Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-10-28
PittSburg, Like the Rest of the
World, Captivated by
MASCAGNTS GREAT LITTLE OPERA.
A Strong Musical Individuality and Its
Well Won Successes.
TRIUMPH OF TAvARY AND DEL PUENTE

the listener finds himself in what Gilbert
would call "a complicated state of mind. I"
Or, rather, state of feeling. For Mascagni
has not given him any time to think. He
has been hurried along breathlessly from
one phase of intense emotion to another,
until suddenly, almost brutally, the action
is cut off and he is left sitting there, pro-
toundly moved bewildered.
That is Just where the listeners have been
after the unnumbered performances in
nearly 2G0 theaters within the brief time
since the fierce little opera first saw the
footlights of the Constance Theater, Rome
May Il, 1890. And this mighty impulse
was sent forth into the musical world by a
mere nobody-a poor, dull-seeming young
chap in the middle of his twenties peas
ant lad who had studied a bit
at the Milan Conservatory and
was running around the country
with itinerant opera troupes. Only 90 days
before the time was up he heard that Son.
zogno, the publisher, had offered prize for
the best one-act opera. Two friends, as in
experienced as Mascagni himself took a
drama of Nerga's and hastily constructed
the libretto, sending it sheet by sheet to
the eager composer. AT the end of the
seven weeks the opera was ready to win the
unanimous verdict of the judges in the COM
petition: within few months afterward it
was the talk OF the musical world
Such a spontaneous, universal success;
such an 'ermastering effect upon the indi-
vidual listener cannot be without reason.
But what reason? There's the question.
A COMMONPLACE SUBJECT.
It is not in the subject-matter Nothing
could be more commonplace. A fellow
81 ,rSr Il pI har
other man, took up with a second love, not
wisely. His old flame, a welded and
worse coquette than ever, wins him
back (mind you, all this has happened
beforehand) and the overture of the
opera is interrupted bv his singing pas
siOnate serenade to her behind the curtain
The opera itself shows only the discovery,
the reproaches and the threats of vengeance
bv the injured husband and the discarded
sweetheart. Even the fatal combat takes
place off the stage the people concerned
in this everyday domestic drama are CON-
mon Sicilian peasants.
Yet those two inexperienced friends of
Mascagni's have done well with this meager
and unpromising material. The very alb
sence of dramatic art =. is strong
point of the book. The story
is disclosed with all simplicity
and directness; ii speaks right out for itself
and nothing interferes to prevent those
strong, elemental emotions from laying hold
on the.listener. The idea of locating the
entire action on the public square in front
Of the church. whence the singing of the
Easter mass is heard from time to time,
gives a background most dramatically in
contrast to the situations upon the stage.
The book alone, however, by no means ac-
counts for the phenomenal success of the
piece. Neither does the music alone That
is, especially, those portions that can be
singled out for separate concert perform
ancP.
NOT VERY ORIGINAL.
Maseagni has not yet proven himself a |
great meloGist. His sustained melodies are |
not at all strikinglv original nor are thev |
always even natural or spontaneous Take |
Ilf0'S entrance song, for example; of mel
odic invention there is none, and its effect
comes from the bizarre rhythm and the
startling modulationS. 1t is much the same
with THTi6p'S drinking song The serenade |
and Lola'& dittv are about the only natural,
fluent melodies in the work, and they are |
samples Of the native Sicilian folk-song. |
These tunes are for the most part carried |
with the accompaniment strictly |
The prelude and the famous |
are of rarely beautiful tone |
color, but not remarkably original in design |
or inspiration.
Mascagni's orchestration can safely be |
called his strongest purely musical point. |
He is master of all the resources of the mod |
ern orchestra. While sometimes he makes |
effects simply for their own sake, as gen.
eral thing he uses his orchestral mastery to |
the Legitimate end Of embodying and ilum- |
mating the actual dramatic situation.
AlI hpra 70 ha 3
success. 1t is not to be found in the |
portions of the work You might |
as well strive to search out the individual |
charm Of a beautiful face bv measuring each |
feature. Individuality inheres only in the |
whole. And in. this opera the book and |
score in all their elements are so perfectly |
fused into q Unjt-a single, complete, homo |
geneous art work-that it strikes the |
listener as with one blow. He is con-
fronted with new, Independent individu-
ality. 1t is only with effort that he can
discover and analyze the amalgamated
elements.
That Is the lesson that Mascagni, in COM
mon with his compatriotS, Verdi, Boito and
has learned from Richard Wag-
ner The play is the thing. All the d.
verse elements are persistently focused
upon the dramatic situation. The result in
any case is strong, self-consistent art
work
AVOIDING SUPERFLUITIES.
And in Mascagni's case-having that
.erse, pungent book to work with, and him.
self avoiding every sUperfuitv as he hur-
ries from one situation to another, each
time striking its particular mOod-with
unerring accuracy the result is an
lrt-worll so concentrated, of such intense
virillty, Of such complete individuality, as
to stir one to the depths and yet almost
oafiie analysis.
OF the first performance of "CavalIeria
RUsticana" at the Duquesne Theater last
evening, space and time are lacking for a
detailed review
Mrs Basra-Tavary as Sd1atatzza made az deep
no less by her noble voice and
ervent singing than by the strength and
lirecUness of her histrionic methods. Her
debut added a bright spray of
aurel to the many she has won on European
tages. Her further appearances this week
will be looked for with unusual interest.
Mr.. Del Puente depicted the injured hus-
2and in the latter part of the opera very
dramatically for one whose favorite
he rollicking side of Alfo's char
.cter as at first disclosed. He was in
inc voice and sang superbly. Mr.. Boyet
he new tenor, showed small right to as
ume such a role His voice is thin and
lasal and his acting mostly poor. Miss /
Helen Dudley Campbell, as Lola, did crzd-
table work, as did Miss Holmes il the
minor role Of Lucid. Mr.. Behrens ed, with
lis comparatively small orchestra and
horus, all that such force could be ex-
,ected to do in so elaborate a score.
G. W. S.
Millions of Bushels of Wheat a Day.