Carmen
HE first thing to be said about the Carmen season, now in full swing in Dunedin, is that it would have been impossible anywhere in New Zealand if there had been no National Orchestra. Those who have been demanding light music from the orchestra, popular programmes and popular tours, now have their answer. Whether it is good or bad aesthetically that the orchestra should be used on the Carmen level, it is a public necessity in a country which has the material for one orchestra only, and maintains it out of public funds. It is in fact clear that grand opera is as impossible in New Zealand without a national orchestra as a national orchestra is without a national broadcasting service. If the Broadcasting Service had not been prepared to bring the stars from overseas, and had not been able to promise them the assistance here of a well balanced orchestra, New Zealand would never have seen them; and if it had not been prepared to put a proportion of. the performances on the air, ‘those who for various reasons still can’t see Carmen would not have heard it. Whatever may have been the case 100 years ago, or even 20, the difficulties in the way of a grand opera season under private enterprise are now insuperable if we are to have full-scale performances. Dunedin, for example, is hearing a chorus of 65 and ar orchestra of 45, and when all the other costs are added, including the stars, it is plain that to bring a-whole company from overseas, even if transport had been available, would have been a hopeless venture commercially. But it is just as well to remember that listeners are not bearing the whole cost either. Those who see Carmen will pay for the privilege; not as much as private enterprise would have had to charge them, but enough to take most of the load from the taxpayer. It is not a case of making all the public pay through the nose for something that many of them do not want. Most do want Carmen and those who don’t will not be much inconvenienced,
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 467, 4 June 1948, Page 5
Word Count
358Carmen New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 467, 4 June 1948, Page 5
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