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Home , Alfred Drake, Arthur Kennedy, Bert Lahr, Brock Pemberton, Ed Begley, Jed Harris

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BROOKLYN EAGLE, SUN., JAN. 26, 1947 27 MUSIC'S OVERTONES York Philharmonic-Symphony Or­ PLAYTHINGS chestra will present Joseph Szigeti, Music Events noted violinist, as soloist on Thurs­ Bobby Clark, an Old Master, Hangs By JOHN BALL Jr. day and Friday and again next There are many musiclam who do not perform on the violin, Sunday in Carnegie Hall. At the A New Portrait in His Gallery piano or any other established instrument. Any number of dis­ Of the Week first two concerts she will play trx> tinguished composers, conductors and musicologists by their own Unfamiliar chamber musk, per- Brahms Concerto and mark the By ARTHUR POLLOCK admission play very badly or not at all, but there is no disputing formed by a quintet of artists will 50th anniversary of the death of - One actor can do a great deal for a play. And when it is an the value of their contributions to music or their right to the title be heard at a concert at 1:30 p.m. [jia{ composer, old comic opera that has no chance today unless it is kidded, and of being musicians. To the above types of non-performing musicians today in the sculpture court of thej ^ for opej.ai the Metropolitan when the actor is- Bobby Clark, the results, as is apparent now at there can be added one more which is found in the twentieth century Brooklyn Museum. !0pera Association will offer the ioU 'the Shubert "Theater," are remarkable. The revival Is Victor Herbert's only and which is well illustrated in the person of Mr. Tony Janek Participants will be John Amans,;lowing schedule: Monday, II Trpva- "Sweethearts." Bobby Clark's performance is a classic. world-famous flutist Leopold Bush,!tore; Wednesday, La Traviata; of New York. ,, violinist Morrl? Brenner, violinist; Thursday, Tristan and Isolde Frl- Here is a comedian trained in the old schools of vaudeville, bur­ Tony is a technical musician. He Is not concerned so much with Gerald Maas, cellist, and Mariajday afternoon, La Traviata again; lesque, revues and musical comedy where a man learned to stand trills and cadenzas as he Is with the range of vibrations which any Ray, pianist. They will combine j Friday night, The Warrior and Han- on his own, had to create individual skills or fall, and knew that particular Instrument can be expected to produce. He is intimately thelr efforts in rarely-heard worksjsel and Gretel; Saturday afternoon, by Graun, Gyrowltz, Vivaldi and Romeo and Juliette, and Saturday every word he said and every move he made must get its effect in­ familiar with the intricate problems of balance and acoustics. A Teleman, featuring an unfinished night, Die Meistersinger. The last- stantly or be worthless. Tnose tough academies have produced most magnificent performance can easily be by offering it in an quartet, one In C major, by Mo- named performance will benefit the of our best comedians and many of our finest serious actors, too. acoustically impossible hall or by placing a soloist in the wrong zart. Vassar Club. If Bobby Clark Is not one of the players who can be called serious, position on the stage.'" Such problems he is prepared to solve authori­ Another musical presentation in In Brooklyn, the Salmaggt Com­ he cannot betaken otherwise than seriously. In "Sweethearts" he tatively and promptly. In addition to this, he has a thorough knowl­ Brooklyn this week will be a recital pany will give Verdi's "Aida" for the looks like the most adroit actor in the theater of this country today. ,by Francis Magnes, violinist, on [third time this season next Satur- edge of both the recording and reproduction of music. Lastly, he iTuesday night in the Academy of!day night in the Academy of When last seen on a New York stage he was playing Moliere. supplements his technical know-how with a grasp of what music is iMusic. She Is the seventh artistjMusic. He had hoked up the old master and it turned out that there was all about, which ranges from ultra-modern Argentine suites to the to -appear in the major concert — too much of the same kind of thing going on on the stage to make blues shouting of Big Bill. series held under the auspices of Tony finds the chief outlet for his talents in his work as a re­ the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and it a satisfactory evening. Not enough of Moliere was left in the play Sciences. y and in the performances of the rest of the cast to give Mr. Clark's and-Lois Wheeler. They appear ,n cording engineer for one of the major companies. It has often been On the orchestral front, the New horseplay a contrasting background. In "Sweethearts" there is just leading roles in "," a new play by pointed out that many skillful engineers who are "not equipped with as much of Bobby Clark as on that occasion. He is on the stage opening Wednesday night at the Coronet Theater. a knowledge of music tend to interfere seriously with a conductor almost all the time. But it never seems possible to get enough of him. or singer's performance by monitoring, or dial twisting, at the wrong 1 moments, musically speaking. As a consequence, there Is a constantly § His horseplay now is sharp, unerring, every bit of it precious. *iT,-'t''fi Each line takes Its toll, every action brings a sure laugh. Although growing need for technical personnel equipped with a knowledge of he appears to have been left entirely to himself to work out his • music so that they will know precisely what the singer or Instru­ mill comedy in his own way, he does not, as is so often the case under mentalist is attempting to achieve and will co-operate with them in such circumstances, permit his vanity 10 persuade him that he is putting their performance on discs. - '.. . good enough to go on forever. He selects. He pares down, polishes, During the war practically every GI found occasion to be grate­ perfects. There is no lost motion, no fumbling. He plays as precisely ful for the V-Dlscs, one of the outstanding activities of the morale as a machine. And at the same time there is an air of spontaneity, branch of the War Department. As Sergeant Janek, Tony was one a warm, antic and jolly spirit. The man is full of fancies. of the most active people in this operation and the only one to be All or most of the. old things he has ever done before he does with the project from Its very inception up to now. In this assign­ again. His cigar, his cane, his crouch, his painted spectacles have ment he served as recording engineer, musicologist, talent scout, become museum pieces. He Is too Imaginative a comedian to be business manager and In a number of other capacities. The ex­ satisfied with them. He is constantly inventing new business, new tremely wide range of music covered by the V-Disc program war and comical dodges, fresh variations on old themes. It Is likely that also largely Tony's doing. In addition, as every ex-GI knows, the many of the things he says in "Sweethearts" are his own ideas. V-Discs in most cases carried an announcement or greeting by the Whether his or not, he speaks his lines with the neat skill of the recording artist. This practise was followed in the early days of most apt comedian of high comedy, like the most literate of clowns. the phonograph but was lost in the shuffle some time about 1905. If by definition the thing he does is low comedy, in the execution It's revival on V-Discs was a pronounced success and helped bring of it he is not to be matched by the politest of comedians. home to each GI listening, no" matter where he happened to be, the If "Sweethearts"' in other respects is quaint and creaky, his feeling that the artist was performing particularly for him. Once again it was Tony who went to bat and made the necessary arrange­ presence in it and his commentary on it make it unique among re­ IN VERDI OPERA—James ments. VIOLIN VIRTUOSO-Frances vivals. Its old story takes on a new and comic life, becomes part of Melton will be heard as the jest. The actors run through it as if they were there only to The reason for bringing this up now is the fact that we some­ Magnes will appear in re­ get fun out of it. There Is no dwelling over foolish sentiments. It times lose sight of the men who are still in service overseas and Alfredo.in "La Traviata" on becomes a good modern joke. those who are joining the armed forces daily. It Is a pleasure to cital Tuesday night at the Wednesday night at the report that for the benefit of these men and women, and the agencies Brooklyn Academy of Music. Metropolitan Opera House. who serve them, the V-Disc program is still alive and going strong. As a civilian, Janek is still handling the project and constantly re­ :ry^rOS~r: Met Singer in '' leasing new discs which are just as promptly shipped overseas.: As I long as our men and women are serving away from home they will "SOMETHING BOLD. AND BEAUTIFULLY Is Also Champion Hog-Caller be getting V-Discs to make their tasks lighter and more pleasant. UNLIKE THE RUN-0F-BH0ADWAY PLAY." And just as long as V-Discs are being made it is a pretty safe bet also would have to be quite an ac­ —GARLAND. JOURNAL-AMERICAN He's the undisputed hog-calling that Tony Janek will be sitting up nights in his ultra-modern apart­ champion of Linville, N. C., and for complished actor in order to' cope 10 years he's been one of the bass- properly with the intricacies of the ment (which he built himself, by the way) figuring out new ways Best Seats:—Evgs. $4.80. Mats. $3.60 part. Finding such a combination to make them still better and more enjoyable. baritone fixtures of the Metropoli­ proved to be no mean task, but JET MACDONALD in "Beggar's Holiday," musical drama tan Opera Company. He stands Cordon, when he was eventually at the Broadway Theater. six feet four in his socks, claims to signed, turned out to fill the bill be one of the few singers extant perfectly. THRU FES, 11 who does not sing in the shower, The Adelphl's Frank Murrant |40^. and even his many years in the first started singing at the age of Clurman, Kazan, Fried Form a No P*rl. j

Thomas M. Tryniski 309 South 4th Street Fulton New York 13069

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