Radio Digest (Nov 1929-Apr 1930)

46 Programs Planned for Opera Lovers A PROGRAM which should delight the heart of the lover of grand opera is scheduled for the fall and winter seasons this year. A total of thirtythree of the world's most famous operas will be broadcast by the National Grand Opera company, through a coast-tocoast network of the National Broadcasting company. Cavalleria Rusticana, by Mascagni, opened the season on September 13. Members of the National Grand Opera company appearing in these undying creations, are all noted Radio artists and have been heard on the air during past seasons. Among the artists cast in these programs are: Astrid Fjelde, Devora Nadworney, Alma Kitchell, Julian Oliver, Gitla Erstinn, Mary Merker, Katerine Palmer, Aimee Pushon, Isabella Addis, Jane Williams, Henry Shope, Harold Branch, Maurice Taylor, Taylor Buckley, Darl Bethman, Leon Salathiel and Einil Cote. All broadcasts begin at 10:30 o'clock, eastern time, and continue to midnight. Cesare Sodero will direct and conduct the operas for the entire season. Four operas seldom, if ever, heard on the air are included in the list of those to be presented. They are RimskyKorsakoff's "Snegouritchka," Massenet's "La Navarraise," Skilton's "Sun Bride" and "Halka," by Moniuska. "Russian Shadows," written by Cesare Sodero and given its world premiere through the NBC system last spring, will be repeated this season and will be presented in two parts, the nights of February 12 and 19. Other leading artists to be heard in subsequent productions include Genia Zielinska, soprano; Paula Hemminghaus, contralto; Muriel Wilson, soprano; Frank Croxton, basso, and others. The complete schedule for the season follows: 1929 Nov. 6, Aida (Verdi). Nov. 13, Pagliacci (Leoncavallo). Nov. 20, Faust (Gounod). Nov. 27, Samson and Delilah (SaintSaens). Dec. 4, The Light From St. Agnes (Herlig).. Dec. 11, Martha (Von Flotow). Dec. 18, Boris Godounov (Moussorgsky). Dec. 25, Hansel and Gretel (Humperdinck). 1930 Jan. 1, Gala Operatic Concert. Jan. 8, Le Coq D'Or (Rimsky-Korsakoff). Jan. 15, La Gioconda (Ponchielli). Jan. 22, Romeo and Juliette (Gounod). Jan. 29, La Forza del Destino (Verdi). Feb. 5, Pearl Fishers (Bizet). Feb. 12, Russian Shadows, Part I (Sodero). Feb. 19, Russian Shadows, Part II (Sodero). Feb. 26, Carmen (Bizet). March 5, Snegouritchka (RimskyKorsakoff). March 12, Der Freischutz (Von Weber). March 19, La Navarraise (Massenet). March 26, Mignon (Thomas). April 2, II Trovatore (Verdi). April 9, Prince Igor (Borodine). April 16, Natoma (Herbert). April 23, Pagliacci (Leoncavallo). April 30, The Magic Flute (Mozart). May 7, Norma (Bellini). May 14, The Sun Bride (Skilton). , May 21, La Favorita (Donizetti). May 28, Halka (Moniuszka). \ C"1 OLIN O'MORE has spent many an ^ hour singing of sunshine and making hay and other cheery rural occupations as a tenor and hero on the Philco hour operettas. He had a chance to find out just what it was all about last summer when he visited the farm of Henry M. Neely in between his Friday night broadcasts. Neely, Philco's Old Stager, has a real farm down in New Jersey and believes in making his guests work when they visit him. While making hay in the fields O'More made friends' with a husky looking team of oxen and put on a healthy coat of tan to help carry him through the winter months. s in ! OWNERS of Radio sets in Japan must pay for the privilege of operating them to the extent of one yen monthly, which is levied by the government. Amateur wireless stations, which exist by the thousands in the United States, are banned by the Japanese government, Harry W. Wells, Radio research engineer with the Ail-American Lyric Malaysian expedition, reports in a communication received by Eugene R. Farny, president of the All-American Mohawk corporation, financing the expedition. The Japanese are great Radio fans, Wells says, and the widespread ownership of sets is eloquently demonstrated by the veritable forests of tall bamboo poles, which are used for aerial masts. Thousands of these bamboo masts sprout from the roofs of the larger cities like Tokio, Kobe, Koyoto, Yokohama, Osaka and Kamakura, he says. These cities were visited by the three members of the expedition bound for Dutch Borneo for Radio and anthropological research. So fond are the Japanese of Radio entertainment that they make no protest against the monthly payment of one yen, which goes into the government coffers. There is a growing feeling against the prohibition on the operation of amateur wireless stations and there is hope that the restrictions will be removed, according to Wells. It Seen by Year 1979 WITH the rapid advancement during the past few years of Radio broadcasting and reception have come many dreams and forecasts of what the future holds in store. Of all the seeming impossible pictures sketched of future accomplishments none perhaps is more fantastic than that of a prominent Radio editor and official of the National Association of Broadcasters. A world which sees all and hears all through the air — a world which is mechanically operated by Radio impulses— a world which is in communication with the other planets by means of Radio — all this is visioned in the recent utterances of this broadcasting authority. The perfection of television to the point where every home will be able to see as well as hear important national events as well as baseball games and horse races is forecast by this authority. Even static may be conquered by 1979, the period of which he dreams. Worldwide broadcasting will have become passe and interplanetary communication will at least be attempted, he modestly states. Passengers on giant transcontinental and transoceanic planes will be in constant communication with their homes and offices by wireless telephone, and the very ships they ride in will be operated by Radio impulses. "Surely human ingenuity will not halt at the solution of these problems," he continues, "but will attempt to transmit odors by Radio so that a perfume buyer in Chicago may select the scents desired by having the Parisian perfumer send out Radio samples of his products. The next goal sought will be the transmission and reception of solids by atomic disintegration." What's next? ^ ^ -K Services of the Central Church of Chicago are again being put on the air by WENR. Dr. Frederick F. Shannon holds his services in Orchestra hall. The church is non-denominational and is noted for its musical presentations. It maintains a chorus of one hundred voices under the direction of Dr. Daniel Protheroe. >, ACTION, rather than talk, marks the present status of television, according to J. E. Smith, president of th\ National Radio institute of Washington. D. C. "Television is shaping up nicely, even though little is being said about it these days," states Mr. Smith. "With engineers applying the final touches to the first televisors to be introduced for home use, and with television transmitters now operating on regular schedules, I expect practical television to make its formal bow before Christmas. At least, it would seem that everything is in readiness. "Of course the televisors to be introduced within the next few months will be relatively crude. The images will be limited to 48 lines, which means coarse detail. Synchronization will be obtained by the use of synchronous motors on the same alternating current power system. Nevertheless, I believe that television will meet with immediate favor because of the dramatic appeal of flashing pictures through space, such as they may be, and that the art will rapidly develop in everyday use. The programs may be little more than simple silhouette movies or perhaps closeups of faces, hands, type matter and so on.