PAGE 10

THE MCHIGA NDAILY

CI JLIK~nL CEN ,A'fKY1LI,1P9-?

JUI IUAY ff3RJ iY 27, 1955


WE HAVE
the inimitable songs of
TOM LENRER
His Lyrics, His Music, His So-Called Voice and Piano
VOLUME I
(Volume I /is expected very soon)
Also, We Have "THE INVESTIGATOR"
y sW udic PC e -ftte
300 South Thoyer Just West of Hill Auditorium Phone 2-2500 and 8-7200

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Verdi Opera Presents
Great Many Problems
(Continued from Pge )
He uses trumpet parts more ef-
the chorus, alternating as Baby- fectively in Falstaff, as in the fan-
lonians and Israelites. fare endings of the first scene of
Each of these characters has a this opera, but they are construct-
project, of course (e.g., love, po- 4the same way they were in
er, hate, freedom), and naturally
everybody's project gets bungled, THE second constant element in
The librettist is responsible for Verdi's development is his
all of this, further adding to their ability to reflect, through the
misery( and, of course, to the en- music, the fundamental psychol-
joyment of the audience-similar ogy of a personality. Musical char-
to a bullfight), with mob scenes, acterization is a rare quality,
battles, magical lightning bolts found elsewhere only in the operas
from above, love scenes, the burn- of Mozart.
ing of the temple. Characto emerge notsmuch
With typical operatic short- through their word and actions,
sightedness, these characters fail as thiugh the way the music
to recognize him as their deus de- heightens their moods and feel-
ceptor, blaming it instead on the ings as suggested by the drama.
great god Baal. With Nabucco we have the first
The imposing and edifying cul- instance of such characterization:
mination to such an opera is amid the stupidity of this story,
nothing less than the rejection of Nabucco stands out as a truly
Baal and the conversion of every- tragic figure, tormented by the in-
one-Nabucco, Babylonians, a.nd difference of his subjects and his
all-to tlhe religion of Jehovah. own daughters.
Verdi's operas present a proces-
THE AUSTERE nonsense of Na- sion of similar tragic musical
bucco i a fa r cry from the chracters: Rigoletto, Aucen, in
raucouts nonsense of Fast f-sd- Il Trovatore, Violetta, King Pilip
ventures with his drinking con- in Don Carlos, Aida, and Othello.
panions at the Garter Inn, love Only the background shifts over
scenes with two local matrons, this period, from the conventions
both happily married and them- of 1840 to the freer style of 1890.
seIves the best of friends, or the Falstaff continues this procession,
midnight rendezvous in Windsor unique in that he is a coic in-
forest stead of a tragic figure.
The significance of this later Ti hmere idea of an 80-year-old
work lies not only in its mtore ap- composer writing his first CoM
pealing dramatic construction, but opec a o e 50 ye' rs is tot-
also in its t :isit'.fising
As Verdi disposed of the stereo- The brightness and youthful-
tIpes of the dramtta, ls o has ' t would expect from a
Se disposed of the orccious of
operatic mus, in Fastaff. Furthermore, it is al-
In Falstaff ine hear non of the iays tempered by a balance arsn
arias and recitatives. ti brilii.nt maturity which keeps the humor
listsetss and the dutl choru' broad and restrained.
which distinguished i: el '(j Slapstick is completely out of
sti, His liberationtt 'irtt it- tste in this opera: any produt-
tions is always accotil ' , w- tion which allows it necessarits
ly and conservatively: 5'. s 1 oss its whole impact and effect.
disposes of tradition. Is k s t e t
isd the fundame i i his opera needs on two thins
of art which underlie it . . or abesuccessful.
In his early worksx. spects First it must be pe rformed
the full-throated high not to Con- with the directness snd sincerity
elude a solo section.ws ip tse disinguish Verdi as a com-
In Falstaff, this coi-ention is
abandoned, partially os the basi tsr 'iisits must forget about
of itt drmstic incontr'cuy, par- 'ussin p tht art'oi h
tiaily because the virtuoso singer tek, o' iaking somatini of th
no longer dominates the perform- roles that is not suggested by the
ance mui.
But Verdi knows that an ef- They must instead devote their
ferfive melody reaches its cli- caxiium efforts to comm eiiat-
ma ctic point on a high note. ing the strength anrd vitality im-
Such melodic climaxes, often plied in this music.
more trying for a singer than the Seod th auine ms
more showy ef fct of his early cnsiiiain this same intense level o
oieras, will not be absent in Fal- coceitration. Things happen
staff. ra pidly, and the comedy i' gone
before we realize it.
AMID this development of Verdi Given a chance to speak for
tsicomosewe illofiVrdiitself, and to be listened to mean-
as a composer, we will findra tggu, Falstaff emerges as the
two important things whirl are masterpiece of a sincere artist,
constant, expressing the fullness of his en-
This first is a certain sincerity joyment of life.
and directness, emerging from a _______ __
rough-hewn, Provincial back-
ground, and always distinguish- M
able from the more polished re-
finement of his contemporaries:
Bellini and Donizetti at the be- Pastures
ginning of his career, Pucint at
the end. (Continued from Page 9)
Verdi's melodies are a little more -------
angular, his rhythms less subtle, ed and faded from the last worth-
his harmony often a bit uncertain. less rock hanging tideless in the
in his earlier works, this is a defi- last red and dying evening, that
nite limitation. even then there will still be one
As he emerges as a composer, more sound: that of his puny in-
these conditions do not change; exhaustible voice, still talking. I
rather they are put to use, creat- refuse to accept this.
ing the strength and integrity "I believe that man will not
which is the most distinguishing merely endure: he will prevail. He

characteristic of his style. A good is immortal, not because he alone
example of this is his writing for among creatures has an inexhaust-
trumpets. able voice but because he has a
In 1840, the trumpet had just soul, a spirit capable of compassion
acquired its valves, enabling it to and sacrifice and endurance.
play more melodic phrases instead "The poet's, the writer's, duty
of the sounds we hear today on a is to write about these things. It
bugle, is his privilege to help man en-
Verdi never developed a dis- dure by lifting his heart, by re-
tinctive style of writing for the minding him of the courage and
new instrument, always using it honor and hope and compassion
for a non-melodic emphasis on and pity and sacrifice which have
color. been the glory of his past. The
His contemporaries developed poet's voice need not merely be the
the idiom for the improved trom- record of man, it can be one of
pet, but Verdi never comprehend- the props, the pillars to help him
ed its possibilities. endure and prevail."

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See them and enjoy them.
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