Parata di splendore

Schmaltzy as it is, this biopic about the legendary classical music impresario Sol Hurok and the many singers he introduced and represented to music audiences is worth every lengthy moment because of the voices and music it contains. Among the treats: Jan Peerce's magnificent operatic voice emanating from the handsome face of Hollywood actor Byron Palmer, the great Ezio Pinza portraying the great Feodor Chaliapin, violin great Isaac Stern as Eugene Ysaye, gifted opera singer Roberta Peters as Elsa Valdine, and Tamara Toumanova as ballet superstar Anna Pavlova. Holding it all together in non-singing roles are David Wayne as Hurok, in probably the best role of his acting career, and Anne Bancroft as his devoted wife, in a role that barely gave a clue about what was to come in "The Miracle Worker" and "The Graduate."