Taking It Straight.
[OR 90 minutes on a recent Sunday evening 1ZM played recordings of Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and very good it was to have so long a stretch of consecutive music uninterrupted by comments or chimes. When it was over I tuned in to 3YA’s Rigoletto to find myself more than usually irritated by the
dramatic commentary. It is of course necessary at some time or other to learn the plot of an opera to’ enjoy the music fully, but ‘like many other listeners I have seen Rigoletto on the stage in this country, have heard the NBS annotated recording a good many times, I have read one or two opera books and at least one hundred accounts of how Verdi predicted such success for "La donna e mobile" that he kept the tune secret till the last moment. It is not a difficult plot to grasp, and all I ask now is to be allowed to sit back and listen to the music. Whatever justification there is for a talkative guide to help us through our first one or two hearings of an opera, the time comes when we would journey alone. The pleasure that 1ZM’s Elijah gave made me think it would be a fine thing if some of these smaller stations would give us a few week-end operatic evenings-just the straight recordings, ;
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19451102.2.17.7
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
New Zealand Listener, Volume 13, Issue 332, 2 November 1945, Page 9
Word count
Tapeke kupu
225Taking It Straight. New Zealand Listener, Volume 13, Issue 332, 2 November 1945, Page 9
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Material in this publication is protected by copyright.
Are Media Limited has granted permission to the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa to develop and maintain this content online. You can search, browse, print and download for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Are Media Limited for any other use.
Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.
Log in