Opera in Oregon

In Portland, Ore.'s big, barny Civic Auditorium, 2,500 people last week bravoed and whistled approval of a tenor bellowing Verdi's Il Trovatore. The tenor's name, if not his aging voice, was authentic bigtime--Giovanni Martinelli of the Metropolitan Opera. The National La Scala Opera Company had hired him to prove that big names can be combined with local unknowns to make successful opera.

The impresarios of La Scala--a short, swart Italian named Amelio Colantoni and a onetime choirmaster named George Lee Marks--found that this principle had its difficulties. Martinelli demanded $1,500 per night--more than he now commands at the Metropolitan. The day of the performance was the sort which makes Impresario Colantoni exclaim: "I go through days that I wouldn't wish on a dog."

The singers and stagehands demanded their money in advance. Police arrested and briefly jailed Manager Marks, on the charge that season ticket holders had been promised three productions, were getting only two. Finally, Trouper Martinelli had to be cajoled into working for comparative throw money--$600. But Manager Marks exulted: "We have proved it can be done."

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