THE WEEK'S RADIO “A Doll's House” In World Theatre

Press, Volume C, Issue 29508, 9 May 1961, Page 8

THE WEEK'S RADIO “A Doll's House” In World Theatre

“A Doll’s House” has been generally regarded as an argument in favour of women’s emancipation, but Hendrik Ibsen had wider aims in view when he wrote his great play. He was arguing for the right of every human being to be a complete person.

The “doll” is Norma ; Helmer, who commits forgery ! to obtain money for her isick husband, Torvald. She I does this in a naive innocence ,of the realities of life that I is the result of her pampered existence, but the results of her act awaken [her. When the danger from [the law is past, her resentI ment at being treated as a [doll forces her to leave home ; to gain experience of the I world of which she has .never been allowed to know 'anything and to think things out for herself. In Ibsen’s view Torvald was as incomplete as Nora was in her restricted “doll’s house” of a world. They must both change, says Nora, as she makes her famous exit to “try to become a human being.” Torvald, too. now that his “doll” has left him, will perhaps have the strength to become more nearly the man she had once thought him to be. In the 8.8. C. World Theatre production of “A Doll’s House” to be heard from YCs at 7.05 p.m. on Saturday the part of Nora is played by Jill Bennett, who acts an Ibsen heroine for the first time since her discovery by Sir Laurence Olivier, although she has acted a wide variety of parts. She has previously been heard in Strindberg’s “Miss Julia.” Torvald is played by Jack May and the producer is Frederick Bradnum. “A doll’s House,” written in Munich in 1879. together with “Ghosts” (1881) made Ibsen the most controversial and abused playwright in Europe. Ibsen had left Norway in 1864 at the age of 36, when the Government gave him a small literary scholarship which enabled him to give up his post as director of the Norwegian Theatre in Christiana (now Oslo) and settle abroad. There were two reasons why he was glad to leave Norway: he was heavily in debt and he was anxious to escape from the petty,, provincial atmosphere that affected even the capital of his native land. Abroad, he lived first in Rome, finding it a stimulating and cosmopolitan city, and then in Germany, a country renowned for its high standard of dramatic production, where his earlier plays were already well known. “They” The play “They” (YAs and 3YZ. 3.30 p.m. Sunday) is an adaptation by Giles Cooper of one of the nostalgic Edwardian stories of Rudyard Kipling. It concerns a man who mistakes his way in a car and arrives at a lovely old manor house. Two small girls are peering out of one of the mullioned windows, and another child dodges out of sight just as he stops. A middle-aged blind woman, the owner of the house appears as he tries to win the children’s confi. dence: she suggests that he drive her to the front door to allow the children to see the motor car. They are elusive and shy, but they cannot resist his fascinating machine. He describes their antics to her, and as she bids him farewell she says: “If you are fond of them you will come again.” And come again he does, with a feeling of being led, in spite of being able to find nothing about the house or its [occupants. He makes several visits to the house until something happens that convinces the driver he can never come again. “They” was produced in the Christchurch studioes of the N.Z.BJS. by Bernard Kearns, who also takes the part of the driver. Miss Florence, the blind woman, is played by Mildred Woods. Others in the cast are Irma Wood. Cynthia Ward. Patrick Smyth. Mervyn Glue, David Hindin and. as the children. Lilian Charleton, Severely Prosser and Joan Ogilvie. Czech Philharmonic Two N.Z.B.S. recordings of J the Czech Philharmonic ' Orchestra to be broadcast I from 3YC this week will j refresh and strengthen memories in the minds of many ! listeners. Tomorrow night at 9.58. the Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Karel Ancerl. will be heard playing Beethoven’s Third Symphony in E-flat. the “Eroica.” and on Monday it will be heard playing Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet” ballet music and Dvorak’s Violin Concerto in A minor. The conductor is Ancerl again and the violin soloist Josef Suk. The Dvorak > concerto has never gained ■ great popularity outside I Czechoslovakia and there is special interest in hearing it i performed by a conductor : who is widely regarded as the most authoritative conductor of Dvorak today and by a soloist and . orchestra i thoroughly steeped in the authentic Dvorak tradition Prokofiev's brilliant “Romeo and Juliet” music was one of the Czech Philharmonic’s greatest successes on its tour. .Early Weber I Weber’s opera "Abu Has'san” (3YC, 7 p.m., Thursday) I is one of several short operas ■the composer wrote in his early days. He wrote it in [lBlO at the age of 24. but the lively music contains strong ihints of the mature Weber as well as being strongly ; reminiscent of the music of his cousin by marriage, Mozart. The plot of the opera (or, more correctly, singspiel) is also reminiscent of Mozart— a sort of Figaro and Susanna in the Seraglio story. It concerns a loving 'man and wife—Abu Hassan

and Fatima—in the employ of a caliph, who solve their monetary troubles in a highly improbable manner. There is also a bumbling basso servant, Omar, who is not unlike Osmin in “Il Seraglio.” However, the ridiculous complexities of the plot will not concern listeners, for they are contrived by means of dialogue. Several of the characters are speaking parts only—and the recording to be heard on Thursday presents only the many musical numbers. The cast consists of Elisabeth- Schwarzkopf (soprano). Erich Witte (tenor) and Michael Bohnen (bass-baritone), with Leopold Ludwig conducting the Berlin Radio Chorus and Orchestra. The recording was made some years ago and it shows Elisabeth Schwarzkopf at an early stage of her career. Michael Bohnen (Omar) was one of the greatest German singers of the inter-war years and was long a mainstay of the Metropolitan Opera in a wide range of bass and baritone roles. Medieval Music

Only two works by known composers are included in a programme of 12th and 13th century sacred music recorded at last year’s Al deburgh Festival to be heard from 3YC at 8.30 p.m. on Monday. They are by Leonin. the first great composer of the School of Notre Dame in Paris and one of the first composers to mark time values in music, and Perotin. Leonin's successor as chief musician of Notre Dame and another who contributed much towards improving musical notation. Perotin is represented by his “Viderunt,” one of the gredl masterpieces of the Middle Ages, which was probably performed at midnight on Christmas Eve, 1199. In the manuscript of “Viderunt” there is nothing to show what instruments Perotin would have used with his voices, but it seems clear from illuminated books that medieval musicians used a lot of percussion. In this performance by the Purcell Singers, conducted by Imogen Holst, the tune is played on strung handbells hit with a hammer. The other works in the programme are anonymous examples of early polyphony from France and Spain. Unfinished Works Puccini’s unfinished opera, “Turandot," is discussed by Eva Turner, the English soprano whose performance in the title role is still unsurpassed, in the monthly 8.8. C. music magazine, “Talking About Music,” from the YC's at 8 o’clock tomorrow night. When she was attending her first rehearsal at La Scala in 1924, she says, Puccini’s funeral cortege was passing. When the opera was finally completed by Franco Alfano, the part of Turandot was taken at the first performance by the Polish soprano. Rosa Raisa, but it was not long before Eva Turner became more closely identified with the part than any other singer. Eva Turner’s recollections are illustrated with her sensational 1928 recording of Turandot’s tremendous aria. “In questa reggia,” in which the power of her high notes projects the music and dramatic situation in a way that has yet to be equalled. Another uncompleted work is the subject of a talk by Deryck Cooke. It is Mahler’s last symphony, the unfinished 10th. which was performed for the first time in London

recently. Long a devotee of Mahler, Mr Cooke describes how, in copying out the manuscript of the composer’s first draft, he came to realise that the work could in fact be prepared for performance. “The result,” he says, “can only be an appendix to Mahler’s life-work. Yet I feel it reveals his essential though clearly enough to show that this is some of his finest music.”

West Africa The African has gone through three stages in his reactions to the West, says Ayo Ogunsheye, in a 8.8. C. talk, “Old and New in West Africa," to be heard from 3YC at 9.31 p.m. on Monday. “In the first, European colonisation bowled him over completely. In the second, he returned to consciousness. The answer then seems to be that we must go the whole hog and Europeanise," he says. “It is only with the third stage, when the African begins to look within himself as well as more closely at the European, that he begins to gain a new sense of confidence and to discover what is worth preserving in his own past.” Ayo Ogunsheye, who is director of extra-mural studies at Ibadan University College, Nigeria, also discusses the traditional customs and forms of government of the earlier tribal societies in West Africa, and how the new institutions borrowed from Europe must be adapted to fit the African character and conditions. Irish Celebration The most popular form of public entertainment in the country districts of Ireland, where dance halls and cinemas are few, is the communal dancing party known as a “ceili.” In some places these occur every Saturday night, in others they are more occasional affairs, celebrating such events as St. Patrick’s Day, Hallowe'en or Christmas. But whatever the occasion, the pattern of the ceili is much the same. There is the sprightly music of fiddles and accordions, sometimes with a flute or two, and the strong rhythms of the traditional native dances. To rest the players and allow the dancers to regain their breath, there are occasional breaks for a song, an instrumental solo or a comedy item. Excerpts from real ceilis, recorded by the 8.8. C. in the villages and byways of Northern Ireland, will be heard from 3YA at 8 p.m. on Friday in “Country Ceili.” This, the first of six programmes, comes from Omagh, County Tyrone. Genuine ceili bands and some of the most popular soloists and entertainers in rural Ireland will be heard in this series.