Tucson Daily Citizen from Tucson, Arizona • Page 41

Out Front And Backstage At Santa Fe By W. Robert Nitske Many Tucsonians journey each summer to the Southwest's opera mecca, Santa Fe, sometimes by the chartered bus load. This year was no exception: many as 60 local opera fans attended one performance. W. Robert Nitske, professional writer of articles for newspapers and magazines primarily about travel and European sports cars, several books including 'The Life of Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen' for the University of Arizona Press, offered to write about the Santa Fe Opera for our readers.

This is his assessment. Night had come. The house lights went out. The conductor raised his baton and the orchestra began the overture. The Santa Fe Opera performance of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" had stalled.

To one side of the stage the lights of distant Espanola sparkled; on the other stood dark cedar-covered hills. The entrance and exit of As- trafiammante were accompanied with a tremendous display of lightning and immense clouds of dense vapor which obliterated the stage, orchestra and part of the theater. (Nature, nearly matched the show overhead.) The giant Serpent, a masterpiece of stage craftsmanship, crawled across the stage spewing fire. Papageno was sung ably by Theodor Uppman, who seemed to enjoy being a' most enthusiastic bird catcher. Sidney Johnson, Joanna Bruno, Douglas Perry, and Robert Hagen were good in'their spective However, the 70-man orchestra, professional musicians from orchestra without summer seasons, did not shine.

A slight sprinkle inconvenienced some opera goers, seated in he wide, unsheltered center section of the orchestra seats. But the majority of the 1,455 seats are under cover in the modern open-air opera house. (A few hours after the American premiere of Hindemith's "Cardillac" in 1967, the theater burned down. But John 0. Crosby, 45-year-old originator and general director of the opera company, was able to'finish the season by using the Santa Fe Mid-High School gymnasium to stage the scheduled "Barber of Seville" two days later.

(After the conflagration unsolicited gifts poured in. Clubs and restaurants helped raise money. Youth groups' held an "Up With Opera" march. The Santa Fe Opera Guild contributed generously. "Response to the fund drive was incredible," said Edward C.

Purririgton, director of development and public relations, and a Tucson visitor in behalf of the opera. The opera house was rebuilt). Wagner's early opera "The, Flying Dutchman" was performed on another unseasonably cold de Waart directed the orchestra, Don Garrard sang the role of the Norwegian sea captain, Daland, and Joyce Barker, though gifted with a beautiful voice weighed at least 150 pounds too much to be convincing Senta. Jean Bonhomme was Erik. John Shaw, as a fine Dutchman, led the cast.

Exceedingly clever stagecraft produced a haunting ghost ship. Lightning in the northern sky created the proper mood and added to the illusion of disturbance embodied in Wagner's powerful music. Former Santa Fe Opera apprentice, now with the New York City Opera, pretty Joanna Bruno rehearses for her role as Pamina in this summer's production of 'Magic Below, a hefty Joyce Barker as Senta and Don Garrard as Daland have a go at 'The Flying The following night with the temperature down to 46 degrees "The Marriage of Figaro" turned out to be an inspired, oustanding performance. The stellar cast "was superb, the sets opulent. Mo- music sparkled under the direction of Robert Baustian.

Donald Gfamm was splendid in the title role and Miss Bruno sang Susanna excellently. Theodor! Uppman sang the Count enthusiasm and maturity, Kiri te, Kanawa sang the role of the Countess with a really won: derful voice and Frederica von Stade made a fine believable CherubinOi A line in the opera had the Countess Almaviva comment the damp and chilly night, to which Figaro, replies, "Only refreshing." The audience laughed out loud, -good natur- edly, of course. My wife Betty, an accomplished singer, organist, pianist, holder of a B.A; in music from the University of New Mexico and. this family's music felt this "Mar- jciage of Figaro" the finest she has heard or seen. She was es- impressed" with the fine artistry and musicianship of Donald Gramm.

(They had been students together 20 years ago in Martial Singher's master class at Santa Barbara.) Lavish, scenery for this opera, elegantly designe'd by Allen Charles Klein, was changed between acts on the curtainless stage. Ingeniously conceived, huge panels were used back-to-back and re- 'volved while four liveried pages lighted the with hand held chandeliers. For the last act, the garden set utilized all the depth of the stage which lacks but a few feet being that at the Metropolitan and wide as the proscenium arch. For Santa Fe's fifteenth season, 25 performances were Magic Flute" (in English) was given six times, "Der Fliegende Hollaender" (in German) three, Offenbach's "La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein" (in. French) five times, "Don Carlo" (in PAGE 8 TUCSON DAILY CITIZEN SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1971.