Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-12-24
Hearing Opera by Telephone.

Not new, but very striking exemplitica-
tion of the powers of the telephone, is night
ly taking place, in New York. Mr.. Edward
Fry, of that city, was thirty years ago a we'll
known musical manager, composer and M
pressario." He established the first l'n.ian
opera in Astor place and was associated with
Mr.. Hackett in bringing Grisi and Mar to
this country in 1913 In 1854, he gave The
first performance in the old Academy oi
Music which stood on the site Of the Present
Academy, and WAS burned. Mr. Fry was
stricken with paralysis in 1857 and has Teen
confined TO his room and for the most part
to his bed, for twenty-three years. HIS loom
is on Union Square; and telephone wire
has been run from it to the stage OF the
Academy of Music, where it communic 'tes
with ''transmtter" placed by the side Of
the prompters box. Mr.. Fry said to
World reporter:
Placing the instrument against my ear
and closing my eyes, l am instantly and
without effort of imagination transformed
into blind auditor upon or very near TO the
stage of the Academy, and | hear the oper-
| attic performance almost or quite as well as
any one of the audience bodily present. In
the Transmission of the vocal music, except
that which is at once very loud and very
high, this telephone works with fidelity
which is simply marvellous. The exact
quantity, quality and pitch Of every voice
soprano, contralto, tenor, baritone and base
the notes, whether in solo OF concerted music,
from planissimo up TO forte, and from an
dante mp to presto; the words enuncated by
the singers, and the sentiment. whether of
placid joy, ecstacy, sorrow. grief, despair,
animating the singers and coloring their ut
teranccs-all this is as distinctly, as perfect
ly, as truthfully conveyed by the telephone
wire to me rs by the atmosphere in the Acad
emy from the singers to their nearest auditor
there.
"The drawbacks in the perfect working of
this telephone are few and slight and posi-
bly, remediable The chief one is a confused
janging. blurred sound like the rattling of
u large sheet of brass, which accompanies
and envelops the very loud and very high
tones in the choruses and finales. The other
defect is the non-conveyance of the full
quantity and exact quality of tone Of certain
instruments, notably the violoncellos. double
basses, trombones, tubas, kettle-drums, side
drums, baSs-drum and cymbals, oboes and
bassoons. The tones of the yiolins violas
and flutes, whether played forte or piano, are
conveyed with absolute perfection as TO guam
tity, pitch and quality. The tones of clari-
nets, trumpets and horns are generally well
transmitted, but not perfectly. Theposition
in the orchestra of some of the instruments,
behind and far removed from the telephone,
may be the cause of its somewhat defective
receipt and transmission of their tones, as
inc Int l,a lafa. g bo psfr
ment as evinccd in this first attempt TO con-
vey by ii an operatic performance arc few
and very small as con,rasted with its very
many and transcendent merits. Before the
experiment was made | had not dared to
hope for such splendid success success
which stamps the telephone as one OF the
highest achievements in scientific invention
and discovery of the century.
The heelectrcans inform me that IN the reg
Walton of the diaphragm of the transmitter
il is impossible to convey all sounds. An
average has to be made by regulating the
diaphragm with screw; and SO certain
part OF the softer notes is lost to convey the
stronger vibrations. In the high and loud
notes there continues TO be rattle. Ii has
been suggested TO me to have another tele-
phone regulated TO receive these vibrations.
which are lost by the one in use, but am
nature any further and want TO keep my
present happiness intact"
DO you find any difficulty in following
the music in such operas as Aida where
strong concerted music is so prominent Z"
Not at ALL for the instrument carries all
the harmony, whether soft or loud. In
'Mefstofele' could hear Campaninis voice
strike every note in the upper register. Now
Ravelli sings charmingly through the tele-
phone. and with amazing distnctness and
strength, notably as Edgardo in Lucia, and
yet am told that his voice is not very pow
erful. Then when Galassi was singing
RigoLtta the other night could readily de
tect all the passionate earnestness that he
gave to his part. Last night heard Linda
Ii Chamouni note for note and word for
word, holding libretto in my hand.
Il miss nothing and can follow the
prompter occasionally when he is fully bar
ahead of the musicians can even hear
Arditi. The other day at II -ehearsal heard
him whisper TO one Of the prima donnas
from the kindness of his heart, Now mind
those three sharps' And then again, Shile
drilling the choruses he would say, One,
two, three, four! one, two, three, four.
Tutti, tutli -"
Have any of your friends tried your tclc-
phone:"
''Some of them, but tell them that 40
long as they have strength TO walk TO the
Academy, which cannot do, cannot con-
sent to share my pleasure, if for no other
reason than not TO abuse Mr.. Mapleson's
kindness. For twenty-three years / had
heard no music except that of piano in my
room from time to time, and dread to run
the risk of ever being deprived of this great