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last night. The incongruity of German in an Italian opera was occasioned by the substitution of Pilar Lorengar for the still-indisposed Elisabeth Schwarzkopf as Mrs. Ford. Miss Lorengar, the Spanish soprano who made her debut with the company last week, was apparently the only one around who could take over the role. The fact that she knew it only in German had to be accepted. Odd as it sounded, it was better than having to forego "Falstaff," which would probably seem like the miraculous opera it is even in Esperanto. And Miss Lorengar, handsome to behold and thoroughly at home in the part, had a fine warm voice for her music. She is restudying the role in Italian and hopes to be ready to sing it in that language at the next performance. The performance, with three singers singing their roles for the first time this season, lacked precision in the ensembles, nor was there any vocal opulence to speak of. But there was Geraint Evans's superbly characterized Falstaff, Frank Guarrera's elegant Ford, Luigi Alva's delightful Fenton and enough of the original Zeffirelli production left too offset the routine elements And, of course, there was the Verdi score, never less than magical, to make one forgive any flaws onstage.

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