THE MICHIGAN DAILY
SUNDAY, MARCH21, 1937
Philadelphia Orchestra W1ill Make Second May Festival App
?arance
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Boston Festival Orchestra
Played Here From 1894
To 1904
Scheel, Stokowski
Are Outstanding
Chicago Symphony Gave
Series Of Concerts Here
For 31 Years
For the second successive year, the
Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra
will appear in Ann Arbor's May Fes-
tival, but the first time under the
direction of Eugene Ormandy here.
Previous to the selection of the
Philadelphia Symphony last year,
the Boston Festival Orchestra played
for the Festival from 1894 to 1904,
the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for
31 years following, and finally in
1936 the Philadelphia under Leopold
Stokowski was secured.
Founded in 1900 "to encourage the
performance of first class orchestral
music in Philadelphia, Pa.," the or-
chestra has grown from a small group
to a concert aggregation with prob-
ably the greatest reputation in the
nation, and possibly in the world. It
is composed of 100 musicians under
the leadership of Mr. Ormandy.
Democratic Organization
Incorporated under the laws of
Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Or-
chestra Association is controlled by
an organization of subscribers to the
Philadelphia concerts, thus making
it one of the most democratic musical
organizations in the country. The
orchestra has an endowment fund
of approximately $2,000,000 sub-
scribed by 14,000 citizens of Phila-
delphia in amounts ranging from $1
to $100,000.
The affairs of the organization are
administered by a board of directors,
and following the formation of the
association on May 17, 1901, the post
of president was filled by Alexander
Van Rensselaer who continued in
office under his death in 1933.
To Give 75 Concerts
During its first season six concerts
were given. The present season, the
37th in the history of the orchestra,
will include approximately 75 con-
certs.
There have been four conductors
of th6 orchestra: Fritz Scheel who
was with the symphony at its in-
cipiency and held the post for seven
years; Carl Pohlig, who at Scheel's
death left the position of first con-
ductor at Stuttgart, Germany, to fill
the vacancy in America, Mr. Sto-
kowski taking over the leadership
in 1912 and bringing the organiza-
tion to its present high standing;
and is modern, though not severe"
in style.j
Another seasonal tribute from the
Festival program is provided by the
cantata Spring Rapture, to be sung
by the Young People's Festival Chor-
us. Its composer; Harvey Gaul, is a
native American composer and critic,
now living in Pittsburg. The work
expresses the ecstatic exuberance of
,pirits evoked by the triumph of
Spring over the storms of Winter.
Verdi's 'Aida' To Be Principal
Presentation Of May Festival
(Continued from Page 7) It has been performed once before
V at May Festival, in 1933.
poser for the Leeds Festival of 1931,1 On the Thursday evening program,
in addition to singing The Seasons,
the University Chorl Union will joini
with Lauritz Melchior, Metropolitan
Opera Company tenor, in presenting
portions from the three acts of Rich-
ard Wagner's final music drama, Par-
sifal. The subject matter of Parsifal
is drawn from the same source as that
of the earlier opera, Lohengrin-that
is, from the legends concerning the
Cup of the Holy Grail and the band
of pure and sinless knights who zeal-
ously guard it. In Lohengrin a knight
is sent from Montsalvat, the home of
the Grail, to the aid of the innocent
and oppressed Elsa; in Parsifal it is
the sknights of Montsalvat themselves
who are in need of aid, since their
purity, in which resides their strength,
is slowly being destroyed through the
magical powers of the jealous and evil
Klingsor. Only an absolutely guile-
less and sinless deliverer can save
them from a moral destruction worse
than death, and save the Holy Grail
from desecration at the hands of
Klingsor. This deliverer turns out
to be Parsifal, who withstands the
seductive wiles of Klingsor's unwilling
but powerless slave, Kundry, over-
comes the master's magic, and re-
stores Montsalvat to its former state
of purity and invincibiliy.
Among the more important in-
strumental works to be heard during
the Festival are the bright and joyous
Second Symphony, in D, of Beetho-
ven; the well-known "Unfinished"
Symphony of Franz Schubert:
Brahms' Fourth Symphony, in E
minor; Liszt's First Piano Concerto;
Bruckner's G minor Violin Concerto;
Debussy's piece of impressionistic
painting, The Sea; and Moussorgsky's
Pictures at An Exposition, trans-
scribed for orchestra from the orig-
inal piano version by Lucien Caillet,
bass-clarinetist of the Philadelphia
Orchestra.
PINZA AN ENGINEER
Ezio Pinza, basso of the Metro-
politan Opera Company, was educat-
ed to be a civil engineer, and some-
times dallies with the idea of return-
ing to that profession
- -- - -----U
Rethberg Advises
Singers, 'Be Lazy'
Elizabeth Rethberg, prima donna
of the Metropolitan Opera Company,
is one of the hardest working sing-
ers in that organization. She often
rehearses or studies 10 hours a day.
Yet she advises young singers to "Be
lazy, at least in practicing.
"By that L mean," she said, "a!
singer should practice in an abso-
lutely relaxed state. If complete
relaxation cannot be achieved in any
other way, the singer should drop
her jaws into an expression of com-
plete imbecility. The entire attitude
should be one of passivity. Do not
think of yourself at all as a singer
who is actively working. Imagine
yourself simply as a channel through
which tone pours.
"In my own student days my voice
was temporarily harmed by a teacher
who insisted on body rigidity to such
an extent that my throat was as stiff
as a board, and my tones racked
through it like a saw through wood.
As a result of the pain and fatigue
I suffered from this system, I dis-
covered for myself that I could sing
far better by giving my body and
throat complete freedom. Only then
did I begin to produce good tones.
I wish I could spare other young
beginners the anguish I suffered by
a wrong start.
"Mind, I am not advising laziness
about work-only in the way one
produces tone."
THE
PHILADELPHIA
ORCHESTRA
EUGENE ORMANDY and JOSE ITURBI, Conductors
THE UNIVERSITY
CHORAL UNION
EARL V. MOORE, Conductor
THE
YOUNG
PEOPLE'S
CHORUS
JUVA HIGBEE, Conductor
The 1937
Forty-Fourth Annual
and most recently Mr. Ormandy. Mr.
Stokowski, however, occasionally
serves as guest conductor of the
Philadelphia Symphony. From the
time he took up the directorship of
the organization, Mr. Stokowski led
the destinies of the orchestra with
his magnetism, virility, unflagging
devotion and eclectic taste, until it
has now reached the pinnacle of per-
fection in the symphonic world.
Stokowski Wins Award
During his tenth season with the
orchestra, Mr. Stokowski was given
the Philadelphia Award of $10,000
as the man whose accomplishments
had during that year "advanced the
best and largest interests of the com-
munity of which Philadelphia is the
center."
Notable first American perform-
ances, the Philadelphia orchestra in-
cludes Mahler's English Symphony,
the "Symphony of a Thousand," giv-
en with orchestra, soloists and chorus
of three performances originally
wtih such effectiveness that, instead
planned, nine were eventually given,
inclding one in New York which
packed the Metropolitan Opera
House. Others were Rachmaninoff's
"The Bells";. Stravinsky's "Le Chant
du Rossignol" and "Sacre du Print-
emps"; "Alpensymphonie" by Richard
Strauss; Schelling's "A Victory Ball";
Skryabin's "Le Dinin Poeme";
Schoenberg's "Die Gluckliche Hand"
and numerous others.\
Includes Many Soloists
"Every artist of distinction in the
musical world has appeared as soloist
with the Philadelphia orchestra, and
the guest conductors number such
distinguished musicians as Richard
Strauss, Alfrede Casella, George En-
esco, Igor Stravinsky, Vincent d'Indy,
Willem Mengelberg, Frederick Stock,
Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Otterine Res-
pighi, Arturo Toscanini, Fritz Reiner,
Sir . Thomas Beecham and others
equally renowned.
Musically much of the orchestra's
success must be attributed to the
choice of its first and last conductor.
Mr. Scheel and Mr. Stokowski. Mr.
Scheel during the summer of 1899
conducted a series of concerts at
Woodside Park, an amusement center
near Philadelphia. His experience,
gained in Germany, placed at the
Mayraet1a E1415
Greatest Musica vent
Michigan' s
THE MAY FESTIVAL will usher in the Centennial Celebration of the establishment
of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
The Board of Directors of the University
Musical Society have exerted every effort in making it a fitting occasion for the important
event which is being commemorated.
Brilliant
programs
interpreted
by
MARION TELVA
Contralto
Metropolitan Opera Association
If
outstanding personalities in the world
of music have been built. Artists of
world-wide recognition including opera
singers, instrumentalists, and noted
conductors have been engaged for the
entire Festival.
KIRSTEN FLAGSTAD
Soprano
Metropolitan Opera Association
1,.
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