István Kertész (conductor) "Fidelio" and "La bohème". In March 1960, Kertész was invited to become General Music Director of the Augsburg Opera—a post especially created for him. There he conducted performances of Mozart's "The Magic Flute", "The Abduction from the Seraglio", "Così fan tutte", and "The Marriage of Figaro", earning himself a reputation as one of the finest interpreters of Mozart's work. With exhilarating performances of Verdi's "Rigoletto", "Don Carlos", "Otello" and "Falstaff", and Richard Strauss's "Salome", "Arabella", and "Der Rosenkavalier", Kertész also proved himself a master of the finest of Italian Romantic operas. Invited to the Salzburg Festival, he conducted "The Abduction
Joan Carden sang a concert repertoire including Verdi's "Requiem", appearing with Sydney Philharmonia and other ensembles. Overseas, she sang Gilda ("Rigoletto") at Covent Garden in 1974, Donna Anna ("Don Giovanni") at the 1977 Glyndebourne Festival (in the production by Sir Peter Hall) and with the Metropolitan Opera in 1978. Her American debut, however, was as Amenaide with the Houston Grand Opera opposite Marilyn Horne in Rossini's "Tancredi". She also appeared as Constanza ("The Abduction from the Seraglio") with Scottish Opera in 1978. In 1980, she performed with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. She sang the four