Word: contralto
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Clean-Scrubbed Kansas. His opening curtain rose on a prairie-farmyard scene. His characters were plain, salt-of-the-earth folk: a grandfather (Basso Normaiv Treigle), a mother (Contralto Jean Hand-zlik), daughter Laurie (Soprano Rosemary Carlos) and a pair of drifting farmhands. The plot, such as it was, moved from Laurie's high-school pregraduation party through a brief, unrealistic courtship ("I'd like to have a wife for a while," sang one of the drifters), and ended on a symbolic note by sending the girl off in search of her future...
...gradually shouldering a greater load of heavy Wagnerian leads. Big (5 ft. 8 in.) and strong enough to brandish a spear handily and with enough stamina to last out a four-hour opera, Soprano Harshaw seems a natural Wagnerian. She arrived at the Met in 1942 as a contralto, gradually developed her high notes until she became a full-fledged soprano. A fortnight ago, she began belting out impressive "ho-yo-to-hos" in one of Wagner's grandest roles -the helmeted goddess Briinnhilde in Die Walkure-with such success that some critics were comparing her with Flagstad herself...
Telephone Hour (Mon. 9 p.m., NBC). With Contralto Marian Anderson...
...Republic of Haiti, the second Western Hemisphere nation (after the U.S.) to gain freedom, last week jubilantly marked the 150th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence from France. U.S. Negro Contralto Marian Anderson was there to sing for the celebrations, which included a dinner for 700 local and foreign notables at the ruined palace of the fabulous Black Emperor Henri Christophe. There were speeches, dances, pageants. But the eye-popping main event was a sham battle near Cap Haitien, watched intently by President Paul E. Magloire, U.S. Senator Mike Mansfield, the U.N.'s Dr. Ralph J. Bunche...
Only the soloists performed expertly. Edward Munro, tenor dispatched the florid Every valley with accuracy and pleasant sound; although bass Irvin Nordquist lacked truly dark vocal color, his part remained dramatically exciting. Eunice Alberts, a little too restrained at first, improved after intermission, displaying her rich contralto tone and careful diction. Soprano Marguerite Willauer distinguished herself in both the intricate coloratura of Rejoice greatly and the more restrained line of the recitatives...