Operatic Feast

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 440, 23 August 1928, Page 14

Operatic Feast

MASCAGNI TO CONDUCT OWN OPERAS IN ST. MARK’S.

OPEN-AIR PERFORMANCE The performance of opera in St. Mark’s Square, Venice, this month will he a unique event in musical history. The composer Mascagni Vill conduct his own opera “Cavalleria Rusticana,” also Leoncavallo’s “I Pagliacci,” two works which almost invariably make a double bill in the world’s opera houses. There will be special seating accommodation in St. Mark’s Square for 7,000 persons, and standing room for as many more. Mascagni will have under his direction some of t! most notable singers of Italian opera, artists who have appeared at Covent Garden, London, in addition to the leading opera houses of Italy, and who are known in New Zealand through the medium of the phonograph. Among the principals will be Aureliano Pertile, tenor, Carlo Galeffi, baritone, and the sopranos, Rosetta Pampanini and Bruna Rasa. The chorus will comprise 250 Voices from La Scala, Milan, and the local choir. There will be 160 men in the orchestra. Under La Scala Direction The Venetian Federation is organising this season of opera, which will last a fortnight. Rovescalli, manager of La Scala, has designed an immense stage which will be in accordance with the wonderful architecture of St. Mark’s Square. For this occasion the Italian Railways have granted a big reduction on the fares from all the frontiers of the kingdom, so that it is expected there will be a huge influx of visitors to see the performances.