Santa Cruz Sentinel from Santa Cruz, California • Page 31

Sunday, August 14, 1966 Sanfa Srtrfilttt HA Opera Recording Retakes Its Rhubarb ehind The ceoes jjwyj yum wm 1 ii i i iii With Lime FT i mi hi hh MiWT nuns: 4. By Mary Campbell AP Nwrsfeatures Writer Boston (JP). The most quoted line from "Lohengrin" isn't in Wagner's opera. Tenor Leo Slezak said it one night when he lingered too long after singing his farewell. The swan and raft which are supposed to bear Lohengrin away pulled into the wings on schedule, without him, and Slezak asked, "What time does the next swan boat leave?" And the most talked-about line at the recording sessions of "Lohengrin" isn't on the record.

There were Lucine Amara and Sandor Konya singing on the stage of Symphony Hall in Boston, getting more and more lyrical, more and more impassioned. As Elsa and Lohengrin, they have just been married; she wants to know his name; he doesn't want to tell her. Just as the few spectators were thinking they'd never heard it sung better, conductor Erich LeJnsdorfs voice Lohengrin. However, he made his U. S.

debut in San Francisco in I960, a year before the Met, in "The Girl of the Golden West." "One critic wrote that I was a big success but I didn't walk like a cowboy." Miss Amara had never sung her role before. She explained to Dooley with the vivacity she maintained all week, "I'm not that gullible. Why should I sing the role of a gullible person?" Dooley had never sung Frederick before, either. At 31 the part Is still extremely heavy for him. He said, "I've never recorded before, either.

It's a new discipline for me, more difficult, but I'm enjoying it very much." Miss Gorr, who has sung Ortrud many times, doesn't enjoy recording nearly as much as singing during a performance. "This makes me very nervous. You haven't the warmth of the public." Concertmaster Joseph Silver-stein said that symphony members were concerned that musicians out in the halls and in the balconies (distant tower A slim redhead with the unlikely name of Ffolliott Charlton, nick-named "Fluff," rides herd on a total of 52 dancers, singers and showgirls for the Desert Inn's smash "Hello America" revue in Las Vegas. She does this twice a night, three times on Saturdays, sev. en days a week.

Fluff is what is known in the show business trade as a line captain. Backstage, her word is law. Fluff has been at the Desert Inn for several years and prior to that worked in Los Angeles for the show's producer Frank Sennes. She has been a dancer and singer. Her work actually begins when a show goes into rehearsal.

She learns all the routines, production numbers and staging, then assists Donn Arden in his instruction of the showgirls, dancers and singers. In the current edition of "Hello America," there are 14 showgirls, 14 girl dancers, six girl singers, seven boy dancers and 11 boy singers. Fluff makes certain all of the above know the routines and helps map out the various production patterns. Once a show is running, she teaches the routines to all replacements and understudies. Fluff makes certain all girls and boys are on time and in their proper places for the show.

In an emergency, she can fill In for any one of them. At least once a week, Fluff conducts clean-up rehearsals, usually hpld between shows or 7I Ml -f 'J v-' Tl; if iM- -r r-'-W inmum in wt.ntm,ilM(t trumpets, etc.) come in on the heat. This was difficult because of the longer time it took their sound to reach the microphones. They played watching closed- circuit TV (The camera was set up behind the French horns.) Rolande Bicber, Valerie Chapman, Jo Ellen Fisher and Fluff or following an assistant con The Boston Symphony (conductor Erich Leinsdorf is seen at lower left), the Chorus Pro Musica and soloists from the Metropolitan Opera recorded Just must be done. Wagner more than any other operatic composer used the orchestra in the widest sense of its capacities.

Thus unless one had the opportunity to hear, one would always be curious to know how Wagner would sound performed by one of the world's finest orchestras. "It is an instance when artistic curiosity overcame the natural barriers notably cost. Of course 'Lohengrin' could have been recorded less expensively in Europe. But not the 'Lohengrin' I feel we have achieved with the Boston Symphony." The president of the AFM, Herman D. Renin, found the occasion so auspicious that he flew from Chicago to attend one of the recording sessions.

(He was carrying a newspaper folded so that the first half of a headline, "LBJ Conducts," could be read. After formal words of greeting and mutual congratulations, con-, ductor Leinsdorf quipped, "Be sure that he takes out a The last week in August 1965, the 104-member Boston Symphony, plus 25 extra players ($50.63 each for two hours of recording), the 160-voice semi-professional Chorus Pro Musica of Boston ($65 each for the week) and the Metropolitan Opera's Lucine Amara, Sandor Konya, Rita Gorr, William Doo-ley, Jerome Hines and Calvin Marsh made music in the superb acoustics of Symphony Hall, Boston, for six days, six hours a day. They were creating the five-record, thrpe hour and 45 minute, complete "Lohengrin," put on the market this month. Conductor Leinsdorf said, "Our major intent is to do the work as I think it stands in all left, base Jerome Hines, soprano Lucine Amara, tenor Sandor Konya, baritone William Dooley and mezzo-soprano Rita Gorr. entire 40-minute period would be spent recording without interruption.

In a typical exchange after Leinsdorf stopped the music and before he started the retake, he told one instrumentalist that his flat was a little high in the fourth bar of 48B; RCA producer Richard Mohr suggested by telephone that 48A be a little softer and Leinsdorf ordered 48A cut from two harps to one. Miss Amara said, "Can we do from the entrance of 55?" Leinsdorf replied, "I'd be delighted. "I don't want to tire her out; she's so brave. Everybody watch it." In French, he told Miss Gorr, who is Belgian, that this retake did not include any singing by her. Leinsdorf spoke in English to Miss Amara who is of Armenian heritage, born in Hartford, reared in California.

He spoke in German to Konya, who is Hungarian, and Konya answered in English. He spoke in English to Californian Pooley, who answered in German, or, for Miss Gorr's benefit, French. Konya was singing I-ohen-grin for the 202nd time. He said, "Wieland Wagner (the composer's grandson) is calling me the world's champion Lohengrin. "But recording is much different.

Everything has to be projected and perfect. The finest little notes have to be projected. We're magnificently organized here. I wish I could do all my recording with so much rehearsal and with Mr. Leinsdorf.

I think we are getting a very good recording." Bayreuth and at the Met as "Lohengrin" in Symphony Hall, Boston the first time In many years that a "grand" opera has been recorded In the United States. Soloists, in front of the chorus, are, from Konya made hla debut at its romantic grandeur. My concept is a real romantic fairy tale and as such I am hoping that the recording will come out." Season patrons of Symphony Hall would hardly have recognized the place. Chairs, on risers, for the chorus covered most of the stage. The soloists stood in front of them.

Miss Amara sang with wide, caressing sweeps of her arms, fingers crossed on both hands. Konya pumped his right hand up and down, fist clenched. Miss Gorr opened her arms wide. Dooley stood, looking lean and alert as a sailor on leave, arms folded across his chest. The front half of the seats had been removed from the hall's main floor, and the orchestra sat there, facing Erich Leinsdorf who sat on a red leather stool atop a red-carpeted podium.

A tripod at his right held a telephone on which he talked with the men in the upstairs control room. Long plywood panels leaned side by side against the balconies, making two side walls; long maroon dropcloths hung from the balconies at back, making a rear wall. Seven balcony doors had been removed at each side and 14 air-conditioning units ($7000 each) thrust through the door jams were running during each hour's 20-minute break from recording. Because they made noise, they couldn't operate during the recording itself. The units also condensed humidity from the hall and dumped the water in buckets in the outside corridor.

The recording was done in large segments; sometimes an which the entire cast is featured. The routine of the girls in the show is standard. They arrive a half hour before curtain time, do their own hair, put on their own make-up and get into costume. From p.m. they are on their own.

In case of an injury on stage, Fluff will fill in on the spot. She watches every show either from the audience or from the lighting control booth. Also available is a closed circuit TV screen which Is played In the booth and backstage so production people can see exactly what the audience sees. A flaw or error is spotted Immediately and changed In time for the next show. In the first edition of "Hello America," which ran over a year, there were 23 change in cast personnel.

In the current revue, open since March 1, there have been only two changes. Fluff is constantly looking for new dancers and showgirls and holds auditions in both Las Vegas and I-os Angeles in eon-junction with Sennes and Arden. While backstage life and routine are not as glamorous as they might appear to thosa not in the entertainment world, it is active enough for Fluff and demanding so that there is never a dull moment. after the second show at 2 a.m. She corrects spacing problems and minor flaws that develop during the run of a show, in many instances not always visible to audiences.

cut through the music: "Where's the man with the sword? Sabotage! Sabotage! You're all a bunch of dilettantes!" Then Leinsdorf phased nut of English and into another of the many languages he knows. A "Lohengrin" recording doesn't need a swan but it does need the sound of steel as Frederick breaks into the bridal chamber, sword drawn, where he is run through on Lohengrin's sword. The offending scene was, of course, done again, this time with "the man with the sword" on a box in front of a microphone, facing his own assistant conductor, and bobbing his entire body up and down to the beat, to express his zealous concentration. The rest of the recording went smoothly. It was hot in Boston, but nobody got sick, or temperamental; "good voice" was the general rule; recording sessions were all the serious business of making music but without undue tension; moments in between sessions were a mixture of studying the music and light-hearted banter.

Opera recordings are nearly always done in Europe because they are so much cheaper there. A record rompanv pays a soloist his fee no matter where the recording is done and as for everybody else In Europe they don't belong to the American Federation of Musicians. But RCA Victor decided to record an opera in America anyway. It picked a big one, "Lohengrin," and a giant of an r'-chpstra, the Boston Symphony. George R.

Marek, head of RCA Victor Records, said, "There are some things which There is an occasional crisis such as when a flu epidemic hit the company and there were 8-10 persons out ill. In times like ductor who watched closed-circuit TV. Silversteln also cited a study that a music professor had done on the Boston Symphony one summer at Tangle-wood. He told them that their sound was best when temperatures were between 71 and 78 degrees. At higher temperatures, the metal Instruments went sharp, and with heat plus humidity, the strings went flat.

A few members of the orchestra kept thermometers under their chairs throughout the "Lohengrin" sessions. At one session they recorded a rise of 68 to 83 degrees. Usually it didn't get that hot in the hall but the corridors outside, where the air-conditioning units pushed the hot air, were sweltering. The swords, which hadn't been forthcoming at a critical moment, belonged to the orchestra's tuba player, K. Vinal Smith, who had brought them up from his home in Vinalhav-en.

Maine. "They're of Civil War vintage." he explained eagerly. "We tried a theatrical agency, but their swords had no tips. We need the rasp of the blade coming out of the scabbard. They had iron in those days.

We had to be square with people buying the record." these. Fluff has to restage the numbers and fill the stage so as not to leave any gaps. Sometimes this chore is performed in a matter of hours. Held Over 5ih LAUGH WEEK SHOWING Russians Shot 7:05 Fluff only performs with the acts to adjust proper staging in the lavish production finale in SOQUEL 473-3395 'OklahomaToday At Stern Grove San Francisco The national favorite of musical plays, "Oklahoma," which opened on Broadway in 1943 to a record-breaking run of five years, will be presented today at Stern Grove at 2 p.m. Admission is free.

In Drincinal roles are Richard THE WHSCH CORTOMTION I George Raft Takes Your Money, But Nicely SilSiU: King, Ardith Rodriguez, Ron Gallegos, Beverly Cooper and Final Performance TONIGHT AT 8:00 MAURICE CHEVALIER London's Friendly Gambling Club Host WW Jff oooooooooooooooo pibi ociutd rui UKOit eillfT. XI IM ARAN I Charles Dnrsett. The play is produced by the Oakland Light Opera association. The public is welcome to come early for picnicking on the grass before the show. Stern Grove is located at 19th avenue and Sloat boulevard, San Francisco.

OHfU. nLIIILn UK wikjhl omihi mjui ruuxiii 1 4 PERFORMANCES ONLY! $., Aug. 20 it 4 30 9 30 Sun Aug. 21 at 3 00 8 00 BRIAN KEITH JONATHAN WINTERS The One UNITED ARTISTS 1 woman i iff By Tom A. Cullen European Staff Correspondent Newspaper Enterprise Assn.

London (NEA) George Raft, 68, finds that playing ganster roles in Hollywood is kid stuff compared to his present job as host at one of London's poshest gambling clubs. From 8:30 p.m. until dawn, seven nights a week, Raft toils at the Colony Sporting Club, which never closes until the last gambler goes home. Here he greets old friends such as Frank Sinatra, William Holden and Lucille Ball, who drop by whenever they are in London. But Raft, in his new role of resident host, also finds time to shake hands with middle-aged American tourists, who remember him when he was billed as "the Valentino with the Plus Riot! iAA i yLm mtfy mmt ii ri j.

A i. CONTINUOUS DAILY FROM 1:30 DIAL 423-1000 LAST 3 DAYS! the Colony Club when he arrives, which is usually around 8:30. He is not only resident host there, but also chairman of the hoard, and right now he is worried that the present Labor government may crack down on gambling. (There is talk of imposing a stiff tax on casinos.) "So far things have been going very well," he says cautiously. "But then I thought they were going good in Cuba just before the bombshell burst in the form of Fidel Castro." (Raft was part owner of a gambling club in Havana when Castro appeared on the scene.) "I fed Castro's men for the first 14 days of the revolution," he recalls, "and flew out on the 15th." Raft confesses that his movie ambition is to play the part of a priest "I'd like to be cast as a priest working among young delinquents and turning them into boxers," he says.

As he outlines the plot. It sounds suspiciously like a film that Bing Crosby has already made. But then perhaps Bing's ambition is to play George Raft in a gangster film. ir.f A BLAKE EDWARDS PBODuCHOHi PETER ELKE SELLERS SOMMER Miy a it viinui PLUS'Soecial Guest Star GEORGE RAFT TALKS about today and yesterday with NEA's Tom Cullen at the Colony Sporting Club in London. color Deluxe THIS PROPERTY mJ IS 'dp h.PANAVISION UNITED ARTISTS PETE FOUNTAIN AND HIS JAZZ GROUP! thro PH.

8 30 Sot. 6:30 ft and 30 Sun. SOO 00 SEATS at BOX OFFICE. Mocv't. Sc an.

Greyhound and All AgcncMa MAI1 For Tieltt Inf. BSTyfl Ml JEMS6S PyffHWJ r- patent leather hair." As he moves from dice game to roulette table distributing handshakes and smiles, it is hard to believe that this slim, silver-haired man ever snarled out of the corner of his mouth or backhanded a movie heroine. Yet Raft was when he watches the races on television. (Raft quit betting on cards or dice after dropping $65,000 in one night's play at the Flamingo in Las Vegas, hut he still has an occasional flutter on the horses.) Having skipped breakfast and lunch, Raft has dinner at ggjl NOW PLAYING cast as villain In most of the 105 films he made in Hollywood, got bumped off in 85 of them. In fact, he helped to set the vogue for gangster films in such early movies as "Scar-face," where he played Al Capone's bodyguard.

"London is a great town for gamblers," he says, twisting the diamond and sapphire ring on his little finger. "But then I liked London when I first saw it back in 1926. In those days I SHCWThV.ES TECHNICOLOR'' SIDNEY frrv IME nirunrnTiinrin mas ENDS TUESDAY COUCH CHASE 10:15 DIRECT FROM ITS PREMIERE SHOWINGS. SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT AT SPECIAL PRICES. NO RESERVED "TS.

Breaking Records! CONTINUOUS DAILY FROM 2 00 DIAL 423-2000 JULIE "PROPERTY" AT 1 30-5 10-9 00 "THREAD" AT 3 15-7 05-10 50 played the Victoria Palace here and I was billed as the world's fastest dancer." Dancing was not the only pro-; fession Raft tried before strik-1 5 What a iiSll.ailfltffl i ti! i mi ij im in: a nmumnn nnoREius RUN, DON'T WALK TO nclures JERRYLEMS ing it rich in Hollywood. For awhile he was an unpromising bantamweight fighter. "I got JAHET LEIGH Wr 4 knocked out seven times in 17 bouts," he recalls. "After the i seventh kayo they had to sew my left ear back on, so I quit the ring." For one who loves London the ex-Hollywood star has seen very little of it since his ar- rival. Most Londoners are just starting for work when Raft locks up the club and heads for home in his midnight blue Rolls-1 Royce with the lucky "three sevens" license plate.

i He sleeps until late afternoon, Winner of 8 Jcadcmy Awards including Best Pictnrt AUDREY HEPBURN-REX HARRISON racoicir sera FAwyisior7o rasu wasner kss.0 -ALSO- METRO-COLD WYN-MAYER McLRGclRET RUTHERFORD (as Miss Marpte) COLUMBIACOLOR 2D BIG HIT IT "dUElED GARY GRANT SAMANTHA EGGAR JiM HUTTON If SOLC. SiEGElwa ipsa) COLUMBIA PICTURES i iinecii's TEARS YOU APART WITH SUSPENSE! MARLON BRANDO 13 Iliilll 1 MOST TORN CURTAIN 20 GRAND CANYON 4: SAMSPEGEL'S HEADS CLASSICISTS Bowling Green, Ky. (JP). Julian Meadows of Atlanta, has been elected president of the Senior Classical League, an organization dedicated to the preservation of the Greek and Roman cultural contribution to America. PRODUCTION Of TECnmcoLcrr GRAND CANYON" ADDED FEATURETTE "WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?" The male ostrich, not the female, incubates the.