(2 of 4)
SWEET CHARITY. Dancer Gwen Verdon once more erupts like a volcano on the U.S. musical stage, and Bob Fosse's choreography is sizzling with sly social comment, bubbling with inventive wit. Neil Simon's book, alas, lies dormant.
CACTUS FLOWER. If love is a delicate blossom in the desert of life, the French may claim to be the most happy of horticulturists. This romantic comedy, expertly transplanted from the banks of the Seine by Abe Burrows, cleverly tramples the grapes of mirth.
YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU. George Kaufman and Moss Hart's 30-year-old tour de farce is a riotous reminder that absurd may mean wacky, not world-weary, that humor, after all, may be amusing rather than bruising.
RECORDS
Opera HANDEL: SERSE (Westminster; 3 LPs). One of the greatest boons of the expanding recorded repertoire was the debut last year on vinyl of Handel's Rodelinda; now comes his tragicomic opera Serse, or Xerxes, which begins with the famous aria Ombra mai fu, generally called Handel's Largo, a song of praise to a plane tree. The deep, dark, mellifluous voice of Alto Maureen Forrester as the Persian king is set off by the light, bright vocal acrobatics of Lucia Popp, a rising young Czech soprano. Brian Priestman is the conductor, using the Vienna Radio Orchestra and Chorus and an excellent harpsichord accompanist.
VERDI: DON CARLO (London; 4 LPs). The usual cuts have been restored and all five acts are here, sung by an assemblage of stars: Renata Tebaldi, Carlo Bergonzi, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Nicolai Ghiaurov and Grace Bumbry. Their voices often outshine their characterizations (though Bumbry is good as Eboli and Ghiaurov as Philip), and the solos are stronger than the ensembles. Conductor Georg Solti generally keeps rein on the sprawling tragedy, which unfolds with dark grandeur and erupts with fiery excitement in the auto da fe in the great Spanish square.
PUCCINI: TURANDOT (Angel; 3 LPs). For this generation at least, Swedish Soprano Birgit Nilsson has firmly appropriated the treacherous role of the icy Oriental princess. Seven years ago, Nilsson recorded Puccini's last opera for RCA Victor, and now has repeated her triumphal performance. The plus value in the new set is Tenor Franco Corelli, who in brilliance and power is Nilsson's match, and as Calaf can credibly convert the cruel princess into a woman in love. The earlier recording is superior, however, having Erich Leinsdorf as conductor and a generally better cast, including Renata Tebaldi as the second female lead and Georgio Tozzi as the Tartar king.
AARON COPLAND: THE TENDER LAND (Columbia). An abridgment of Copland's only major opera, set on a Midwest farm in the '30s. Though the characters sing of gingham and the smell of stew, the music is not homespun, being tenderly lyrical. A small-scale work suitable for opera workshops, it was recorded by soloists from the New York City Opera, with the Choral Art Society and the New York Philharmonic, Copland conducting.