[Met Performance] CID:180110

New production

Cavalleria Rusticana
Pagliacci
Metropolitan Opera House, Fri, November 7, 1958

Debut : Primo Zambruno, Jos? Quintero, William Starling




Cavalleria Rusticana (391)
Pietro Mascagni | Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, Guido Menasci
Santuzza
Zinka Milanov

Turiddu
Primo Zambruno [Debut]

Lola
Rosalind Elias

Alfio
Cesare Bardelli

Mamma Lucia
Thelma Votipka


Conductor
Dimitri Mitropoulos


Director
Jos? Quintero [Debut]

Designer
Rolf G?rard






Cavalleria Rusticana received eighteen performances this season.
Pagliacci received eighteen performances this season.

FUNDING:
Production a gift of the Metropolitan Opera National Council

Review 1:

Review of Miles Kastendieck in the Journal-American

Met Opera Gainer By New Director

Broadway stage directors do make a difference in operatic performance. If Rudolf Bing has contributed nothing else to Metropolitan Opera, he has changed its course dramatically. Bringing in these men of the theatre has slowly but steadily changed the character of Metropolitan performances.

Jose Quintero is the latest of these to appear. He has been responsible for the stage direction in the new mounting of "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "Pagliacci." For those who have followed opera for years, it is easy to see the results of his coaching, in the actions of opera singers usually inflexible in movement, or just plain hammy. Old timers may not regard this change as important, but the new opera audience thinks it is essential.

Reflects Skill

To be sure, Qiuntero is not completely at home on the operatic stage. In both "Cav" and "Pag" he has obviously not overcome the inhibited use of choruses. It may well be necessary for the modern director to take liberties with the directions in the score if he is to keep abreast of audience demand for credible action. The artificial movement of choruses long ago reached the deplorable stage. It is now absurd. Both courage and imagination are required to make it a part of 20th Century theater.

What Quintero achieved with individual singers reflects his skill. Zinka Milanov moves about much more naturally than she ever has before. For the first time, outside of "Otello," Mario Del Monaco shows some signs of portraying a character instead of being the star tenor. His Canio is a credit both to Quintero and himself.

The most graphic change that Quintero has accomplished is in making Lucine Amara a first-class actress. Her Nedda is now a real person.

With this kind of direction operatic performance gains more than a great many people appreciate. They accept natural movement unconsciously, not recognizing that frequently in stage deportment. The day has certainly arrived when the acting ability of singers must be considered as important as their vocal talents



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