St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-07-20
AN OPERA BY A WOMAN.
Miss Emma r. Steiner Composed
the Music and Wrote the Score.

An altogether unusual event will
occur at the Standard theater in New
York, says the Journal, Monday night,
Aug. "a. 1t will be the first production
in America of an opera written by q
woman. who also scored the work and
who will personally conduct the Or
chestra.
This remarkable woman is Emma K.
Steiner. She was born in Baltimore.
Md, and is about thirty-two years of
age. Her father is well-knOwn busl-
ness man of the Monumental City, and
to ms lavish expenditure of money III
the development Of the genius or his
daughter, which he discovered while
she was a mere child, is the world in
debted for this cOnsummate artist,
whom many competent musicians look
upon as phenomenon.
Miss Steiner lacks none of the eccen-
tricities of genius. Her personality is
Strikingly odd. Her manner is i'm
pressive because she is always earnest,
and her speech is rapid and lacOnic.
During a chat in her apartments on
Thirty-ffth street she said:
Ever try to have an opera produced?
No? Well, never try. | have called
times without number on managers,
and when | said opera they always mad
an excuse: Just going OUT important
business engagement sorry, but time
sOlidly booked and such. | struck
new idea. It's not an opera, but an
Operetta comedy. That's different.
You get an opening and announce "A
grand production Of a new OpeIetta
comedy when all at once 1t is in de-
mand. They come around and say: L
thought you wanted 20 produce an opera
Yes l answer, but the American peo-
pie are too busy to even find out if an
American can write operate music, and
when you put theme in your subject
you are gone
Let me tell you secret" she con-
tinued. "a few years ago | was re-
spected. But since L have composed
and composed operas. | have been
scorned and ridiculed. l looked about
to overcome the prejudice. | thought
! would combine all fOrces-cOmprO-
mise. as it were-and now we have
Operetta without theme. comedy with
ont comic opera, farcical without farce
comedy, variety of cOloring and enSem-
bles without vaudeville, and yet all
built on the simplest stories, as Fled
Tette' is. All composers without repu-
tation have competed with the old mas
lClS anu WHO al OpNids
the public think of Offenbach, Audran,
MillOcker, and others of that Xix, and
without any consideration proceed to
condemn.
But You say, all of the Americans
crib a bar or two from here, there, and
everywhere
Granted. Did you ever play over all
the operas that were composed within
ten years by several different masters
say fifty years ago? They have every
sound exactly as if one man composed
them. Take ACKNOWLEDGMENT L Puri-
tani,' Moses in Egypt and so on.
They all resemble each other. And yet
if a poor American attempts compost
ton he is accused of initiating his prede-
ceSSOrS.
There may be nothing new under
the sum- said Miss Steiner in conelu-
sion, but one has ones own scoring
deft. and, by embellishments. new ideas
are formed, kaleidoscope of harmony
and effect is obtained. 1t isn't operate
music the public is after, but a light,
harmonious accompaniment to plot of
mirth and gayety.