Re: [ARSCLIST] Oscar Levant-William Kernell Opera 'Carnival'

[David Lennick <dlennick@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Unless I'm thinking of something else, that opera came out on an LP produced by
film historian Tony Thomas for one of his labels (Medallion?)....had some
interesting Oscar Levant airchecks as well.

dl

Mike Richter wrote:

> Thomas Stern wrote:
> > This 'opera' composed for the film CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OPERA.
> > Can anyone identify who the actual singers in the film are?  Thanks.
> > Best wishes, Thomas.
> >
> Boris Karloff plays an opera baritone (singing dubbed by Rico Ricardi)
> suffering from amnesia and a desire for revenge. He is suspected of a
> murdering a woman onstage but detective Charlie Chan (Werner Oland) has
> his doubts. This was one of the best of the low-budget Chan films based
> around the Honolulu detective created by Earl Derr Biggers. Oscar Levant
> composed an imaginary opera called Carnival for this film including
> overture and arias. The libretto by William Kernell was created around a
> Mephistopheles costume used by Lawrence Tibbett in Metropolitan. It was
> given to the Chan picture to be worn on-stage by Chaney in the stabbing
> scene. Levant discusses this opera in his autobiography A Smattering of
> Ignorance and there is an analysis of it by Irene Hahn Atkins in Source
> Music in Motion Pictures. H. Bruce Humberstone directed for 20th Century
> Fox. Black and white. 66 minutes.
>
> Copyright @ 1997 by Ken Wlaschin. All rights reserved.
>
> Mike
> --
> mrichter@xxxxxxx
> http://www.mrichter.com/