748 THE SURVIVAL OF CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY
starring Allan Jones and Martha Raye and directed by Edward A. Sutherland,
which includes a spirited chariot race finale and an added song, "The Greeks
Have No Word for It"; and the delightful A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to
the Forum (1966), for which Stephen Sondheim wrote both the music and the
book, starring Zero Mostel and Phil Silvers and directed by Richard Lester.
Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady (1964) is also a musical delight, particu-
larly for Rex Harrison's Professor Henry Higgins. The play upon which it is
based, George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, may also be enjoyed in its classic movie
version (1938), starring Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller.
The Broadway musical by Kurt Weill, One Touch of Venus (1948), based on
The Tinted Venus by F. Annstey and adapted by S. J. Perelman and Ogden Nash,
has been considerably modified for the screen; yet it remains amusing enough
as it tells about a statue of Venus (Ava Gardner) in a department store that comes
to life and falls in love with a window dresser (Robert Walker).
The powerful Gospel at Colonus (discussed in the previous section) is another
musical now available for viewing; this is a piece that definitely should be seen
and not just heard.
Performances of dance, some of which are on film, are discussed in the pre-
vious section. Operatic performances are also available on video. Of note are
Tippett's King Priam (Kent Opera) and two Glyndebourne Festival Opera pro-
ductions, Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice (with Janet Baker) and Monteverdi's // Ritorno
d'Ulisse in Patria.
A contemporary version of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, staged by Harry Kupfer
(The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden), has Orpheus sung by a male alto,
Jochen Kowalski, in leather jacket and with electric guitar, pursuing his Eury-
dice, who has died in a car accident. Yet another video, this time the French ver-
sion of Gluck's opera, is conducted by John Eliot Gardiner and directed by Robert
Wilson. From the same conductor and director comes a performance of Gluck's
Alceste, starring Anne Sofie von Otter. Three interpretations of Strauss's Elektra
have been filmed, one from the Metropolitan Opera with Birgit Nilsson in the
title role and Leonie Rysanek as Chrysothemis, another (directed by Gôtz
Friedrich and shot on the outskirts of Vienna amidst filth and rain) with Leonie
Rysanek as Electra and Karl Bôhm conducting the Vienna Philharmonic, and a
third starring Eva Marton with the Vienna State Opera conducted by Claudio
Abbado. We also have a choice of two performances of Mozart's Idomeneo, one
from Glyndebourne and one from the Metropolitan Opera, the latter starring
Luciano Pavarotti, in a production by the controversial Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. Ari-
adne aufNaxos from the Metropolitan Opera stars Jessye Norman. Norman also
appears as Cassandra in the Metropolitan's production of Berlioz' Les Troy ens,
in a cast that includes Placido Domingo as Aeneas. Finally, Offenbach's
delightful operetta, La belle Hélène, is available, conducted by Nikolaus
Harnoncourt.