, 1892-01-26
NYM CRINKLE WRITES.
A Philosophic Review of New
York Dramatic Events.
ITALIAN OPERA MISSES SUCCESS.


NEW YORK, Jan. ls.-Tm afraid the at
tempt to revive an Italian opera furore il
New York city is very much u an exper
iment as the attempt to revive the Juror
over Dutch tulips or French crinoline woul
be. Opera has its fashions like othel
things.
II was generally expected that the lover
of the old school of opera would come to tn,
front with their pens. But the fact is tina
all the musical pens that can command
vehicles of expression belong to the new Of
German school.
Musical criticism in New York is Wag
merriam, whatever the opera may for thu
time being be.
The only possible objection to thesD
writers Is that they are musicians, not con
noisseurs. They deal with the lyric drama
very much as s~cholasticism in the Middle
Ages dealt with religion. That is to say,
they have constructed a musical theology
and split technical and doctrinal hairs
over an emotional experience.
They have imported into that which
ought to be a sensuous delight an amount
OF mathematical priggism that makes a
criticism on opera read like a trial Tor
heresy.
They remind me Of "A lot OF doctors al
ways performing ~auscultation on Wagner.
They keep their ears down at his ribs,
pressed hard. listening for a new brule,
and some good music goes by unheard.
The Italian opera has not been "whooped
up" from the scholastic and t"ranscendental
side. don't know indeed, how it could
be, and the patrons on upper Fifth avenue
who cannot tell n demiquaver from n
demijohn have yawned a little and express
ed a fear that it lacks intellectual clang.
1.-The main difficulty with the Italian per
En,,,,,naf NUapnarsa Il anbapnrin - said N
morning critic, twas that nobody seemed
to be able to free himself from the old
fashioned notion hat he was there to
sing"
This Is a fair summary OF the indictment
OF the doctors. The internal ltalians.wiH
sing and the orchestra has no show.
There is one disadvantage in the fine
Tuscan throat-it cannot stand the New
York climate. Now a German soprano
who has had five years of Wagner regards
the grip as an incident. The muscles OF
her throat have been hardened TO a point
where nothing short of an American com
position by Jerome Hopkins would throw
them out of gear.
Mime. Patti may be said to be literally
kept in cotton for fear Of influenza And
with all the precautions, she asserts the
Italian opera singers p~rerogative and dis
appoints her audience on the first night.
You never can tell at s O'Clock whether
she will give you the ''Traviata" or a doc
tors certificate, for she keeps both handy.
| suppose the marvellous preservation Of
this singers voice is due in no small meas
ure to her marvellous preservation of her
self. She eats, drinks, sleeps and exercises
with sole reference to her throat. Her soul
may be said TO be in her CLOTHS. For
twenty-three and n half hours out OF the
twenty-four she is incased in the amber
of Nicolini's solicitude. Then for half an
hour she is the prima donna
But l suppose 1t is-worth while to keep a
voice in cotton, where every breath is a
bonanZa
Patti has succeeded in spite OF the age
in preserving that old time e~xclusiveness
which lent such AN air OF mystery to the
prima donna and the actress. She never
appears in public except professionally.
No one ever sees her except in the glamour
of the footlights. She snaps her fingers at
society. She is guarded like the sultan's
f~avorite. She is a prisoner in her hotel
boudoir.
This sort Of thing IL almost as old fash
toned as Italian opera itself.
You remember how Leigh Hunt and
Charles Lamb advised actors never to be-
seen in the boxes of n theater, but to keep
themselves out of sight and not destroy the
charm and illusion of their stage life.
They used to 10 this years ago, but not now.
The public is as familiar with them as any
other class OF professionals. There are
half a dozen actors clubs in town where
you can 70 and meet them without any
difficulty. There are more than that num-
Der of resorts on Broadway where you can
always catch them after hours. You will
lind them in hordes at the professional
matinees, at the entrance to which there
assemble all the idle men to point them
out. They walk in the procession cheek
by jowl with fashion. They set up at the
counter and eat their doughnuts at Pur-
cells, and drink their chocolate at Mail
laird's, and do their their half dozen raw at
Dorlon's.
1t was only the other day that the
Twelfth Night club gave n reception. 1t
is made up Of the youngest actresses in the
profession, and very nice and dainty they
are. But their clubrooms were jammed
and society was tickled to have these art
maidens play the hostess.
What amused me was their mimicry OF
the Players club and the Lambs, with
their punch bowl and loving cup and
smoking room. Fancy Miss Selma Fetter
and Ellie Shannon, and that demure
Georgia Cayvan, and the Indiana vestal,
Alice Fischer, passing the loving cup.
How the club is going to preserve its i'm,
maculate character and draw the line at
membership beats me. There must be fur
when II new member is proposed. 'Oh,
dear, no; we can't admit her, you know ,
And, IF she comes in, then | resign" etc.
The problem of all Bohemian clubs from
time immemorial is where TO draw the
line, and it is generally solved in the end
by not drawing any.
Isn't the punch bowl racket in a woman's
club something like Miss Prescott's per
Torrance of Iago at the Union Squarei !
saw that performance. 1t reminded me OF
a woman trying to sharpen a lead pencil.
Do you Know why it is men always initiate
women better han women initiate Ineni
it is because men cover their legs with
tkirts and women uncover them. A WON
an can initiate a man with her arms. but
she never can with her knees.
Alabama" continues to be the play OF
the period, but not of the populace. II you
want to see the peoples play you must &c
20 the Fourteenth Street theater (still
smelling Of the shamrock and brogans that
Scanlan drew there) and see BLUE Jeans
1t is difficult 10 speak OF a hyacinth and
a horse collar in the same breath, but when
they do get into the same category it is al
lowable to contrast them. l have been
amazed at the amount of cheap c-oarseness