Philadelphia Conservatory of Music - Variations Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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i AN 'OPERA CLASS REHEARSAL FOR' THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO VA I :Q . ,.lX4l9l9l'Q6lCA,7, I, 1 4 2 u -' A quesfion was puf 'ro mesrecenrly onhow l had approached' my sfudenfs' on such 'aflarge 'and complicafed work as Mozar+'s Marriage lofi Figaro , rand- how I look fhem fo l'he proof1of ihe fire , as we say in lhe' fheaier, wiihoui burning fhem. lf is noi an easy quesrion fo'a'nswe'r.' lcon only say 'rhai' I began by explaini'ng'1'o fhem every characfer, dramafical- ly, hisforically and pfsychologicallyg Then by following a successful experi- menf offfhe Salzburg Opera, we usedfhe spoken recifafive, and began wifh speaking The lines according fo +he 'rype of characrer porfrdyed. From +ha+ sfep we followed 'wiih +he acfing, and fhen combined i+ wifh lhe music. l do no'r believe in 'rhe chalk mark melhod-2-fhaf is, marking fhe spols on fhe srage where fhe sfudenf musf be ar given momenis. To my mind, a sludenl' musf unders+and when he musl sfand slill and when he musl move-and why! Only in 'rhal way can a sfudenl' become a professional on fhe slage, A young professimral if you wish, bufnol' a liille studerzt. ENZO SERAFINI LUPO 21

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all W All educalion is sell educalion bul' some environmenls are more 'favorable 'ro ihe process lhan olhers. In my classes I hope lo provide climalic condilions helpful lo an educalional process conceived fo co- ordinaie lhe abilily and personalily of lhe individual sludenl. In class discussion lhe sludenl is exposed lo a variely ol opinions and experi- ences. He learns lo work wilh people of diuclerenl' background and lemperamenl. Everyone is engaged in lhe same process ol search and discovery. I+ mighl be poinled oul, however, lhal lhis search can be more successlully carried on il, from lime 'ro lime, music in form of lhe prinled page is laid upon a llal surface and scrulinized carefully-al home. VINCENT PERSICHETTI iiilfrudile sludenls will recognize I'I. W. as lhe abbrevialion lor Home Work . !Q8I1'l Gill LU! .7 One day you fold me of your approach fo a 'Famous sculpfor, when you were a mere boy. You said he fold you where fhe fools were and gave you lhe clay, fhen he Iel you work. Bul, inslead of using his fools you used your fingers, and when he quesfioned you concerning lhis, you said: Masl'er, lhese are my fools-len of +hem. Well, I 'leel lhal your melhod of leaching us is very like lhis incidenl. You give us suggeslions, noi' as a means lor imifalion, bul as lhe fools wi+h which we may work-all fhe while hoping lhe good Lord will place al our disposal lhe nalural characlerizalions which are inwardly fell, and which are resources ol our being, much as your lingers were wilh lhe cla . ' Y Your suggeslions lo us are as lhe pain+er's brushes and colors, and from 'lhem we painl our inlerpreialions as we feel lhem. Then wilh 'rhe Masler' hand you correcl our errors: and we grow wilh each correclion and suageslion, as a piece of clay in your lingers grows info lhal which you wish il lo be. Remember 'lhal lillle example, Mr. Serafini? Remember? JANE CROWTHER '20

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?i7y0l'H0il'J lgcnlgce Some Americans do noi realize how wonderfully prolecied 'their lives have been. Thal' is why l should like lo fell you a li+l'le aboul lhe worsl years of my life. The nighl before my lwenly-iirsl birfhday in Augusi I944, l'he Communisrs oi Slovakia began a revolurion, aboul which we had no warning. As ihe Russians were ralher near, lfhey senl' parachulisls 'ro aid 'rhe Slovakian Communisis. When l say Slovakian, l mean 'those un- forrunare people who lived in rhe dispured Ausrro-Hungarian ferrilory. Their land had been raken of one rime by 'rhe Czechs and fhen freed by Hifler. He gave ihem fheir firsi' self-governed Republic offer many years of enslevemenl' by ofher naiions. Af firsl' lhey did noi' realize lhal their self-governed Republic had lo dance fo Mister l'lil'ler's flufe. When ihey did realize ir, fhey Turned to Communism, for Communism did seem ro be the -freedom fhey soughi, and lhe Russians surely did fheir share to make il' appear so. The firsf inkling we had of fhe revolulion was The culling of our telephone line, fhereby making if impossible fo gel' help. Then fhe shoolfing sfarfed, and if lasfed all nighf. Af The break of dawn, we gol' the carriage our and managed fo gel' our besf sfallions lo pull ii, for we had children wilh us and if was irnporianf io gei +o 'fhe nexf Town uickly. q The revolufianisrs fried lo sfop us. Armed wifh pifchforks and oiher agriculfural implemenls, rhey blocked The road, and in order To save our lives we had io run over fhern. Arriving of fhe nexl' fown, we wen? fo rhe railroad sfafion fo ge? whafever 'irain was available. We soon learned 'There would be no more Trains. g g Affer fhree days of woifing, we found fwo men who could operafe a irain, and we paid Them io lake us io Prague. This frip normally 'fook rwo hours, but if look us iwo days. Arriving af Prague, we crossed fhe border and wenf fo Vienna. . A+ Vienna more suffering awailed us. The air raids began and we spem' mosl of our fime in cellars. When Vienna was declared a forlress, women and children were asked 'ro leave. I had had enough of being on fhe roads so l sfayed. Laier l learned rhai many of fhose who lei? had been killed. One nighf while we were hiding in a cellar, we heard bricks falling close by, machinegun fire, and slrange voices. Bullels began 'ro sirike comrmueo ON PAGE 27 ' 22