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Splendid
Singing In
'Carmen'
t(ast, production and or
chcstra combined as one in
strument to present the mount
ing tension of a story of love
and thwarted passion in the
opera "Carmen," at the Vic
toria Theatre last night.
It was a swift, tidy and
successful show under the pre
c,.c, yet ebullient baton ot
Tibor Paul. The show was
presented by the National
Opera Company of Australia.
Veteran singer Harold Wil
liams revelled in that colour
ful and spine-tingling piece of
:ravura, the entry of Esca
millo, the Toreador. In fact,
to hear him sing the "Song
of the Toreador," not heard
on the boards in, perhaps, two
c-cades in Newcastle, was like
hearing a platoon of trumpets,
often heard as far but excit
ing echoes, actually entering
the city streets.
The audience clapped their
pleasure at first-class enter
tainment.
But it is hard to go wrong
w'th the "Toreador."
The solid task of capturing
the audience was accomplish
ed by Florence Taylor, as
Carmen, and Ronald Dowd,
as Don Jose. Florence Tay
lot sang and acted a forceful
sand impressive (yet, perhaps,
not sufficiently naptivating)
Carmen. Ronald Dowd, as
Don Jose, excelled in his sing
myag and character irterpreta
t:on. The warmth of his sing
ing and acting progressed with
the play till, in the finale, his
performance reached a fine
peak.
Marjorio Conley, as MI
caela, Don Jose's deserted
sweetheart, had the limitations
of her part to contend with,
but she sang with such plain
tive sweetness and sensitivity
that she built up the strength
of the part even against the
rugged power of the part of
Carmen.
Fine Chorus
Newcastle has rarely heard
better chorus work than that
performed last night and,
against this background, Betty
ienfield, as Mercedes. and
Detty Prentice, ps Frasquita,
sang, mostly nmerrily, always
charmingly. Alan Light, as
Zuniga the Captain of the
Guard, was, fittingly, the best
soldier on the stage.
A word should be said in
praise of the setting, scenery
aod costumes which had been
carefully designed towards the
lrqduction of a harmonious
whole. And any review which
iid not mention the perform
ence of the three ballet dan
cers in the second act, would
be sorely lacking. Sufficient
to say that when they danced,
they stole the show.
It was a happy choice to
open Newcastle's first season
of opera for some time, with
the colourful story of Car
men, full of Spanish fire. It
is a tribute to the genius of
the producer, Dino Galiungi,
to say that this flame burnt
brightly throughout the per
formance. Carmen will be
performed again this afternoon
and to-night. L.B.
$