Found: An Ai'da

In Washington last week, one Edith Wallack, plump, easy-going housewife of 26, packed her husband off to work, her two children off to school, then sat down to glance through a New York newspaper before starting on the breakfast dishes. In the paper that day there was printed a unique notice: Wanted, a soprano to sing Ai'da. . . . Margaret Matzenauer, famed contralto, had been engaged to sing the role of Amneris (Egyptian princess) with an otherwise obscure troupe in Manhattan's gaudy Mecca Temple on May 9. But to get itself a soprano for the slave girl's part the management had decided to resort to an open contest, the winner to get $150 for her performance. . . . Housewife Wallack had never sung Ai'da, had never sung in any opera. But she had studied singing for two years, had a smattering of singer's Italian. She telephoned a neighbor, asked her to mind the children--Helen, 9, Charles, 6. She thought it might be wiser not to try to explain to her husband, Nathan Wallack, busy at his radio-supply store. She packed a bag, scuttled for the first train. Eighty other women hoped to sing in that one performance of A'ida but Housewife WTallack won the contest with her strong, clear tones. Asked for an interview, Impresario Paul Sydow refused in her behalf. Said he: "I don't want her to go like Marion Talley. Besides, she has enough to do to learn her part in ten days." In this same favorite opera, Soprano Anna Turkel of Woonsocket, R. I. touched fame by a triumph in the Cairo opera house witnessed by U. S. Minister William M. Jardine, Prime Minister Ismail Sidky Pasha and many another important Egyptian (TIME, Feb. 23). Soprano Turkel started with at least one advantage over Housewife Wallack. She used to sell candy and cigarets in the Metropolitan Opera's refreshment room, so had the opportunity to hear great singing, to meet great singers who started her off on a serious full-time career.

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