Julliard Joins Loeb In Double Opera Bill

Harvard and the Julliard School of Music will stage two Italian light operas jointly at the Loeb Drama Center this winter.

The productions will be financed by an $8,400 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.

Daniel Seltzer, director of the Loeb, said yesterday that Monteverdi's "Il Combattimento di Tancredie Clorinda," and Luciano Berio's "Passagio" will coincide with the 400th anniversary of Monteverdi's birth.

The Harvard-Julliard production, Seltzer said, by combining professional and amateur acting, will expose the Harvard community to theatre on a different level than is usually seen at the Loeb, in the form of musical drama.

Fewer Students Involved

The use of professional actors and singers in the opera will mean that only 20 Harvard and Radcliffe students will be cast in acting and singing roles, Seltzer said. Students will perform the unusual second chorus of Berio's "Passagio" in which they will be seated among the audience during the play.

"Passagio" was written in 1962, and was performed at La Scala in Milan two years ago. Berio is presently at Harvard on a one semester teaching fellowship.

Mino Pirrotta, chairman of the Music Department, yesterday described Berio's work as "musical and optical realizations outside of any genre." Berio uses language as a basic element in music, and creates emotional effects by distorting the phonetic emphasis of words.

Other Harvard students will work on the production's technical staff. Seltzer said that about half of the sets will be built at the Loeb, while the rest will be made in New York.

Julliard, which will supply the orchestra and soloists for the operas, is presently working with the Harvard presently working with the Harvard Music Department on the musical score.

Slides as Backdrop

The Visual Arts Center has completed a series of color slides to be projected onto the stage as part of the backdrop of "Il Combattimento."

Seltzer said that this is the first time that several Harvard departments have worked together with another educational institution to produce a musical drama at the Loeb.

"We hope to produce at least one such event at the Loeb each year, without diminishing undergraduate use of the Drama Center," Seltzer added.