Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-11-19

R Nv ~ or at the Luxembourg.
w TISS--zFs7A where Mr.. Whistler's
yIsx-..s<sylyl portrait OF his mother
NEAS I- SfN''i has lately been hung
Gii lIklnlt And Mr.. Whistler. as
Ntf the Partisan newspapers
nave cateiniiy noted, - An American. trained
in Paris. The late troubles Of the national
English opera in London, terminating as they
did in the transformation Of the magnificent
shaf'esbury Avenue ROYAL English Opera House
into an ordinary music hall for variety enter
'ainments, give them opportunity TO express
themselves.
Certain saeptics had already been shaking
their heads and remarling that II WAS no,
enough to have the cage. you must have the
birds TO put in it; and that they did not see
any English composers to keep up lyric stage
In London. They were answered that the
musical genius Of England was only waiting
lor an occasion TO show itself; and ON the day
when there should be hall for English OPERA
the national art, hitherto checked by disioyal
foreign competition. would make itself felt by
manifestations that would astonish the musical
world All this Was over wear ago. little
later on they came TO find that the English
composers, al told, are one Sir Arthur Sulli-
van, and he If you trust his name is an
freshman. beginning was made by giving an
3
'lvanhoe," TO which the public did not take
enormously. Then it became necessary 10 take
up The work of foreign composer; and the
composer of La Basoche" was a Frenchular.,
his Is rare reading for the Parisians; and they
are now good-uaturediy gloating over the pos
sibilities Of Miss Lottie Collins making a sue
cess of some new Ta-ss-ra- boom de -ay in the
beautiful playhouse which English composers
and English national pride could not make a
success.
NO DEARrH OF MUSIC II FRANCE
1t certainly cannot be said that in France
there is any dearth of music written by the
children OF The country, and some of this music
has undoubtedly a national character
Gounod's pastoral opera 'Sfireilie, based on
the provencal poem by Frederic Mistral, has
for the past two seasons been having a notable
run a. the Opera Comique throughout the
whole OF last winter it wss sung weekly and il is
stu holding place OF great favor | think
'Mirellle has never been produced in Amer
lea, where Faust" is so eagerly heard. The
music is OF character to be enjoyed by
ordinary people well as bv cultivated
musicians, and the plot has real
story, sweet and innocent Here its success
has been constant, especially since the original
five ACTS. somewhat long for the treatment of
SO ldyiiic subject. have been cut down to
three, With marriage in place Of a death at
the hnale. Nile. LandouZy, who has earned
for herself the title of Nightingale Of the
Opera Comique," takes the part of MireiIe in
this production with the greatest sympathy
and delicacy of feeling. Besides "Mireille''
the present repertoire at the Opera Comiqu
embraces the 'tavalleria Rustlcana." which
is appreciated in spite of the critics; Carmen,
The Barber OF Seville. 'Aanon, "Traviata. :"
lie tre-de-Chapelle' philemon and
Bsucis," Richard C@ur de Lion ''Ie
Nouveau Seigneur," and Haydee." As will be
seen they are mostly short pieces Two or
fvlr in IN m
curtain rises at 8 o'clock and the last piece may
not be finished until near midnight. The Opera
Cornique, since the great fire. has been installed
IN the little old Theater Lyrique, where il is
musty and not too bright and clean, but one is
always sure Of pleasing music and an attentive
audience. One does not always get these at
the Grand Opera
''stGURD" AND "sALAMMBo."
At the Grand Opera their most brilliant sue
cess in what may properly be called French
music has been with the work of Reyer-
''Sigurd, which passed its hundredth repre-
sentatiol., and ''Salammbo," which j. now run
ming "Sigurd' elaborate but character
less work in the Wsgnerian field Of .'yaIkvrs"
and god-descended heroes in which the scene
passes from the castle Of the king of the Bur-
gundlans who is here, patrioticallv enough
Prince of the Rhine. to Iceland and the mys-
teries OF Odin. In the French work. however.
with the curious exception of a rather mechan-
lcal attrlbution of the Rhine to France, there il
none of that deep foreshadowing of modern
patriotism and philosophy which makes Wag-
ners own composition SO distinct a possession
of the German race. As TO the ultra-patrio;ie
feeling of Parisians in regard 10 Wagner which
WAS so ludicrously manifested a wear ago when
they brought out ''Lohengrin' for the first
time in Paris, it seems TO have quite subsidized
At the time the Opera House was very nearly
mobbed, and the boulevard was impassabl.
with Infatuated patriots who could not forget
Wsgners heartess skit on the siege of Paris
Now they announce the ''Nalkyr' for next
March, and no one grumbles.
DESCENDANTS OF THE KNIGHT OF THE SWAN.
Lohengrin has been appearing regularly and
remains one Of the best-paying pieces at the
Grand Opera. Some one has hunted out that
three French families pretend direct descent
from the Knight of the Swan, the families of
Hessee. Cleves and Loew. The mead of the lat
ter family. who was formerly Belgian senator
now lives in Paris These three houses bear
the swan on their arms. One Of the Cleves be-
came Duke of Movers in France, and the French
legend OF the swan IL carved in stone on one of
the towers of the ancient palace of the Dukes of
Movers. This is today part Of the Palais de
Justice in that city
At present the considerable success of ..Sal-
ammbo, which is purely French makes the
Parisians generous to Wsgners music Ii is
not as if there were no French composers in
the same heavy field. Furthermore between
''Sigurd" and ''Salsmmbo" there was '.Tha-
mara. an opera of modern music or music of
the future if there ever one, so heavy that
its failure came as with dull sickening thud
Its chief present use is 10 give irouical point
to the refrain of the French version of Tara
ra-boom-de-ay, as ii is bawied by careless demi-
mondaines.