but the orchestra does not
make as good a job of playing as
Leonard does of singing. Reverse
side of oldie If I Had You provides
a few minutes of pleasant entertain
ment.
Woody Herman
Music By the Moon
Bessie’s Blues
Decca 3380-B
In Music By the J/ooJi, Woody
gives good orchestration supplement
ed by vocals by him. Words are
slightly trite. Bessie’s Blues on the
reverse side falls below the usual
Herman standard, in other words,
“corny.”
Tommy Dorsey
Our Love Affair
That’s for Me
Victor 26736-B
For the sentimentalists in our
midst Our Love Affair fills the bill.
Connie Haines as vocalist puts the
finishing touches on a delightful rec
ord. In That’s for Me, Dorsey
“waxed strong” as Homer would say,
meaning that this record is definitely
in the proverbial groove.
Gene Krupa
Only Forever
Love Lies
Okeh 5686
In the different Krupa style this
record is a good investment. Love
Lies, better than the reverse side,
has some nice clarinet work and to
gether with voeals by Howard Du
Lany is very acceptable.
THE CLOTHES LINE
Both of these sophisticated piano
solos by Cavallaro make smooth lis
tening, and the accompanying gui
tar, string bass, and drums break the
piano repetition which may be mo
notonous when one is accustomed to
full orchestra. Syncopation in
Dancing in the Dark is excellent.
over.
Two interesting delegates were
Happy Hoover’s and Bettie Battle’s
Swiss coats. They are both heavy,
gray material, one trimmed in green,
the other in red. The fitted waists
and full skirts make them ideal for
winter sports, not that we have any,
but snow is “the thing” in Switzer
land.
One section of the Congress was
devoted to fur. Brother polar hear
had his hide skinned right off him so
“Wankie” could have a big white
coat with a red lining. Just the
thing for snow, but again we don’t
have any. Even though Elvira is
awfully tiny, those summer ermines
are tinier still. Her brown fur coat
with hat to match is the envy of all
of us; too bad she’s so small it won’t
fit us. Our furred friends from Can
ada told us not to worry, they
weren’t going to war, and we could
stake our claims on their hides.
Enough of them were willing to die
to let Becky Tinsley have a lovely
blended mink dress coat. Those
frisky creatures, squirrels, all died
for the cause of Ann Dunn; one
baby squirrel even hopped in so she
could have a hat to match. Some
animals were not so generous with
themselves, and they must be used
for trimmings. We had no penguins,
so no news from Admiral Byrd.
Betty Hess’ lovely tan fitted coat
with small brown fur collar and fur
strip down the front told of the sad
misfortune of being caught in a trap
—I mean the muskrat did.
Sorry, but there were no other
districts represented. Let’s hope
the war won’t bother our European
friends, and the cold won’t hurt our
furred ones.
Two moths sitting on the sofa—
the one said to the other: “You come
to me out of mohair.”
—The Log.
“It looks as though the reign Avon’t
last much longer,” said the anarchist
as he tossed the bomb under the
royal carriage.
Sir Brown.
Carry an apjde if you’re in love
with the doctor’s wife.
—Panther,
NO TIME FOR COMEDY
Believe it or not, winter is really
here! These icy blasts remind us
that it’s coats to the spotlight. Sup
pose the clothes we are Avearing
could come to life. Think of the
[Ambassador: AVed., Thurs., Fri., Sat)
various tales they could tell, where
they came from, and how they got
here. Last week the Congress of
Coats had delegates from all parts
of the world. Our heavy and rough
friend, Harris Tweed, from cold
and damp Scotland took all honors
in the sports class. If you want the
latest thing in brown, you might
consult Betty Wales; her Tweed is
a beauty. Tweed’s first cousin. Cam
el’s Hair, ran a close second. Bettie
Vann’s tan one told hair-raising
tales about how it narroAvly escaped
being torpedoed Avhen it was coming
The latest Warner Brothers pr*’" j
duction that is definitely in the ligW' ■
er vein is the mOAue Aversion of tbe
Broadway success. No Time
Comedy. |
Rosalind Russell and James SteAV' ,
art are starred in the leading rok® ^
of this sophisticated story of sopD®'
ticated people. James Stewart is s®
much like himself as ever (that i®
enough for most of us), AA’hile Ros^'
lind Russell maintains her forint’'
reputation as one of HollyAVOod®
finest commediennes.
The original story of the Broad'
way production AA'hich starred Katk
erine Cornell has been someAA'b®*'
changed in the hands of the scrip*
Avriters, but the general air of fn'"
olity and lightheartedness that wa®
so much a part of the former pW
duction has been preserA^ed.
plot leaves much to be desired, bo* |
the efforts of the two stars mab®
the production thoroughly delightf'*^
and amusing. !
At The Theaters
★
AMBAS.SADOR
NOV.
13-1(5—Down Argentine Way
17-19—Xo Time for Comedy
20-23—Third Finger Left Hand
24-27—You’ll Find Out
28-30—Arise My LoA'e
PALACE
l.l-K)—Hide Tenderfoot Ride
17-19—Doavu Argentine Way
20-21—No Time for Comedy
22-23—Cherokee Strip
24-2.">—Third Finger Left Hand
27-28—Moon Light and Melody
29-30—The Ai>e
STATE
1.7—Angel OA’er Broadway
16-17—Rangers of Fortune
18—Musical Show
19-20—The Great Profile
21-22—(Jirl from Ave. A
23-27—Dreaming Outloud
28-29—East of the River
AVAKE
15—Bachelor Mother
1(3—The Big Guy
17-19—He Stayed for Breakfast
20—House of Seven Gables
21-22—One Million B.C.
23—They Can Spit Fire
24-26—Lucky Partners
27—Green Hill
28-29—Cross Country Romance
CAPITOL
15-16—On Wagon Train
17—Up in the Air
18-19—Rohin Hood
20-21—Something to Sing About
22-23—Pioneers of the Frontier
24—River’s End
2.5-2(5—Untamed
27-28—Fugitive from a Prison Ca
29-30—I.iiw and Order