Word: caston
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Casting about for a suitable centennial opera last winter, Denver Symphony Conductor Saul Caston latched on to Puccini's "drama of love and redemption" in a California mining town, chiefly because it went well with Red Rocks' rugged mountain setting. Director Herbert Graf altered all references to California to read Colorado, hired Soprano Eleanor Steber to sing the role of Minnie the barkeep. To help fill his cavernous outdoor stage, he hired a covered wagon and a troupe of horses from a 4-H club. And to avoid frequent scene changes, he transferred the action in Acts...
Conductor Caston could hear the soloists only through a set of earphones, which went dead during rehearsals. Soprano Steber walked out of the dress rehearsals after trying to sing over howling winds, and the chorus of miners, recruited from local choirs and glee clubs, groped for entrance cues. In the waning hours before the curtain, carpenters hustled about frantically shoring up scenery. But on opening night, Puccini's grand old horse opera went off with scarcely a hitch, moved a capacity audience to reverberating applause. The heroes of the evening, in the eyes of Director Graf, were without question...
...Caston won Denver like a Pied Piper-by winning its youngsters. At his first children's concert, when rowdy kids hooted, hollered and whistled, Caston had his musicians hoot back. He has lured Denver adults-at-large into the tent with special family concerts: the whole family goes in "under, one umbrella" for $1.20. Last season the umbrella worked so well that extra seats had to be installed. For the mink-and-Cadillac set, Caston made the opening concert of the season and the annual fund-raising ball two of the big social events of the Denver season...
From his podium, Caston gives them hearty classical fare well spiced with moderns. Last season the Denver Symphony was among the leaders in performing American music...
...Caston has also invaded the hinterland. This winter the orchestra will brave snow & ice on bus trips to such cities as Cheyenne, Wyo., Fort Morgan, Colo, and Scottsbluff, Neb. As usual, Caston & Co. will play matinees for the children. After all, he and his musicians expect to be in the Rocky Mountains a long time...