New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-08-17
THE PARIS CONSERVATORY.
Testing THE ASPIRANTS TO THEATRICAL
AND MUSICAL, FAME.
Paris, July "a.

o%ND n a~p
Paris, July "a.
Each monde. as they say here, has its "lield-
day." The turf world ~rejoces in the Grand
Prix Sunday, the world of art in the vernissaec
or private view Of the Salon on May Day, which
is also becoming the date on which the labor
world reviews its forces. The present week IS
devoted to the Conservatory tests of skill In the
histrionic and musical arts. II is the week Oh
the grands concours OF competitions for prizes
at that famous academy. Nothing can be more
wearisome than TO listen to twenty young piahis's
playing the SAM piece OF the piano, or VlohhlSVS
or violonoellists doing likewise on the Instruments
20 which they devote themselves, or pass, or
tenor, or c~ontralto, or mezZo-sepraho, or HsnO
md high soprano vecalizing, one oy ohe' selectlonS
from operate scores. The competitions Tor prizes
in comedy and tragedy are not less tediOus. ohe
is locked I'D for hours in the box 10 whlch one
is admitted. Were it possible 10 go IN anu ouO
at pleasure the young poStulants for artistic Iano
who submit to tests upot the little stage oil 'he
Conservatory might be rendered nervous or Uc
Jury be disturbed. The heat is as that Oh an
oven. and not o sound is to be heard, save on inc
stage, or what may be given out by the nos'rlls
of a Numbering person. The jurors pass most
of their time asleep. Auber nearly always siep'
through the competitive singing. He took stock
before the public trials of skill of the capacities
of those who were to vocslize before him. Am
broise Thomas is more attentive, being on the
lookout for an ideal Ophelia, who might be able to
revive the vogue which his opera of " Hamlet" had
when Christine Nilsson used TO appear In III.
In spite of this dulness the public are deeply IN
terested in the examinations at the Conservatory.
French people like novelty, and who knows but
that some great star may there arise suddenly ana
gloriously. Then there are the relatives and
friends of the debutantes and of their respective
professors. Whenever there is a pupil of high
promise. his or her professor ~contrives to let the
theatrical and musical critics of the Paris press
know all about it.
It is interesting also to see the first start of per.
sons who have doomed themselves for life to the
stage. There are few examples Of an actor or act
ress. unless forced TO do so, quitting the theatrical
profession, even when they did not win any of its
GREAT or middling prizes. The passion for the
stage is a devouring one. 1t is in some cases in
the nature of q sacrifice, but it is in nearly every
case a devouring one. III can only think of two
women who had name and fame who disiked the
stage and felt disgust at their theatrical triumph.
One was Fanny Kemble and the other was Jenny
Lind. Occasionally one hears of a French actor
getting disguised at not setting fire to the Seine
and going into business. A great confectioner,
who won renown as such under the Second En-
pire. had tTod the boards of the Conservatory and
different Boulevard theatres before be began to sell
sveetmeats. | was recently told of a young actor
who was angry at not being admitted to the Fran
caise and is going to set up as q dressmaker.
Mile. Croizette retired while still beautiful, but it
was to enjoy the vast fortune that NJ. Stern secured
10 her in making her his wife.
The career of dramatic authors is not less ab-
sorbing. Sardou once told me that each time a
play of his comes out well he experiences all the
ioy of a father who has received a visit from a
loved child who went into a far country to make
n fortune and returned successful. Labiche could
never give up writing comedies for the Palais
ROYAL Theatre, nor resist the temptation
when in broken health, and not in a state to bear
I'D against the bad ventilation of q Paris play
house, of geing 70 see them performed. L have
known a good many old actors and actresses and
have found the passion for the stage cling to them
in their chair days. Samson who taught Rachel,
had q little theatre in his country-house, where
he and his children and his grandchildren used
often to play. Pierre Berton was q grandchild, and
acquired that perfect diction for which he is re-
markable under Samson's home tuition.
Life at the Conservatory is more exciting than
arreeably lively. The competitive principle
presses hard upon all the pupils, and squeezes out
amiabiify of character. The young are Short
6lnnIcQ anu nave Suldu ldlbI IL uOlIlB AN lShO
thing and not troubling about success. 1t re-
quires wide experience of life and a fine mind to
have firm belief in the straight and narrow path,
and in the splendid rewards to which it leads. The
pupils In the different classes are nearly always
poor. The relatives who support them are always
impatient of immediate brilliant results. When
prizes are not obtained money allowances are
withdrawn and q plunge into utter poverty ensues.
The girls who have pretty faces and not much
talent TO boast of edge their way into some theatre
when they leave the Conservatory. Each eXamina-
ton casts scores of pupils into the purgatory of
despair. The winners OF first prizes quit the
school triumphant, but the others are doomed 10
v~cgetate perhaps Tor years and often for life.
Their one consolation is that the jury was uH-
fair or that they themselves were unskillcd IN
the art of intrigue.
The actors and actresses who fetch the most
crowded houses are not always e~x-pupils Of TIE
Conservatory. Those within the last ten years
who obtained first prizes for tragedy, or for comedy
have not answered to the expectations Of their
professors. Some who were regarded as future
stars are toiling away in provincial theatres.
Tarride, who graduated with a prize for tragedy,
has gone into low comedy and is doing well.
I. G..