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Home , Florence Kirk, Igor Gorin, Lawrence Tibbett, Nino Martini, San Antonio Symphony, Walter Cassel

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Presented By THE SOCIETY OF SAN ANTON

fEB. 2011 22~ 24~~ 25 1~ ·1945. NICIPAL AUDITOR , A Jl1esJ·age to We again express our appreciation to the San Antonio Brewing Association for its NEWCOMERS outstanding contribution. to the 1944-1945 Perhaps you are among the thousands symphony season. of newcumers that have poured into San Antonio within the last year or two. Their special contributions during this and If so, the Commerce bids you a cordial last season have been largely responsible welcome and invites you to make use of our facilities for any type of financial for the establishment of the San Antonio service, regardless of the extent of your as one of the seventeen leading banking requirements. symphony organizations in the United Once you have made our acquaintance, States. we believe you will agree with our hosts of other customers that the Commerce is the kind of a bank with which you like to SYMPHONY SOCIETY do business. OF SAN ANTONIO National BANK OF COMMERCE San Antonio, Texas Established Dependable Thru 1903 the Years

AMPLE RESOURCES COMPLETE FACIUTIES EFFICIENT SERVICE THE SYMPHONY SOCIETY of San Antonio owes .its existence to the generosity Day P. McNeel San Antonio Machine & Supply Company of public spirited citizens whose contributions and patronage have made it possible P.]. McNeel Jewelry Company San Antonio Music Company Merchant's Ice & Cold Storage Company (Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Bledsoe) for San Antonio to take its place among the twenty permanent in the Mr. and Mrs. Theodore F. Meyer, Jr. San Antonio Transit Company . We make grateful acknowledgment to the sponsors of this Symphony Mission Provision Company R. F. Schoolfield Orchestra, a list of whom appears below: 0. R. Mitchell Motors Wm. F. Schutz Mrs. John G. Morris Scobey Fireproof Storage Company Joseph S. Morris Seth S. Searcy Mr. and Mrs. K. B. Absher Mr. and Mrs. L. C. Griffith G. G. Mortimer Sears Roebuck & Company Alamo Iron Works . Mr. and Mrs. R. G. Grimsley Mr. and Mrs. T. Frank Murchison Mr. and Mrs. Arthur A. Seeligson Alamo Lutl)ber Co. Guarantee Shoe Company Musicians Union of San Antonio 7-Up Texas Corporation Alamo National Bank Erhard Guenther Miss Rose Elizabeth Nathan Siegel's Canadian American Hospital & Life Insurance Co. Gugenheim-Goldsmith Company National Bank of Commerce l. Silber Apache Packing Co. Gunter Hotel N. Straus Nayfach Willard E. Simpson Mr. and Mrs. William Sinkin H. & H. Coffee Company Dr. and Mrs.]. W. Nixon Mr. and Mrs. John M. Bennett Solo Serve Company Mrs. Henry Halff L.A. Nordan Sidney Berkowitz Southern Music Company Norma Hancock Preston G. Northrup \X!illard M. Berman Mrs. Richard French Spencer Berns Department Store Handy-Andy, Inc. Col. and Mrs. W. C. O'Ferrall K. D. Harrison and Don Danvers Mr. and Mrs. Morris Stern Virginia Berry D. & A. Oppenheimer Albert Steves, Jr. Bird-Shankle Co. Mr. and Mrs. John Wells Heard Dr. and Mrs. Frederic G. Oppenheimer Herpei-Gillespie ·Ed Steves & Sons Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Bondurant Mr. and Mrs. Frederic]. Oppenheimer Steves Sash & Door Company E. Hertzberg Jewelry Company The Borden Company Original Mexican Restaurant Straus-Frank Company Mr. and Mrs. Albert Hirschfeld Mr. and Mrs. H. Lutcher Brown (0. Farnsworth) Mr. and Mrs. Henry Stribling Henry H. Bryant Mrs. C. .M. Hocker Mr. and Mrs. George Parker Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Housman Studer Photo Company (Ben J. Studer) A. A. Buchanan Dabney E. Petty Sullivan & Garnett Hutchins Bros. Builders Supply Company Mrs. Estelle E. Petty Sunshine laundries Thomas E. Burns Interstate Circuit, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. 0. S. Petty Superior Woodwork Company Mrs. H. C. Phillips Mr. and Mrs. John F. Camp Mr. and Mrs. P. H. Swearingen Edwin M. Jones Mrs. Houghton H. Phillips Carl's Rt. Rev. and Mrs. Everett H. Jones Mr. and Mrs. Edward M. Sweeney Miss Jane Phillips Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Carroll Jordan-Ivers Motor Company Swift & Company Miss Susanna Phillips Mr. and Mrs. John Catto, Jr. Joske Brothers Company Mr. and Mrs. Vernon F. Taylor Felix A. Chapa, Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Oscar H. Judkins Pig,glv Wiggly S. A. Co. (Edgar Basse) Mrs. H. D. Thomson Mr. and Mrs. Lee Christy Theo. W. Pinson, Jr. Thrift lumber Company K.A.B.C. Mr. and Mrs. Chester Chubb Mrs. Randall G. Piper Mrs. Edgar Tobin Mr. and Mrs. Ernest W . .Cie!I)ens K. T. S. A. (Geo. W. Johnson) Pitluk Advertising Company Nathan Trottner Coca-Cola Bottling Co. ( Biedenharn) Dr. I. S. Kahn Pitman & Company, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. John W. Tryon Kallison's H. M. Crighton Plaza Hotel Karotkin Furniture Company Ike T. Pryor, Jr. Universal Bookbindery Dairyland, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Keator Richter's Bakery Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Vaughan Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert M. Denman Mr. and Mrs. I.ouis ]. Kocurek Mr. A. C. Reiden The Vogue, Inc. (H. A. Fish) Mr. and Mrs. Leroy G. Denman Mr. and Mrs. Otto Koehler Mr. and Mrs. E. Jedd Roe Dewar, Robertson & Pancoast W. 0. A. I. (G. A. C. Halff) La Louisiane Roegelein Provision Company Mrs. R. H. Welder Mr. and Mrs. L. A. Douglas Harry·Landa Mrs. Collins Rogers Dr. Pepper Bottling Company Mrs. R. l. White Gilbert Lang Mrs. T. C. Rote Mr. and Mrs. N.D. Dreeben Winn Stores (M.A. Winn) Sylvan Lang N. A. Saigh Mr. and Mrs. Frank Wolff Dr. and Mrs. E. D. Dumas Col.]. H. Lapham St. Anthony Hotel Wolff & Marx Co. (Norman C. Netter) Fehr Baking Company Dr. Henry N. Leopold Samuels Glass Company Mrs. Corinne .A. Worden John J. Fleet Mr. and Mrs. Frank M. Lewis San Antonio Bag & Burlap Company Fox Company (Mrs. C. D. Newton) Lone Star Brewing Company Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Zachry San Antonio Brewing Association Oscar]. Fox Lone Star Ice Delivery Zale Jewelry Company (AI Gartner) A. B. Frank Company Porter Loring San Antonio Drug Company Liston Zander Frank Bros. (Stanley Frank) Ignacio E. lozano Sol Frank Lucchese Realty Company Joe and Harold Freeman Most Rev. Robert E. Lucey Ed Friedrich, Inc. Mahan, Dittmar & Company Frost Bros. The Manhattan Cafe Friends of the Symphon~ Frost National Bank I. Marko Bell Jewelry Company, Bexar County National Bank, Mrs. Jack .A. Brousseau, Jr., Bernard Gardner Maverick-Clarke Litho Company Leo Dubinski; Fomby Clothing Company, Dr. Lee S. Fountain, Franz C. Groos, Gebhardt Chili Powder Comp~oy Walter W. McAllister Sid Katz, Liberty Mills, Colin C. Locke, Richard V. W. Negley, Strauder G. Nelson, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Goad Mr. and Mrs. B. B. McGimsey Col. Russell I. Oppenheim, Theodore M. Plummer, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Sinkin, Pauline Washer Goldsmith Mr. and Mrs. Marrs McLean South Texas National Bank, G. A. Stowers Furniture Company, Mrs. Stella Steves Walker, WeiJ;Jer Paper Company, White-Plaza Hotel, B. .A. Wiedermann. THE SAN ANTONIO SYMPHONY SOCIETY PRESENTS GRAND FESTIVAL WEEK By Eudora Garrett Opera, unless we relate it to the antiquity of the Greek chorus, first touched the then-unsuspected air-waves around the end of the 16th century. Florentine innovators · who were first to think "music-drama" in hyphenated form were certain to have been called off the beam-as innovators are. But they had a natural combination-one which went through phases of alternately accentuated "musically emotionalized speech" to "music with voice accompaniment." The resultant battles between singers and instru- mentalists has brought opera to its present state of balance. . San Antonio belonged to the Indians in those opera-forming years. But we can be sure that the ever-alert followers of the arti.stically inclined St. Francis, who founded "Mission San Antonio de Valero" (the Alamo) in 1712, dreamed longingly of a conti­ nental home where this thing called "opera" was coming into being. Certainly the Canary Island aristocrats, sent by a Spanish king to settle San Antonio a few years later, had such dreams. Others who have added their part to Southwestern civilization during the intervening centuries must have longed for entertainment such as opera represented . . . because opera soon grew to symbolize the ultimate refinement of European musical life. The ghosts of all who imagined such ventures as Grand Opera on the plains of South Texas might well be looking on this first Festival as an answer to their thought. It is experimental-admittedly. It is a tremendous undertaking for the San Antonio Symphony Society, the organization of citizens that sponsors the Festival as the chef­ d'ouvre of its six-year existence. It is the realization of all possibilities that opened when Max Reiter, Italian conductor of symphony and opera throughout Europe, came along as a gift to Texas from nazi-fascist persecution. The Festival brings for the first time, "grand opera in the grand manner" which its conceived. Twelve _Metropolitan Opera artists comprise the casts for four productions. The 100-voice chorus is made up of Texas singers who tell David Griffin of their gratitude for this opportunity to work with world-renowned opera stars. Stage sets have been designed and built here-the achievement for which the famous "Robin Brothers" have waited. "Tony" Stivanello, expert stage director of New York, is in charge of production. And Max Reiter's 75-piece Symphony Orchestra is playing all scores-a note that makes - national music news in itself, because only the uses an orchestra .of this size. This Festival is San Antonio's own achievement-one of which the city is proud. War-born, it gives thousands of men in uniform entertainment such as only New York, Chicago, San Francisco and a few other centers provide. It gives all citizens and guests of the city an opportunity denied those who cannot travel afar for such occasions. And it brings to fruition the dreams of countless unknown, unremembered human beings who have lived in this semi-Latin Southern city and dreamed of "the graces of life" in abundance . ... Particular appreciation is extended by the Symphony Society to every San Antonio business establishment and individual who contributed to this achievement . . . to the Radio Stations of the city for their splendid cooperation in publicizing the Festival over Los Angeles. California a wide territory ... to department stores like Joske's of Texas, Frost's ·and others who W in e Company, Inc., have recognized the Festival as a definite civic asset for San Antonio ... to the news­ . Co pJright 1945 Cre.

LAWRENCE TIBBETT AND* MORE

ARE* AVAILABLE ON VICTOR RECORDS 31 AX REITER, Conductor IGOR GORIN AT MILIZA KORJUS Responsible for founding, development and present excellence of the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, Max Reiter is a symbol of America's cultural victories in the present world upheaval. He was born in , , in 1905; was made to study law-like a compatriot named Mascagni - but dropped the gavel for the baton the day his sheepskin was won and his father's ambitions assuaged . His concurrent musical studies were so well applied that he served as assistant conductor at 's Berlin Opera house at the age of 20. Three seasons there resulted in his presently applied knowledge of opera technique. Bent on establishing a symphonic as well as operatic background, Max Reittr became permanent conductor of the orchestra of Milan and Trieste, his birthplace, and during five years of well-praised activity in these cities, was called as guest conductor for orchestras in , , France, Russia, TUDERS Poland and Yugo-Slavia, and every music center of Italy. ~tAe~ki$tdl~ In 1938, fascist officials asked Max Reiter to leave his native country-and America's door . 402 SAN PEDRO • NEXT TO AZTEC • 1032 S. PAESA was open to men of his ability. He came almost immediately to the Southwest where he has brought the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra to its present rank ,af}long the nation's 17 major symphonic groups-and established this first Grand Opera Festival~the ,"portent of things to come." Thursday Evening, February 22, a t 8:15 Tuesday Evening, February 20, at 8:15 Sunday Matinee, February 25, a t 3:00 Saturday Evening, February 24, at 8:15 Ca~alleria Rusticana L a Boheme (In Italian) (In Italian) OPERA IN ONE ACT Music by PIETRO MASCAGNI OPERA IN FOUR ACTS Libretto by TARGIONI-TOZZETTI and G. MEN ASCI Liberetto by GIASCOSA and ILLICA SANTUZZA, a village girl ...... FLORENCE KIRK Music by LOLA, Wife of Alfie ...... LUCIELLE BROWNING TURIDDU, A Young Soldier ...... FREDERICK JAGEL MIMI, .maker of embroidery ...... GRACE MOORE ALFIO, a Teamster ...... MUSETTA, a grisette ...... MARITA FARELL LUCIA, Mother of Turiddu...... MARY VAN KmK RUDOLPH, a po'et ... ·...... NINO MARTINI Chorus of Peasants and Villagers MARCEL, a painter ...... JOHN BROWNLEE COLLINE, a philosopher ...... CARLTON GAULD SCHAUNARD, a musician ...... WALTER CASSEL I ALCINDORO, a state councilor and follower (In Italian) of Musetta ...... COSTANTE SORVINO OPERA IN TWO ACTS BENOIT, an importunate landlord...... COSTANTE SORVINO Words and Music by RUGGIERO LEONCAVALLO Students, Work-girls, Citizens, Shop keepers, Venders, CANIO, Master of the Troupe ...... FREDERICK JAGEL Soldiers, Waiters, etc. NEDDA, his wife ...... MARITA FARELL TONIO, the Clown ...... IGOR GORIN Conductor ...... MAX REITER SILVIO ...... WALTER CASSEL PEPPE, HARLEQUIN ...... COSTANTE SORVINO Stage Director ...... ANTHONY STIV ANELLO Chorus of Peasants and Villagers Chorus Director ...... DAVID GRIFFIN Scenic Designers ...... EMILE and MARCEL ROBIN SYNOPSIS

Scene and Period: about ~830 SCENE is laid in Calabria, near Montalto on the Feast of the Assumption. ACT I Outskirts of a Village in Calabria-afternoon. ACT I Scene In the Attic ACT II The same evening. AC1' n Scene A students' Cafe in Paris Conductor ...... MAX REITER ACT m Scene A City gate in Paris Stage Director...... ANTHONY STIV ANELLO ACT IV Scene Same as act one. Chorus Director ...... DAVID GRIFFIN Scenic Designers ...... EMILE and MARCEL ROBIN POSITIVELY NO ENCORES ALLOWED POSITIVELY NO ENCORES ALLOWED Correct Librettos for sale in the Lobby Correct Librettos for sale in the Lobby

(A fifteen minute Intermission will be observed between the . (Fifteen minute Intermissions will be observed between each act. .. Refreshments will be found in the Auditorium basement.) Refreshments will be found in the Auditorium basement.) THE SAN ANTONIO SYMPHONY SOCIE-TY La Boheme PRESENTS: GRACE MOORE-who needs no introduction in Italian iragic opera. founded any part of the world ••. because-quite apart from formal opera, radio and successe11-11he touched its heart on Henry Murger's "La Vie in an unforgettable motion picture called "One Night of Love" ... and that heart has rested in her hand ever since. de Boheme." Music by Gia­ to stay ... She sings with equal ease for kings and queens and boys from battlefronts •.• before a little woman's club. como Puccini. Book by Giu­ for a friend's sake. as carefully as for Metropolitan critics ... seppe Giacosa and Luigi These latter gentlemen say her "Mimi"-with which she opens- San Antonio's First Grand Opera Festival-is her lllica. First production, Turin. finest role. a beauty .•. She leaves a great American good will where'er she steps. especially effective from Cape Hom 1896. The scene is Paris, 1830. northward these days, strengthened by her husband. Val Parerra ... is both "human" and "simpatico." SYNOPSIS: "The plot of La Boheme has its inception in the Latin Quarter of Paris in the p~riod of 1830 and also has its finale in the same locale. A redoubtable quartet, impover­ ished, reckless, happy-go-lucky, rich only in the joy of living and faith in themselves­ Rudolph, a poet; Marcel, a painter; Colline, a philosopher, and Schaunard, a musician-live MARTINI-"the world's handsomest " and work together, cheerfully defying hunger and the landlord of their garret studio. Into NINO the life of Rudolph comes Mimi, a wan little flower maker, and into that of Marcel, the gay whose struggle for bachelorhood must have exceeded his Muse.tta, who plays fast and loose with the artist. Alternate quarrels and reconciliations, struggle for fame •.. because the "Gentleman from Verona" has been a star since a -boy soloist debut at the age their gay celebrations and the ever pre~ent spirit of pathos, weave a story of great fascina­ tion that reaches a tragic climax in the death of Mimi in the cold and cheerless garret." of ten. Nino had operatic Europe in his hand when Jesse (By Permission of G. RICORDI & CO.) Lasky gave him to America through five singing films ... He had movidom at his feet when he entered the Metropoli­ Singers for San Antonio's Grand Opera Festival tell this story, act by act. as follows: tan Opera-without an audition ..• He wears radio's highest Act. I. Nino Martini a poet, and John Brownlee, a painter sit at work in an attic studio decoration ... 'because of a . voice that reaches the heights in Paris' Latin Quarter. John is painting what he considers is his masterpiece. However, it is so easily. so simply. that you know it's done with vocalistic too cold to work, and with their money and fuel gone, he proposes to burn a chair. Nino mirrors. Nino wanted to rest this fall ... but instead. found intervenes, and discouraged by the rejection of his drama, starts a blaze with his manu­ himself making a new operatic role with 's "La script. Carlton Gauld, a philosopher, comes in with the news that he cannot pawn his Scala" ... as the first good-looking "" ever heard ofl books. Walter Cassel the musician, on the other hand, has better luck, bringing fuel and food. The lanlord then interrupts the happy gathering, demanding the rent, but they ply him with wine and send him on his way. Shortly all leave but Nino. Grace Moore beau­ tiful and frail, who lives on the sal)1e floor, knocks and asks Nino for a light for her ~andle . She faints at the door, and Nino learns that she has consumption. At that point both candles go out and in the ensuing darkness their hands meet. They pour out their respective FREDERICK JAGEl.-the Brooklyn-born Ameri- troubles to each other and declare their love. can Boy who made good ••• and perhaps even made better the countless roles he has sung as "leading native tenor" of Act. II. While Nino discovers his love for Grace, the three others seek their usual the Metropolitan ... Of which a sample was his appearance dining haunt at the Cafe Momus to celebrate Christmas Eve. The three have a table set this fall opposite dainty Lily Pons in "." for Nino in front of the Cafe and thence he brings Grace and introduces her. At this point }agel says he came up the hard way by simple, steady Marita Farell, with whom John is in love, but with whom he has quarrelled, enters with a plugging along ... but his mastery of leading roles such as wealthy banker. The sight of each other is too much for both of them, and Marita sends the banker on an errand and the two ·are reconciled. Later the group discovers they he gives us in both "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "I Pagliacci" haven't enough money among them to pay the cafe bill, so they depart, taking Marita has nothing of drudgery apparent. That's the artist that is }agel . • . master technique, master difficulties • . . master with them, and leaving the banker to foot the check when he returns. any obstacle that stands in the way, then turn the verb into Act. Ill. Some months have gone by, and Nino and Grace have been blissfully happy a noun-and you have-The Master. That's }agel. !ogether, and, strange to say, exceedingly unhappy. Both are temperamental, and Nino IS passionately and jealously in love with Grace. One winte-r's day in their flat, Grace tells her story of Nino's love and jealousy to ·John, asking his help and believing that it is better they part. Nino: enters, and not seeing Grace, tells his side of the story, of his tor­ ment c;tnd his belief that she is dying. Grace coughs, giving herself away, and though she and Nmo try to !?art, they cannot and decide to wait until spring. In the meantime, Marita FLORENCE and John have a · terrible quarrel. Metropolitan pet" was several-times soloist with Act. IV. The scene opens showing Nino and John in their studio-both having parted Toscanini and conqueror of both South American and. with their lovers. Both pretend to be working hard, yet each cherish pangs and torment can operatic circles before singing last season with dt their separati'ons. Cassel and Gauld come in with a scanty meal of which the main York's august institution. It's no wonder the latins course._i&.-a h~rring. They all e~joy it boisterously as of old. Marita enters, saying that because Miss Kirk-though born in Grace IS outside., too weak and ill to go further. They all make ready a bed, bring her in, ably possesses something of that volatile and she and Nino· embrace, Grace begging him not to leave her. She then tries to reconcile OPERA NEWS captured the idea recently with this comrnent John a1,1d Marita, who tells everyone that Grace is dying and all depart to fetch a doctor "Despite the typically American qualities of her sturdy and medicine, leaving Nino and Grace alone. They recall their love until she is seized she wears a bit of the mantle of greatness, something with coughing and falls back fainting. Marita and the rest return with the medicine but it dignity, high seriousness and smoldering fire of an <>nArtrti~ is too late. Grace speaks once more to Nino and passes into a coma. With prayers and primadonna in the grand manner." sobs from all. the heroine, !rail, delicate and beautiful, dies. CapafLeria Rusticana * Italian tragic grand opera, founded on a story by Giovanni Verga. Music by Pietro Mascagni. Book by Giovanni Targioni­ Tozzetti and G. Menasci. First production, Rome, 1890. The Critic scene is a Sicilian village of the present time on Easter Day. SYNOPSIS: The prelude, in presenting the main theme, tells of Turiddu, a young Sicilian soldier home from army service, who finds that his old love, Lola, has in the meantime married Alfie, a village carter. As consolation, Turiddu makes love to Santuzza who returns I his love in kind. He soon tires of her, however, and turns again to Lola, who, jealous of Santuzza and being of a coquettish nature, welcomes Turiddu's advances. Santuzza tries to recapture. the heart of Turiddu an.d when she is repulsed tells Alfie of his wife's actions. Alfie challenges Turiddu and sian him.

The curtain rises on a Sicilian village church, decorated for Easter day. After a hymn by the villagers to the Madonna, a duet follows be.tween Santuzza and Lucia, mother of Turiddu, in which Santuzza tells Lucia of her grief. She is interrupted by Alfie who enters singing the rollicking "11 Cavallo Scalpita"-accompanied by a male chorus. A trio de­ velops and the scene closes with a hymn sung by all the people in the square, lead by Santuzza, working into a tremendous musical climax.

The next scene shows Santuzza telling her woeful tale to Lucia, climaxed by asking . . Lucia to pray for her. In the next scene Turiddu enters and Santuzza loses no time in be- stowing her wrath upon 'him. This is followed by a passionate duet in which Santuzza sees that her fears are well grounded. Turiddu avows his passion for Lola. This duet is inter­ For pleasing and enjoyable reproduction rupted by a song from Lola, heard in the distance. She comes nearer, luring Turiddu into of your treasured recordings use a the church. When Turiddu is gone, Alfie appears and the forsaken Santuzza tells him the FIDELITONE MASTER FLOATING whole story of Turiddu's baseness. Alfie swears revenge. Later the villagers come out of POINT NEEDLE ... kind to records the church singing a glad chorus followed by a drinking song led by Turiddu and Lola . . . . thousands of plays . .. floating point Alfie appears in the crowd and Turiddu invites him to drink with them. He refuses and they construction filters record scratch quarrel. !uriddu then bites Alfie on the right ear (a Sicilian form of challenge) and Turiddu ... satisfaction assured. is killed at the hands of Alfie and Santuzza is avenged. Available at leading record and music shops everywhere.

BLUE WlDTE SPARKLING DIAMONDS AND UNUSUAL GIFTS PERMO, 6415 lavensw-d HERTZBERG JEWELRY CO. San Antonio's Leading Jewelers for 67 Years

Ask an Oldtimer-he'll tell you all about Hertzberg's! I PagLiacci SAN A~N'TONIO Italian tragic grand opera. Music and book by Ruggiero Leoncavallo. · First production, Milan, 1892. The scene is near Montalto in Calabria, Italy, on the Feast of the Assumption be- A tvveen 1865 and 1870. · SYNOPSIS: Traveling players heade-d by Canio, the "Pagliaccio," enters the village. Jl1 us ic Tonic, comedian, sings the Prologue. Tonic makes love to Nedda, Canio's wife but she spurns him. Nedda has a lover of her own, Silvio, in the village. Silvio and Nedda have a se.cret love scene, but Tonic, now resolved on revenge. against Nedda, discovers the pair and tells Canio of his wife's infidelity. Silvio escapes before Canio can learn the identity Center of the betrayer of his honor. Canio is heartbroken at Nedda's falsity. E. H. Keator Mrs. Pauljne Goldsmith The players stage a little drama whose story is akin to that of Canio, Nedda and Silvio in real life. Canio, play now mingled with actuality, demands the name of the lover of Nedda. She utters it when s1abbed by Canio. Silvio rushes forward from the audience and Not until a national music magazine called this South Texas city an important music center this fall did anyone take the phrase seriously,-except as an ambition-not even is stabbed to death by Canio, who agonizingly cries, "the comedy is ended." the Symphony Society nor the orchestra's conductor, Max Reiter, nor all those who have "pounded pavements and sweated blood" to bring musical prestige to these parts. Act: L Opens with the picturesque arrival of the Paliacci, a troupe of And in line with aphorisms anent "prophets in their own country," it took national wandermg mountebanks, in the village. It is shown that Tanio the clown is recognition to awaken local recognition of what San Antonio has achieved along purely in love with Nedda, wife of Canio, master of the troupe. He m~kes advan~es cultural lines in recent years. One can't say these accomplishments were possible. either to her and she disdains him. He leaves, vowing revenge, only to return "in spite of" or "because of" the war that is uppermost in all minds; they came into being shortly afterward to hear Nedda declaring her passion for Silvio, a young more in the nature of a service to the war effort, providing fine entertainment for thousands of men in uniform stationed here. The city's ultimate. gain from this situation is incalculable peasant, and formulating plans to elope with him. Wh~reupon Tanio goes to and its significance will increase in postwar years. Canio and tells of Nedda's infidelity. Canio, furious and grief-stricken rushes to Nedda, finds that Silvio has disappeared. Nedda refuses to reveal Silvio's This winter the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra was re-rated to ·rank among the name and the act closes showing the wretched husband donning his costume nation's 17 major symphonic groups. Contrasting this with our population status gives an idea of the prominence accorded the SASO, operating this year on a $175,000 budget, the amid gloom and despair. · largest in the Solith. The 20-week season of is filling the 6,000-seat Municipal Auditorium almost every Saturday night, a record not equalled in any other city in the Act II. Tanio is shown beating the drum, with people crowding in to see country. And the Opera Festival, concejved as the greatest project yet attempted by the the show. Among them is Silvio who contrives to make an appointment with Symphony Society, is' unique; in no other music center is such a venture extant today. Nedda as she collects the money. The curtain of the little theatre rises to show the performance of a play the situations of which are almost exactly the same Such achievements rest-as great deeds always rest-on the foundation created by those indicated in that characteristically Texas phrase, "the pioneers." San Antonio has as th~ real si~uation faced by the members of the troupe. Columbine (Nedda) had its share of good music for years, through the zeal of local organizations and indi­ who IS to pmson her husband Punchinello (Canio) is making merry with her viduals who began building a 'musical audience long before the war increased its potential lover while Tanio the clown is on watch for her husband's return. When Canio to current attendance figures f9r all events. But in every music center, it is an orchestra appears, the play tragedy becomes a real one. Passionately, Canio rushes at that provides the nucleus of the city's musical life. An orchestra backed by the faith and hard-cash contributions of business leaders--as the SASO receives . . An orchestra Nedda demanding the name of her lover. She refuses to tell and Canio draws which develops along a steady "crescendo of excellence" such as the SASO has demon­ his dagger. Realizing her danger, Nedda calls to Silvio in the audience to save strated .. . An organization representing a civic attainment, worthy of notice such as the her. Silvio is too late. The husband stabs her and then stabs Silvio as he rushes SASO is being given throughout the United States and Mexico this year. to the stage. Canio concludes by turning to the audience with a wild cry of The beginnings· of the San Antonio Symphony Orches1ra were humble, its growth has' despair and hate and exclaims "La commedia e finite" ("The comedy is been solid. Carefully chosen by its splendid conductor, Max Reiter, its personnel now finished") . numbers musicians who have worked with Toscanini, Stokowsky, Walter, Koussevitsky and a score of other luminaries. They come from orches1ras of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Cincinnati and other music centers. Their performances under Mr. Reiter have transferred the prestige of such long-established musical groups to the plains of South Texas. RECORD SHOP In giving credit where. credit is due-to San Antonio, the pioneers, the Symphony EVERYTHING IN RECORDS Society and the orchestra, the · iwmes of E. H. Keator and Mrs. Pauline Washer Goldsmith are marked with stars; the "first performance" of the. SASO was the result of their effort, 321 Main Ave. F-0341 just as this Festival is the culmination of their six years of ·tireless volunteer service as SAN ANTONIO - HOUSTON - AUSTIN President and Organization Chairman of the Society. San Antonio-along with others of the world's music centers-says "Hats off for a . job well done! THE SAN ANTONIO SYMPHONY SOCIETY PRESENTS:

IGOR GORIN-who. though Russian born, is more handsomely American than a movie counterpart of same ••• and as charming as-well. as his charming wife, Mary ' . . Smith of Ohio. She is with him in San Antonio, visiting with friends. Incidentally. a recent national press release re Gorin said: '"In February he will start out on another trans­ e~ continental tour. It will be highlighted by two opera per­ formances in 'I Pagliacci' in San Antonio, where the up and coming San Antonio Symphony Orchestra will present a week of opera late in February with many famous names OF 1944-45 SEASON fr9m Metropolitan Opera."

Saturday, March 3 - 8:15 P. M. MARITA FARELL-about whom the manager of the renowned Glydeboume Opera Festival said. '"Anyone as beautiful as that could not possibly sing" ... and that SOLOIST sooth-sayer has been proven wrong every since. Marita grew up singing. and though she first sang in whatever language Czecho-Slovakians sing, her 'American' is perfect now. as are her citizenship papers. because she wants to belong to America. She does. Perhaps it happened that time in her JAD PEERCE childhood when her father, an excellent amateur musician. said-'"What I cannot be, I want you to be." Miss Farell's Leading Tenor Metropolitan Opera Co. most recent-and complete-conquest was of Canada. Her '"Zerlina" of '"" raised those northern roofs with applause this fall.

Saturday, March 10- 8:15P.M. JOHN BROWNLEE-the artist with the title of '"The Swellest Guy I Ever Met" •.• with no puns allowed. · SOLOIST because. he's also an honored member of the San Francisco and Chicago Opera Companies as well as-that one. Brown­ lee was born in Australia. discovered by none less than the revered Dame Nellie Melba, and made his debut at London's Covent Garden playing opposite this great singer as she HEIFETZ staged her formal farewell to a glittering operatic career. He is as close a friend as Sir has. The World's Greatest Violinist which sum includes many. His acting is as good as his , which most find flawless. And he's friendly as the 'Aussies' and as witty as they come.

Saturday, March 17 - 8:15 P. M. WALTER CASSEL-who has no business being SOLOIST gifted with such a voice, such a figure. such acting deport­ ment and such a good sound knowledge of the know-how. Cassel left Iowa and came to New York on a cattle train some years back. but he has received so many professional bouquets since. his arrival that he probably doesn't remember RISE STEVEDS the adventure-no? Seasons of successful musical comedy and operetta appearances didn't hurt his '"Met" calibre ... Mezzo Soprano, Metropolitan Opera Co.• Star as proven recently when every singer was practically boo-ed of Screen and Radio · .off the stage at one of the Sunday night work-outs, with Cassel bringing down the house ... '"What a singer!" they shouted. '"What an actor!" they added. '"And what a man!" agreed the American public. ~~Iii~~"" " '~"" ""~" " " '!!i!!!i!""""~"" ""~'~·~""""~""""'~ " "'""""""""""'""" " """ " """""""""'"'""" THE SAN ANTONIO SYMPHONY SOCIETY

PRESENTS:

LUCIELLE BROWNING-a product of the Old South who rode from Durham. North Carolina. to the Metropolitan Opera on The Pause. a voice that carried wings. It was Walter Damrosch who heard Miss Browning's college-girl trill-and pronounced it good; this led to study with Sembrich at the Julliard and finally to the winning of the Metro­ politian's Auditions of the Air. She hasn't disappointed either Yankee sponsors or quiet-voiced boosters from Ca'lina since then .. . as her That Refreshes handling of the role of the faithless "Lola" of "Cavalleria Rusticana" will elucidate.

MARY VAN KIRK-who slips into the San Antonio Opera Festival. hiding her light under the bushel of Lucia's role in "Caval­ leria Rusticana." If there had been more roles for a contralto, Miss Van ~ Kirk's bushel would have been lifted quite a bit, 'because she also entered the Metropolitan through the " Auditions"-and she had to be good. as she has worthily proven to m any concert and operatic audiences. Born in Ohio and colleged in Cleveland, this "Mary of the Met" is another American girl we'll hear more about.

ANTHONY STIVANELLO-who knows as much about opera stars of two continents as any living man-it's .said . .. who has been production manager for more operas than he can remember .. . who is still as young as a raw GI in spirit, but neat and sophisticated as a diplo­ mat . .. he's the man behind the scenes who pulls them to­ gether for San Antonio's Opera Festival. Stivanello has no equal in the business . . . and-as both a "scion of the illustrious Stivanello family of Venice" and as a self-chosen and warmly-welcomed American-he's doing a great work flADI·MAliC liO. U. S. PAT. OPP. for music from the Atlantic to the Pacific in this land. in Bottles DAVID GRIFFIN-one of the most delightful personalities of which Texas can boast-as ;well as ·a musician whose calibre has no measuring rod, because he's unmeasurable. Having appeared as soloist with Stokowski, the Victor Herbert Orchestra. with the Cincin­ nati Symphony and near other such podiums, Griffin is a man who could have done anything he chose-and who, thanks be for Texas, chose finally to do what he wanted to do around these parts. He lets his chorus speak for him in the Festival. And all South Texas-and foreign parts as well-salutes him. SAN ANTONIO EMILE Or MARCEL-whose last name is ROBIN, of course, but who have become so well-known to South­ COCA-COLA BOTTLING CO. westerners that first names for the brothers are enough-and inseparable. Parisian born. but aggressively and worthily Texan for years, their artistry has been pronounced tops by 123 LA FITTE G-4256 experts of all strata, from Billy Rose (whose famed " Casa Manana" they design ed) to our own producer, Stivanello, who says their sets are all set before he has a chance to unsettle them one whit. Scenic design s for San Antonio's Hrst Opera Festival will be remembered-and credited to Emile and Marcel. ~mnmnnmrmnmnnmrwnnmmw • • " ''" ' ' ' '' "' ' ''''' "'''' '"' ' '"' ' ~ ' '''' " ' '' ' '"'" ' '"""""" ' """ """ " " "'"""" " """" "" """""""' ~ OPERA FESTIVAL CHORUS DAVID GRIFFIN, Director LOVELY MUSIC BRILLIANn Y PRESENTED Dorothy Arendt Alice Melville Simpson Guido Ransleben Antoinette Bailey Ruth Steen Warren Reitz ORCHESTRA Gisela Bauer Norma Stocker Gerry Rudes Sundays 2 - 3:30 P. M. Lucile Bigley Maria Storts Charles Stone Dorothy Braun Charlotte Tingle Wm. A. Storts Grace Marie Bridgman Margaret Tocci Lewis Swearingen Mary Neilson Brooke Georgianna Towers C. L. Turbeville * Neli Brown Isabel Tryon Francis E. Weinholt GREAT MOMENTS IN MUSIC Helen Frances Carter Mary Ethel Vaughn Fred Zalmanzig Wednesdays 9 P. M. Carol Comstock Lucille Vaughn Make-up Clare Alice Conner Cecile Wiggs Leila Pyron Greenlee, Helen Farrell Edna Lee Winerich Director . Marjori :'.' Gibson C. J. Andrews Joe Burger !'laney Griffin Elie E. Arnaud John Fecci * JAMES MELTON Patricia Griffin Phil Bauman Florence Saxon Kay Hudson George A. Bigley Charles Stone Sundays 3:30 P. M. Sundays 8:30P.M. Cecil Kern Joseph Burger Tom Conroy LeGrand John C. Pecci Julia James Thelma Lemman Harrison S. Green Floy Klar * Aileen McKeogh Wm. J. Kranz Clare Alice Conner Virgi nia Maxwell Wm. Kring Children's Group KTSA Lorene Moyer Branch C. Lipscomb, Jr. Billy Bowen Susanne Phillips Harry J. Lister Robert Bridgman FIRST, 550, ON YOUR DIAL Joan Quarles Milton McAllister Don Danvers Edna Rees Geo. J. McMahon John Otis Kirkpatrick Lenair Richardson Thos. E. Malone, Jr. Patrick Miller Gladys Roden Albert Marshall Robert Morris Jan Russell Paul Mellenbruch Robert Tobin Jeanette Schwegler Mm. R. Mounce Lucile Winerich Julia Helen Shireman George Peckham Suzanne Zachry "REGINA COELI" church interior chorus of "Cavalleria Rusticana" composed of members of Church and other Choral organizations of San Antonio.

Acknowledgment is made to Mesdames S. M. Lippard and Gilbert Lang, in charge of Properties Compliments for all productions, and to the following firms and organizations for contributing properties: Tou­ douze Furniture Co., Plaza Hotel, St. Anthony Hotel, Trottner Iron Works, and Hot Wells School. 8d. Steves & Sons Home Builders for 78 Years 704 E. Commerce St. - Fannin 6361 :PIANOS STEINWAY CHICKERING KIMBALL

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