ae

Standing ovation for Riel

HIS year it seems the estab-
blishment has gotten a
conscience about Louis

Riel: a statue to be built in
Regina and an opera produced
in the capital of Ontario, the
centre of the greatest anti-Riel
expression while he was alive.

Produced with the financial
assistance of the Centennial
Commission, the Canada Coun-
cil and the Province of Ontario
Council for the Arts, this musi-
cal drama of 3 acts (18 scenes)
was an ambitious undertaking
for the Canadian Opera Com-
pany, and the standing ovation
at the end of the premiere per-
formance indicated how well
they had acquitted themselves.

The first two acts deal with
the history of the founding of
the province of Manitoba, the
last with the events in Saskat-
chewan in 1885. The main pro-
tagonists in Mavor Moore’s por-
trayal’ are Riel, the idealist,
fighter for the rights of his
people, the Metis, and Sir John
A. MacDonald, cynical, drunken,
prime minister of Canada. con-
cerned to stay in office at all
costs.

Unfortunately, particularly in
the characterization of Riel,
this shorthand sketch leaves
much to be desired and the
bringing in very early in the pro-
duction of the “visions” which
it claimed Riel had, give a dis-
torted view of his real role in
history, particularly of Manitoba.
Somehow the whole Riel never
comes through. In this respect
though a very creditable perfor-
mance by Bernard Turgeon in
this role helps the production.

Some of the smaller roles,

also briefly sketched, do capture
a picture of the man—especially

those of Cartier, Bishop Tache

and Dr. Schultz.

The change of pace between
the solemn tragic “grand opera”
style of the western scenes, with
the almost Gilbert and Sullivan
character of those in Ottawa
serves as a contrast but again
leads to a feeling of oversimpli-
fication of the history it is re-
creating.

Sir John A. Macdonald, as
sung ably if not brilliantly by
Cornelis Opthof (albeit with a
Dutch rather than a Scottish ac-
cent) is a bit too much the
comic. and too little the man
who after all did serve as Cana-
da’s prime minister for so many
years.

The musical treat of the eve-
ning was Roxolana Rosiak, as
the wife of Riel, singing, unac-
companied, a lullaby to their
baby. Not only ‘is she a fine
singer but this is one of the few
times that melody seemed to
play an important role in the
music.

Harry Somers, the composer,
is obviously of the ~modern
school of atonal music, and for
those that like it, one can say
it was competently done, but
for those who think there should
‘be melodies that one can remem-
ber after the performance, the
music was most disappointing.
In places too, the excessive use
of brass instruments seemed de-
signed to drown out the singers.

The use in the settings of pic-
tures and headlines from the
files of old newspapers on
screens, with simple, stark
scenery in front, made for good

INTERVIEW:

Cuban artists in

ISITORS to Toronto recent-

ly included three Cuban

cultural workers. They
were Alberto Alonzo, choreogra-
pher with the National Ballet of
Cuba, Yolanda Arenas, an act-
ress and Harry Tanner, a direc-
tor for the documentary film
studio.

What they told us indicated
great concern for cultural activ-
ities in Cuba and the wealth of
talent that this small country
possesses.

Alonzo has been part of the
ballet world for over 30 years.
As a matter of fact he remem-
bered being in Toronto many
times before the war when he
was with the Ballet Russe de
Monte Carlo in their perf>rman-
ces at the Royal Alexandra
Theatre.

The first professional ballet

The es of Book
World is pleased to announce
@. special bookfair featuring
fifty years of Soviet books.
| This bookjfair is in comme-
ytoration of the 50th Anniver-
sary of the Socialist Revolu-

: tion.
Included at the fair will be
books an science, art, history,
economics, fiction, Marxism,
records, prints and crafts.
Books and items from other
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featured. .
The bookfair will take place
on November 3, 4, 1967 in the
| Reception Room of the Park
Plaza Hotel, the hours are

from 12 noon to 12 midnight.

company started in Cuba in 1948
but it was only after the defeat
of Batista that assistance came
from the government for the
work.

Now the company consists of
60 dancers but. Alonzo pointed
out that with the national school
of ballet there will soon be two
or three more companies as
well.

While most of the ballets they
perform are the classics, he has
introduced a number of new
works. One of these, Carmen, he
first choreographed for Miya
Plisetskaya of the Bolshoi Ballet
and then re-did for the Cuban
company.

He described a new Cuban
ballet that he said was very pop-
ular. Called El Solari, it deals
with friction in human relations.
A “solari” is the patio in the
centre of a building which will
house a number of families, each
of whom has a room onto this
patio. Because it is so typical of
Cuban life it has been most
warmly received. The musical
score was ‘written by a young
Cuban, Gilberto Valdes. The bal-
let company has toured many
countries, particularly of Europe.

Yolanda Arenas then told us
about the growth of theatre in
her country where as a result
of subsidies there are now many
professional theatres, amateur
companies and groups in facto-
ries and other places of work.

She, herself, was in a small
dramatic workshop called the
Cellar, which does a lot of: ex-
perimental work.

One of the problems they first

October 6..1967—PACIFIC TRIBUNE —

staging and efficient changes in
what was in fact a very long
opera with many scenes. The
effect was of news being crea-
ted before ones eyes.

The use of both the French
and English languages adds to
the believability of the history,
although the scenes in which
one or the other are used is not
always completely clear, parti-
cularly in a Catholic church in
Northern Saskatchewan where
for some reason English is
chosen.

It is in the seeing of an opera
like Louis Riel, that one is even
more conscious of the great loss
to our country in the absence
of a permanent opera company,
which would be able in a more
leisurly manner than was pos-
sible for the Canadian Opera
Company to deal with a new
production. Certainly it is no
mean thing to produce such an
opera with as little time as this
company has and more time, one
feels, would have made possible,
some alterations in the produc-
tion which would have smooth-
ed some of the rougher spots,
wielded the orchestra and the
singers into a more united whole,
and deepened the understanding
of the performers of the people
they were representing.

As it is one can only be full
of admiration for the efforts of
the Canadian Opera Company,
for the fine conducting of Vic-
tor Feldbrill and the stage direc-
tion of Leon Major.

‘At the trial in Regina, in the
words of the opera, Riel said:
“I believe I have a _ mission.
When I came, the Indian starve.

Toronto

had was Cuban plays but that
according to this actress, is now
overcome and there are lots of
them.

She said there were many,
many people now studying act-
ing, both for the stage and for
the movies.

Commenting on Canadian the-
atre she said that the Poor Alex,
in Toronto, and Stratford were
the best she had seen.

Harry Tanner, who sounded

exactly like his Nova Scotian

ancestors, was born and has
lived his life in Cuba. So in spite
of the fact that you felt he had
just dropped in from, Halifax
when you heard his accent, his
words indicated that not only
in form but in content he is truly
a Cuban.

Before the Cuban revolution
there was no film making. It was
the first new industry establish-
ed after the revolution.

Today it produces 15-20 docu-
mentaries a year and one or two
feature films. There are three
types of documentaries, he said,
cultural, informative and politi-
cal. In the latter category, he
referred to a recent film on the
Vietnam war. They also produce
a number of cartoons every year.

Their films have been exported
around the world and have been
seen at all major world film fes-
tivals.

There are now 21 directors in
the documentary studio and six
in features. One of the problems
he spoke of was the obtaining
of good color film and also the
question of the effects of the

LR. Bernard Turgeon as Louis Riel, Oskar Ra
and Roxolana Rosiak as Marguerite Riel. rr |

The Metis have no rights, no
Jaws: and now they live like
men! . . . What are these mad
ideas of mine? Only that human
beings have rights. . . . If you
agree with the Defence that I’m
not responsible for my acts, you
must acquit me, since I fought
an irresponsible. government! If
you agree with the Crown I’m
sane, acquit me all the same: I
acted sensibly, in self-defense,
against a government’ gone
mad!”

For all the criticisms that can

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humidity on the film.

Asked about his own work, he
said that the last three films he
directed dealt with egg produc-
tion (with a humorous history
of an egg to enliven the technic-
al information, cutting of sugar
cane (in which he filmed a record
cutter’s way of developing an
efficient rhythm) and one for
the health organization on the
Mosquito.

He was pleased that Cuban

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