The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-30
Opera for the PeoDIe.

From the FdU Mall Gazette.
1t appears from an article in the ReUue It
Gazette Musicale that a project is entertained
of establishing in Paris an "Opera for the
People, to which the prices of admission
should range from half franc upwards To
make such an undertaking pay it is obvious
that the building must be large enough to ac-
commodate many thousand spectators; but if
the experiment be fairly tried little doubt
need be entertained of its ultimate success.
The opera, though hitherto looked upon as
an entertainment appealing specially to the
taste of more or less aristocratic class is at
the same time, the only form of the drama
suitable to very large theatres, in which, as
in the theatres of antiquity, measured
defamation must, of necessity he substituted
for the tones of ordinary speech. Whether
opera be, at the present moment, a popular
entertainment or not, ii is the only theatrical
entertainment with the exception of horse
riding, rope dancing, and circus performances
generally which can be advantageously Of
fered to an assembly of from two or three
thousand persons and upwards. Indeed, in
a properly constructed theatre, operas might
be performed with good effect before au-
dience, as large as those which have been
brought together at the Crystal Palace by the
Handel festival performances, and more re-
Gently 10y the concert in memory of Rossui.
At the Rossini concert operate pieces of all
kinds were given; and a most favorable impress
sion was produced upon public far more
numerous than any that could be contained
within the walls of theatre as theatres are
now constructed. At the Crystal Palace ex-
cellent opportunities for comparing the speak
ing with the singing voice have been afforded.
When the meeting in favor of the Irish
Church was held, the orators, even at their
loudest, could scarcely make themselves
heard at thirty yards distance from the front
of the Handel orchestra; whereas the voices
of the great singers especially of the So
pranos and tenors) may be heard throughout
the length and breadth of the vast enclosure
in which the festival performances take place
In addition to the practical reason, there is
an artistic reason why the singing, not the
speaking, voice should be employed in
theatres of colossal dimensions. The large
masses which, for the sake of effect, it would
be desirable to introduce on the stage of such
theatres must either move in silent procession,
or, if they utter words, must do so with one
voice, that is to say, they must sing. For the
contemplated popular theatres some ''art-work
of the future Gor which it is not at all neces-
sary that Herr Wagner should compose the
music) should be specially devised; and such
''art-work' would, no doubt, include the
grander features of modern opera. A theatre
four times the size of COvent Garden would
not be too large for the effective representa-
ton of such operate scenes as the Meeting
of the Cantons" in GUH0ilnle T6H the
blessing of the Standards" in LIE siege dc
C01iHthe, the blessing of the Daggers' in
Les HugUoHotS, or the Coronation Scene in
lie Pr0phete
Need we say that in such a scheme as the
one proposed there would be very little place
for our friend the prima donna-more espe-
cially the prima donna of the light soprano
type, so deservedly popular in the present
day. whose delicacy of execution would in a
great measure be lost, while her personal
grace would be inappreciable, her personal
beauty imperceptible? The strong-voiced
dramatic soprano, whose trust is in the
robustness of her lungs, would still be in re-
quest; but an opera for audiences of six or
eight thousand persons would have to depend
chiefly upon chorus, orchestra, and perhaps
co,j,S Dc 60IIet, while the works represented
would have to consist as much as possible of
choruses, marches, fnales, and dancing di-
vertissements. All Meyerbeer's grand operas,
with the solo parts shortened, even within
their present comparatively narrow limits,
would suit such a theatre to perfection.