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Brief but brilliant, opera stormed Hartford Tuesday night, raised the music and social season to a simultaneous climax with a performance of Verdi's "Rigoletto" by the Metropolitan Company at the Bushnell Memorial Auditorium, and disappeared into the city's musical annals.

For the short span of three hours that most awesome form of music known as Grau Opera held the stage, bringing us Lily Pons, Lawrence Tibbett, Anna Kaskas, and Charles Kullman. The tumultuous reception given them while certainly in tribute to their art, also recognized Miss Kaskas and Mr. Kullman as natives of Connecticut. It was another one of those welcome-home-comings such as was tendered to Mr. Kullman and Rosa Ponselle when they appeared here in "Carmen" last year, and such as Miss Kaskas had already received previously this season when she appeared in recital. It imparted additional fervor to the enthusiasm of the audience - and, who knows, but to the singer's performance too.

At any rate, they were called out for, and took special homecoming bows, and everybody gave them special applause, and seemed very genial about the whole thing.

Audience in Merry Mood

Last night it again seemed that the audience, recognizing that a Hartford opera-goers life, so to speak, is a short one, were intent on making it a merry one. While it is impossible to say that the hall held a greater crowd than usual, since it always sells to capacity for practically all the major events, the animation and thronging always seem greater on the one or two opera nights each season affords. The spirit of the crowd appeared more than usually lively, jostling about the lobby and crowding the staircases before that performance and jamming the foyer in an impenetrable smoke screen during the intermissions. They rang the hall with extra noisiness, just as they rang the auditorium rafters with extra enthusiasms during the performance.

The jamming and jostling, however, began long before the people even got inside the lobby. From quarter of eight until quarter after, automobiles were jockeying for positions in the side streets around the Bushnell Memorial, and for places at the auditorium curb. To those watching, it was diverting, but to cab occupants it was sometimes a molasses-in-January experience.

Search by season: 1936-37

Search by title: Rigoletto,

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