THE MICHIG.AN DILY l
SUNDAY, MAlCH 19, 1954
A rtists
To Solo in
lI *agn
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Blanche Thebom To Sing
Mezzo With Choral Union
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* * *
Blanche Thebom, mezzo-soprano
star of the Metropolitan Opera,
will be heard as a soloist with
the University Choral Union in a
performance of the "Magnificat"
by J. S. Bach.
At the forefront of opera stars,
Miss Thebom is currently reaping
great praise for her superb inter-
pretative ability as well as the
beautifully rich quality of her
voice.
NOW FAMOUS for her portray-
al of Wagnerian roles in the Met-
ropolitan and other opera com-
panies, she began her career as
a secretary in a real estate office.
In 1939, she left her type-
writer for an intensive course in
vocal training in New York.
Her debut at New York's Town
Hall in January, 1944, brought
promising reviews, and eleven
months later, now a member of
the Met, she succeeded brilliantly
as Fricka, in Wagner's "Die Wal-
kure."
* * *
HER PERFORMANCE evoked
such comments as that of Jerome
Bohm, in the New York Herald
Tribune: "This writer in sixteen
seasons has never encountered so
remarkable a first appearance."
Prof. Haugh
Sings Tenor
Role in Mass
Repeats as May
Festival Soloist
Harold Haugh, associate profes-
sor in the school of music, will be
heard Friday night as tenor soloist
with the University Choral Union
in a performance of the stirring
Bach "Magnificat."
Famous for his excellence as a
tenor soloist with some of the na-
tion's greatest oratorio societies,
Prof. Haugh is quite familiar to
Ann Arbor audiences.
LAST YEAR he appeared with
the Choral Union during the May
Festival, when the world prem-
iere of Llywelyn Gomer's "Gloria
in Excelsis" was presented.
Prof. Haugh has been inter-
ested in vocal work sipce his
early high school days. A native
* * *
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BLANCHE THEBOM
* * *
Bohm's statement was appar-
ently well founded, for since that
time Miss Thebom has gone on
to gain national renown acid
praise in such roles as Amoor-
is in "Aida," Venus in "Tann-
hauser," and Delilah in "Sam-
son and Delilah."
Her operatic repertoire now in-
cludes thirteen roles in French,
German, and Italian. She has
made many recordings, as well as
appearing in the movies.
-Daily-Wally Barth
LYRIC SOPRANO-Norma Heyde has not only done leading
roles in operas such as 'Cosi Fan Tutte" but has also kept busy
in the University choir, the Michigan Singers, Mu Phi Epsilon,
and broadcasts of the Hymns of Faith Quartet on WJR and
WUOM.
Public Lauds
Viola Artist
Primrose
William Primrose, universally
acclaimed as "the world's greatest
violist," has done more than any
other man to persuade the public
that the violin's big sister deserves
a place as a solo instrument.
At the present time, the 40-year-
old Glasgow-born virtuoso is in
the midst of one of the busiest
concert schedules on record, ful-
filling almost one hundred en-
gagements from coast to coast and
in Canada.
LAST SUMMER he spent two
months touring eleven Central
and South American countries.
There, the viola recital was new
musical fare but the Latin-Amer-
ican press and public were unan-
imous in their praise of "the ex-
traordinary Mr. Primrose."
The tag fits, but many long
years of tedious study were re-
quired before Primrose was to
receive such enthusiastic praise.
Endowed with prodigious talents
which elected him in childhood to
Britain's m u s i c a 1 aristocracy,
Primrose at eighteen turned from
an assured career as a violin vir-
tuoso to espouse the cause of the
viola.
* * *
HE WAS encouraged by Ysaye
who recognized his special appti-
tude for the instrument and Prim-
rose's at first reluctant parents
allowed him to stake his future
on the Amati viola.
He made several world tours
with the London String Quar-
tet before he accepted one of
the world's most coveted posts,
that of solo violist with the NBC
Symphony under Toscanini.
Ready for the final test four
years later, Primrose began his
career as the world's pioneer viola
recitalist and achieved musical
stardom after his first touring
season.
Playing a modern instrument
has in no way minimized his vir-
tuostic supremacy, for while opin-
ions may differ as to the qualities
of the master instrument, they are
unanimous on "Primrose, the mas-
ter violist."
William Kapell, the gifted young
American pianist who will appear
in the Saturday evening May Fes-
tival Concert, has won wide recog-
nition not only for his virtuosity
and" ft iicianship, but also for his
interpretations of modern com-
posers.-
But Kapell's scope is not limited
to the music of today. At Satur-
day's performance he will play
Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 3 in
D Minor in a manner which, ac-
cording to a large national maga-
zine, "brings back memories of
Rachmaninoff himself."
* * * .
STILL IN HIS twenties, Kapell
has appeared with leading m-
phony orchestras throughout the
country, and has seen his fame
spread through four continents.
He was the first solo artist
ever. to hold a three-year con-
ever to hold a three-year con-
tract with the Philadelphia
orchestra, he has made best
selling recordings, and he has
repeatedly performed with over
twenty nationally famous or-
chestras.
Born in 1922, Kapell started to
play the piano at ten. As a child
he studied with Dorothy Ander-
son LaFollette and later wvith 0l-
ga Samaroff Stokowski. Before he"
was twenty he had won three ma-
jor awards-
THE POWER of Kapell's music
seemed to best illustrated by an
incident in Constitution Hall,
Washington D.C., on one snowy
evening just .before Christmas.
After he played a Rachmaninoff
Concerto, the audience rose to its
feet in a rousing ovation. Among
the crowd sat a woman enjoying
the vibrations which are her only
contact with the outside world-
Helen Keller, deaf, dumb and
blind.
Smiling as the young virtuoso
set forth an especially effective
climax, Miss Keller applauded
with the rest of the audience.
Afterwards she asked to be con-
ducted backstage so that she
might express her congratulations.
MODERN MASTER:
Keyboard Interpretations
Win Recognition for Kapell
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Metropolitan Baritone Harrell
Gets Musical Start as Violinist
Mack Harrell, leading baritone
of the Metropolitan Opera, and
noted concert artist, will be heard
with the University Choral Union
as soloist in the Bach "Magnifi-
cat," and "Don Quichotte a Dul-
cinee" by Ravel, in the concert at
8:30 p.m. Friday.
Born in Celeste, Texas, Harrell
began his career in the world of
music at an early age, not as a
singer, but as a violinist.
* * *
THE VIOLIN remained Harrell's
field of study through hid college
years at the University of Okla-
homa City. After graduating, he
won a scholarship to study the
violin under Emanuel Zetlin, in
Philadelphia.
Only then did he begin his
voice lessons, just as a sideline.
But it wasn't long before this
sideline developed into a full-
fledged career.
Harrell's first big public appear-r
ance was with the New York Phil-
harmonic Orchestra under Ernest
Schelling, in Rimsky- Korsakov's
opera "Snegurochka."
NUMEROUS CONCERT appear-
ances followed, included two Euro-
pean tours, until one day in April,
1939, Mack Harrell found himself
winner of the Metropolitan Opera
Auditions of the Air.
,orma Heyde Only Student
To Solo In May Festival
When Norma Heyde appears as a soloist in Bach's "Magnificat" at
the May Festival, she will climax an outstanding career as a music
school student.
The quiet, unassuming lyric soprano from Marion has had lead-
ing roles in five student opera productions, and has been engaged in
concerts throughout the state.
AT HER RECITAL early this month, in partial fulfillment of her
Master's degree., students and faculty members jammed into the
Rackham Assembly Hall, and many had to stand to hear her. Mrs.
Heyde starred in the first radio performance of Kurt Weill's "Down
in the Valley," presented in the summer of 1948 over NBC by the
Music School and speech department.
She has had leading roles in Purcell's "Dido and Aenas," and
Puccini's "Sister Angelica." Last summer she played Mimi in
"La Boheme."
Two weeks ago she sang what she considers her most difficult
role, that of Fiordiligi in Mozart's comic opera, "Cosi Fan Tutte."
"MOST PEOPLE think music school is a snap," Mrs. Heyde com-
plained. "They don't realize the hours of rehearsals and individual
practice which precede every performance."
The cast of "Cosi Fan Tutte," she explained, began practicing
during final exams last semester and rehearsed almost every night
from then until the final performance."
Prof. Arthur Hackett, who has been her voice teacher since
she entered the University in 1945, praised her as a "sincere,
musical, dependable student" with "the makings of a fine artist."
"Under the proper conditions she could go a long way as a
singer," he commented.
After she receives her Master of Music degree this June, Mrs.
Heyde plans to sing in oratorios, with concert work as an ultimate
goal.
Season
Tickets
Individual
Concerts
TICKET INFORMATION
(All prices include 20% tax)
Beginning March 27
tickets for individual
concerts will be sold.
Main Floor ...$3.00
First Balcony..$2.40
Top Balcony.. .$1.80
4
Side sections of main
floor and first balcony
at $10.80
Entire top balcony
at $9.60
HAROLD HAUGH
of Cleveland, he sang in several
of the largest churches in the
city while working his way
through Hiram College.
His subsequent schooling took
place at the Union Theological
Seminary in New York, where he
received a master's degree in sac-
red music, and was ordained a
minister.
We suggest that those who wish to hear
individual concerts share season tickets
for a considerable saving.
Tickets are on sale at Burton Memorial Tower
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The University Musical Societya
WILLIAM
.. pianist who has appeared
with all the leadeng symphony
F,
orchestras in ths country.
SATURDAY, MAY
Acting as soloist with the Choral Union will not be an entirely
new experience for Mrs. Heyde. For years she has rehearsed the
soprano roles with the choir before the regular soloists arrived.
"Often she sang the roles better than the singers engaged by the
Choral Union," Prof. Hackett remarked. In appreciation for the work
she has done, the Choral Union this year chose her to be the only
student soloist in the Festival.'
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MAY FESTIVAL
Dramatic Soprano
the most recent prima-donna (
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