Variety (Apr 1942)

Wednesday, April 2% 1942 •NIGHTINGALe AND EOSE' Wl5 Vivian Delia ClUega, Felix KnlBht, E»rl Wrlfhtson, John Her- rick Beatrice Goroe, Home Jame- son,'Frank Black, NBC Symphony Orchestra 60 MtaF. AprU 24, Z to 3 p.m. ^l^AF-NBC, New York This is a radio opera especially composed for NBC by George Less- ner, adapted from Oscar Wilde's story, 'The Nightingale and the Rose.' The opera, like so many of its Amer- ican predecessors, wlU not live, for its score is almost unslngable. It is regrettable that Lessner, who possesses a real talent for writing melodious harmonic music; did not see fit, or was not able, to. write more successfully for the human' voice. His parts are written so high as to make diction impossible to un- derstand; and his singers even in the short time allotted to them strain to the utmost. As the Nightingale, Vivian Delia Chiesa poured out an endless succes-- sion of top A's, B's and C's in bril- liant" effortless fashion, but the so- prano is a lyrico-spinto and the part actually calls for a lyric coloratura with the low notes of a dramatic soprano, an animal which just is not In existence in the world of song to- day Also the arias or duets given her are decidedly uninteresting from a singing standpoint, although the orchestral background Is rich in melody and harmonics. The same criticism holds true of the music given Felix Knight to sing, and the young tenor also came through fault- lessly but, due to his part, uninter- estingly. The story of the opera might have been woven into a more pleasing version In its choice of English, which contains many words of an unsingabie nature. Story deals with a student, desirous of dancing with a professor's daughter, seeking a red rose ia his garden, her price for the dance. No such rose exists and in despair he sinks to the ground sob- bing. Pitying his misery, the night- ingale throws herself against a thorn of the niost beautiful rose in the garden, pressing forward until the thorn pierces her heart, drenching the rose in a deep crimson with her life blood. The student does not se- cure his dance, for the capricious girl decides the rose does not match her dress, so the nightingale's sacri- fice is in vain. John Herrlck, the baritone, had much trouble with the high tessitura, ESrl Wrightson displayed some ex- cellent low tones, Beatrice Goroe as the girl was adequate, while the run- ning commentary of House Jameson was welcome since the diction of the singers v/as frequently marred by •their inability to make understand- able A)unds due to the terrific tessi- tura. The NBC symphony played well under Frank Black. It might be hoped that Lessner would devote his time to symphonic writing, for his music has a definite Puccinlan flair in an orchestral manner, and it might well be that writing for orchestra is his forte. Eddy. <ROLE OF SCIENCE IN THE WAS' With Prof. Albert B. Newman 15 MIns.—Local Sustaining Batnrday, 10.46 a.m. WNYC. New York City Prof. Newman,' Dean of the School of Technology, City College of New York, and regional advisor to the U. S. Office of Education, In this episode of the series emphasized the vital importance of engineers in war Industry and pointed to the paradox- ical situation whereby many young- sters had been taken out of engi- neering courses and drafted into ser- vice without regard to their special- ized training. Prof. Newman said that tills mistake has been recog- nized and that attempts will be made to trace the missing engineer poten. tlal in an effort to bring It back out of the army rank and into the im- portant nation's engineering pool. War industrlSa will be obliged to get along with a minimum of gradu- ate engineers first because many who had been members of the Reserve Oflicera Training Corps had already been called into the army and sec- ondly because many had been draft- ed before completing-their courses. Prof. Newman contended that, contrary to common belief, more en- gineers will be required after war plants are completed in order' to continue the development of war in- dustries. He added that the U. S. could not afford to let Germany get ahead in the various flelda of r«- aearch either. Mori. RADIO BEVIKWS tt TUB MOST INT.I- , •ALU APPI»OAOH_ AMtniCA' % LAIIfli»«T MARKET. 5000 WftTTS EDWABD B. MVBROW Comment 16 MIns. INTEBNATIONAL SILVER Snnday, 6 p.m. WABC-CBS, New York (Young & Rubicam) Back in London after a four-month visit to the U. S., Edward R. Murrow started a new weekly series Sunday (26) in the 6-6:15 p.m. slot on CBS, succeeding the 'Silver Theatre' for International Silver. For his first shortwave broadcast for his first sponsor, Murrow ■ confined himself almost entirely to general comment, leaving the straight news reporting to . Bob Trout on the 8-8:30 pickup from London by CBS later the same evening. Murrow's talk was almost exclu- sively of London through the eyes of someone who had been away from it over a long winter. As usual, he displayed a^knack for penetrating observation plus the ability to ex- press it in graphic terms. By the nature of his material, the broadcast was unspectecular, but it was illum- inating. C^smmercial copy was suitably brief for the occasion. Opening contained merely a sponsor identifi- cation. Closing blurb was for Inter- national sterling silver, not Rogers Bros, plate. Announcements were read from New York. ■ Hobe. 'ALIAS JOHN FREEDOM* Mary 3IiUord, Grace Cooper, Grace Sholtby, Sid Bodsers, Ivan Green Drama 30 MIns. Snstalninc Sunday, 7:30 p.m. WJZ-BIue, New York Last Sunday's (26) was the second instalhnent of this series and the re- sult was nothing for which' anybody connected .with it could take bows. The scrlptist, Forrest Barnes, must have been frightened by a cliffhanger serial In the early days of network radio and never got over it. The barbaric cruelty that he depicted so graphically In this particular episode could easily be credited to the Ges- tapo but it isn't the sort of thing that the more sensitive stripe of listener, paricularly women, are going to fancy. Telling about a broken arm is one thing, but having- the act dramatized in all its sadistic details is something that doesn't settle well within the family circle, especially when it includes young children. While nothing new, 'Alias John Freedom' poses an interesting dra- matic conceit. The central character, presented here as a foreign cone spondent, is a chip off the same imaginative block as 'Scarlet Pim- pernel' and 'Mr. V.' Only in the case of 'Alias John Freedom' the writer is more concerned with bludg- eoning the listener over and over again with the torture methods of the Gestapo than in portraying how the victims of the Invaded countries (episode No. 2 had Czechoslovakia as its locale) employ sabotege and coun' ter-terrorlstic battles and are assist- ed in escaping from their tormentors. For a takeoff of the famous Grand Guignol this second Installment ^as a scorcher. In addition to the arm- breaking incident there were such shocker tidbits as a man going grad- ually insane by the process of auto- suggestion and giving a horror-by- horror account as he sinks to his death in a patch of quicksand. Obviously those In the Blue's San Francisco branch who are responsi' ble for this series have a curious conception of what constitutes effec- tive modem propaganda. This ex- ample went out of date with the last World War. Odec. 'ANSWEBING YOU' from'England 30 MIns. Snnday, -6:30 pjn. WNYC, New York This is an interesting diacuMlon group that meets weeldy In a BBC studip, the subject and fh« «xpcrts varying from week to week, to give broadCEtst lepliei to question! put to our Allies by American citizens. The names and addreiMli of the latter are given. In thli hearing of war plant ?ioIlcles in Great Britain, the qucs- lons came from Pennsylvanians, State of Washihgtoniang «nd,lrom several official* of American labor unions in Manhattan. To American ears the fairness and frankness Is enjoyable. The dispas- sionate acceptance of worker repre- sentation on factory production com- mittees on terms of equality would be a bit of a lurplie to msaiy over here, although WNYC! does not guar- antee an audience among this group. Rather it may be luppoied only those already receptive to or fa- miliar with tibe new democracy in factories would be apt to listen. Not too much exchange of view- point through radio broadcasts has occurred even now between America and England. What little there is suggests the value and progress pos- sible to a more elaborate and reg- ularized exchange. Too often the BBC programs Intended for the U.SJL Mve been releaaed on lesser rather than major stations, and at obscure rather than prominent points in the daily ichedule. And to the extent that mutual aelf-interest In the luture i;«quire* better under- standing and friendliness between Yanks and Britons, radio would seem an Ideal medium. ... Meantime the audience for 'An- swering You' is regrerttably small; Land, . WALTER KANER Postage Stamp News 15 MIns.—Loeal Sustaining Snnday, 8.30 p.m. WWRL New York. According to an assertion on tnis program, there are 9,000,000 stamp collectors in th U. S. Sizable num- ber of these must live in New York, which has led Walter Kaner, WWRL press agent-broadcaster, to offer a weekly series aimed at them. As heard Sunday night (26), the show took the form of an interview .by announcer Hal Graves, with the con- tinuity roughly split between bally- hoo favoring stamp-collecting and the story of the world's rarest stamp, a one-penny New Guinea issue of 1847. There was little actual news or chit-chat of the stamp world. Program itself was rough, giving the impression that Kaner was talk- ing from notes, not a formal script. And considering that he and Graves are professional broadcasters, they gave little suggestion of spontaneity to the spiel. Incidentally, Kaner said repeatedly that the New Guinea stamp is worth $50,000, but failed to state on what basis that valuation was reached. He .asserted that it drew $32,000 at auction some years ago and more recently sold for $40,- 000, but was unable to state who owns it now, or why its value should have risen $10,000. Show opened with that familiar postoffice quotation about 'neither snow, nor sleet,' and so on, followed by sound effects of hoofbeats, trains, ships and planes. Also recorded mu- sical theme. Hobe. 'POWERHOUSE' With Raymond Scott Orth., Dorothy Collins, Billy Leach 30 Minutes WABC-CBS, r»ew rork Despite the "Powerhouse* title, which indicates a session of strictly Scott music, the first of a trio of half-hour broadcasts showed Scott's new band in a new and most pleasing light The typically Scott titles and ideas for music were evi- dent, but so was a leaning toward commercialism, and all of it was played well by a band that sounded well rehearsed and enthusiastic over what it was doing. Program was neatly paced, alter- nately spliced with pops and themes of the style Scott Is known for, but even the latter things showed a tendency to reach for a more popu- lar level. 'Caterr'llar Creep,' 'Secret Agent,' and anc.ier new thing the title of which was hard to cat^ all were in a dance tempo. Since a dancing beat is a major requirement no matter -what technical trails a piece explores, Scott undoubtedly will find better reception from the youngsters who heretofore found his stuff delightful to the ear but a puzzle' to the toes. This program certainly won him additional friends. Add to the instrumentals a couple of pops done well by Billy Leach, Tangerine' and 'I Don't Want to Walk,' latter best, and Dorothy Collins' surprisingly fine, velvet- voiced approach to 'Blues in the Night' She shows great promise. Howard Barnes' production in- jected just enough talk and history of Scott and his music to teke the broadcast above an ordinary band remote, but wasn't wordy enough to Interfere. Show originated at Blue Gardens, Armonk, N. Y., where the band is on location. Wood. 'THE ARMY HOUR—N*. i* Sanday, AprU tt, S:S« pja. WEAF-NBO, New Terk The fourth of the broadeatti or- ganized by. the United States Army proved a splendid job of attitude* forming, information-giving, ipirlt' warming radio. The first haU In par« ticular packed a lot of interest in taking the listeners from Long Beach to Detroit to Montreal to Newfoimd- land to Scotland and eventually to an actual combat air^eld in England. The progress of American-mad* bombers from factory to battlefront is the story of the Bomber Ferry Command—^Yankee as far as Mon- treal, British from there on. What made the. telling of the story interesting was the seemingly art- less) actually careful piling up oMh*- little deteils of human relations, tha imderstatements, the quiet routine, even occasionally bored, day's work of transferring the machines of death overland and then overseas. The interviews were dramatic be- cause they were completely free of dramatics. Most of the dialog was stripped to a few. ordinary, sentences. It was smart too, on the E^Ush side to include a woman pilot who said her work was 'hard but worthwhile.' The public could hardly'escape ac- quirhig a sense of confidence that the Ferry Command is first-rate on all counts of efficiency, care, courag* and dependability. In such states of mind lies, it may be supposed, J>etter morale. The rest of the iprogram^^while lesi potent because diffuse and miscel-' laneous, held interest It revealed a steady improvement In the editing and organization of the program, music-wise and continuity-wise. ■ Land. Big things are ^ppenlng in and around Detroit Michigan fields, last year green with com, have sprouted huge armament plants—one of them the largest building in the world. Production lines, that carried fuicy autos now roll off mighty fighting tanks. Massive bombers jfirom a single factory soon will be Qomplctcd one tvery hour, day and night. These are facts which perk the ears of Mr. and Mrs. American Citizen as they listen to the radio program called F.O.B. Detroit. Originated every Saturday by WJR for 92 CBS stations, this broadcast is Detroit's report to the nation—an authentic account direct from the lips of those men who have converted the world's greatest automotive center into a mammoth Arsenal for Democracy. There have been rumors that America cannot produce armaments fzst enough to avert defeat, that Americans go into battle with empty hands. Radio can com- bat these Axis lies. Radio does combat them with word of weapons F.O.B. Detroit. BASIC STATION.COtUMBIA. »ROADCASTmG SYSTEM O. A.. Rlchardf, Pr»»Id«n»...leo J. FItipatrIck, Vle« Praitdent and General Manager Edward Petty & Company,bt> Nolkinal Repretentothre