New-York tribune., 1880-10-12

MUSIC AND THE DRAMA.
DESEREI'.

An opera. whose author, composer and subjec'
are all American. is certainly no'ei'y
Not that Messrs. Dudley Buck anu
w A. CrofluGs "Deserct" is by any
means the first of American operas william
Henry Fry. a man of singular talent IL noc o'
real genius wrote one or two ch"rhi"s
serious works Mr. jerome Hopkins has given
us. in Samuel" and other OF his compos'uohS'
marvellous creations of a genius which gives sighs
of life all too rarely, and quite iaOe'y
Mr.. Max Maretzek brought forth tnat re-
marLable production Sleepy Hollow" bu'
neither Mr. Fry's serious nor tncSe
comic operas have succeeded in holding tho sCaee
or IN gaining any great measure OF popularity anu
it seems to have been left TO Mr.. BUCK WIN
his bright and taking music, ana 10 ."i'
Croffut with his clever bretto to produce the rs'
really successful American comic opera.
Mr.. Bucks work is really comic opera ana ho'
AN operetta. nor. like "Pinafore," bur
lesaue on grand opera. IL Is strict IN Iorni'
and ,s treated in a thoroughly musiciauly manner
To those who were familiar with Mr.. Bucks other
works-bis songs, his church music, his Centennial
Cantata. and his last work, the Golden Legend, p
which was the prize composition III
the last Cincinnati Fcstlyai-lt was
hard 10 believe that he could write music light and
snarkIinp enough to suit such libretto as slr.
Croffnt's, so that the result was a complete
surprise and an evidence of his remarkaDio
versatility As might be expected from the char'
acter of Mr. Bucks past work. IN "Deseret" ne has
boen most happy In his treatment OF the chof-
uses and in the handling Of the orchestra
but there il no lack OF bright ana
catching airs and there are several bits OF charm
ingy graceful melody. In several places, notably
in the finale to the third act. his work rises to real
dignity, and has serious musical Vaiue
And there is great deal OF humor IN the
score, rs, for instance, in his use OF Home, sweet
Home" in the scene in EtdT Scrdms
house. Several of the songs seem
likely to become popular. for they are
of the sort that Is easily caught and, caught
hard to get rid of. The best of the comic songs IS
the delightfully."- funny sorenade that closes the
second act and ArGbella's fist song, with ITS
vigorous chorus is almost as good
There are two or three excellent serlons songs one
for tenor browning Castles by the Gliding Rhine,"
a capital love song, full of sentiment anu dencacy
Grt Gr.t act f'"'Ti Through the World.' But
it is in the choInses that Mr: BECK EEK
las done his last work The opening chorus the
chorus of Scroos wives and the finale TO the hrs,
act the choruses for women in tle sec nj act, ana
the finale to the third act are all uncommohiy
bright and spIred and met with great fayor; "a
The orchestTation. too. is excellent; broad Win
ont being boiSterous aud in tho acc0npaniments to
the songs delicate and highly finished. -, ,,.-
Of his company. Mrs. Julia Polk the ROsd-
7nond has pleasant, weli-traned voice, per-
fectiy true, and she is good actress. The chiet
trouble with her as with most oi tne COMPANY, IS
is her defective enuDcIation. Without the
printed hbretto the greater part OF
Ike words would have remained an
impanetrab BILE mystery to the audience. Miss Belle
Cole, tie IrGbelta is the only one of the company
who does not this respect, and her acting ana
SINGING were ouite the bes, of the evening None
II the men were very good, Mr. Lang,
the MJor Cltm tenor, had bad cold,
tLev sang well enough are not strong in their act
ing The chorus, on the other hand, IS @ @the
best we ever heard in an opera OF the
and they show Mr. Bucks thorough training. The
orchestra IS fairly good There was no lack OF m en-
thusiasm on the part of the audience las5 hight'
Nearly ey nv important number was encored and at
the end of the first act composer author and solo
singers were all called before the curtain. In SNORT,
thn first performance of "DeSeret" was thorough
success ana the work seems snre TO gain perna-
uent popularity.