GRAND OPERA

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21281, 28 September 1934, Page 5

GRAND OPERA

SIR BENJAMIN FULLER'S COMPANY Sir Benjamin Fuller's Royal Grand Opera Company, which will commence in Melbourne to-morrow, will be heard later in New Zealand. The operas will bo presented in English, and will be selected from an extensive repertoire, including Die following:— Aida, Othello, il Trovatore, Kigoletto, La Traviata, Force of Destiny (Verdi); La Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Gianni Schicchi, Le Villi, La Boheme (Puccini); Lohengrin, Tannhauser, Seigfried, The Valkyrie. Tristan and Isolde (Wagner); Carmen, Pearl Fishers (Bizet); La Giaconda (Ponchielli); Samson and Delilah (Saint-Saens); Faust (Gounod); Die Fledermaus <Johann Strauss); Barber of Seville (Rossini); ''Tiefland (DAlbert); Bohemian Girl (Balfe); Mefistofole (Boitoj. The rights of these operas have been secured for a number of years. It was stated by a New Zealand representative of Sir Benjamin Fuller's organisation that Madams Florence Austral, the famous dramatic soprano, has been engaged and will make her first appearance in grand opera in Australia during this season. Other artists engaged are Muriel Brunskill. who is regarded to-dav as the world's greatest contralto, Walter Widdop, the renowned English tenor, Octave Dua, another tenor of world fame, who was associated with Madame Melba during 12 of her tours, and Norman Allin, a bass with an international reputation. Each of these artists will be making a first appearance on this side of the world. In the sopranos-contraltos section there will also appear Francesca

Duret, Gwladys Carside, Thea Phillips, Roth Portrate, and Freda Shacko. The tenors will include Browning Mummery, and Ben Williams; and the baritones and basses Frederick Collier, Booth Hitchen, Appleton Moore, and Bernard Ross. The conductors are Maurice D'Abravanel, of the Paris and Berlin Opera Houses, and Robert Ainsworth from Covent Garden, London. The producer is Mr Charles Moor, who has had 20 years' experience with opera production in Berlin, Vienna, Rome, Paris, and London, his last season being at Covent Garden, about three months ago. The wardrobe, obtained in New York and London, is described as magnificent and similar to that used at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, and the Metropolitan Grand Opera House, New York. It is Sir Benjamin Fuller's ambition to create a permanent grand opera organisation in Australia, with an annual season in all the capital cities of Australia and the chief centres of New Zealand.

Warners are planning to team Franchot Tone and Dolores Del Rio in the picture, "In Caliente," which soon is to start production on location at the Mexican pleasure resort. At the moment, Mr Tone is engaged in the making of "Just Out of College," which is scheduled for early release. Miss Del Rio's latest film is "Madame Du Barry," not yet exhibited.

Another P. G. Wodehouse novel has "one where all good novels should go—Hollywood. It is "Piccadilly Jim, and the screen version will be produced by David Selznick for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios. Marc Connelly and Robert Benchiey are to write the adaptation and Robert Montgomery seems to be scheduled for the leading role.

pictures as "Grandma's noy," "Safety Last." and "Welcome Danger." Buster Keaton, he of thr solemn countenance, is now at work on a new comedy in Paris, after which lie may return*to Hollywood to make two further pictures. His last American picture, "What, No Beer?" was seen in London many months ago. "RICHELIEU" An interesting production announcement from United Artists, the company which releases the 20th Century productions, is that "Richelieu" will be George Arliss's next starring vehicle. The film will be made when the star returns to Hollywood from his annual vacation in England. In selecting the character of the famous French cardinal for Mr Arliss, Joseph M. Schenk and Darryl Zanuck, heads of 20th Century, believe they have the ideal vehicle to continue the Arliss historical delineations. Mr Arliss himself is especially pleased at the Opportunity to creat Richelieu for the talking screen. His portraits of Disraeli and Nathan Rothschild stand high among the greatest characterisations in the history of motion pictures.

"Morning Glory," which gained for Katharine Hepburn the annual award of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will be shown in Christchurch next month. Regarded as one of the greatest of contemporary screen actresses. Miss Hepburn gives a magnificent performance, as the young girl who lights her way to success on the stage.

Twickenham Studios are shortly to make a start on "Are You a Mason?'" Emanuel Lederer's translation of the German play by Leo Dietrichstein. It was first produced on the English stage in 1901 at the Shaftesbury Theatre, and proved one of the most popular farces ever presented.

A production budget of £1.000.000 is proposed for flip coming vear by the British and Dominions liilm Corporation, who plan to make 12 pictures within the next. year. Included is "Lilies of the Field," the romantic comedy by John Hastings Turner. The cast includes Winifred Shotter, Anthony Bushell, Ellis Jeffreys, and Claude Hulbert.

Charles Laughton will appear again as Henry VIII. in his next London film, "The Field of the Cloth of Gold." Also in this historical romance will be Maurice Chevalier, as Francis 1., King of France; Douglas Fairbanks, jun., as the Emperor Charles V.: Merle Oberon, as Anne Boleyn: and Flora Robson, as Katherine of Aragon.

now that we have sound, and that is the relation of tempo in music to the characteristic tempos of certain human movements, digging, marching, for instance." "Why since 'The Big Parade'?" asked the interviewer. "Well, before I made it I projected lots of war-time news reels, and checked with a metronome the beat of soldiers marching, of funeral processions, and so on." "I take it you hoped to measure and identify the characteristic rhythms that people tend to adopt under given or accidental emotional stimuli?" "Yes, I think with a lot of work on it there might be some startling findings. I myself think I recognised a curious beat in the marching of soldiers who were going to what afterwards we knew was certain death. This time I used a metronome to synchronise the musical accompaniment to digging." "Tell me, did you first check the rhythm of workers in a field and afterwards set the music, or did you decide what movements would be fun to fit in with some stirring music you happened to like?— That, seems to me the practical danger which the present complication of sound and imaging tracks might lead you into." "Well, I did add the music later, but I made the digging, not the music, set the rhythm. And often we would chase a bar, sometimes a single note, for hours in order to delete it from the sound track." "I would like to know if in analysing scraps of war-time reels you allowed for the difference in speeds between silent and sound camera. I mean, the Kaiser in a wartime parade was inspecting only two-thirds as briskly as he seemed to be." "Oh, yes. we had to take into account very carefully the fact that silent pictures took 16 frames to the second, whereas we now taken 24," In Defence Mr Valor's weariness has been to some purpose. "Our Daily Bread" does not, and could not, pretend to be a second "Earth" or even a realistic account of American farming. In I hose days lie would Pea courageous propagandist who dared make for a popular audience a practical story about. Texas farmers. Vidor has been attacked by the very earnest editors of "Experimental Cinema" for not making a proletarian epic. It is the fallacy of thinking that a film about evangelism should be made by an evangelist. At least one good film about evangelism might be made by Gracie Fields, another by Victor Fleming, another by Eisenstein. Even revolutions are proper subjects for musical comedy, as Mr Chaplin may yet show the Russians. And because King Vidor has made a sentimental film about, drought he does not thereby disqualify anyone else from making on the same theme a tragedy or a farce.