THE WEEK’S RADIO Bolshoi Performance Of Rimsky’s 'Sadko'

Press, Volume C, Issue 29682, 28 November 1961, Page 22

THE WEEK’S RADIO Bolshoi Performance Of Rimsky’s ' Sadko'

Because of the language difficulty, Russian operas are not often performed outside the Slav countries, even on records, and few people realise how much opera flourished in Russia in the 19th century. Rims&yKorsakov, for instance, wrote 15 operas, many of which stiU enjoy great success in Russia. One of the finest is "Sadko,” which will be heard in a complete recording by the Bolshoi’ Theatre Opera Company from 3YC at 8 p.m. on Thursday.

Like many of Rimsky-Kor-sakov’s operas, “Sadko” is based on a Russian fairy tale. The tale ot Sadko—a Russian variation of the Orpheus legend—seems to have had a special fascination for the composer, for he also based an early tone-poem on it. Sadko is a very, gifted but conceited minstrel who announces to the merchants of Nizhni-Novgorod that he can even catch golden fish by charming them with his music. He succeeds in his claims, aided by the Sea Princess, who has fallen in love with Sadko in spite of the fact that he is already married. By winning his wager, Sadko becomes very wealthy and he takes a voyage in one of his many new ships. But the ship is persistently beset by storms, and the superstitious sailors believe Sadko to be the cause of their misfortune, so they set him adrift on a raft. The Sea Princess draws him down to her father’s realm, where he charms everybody with his skill on the gusli. Commanded to play something lively, Sadko responds with a dance so merry that the Sea King and his court join in with such gusto that a tremendous storm is raised on the surface of the sea. In response to the prayers of sailors, St. Nicholas, their patron saint,

intervenes. He dashes the gusli from Sadko’s hand and transports him back to his family. The Sea Princess is turned into the river Volkhov, which flows through Nizhni-Novgorod. Rimsky-Korsakov has set this story to some of his finest music, including bustling choruses in the festivities at Novgorod, glittering sea scenes and the famous songs of the Indian, Viking, and

Venetian merchants. These latter songs are sung by three of the greatest singers of the Bolshoi ih this recording. The Viking Merchant is the famous bass, Mark Reizen, the Venetian Merchant the baritone, Pavel Lisitsian, who had great success at the New York Metropolitan Opera last year, and the Hindu Merchant the tenor, Ivan Kozlovsky. Sadko himself is sung by the tenor, Georgi Nelepp, his wife, Lyubava, by Vera Davidova (soprano) and Princess Volkhova by Elisabeta Shumskaya (soprano). The conductor is Nikolai Golovanov. Henry Irving ■ Edward Gordon Craig, the son of Henry Irving’s leading lady, Ellen Terry, is an almost legendary personality whose theories have almost revolutionised the theatre in the twentieth century. In a talk entitled “Irving’s Way” from 3YC at 7 o’clock tonight, he recounts some of his memories of his early days with the great man and attempts to define Irving’s genius as an actor. Since the war Craig has lived in France and this talk was recorded there for the 8.8. C. by Radiodiffusion Francaise. Elizabethan Play “A New Way to Pay Old Debts,” by Philip Massinger (1583-1640), is another play in a series produced for 8.8. C. World Theatre by Raymond Raikes to represent the work of Shakespeare’s contemporaries. It is a comedy, but it contains a part that has appealed to many great tragedians of the past. Women in the audience are said to have fainted when Edmund Kean played Sir Giles Overreach’s mad scene early last century, and the same performance caused Lord Byron to fall into a convulsive fit. It is not surprising that this “part to tear a cat in” also appeals to Sir Donald Wolfit, one of the very few living actors capable of playing it in the old full-blooded style, and he plays Overreach in this production. This character of Overreach, the hardhearted extortioner, was what kept the play on the boards long after the author’s death, but the love affair of his daughter, Margaret, and of Lady Allworth, though slight, are credible and charmingly written. Massinger was a master of dramatic construction and his sub-plots are skilfully intertwined with the main action of Frank Wellbom’s cleverly - devised schemes for recovering his stolen fortune from his uncle, Overreach. Talking Drums The drum language of Ghana is based on the musical elements of the languages of the country. In a talk, recorded in Africa and produced by the Ghana Broadcasting System, to be heard from 3YC at 7.30 p.m. on Monday, J. H. Kwabena Nketia describes this drum language. With illustrations, he tells how the drums reproduce the sounds of spoken words, imitating the intonation and rhythm of speech so closely as to be exactly understood by a trained listener. Musical Pitch When we hear an orchestra playing a symphony by Mozart or Beethoven we do not really hear the sounds the composer intended, because they are all too high. Since the "classical” period (between Purcell and Rossini) the pitch of music has risen by about a semitone; in the lifetimes of Bach, Handel. Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, etc., A (the note the orchestra tunes to) varied between 415 and 429 vibrations a second. Nowadays the standard A is 440; Handel’s tuning fork is A-422. Before this period, pitch had varied widely and sometimes different pitches were in use simultaneously for voices and instrument. Early in the nineteenth century, with developments in instruments and search for greater brilliance of tone, pitch began to rise, and in some places reached A-455. Towards the end of the century the present pitch, or something very similar, was agreed on. However, a new pitch means buying new woodwind instruments and old high pitches lingered on in some remote places for a surprisingly long time. One of them was New Zealand, and in an NJZ.B.S. talk, “Musical Ups and Downs,” to be heard from 3YC at 10 p.m. on Sunday, Stanley Oliver tells of some incidents connected with pitch which occurred in this country as late as World War IL The rise in pitch since the classical period has especially affected singers and Stanley Oliver’s talk is illustrated by the opening of “I know that my Redeemer liveth” sung at Handel’s pitch, modern standard pitch and the old Philharmonic pitch. He reveals that even nowadays pitch is not stationary: some orchestras are tuning higher than A-440 and some, such as the Vienna Philharmonic, have never dropped to standard pitch. Cortis As Conductor The La Scala baritone, Marcello Cortis, sang Scarpia in bis own production of “Tosca” for the New Zealand Opera Company, but in Europe be is best known as an exponent of music of the 17th and 18th centuries, especially opera buffa When he was in Wellington a few weeks ago he took part in an

18th century concert with John Hopkins and members of the Notional Orchestra, with singer, conductor and orchestra all dressed in 18th certury costume. Christchurch audiences were denied this reportedly most amusing sight, but they will be able to catch some of the amusement of the occasion when 3YC broadcasts a recording of the main item of the concert—Marcello Cortis's performance of Cimarosa’s intermezzo "11 Maestro di Capella,” in which he conducted the orchestra himself. The work concerns a conductor who sets out to sing an aria by Scarlatti but himself fully occupied in keeping the players together. Eventually the rehearsal is to his satisfaction and they try a new piece, but the obce is at fault and the conductor abandons the reheasal promising the orchestra some fine new music. Howland Songs The early English composer. John Dow land (15631626) achieved his greatest fame in his lifetime as a singer and lute virtuoso, but he is remembered now as a great song writer, who has teen compared to Schubert m his variety and abundance Ten songs from his "First Book of Ayres** are to be heard from 3YC at approximately 10 o’dock tonight, performed by the Pro Musics Atinque Ensemble of Brussels under the direction of Stafford Cape.