Newsday (Suffolk Edition) from Melville, New York • 199

PNMOI CWIWWHimm i't wi Ull I ENTERTAINMENT 'La in Concert wide range color and flexibility Her sole shortcoming was a lack of expressiveness through the first half But in the tour-de-force aria she sang with a great range of emotion using spectral and IA 6DC0NDA Open by Amflcan PonctMN WNh Gbena Dimitrova Alexandrine Milctwva Dime Curry Biorgio Lvnberti Piero CappucdM Paul Plishka Eve Quaiar conducting the Open Orchestra of New York Tuesday night at Carnegie Hal i ugly sounds to qgnvey the or the character In the duets both Curry and Mil-cheva wmtolwi her well Curry was REVIEW) ITHOUT DOUBT "La is a heaven for big lush voices ise Eve (MUSIC Opera of New Orchestra of York is a company concentrating on the display afsome of the finest voices in the world and hang the dramatics Even at Carnegie Hall which Soprano Ghana Dimitrova and Baritone Piero Cappucdlli especially impressive singing with glowing effortless warmth The role of Bamaba the spy is to such villains as Iago and Scarpia though the music does not have the really black undertones of either Verdi or Puctini But wide open power and sumptuous sound were still very exciting to hear And Plishka as reliable as ever was a resonant Alvise Only Enso did not measure up He was consistently sharp and his voice sounded sour and unfocused as he made his effortful way through the evening The (orchestra itself sounded a bit ragged at times but generally the musicians played with warmth and Qaeler led them with a dear understanding of the work The Hunting-ton Choral Society which sang the chorus was enthusiastic and power-fill quite at home on the Carnegie Hall stage It was a memorable evening just for the chance to hear Dimitrova and Cappucdlli has begun to produce its own par tially staged opera productions comps The plot of derived by Arrigo Boito from a play by Victor Hugo is not of great consequence other than as a forum for expressing tremendous emotions As as one sat watching the singers stand and deliver it was apparent that although forward concert opera: no lighting the tx no staged movement just the best by tenor Giorgio Lam-and mezzo-soprano Alexandrine Milcheva and bass Paul Plishka as Alvise This was a superb setting for Dimitrova and Cappucdlli noth of whom had sung just once before with the company Dimitrova is the Bulgarian singer who has rocketed from obscurity to become one of the -most powerful dramatic sopranos singing today And luxuriant voice has marls him an important singer for years voices in a rich orchestral setting At performance of Fon- "La the title role was taken by soprano Ghana Dimitrova with the villainous Bamaba sung by baritone Piero Cappucdlli mono soprano Diane Curry as La Cienca the lovers Enso and Laura Fortunately the voices were almost all there Dimitrova has one of the great voices of her generation a huge generous instrument with Restoring Carnegie Hall to Its Glory By Peter Goodman "Acoustically there will be very very few Melzer said All the new work will duplicate as much as possible the equipment of the original hafl he said The new seats will be exact duplicates of the originals the new stage will be built of maple of the exact density of the original and so forth Next year's audiences "will see the stage in all its full Stem said The restoration of the shell may in fact improve the acoustics in the first few rows of the orchestra Melzer said because those seats will get sound reflected from the shell that is now being absorbed by the curtain "We expect to get a better Stem said "Not harder not more directed but we hope an even richer mix of the basic Carnegie Changes have already been made acoustical doors have been installed in the Seventh Avenue entrances with some improvement in keeping out the sound of traffic Melzer said The seats being removed from the boxes by the way will be for sale according to Norton Belknap Carnegie's managing director The management is seeking a single buyer for all iff them There will also be changes in the way the hall is run once it reopens Because the new lobby will be twice as large as the current one and on street level latecomers will not be permitted to wait in the rear of the auditorium itself And fewer rock and pop groups will be allowed to use it to prevent damage by excessive sound equipment and rowdy audiences "This is what all Stem said "to save this room All the rest is peripheral "Our ultimate responsibility is the care of the sound of this room We want to add nothing just restore SHORTLY AFTER 10 pm on May 19 after pjnit TVyti Hhirlwy and tha laat raamhwra of the audience have left the most important work in the renovation of Carnegie Hall will begin Stagehands will empty the stage and cart off paraphernalia and at a minute past midnight construction workers will pour in to dismantle the seats in the great halL Carnegie Hall one of the beat concert halls in the world is in the middle of a massive 960-million restoration that includes modernizing the wiring air conditioning and working spaces of the building But while the rest of the work brings the 95-yearold hall into the 21st Century violinist Taaaa Stem president of Carnegie Hall said yesterday the 910-million 28-week renovation of the auditorium itself is intended to restore it to the 19th Century At a press briefing on the stage Stem architect James Stuart Folshek and acoustical consultant Abe Melzer described the changes to be IN SHORT made inside Carnegie Hall during the seven months the hll will be closed following the Shir- "I Have Found a musical about Europe-n immigrants at the turn of the century will premiere Tuesday aboard the Andrew Fletcher a replica of a sidewheel steamboat at the South Street Seaport during a cruise around New York The musical wil Harbor The musical will be presented Tuesday and Wednesday throughout the summer at 2 pm Tickets are 920 and 930 Call (212) 221-1040 COMPOSER Morton Gould who has been a member of the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers since 1935 has been elected president of the organization to succeed lyricist Hal David Gould who lives in GreatNeck has written music that is part of the repertory of mqjpr orchestras and ballet companies around the world He has also written scores for movies and televison In his new position he heads a 37000-member organization that represents musicians of his own style as well as every other one now practiced from rock to soap-opera theme songs first action as ASCAP president will be a trip later thiamimth tn Tw Angelas and Naah villa where the organization maintains offices in addi- 7 3 11IB major changes will include restoration of the plaster shell directly above the stage replacement of all the seats construction of a new stage removal of the vinyl flooring and installation of a new wooden floor in the hall installation of new lighting above the stage and installation of specially built $20000 acoustical doors at all the entrances The current dingy gold "teaser at the top of the prnsffsnmm and the canvas baffles above the stage will be removed They had been installed to mda a huge hole cut in the original shall in 1946 during the shooting of a movie called "Carnegie real estate director rence Goldman said a au 3 -X-V a -t rtv tE" sfiTSio bice wrLxrj T-- itA IV The New Amsterdam Theater i ond show of the season Rodger and 1938 musical "I Married an will be performed May 17-19 at Town Hall It includes such standards as "Spring is and the title song The mnmwl stars Ihyllis Newman Virginia Seidele 3 and Kurt Peterson Tickets are 914 and 920 £ii tion to its Manlmtjn headquarters VO "i -r tw 'I 4 IA i' 4- 1 1-9 i 1.