The morning call., 1895-01-31


was Miss Sayille, in "Paul and Virginia'; on
Sunday it was Mrs. Kinen, at the Conservatory;
yesterday it was Miss Adams, at the Grand
Opera-house. Happily until now, ii the Amer1-
cans have any gutteral and hoarSe singers they
have kept them to themselves, and have only
sent us divas with fresh and resonant voices.
The history of the debutante, who was such
revelation yesterday in Romeo ct Juiette, is
a very simple one. A few years ago Miss
Adams came to Paris with the firm intention OF
"invading" one of our lyric theaters. She
commenced her education with Nine. Marchesi,
but for the last two years has studied with NJ.
Knnig of the Grand Opera. When the night
ingale felt herself ready to warble in public
she demanded hearing from the managers OF
the opera-house, sang them few airs and so
charmed them that she was at once engaged to
make her debut as Juliette, in GOunods opera,
and yesterday the public listened and APP
plauded. Miss Adams has a delicious and
homogeneous voice of wide compass. She sang
the music in the first act without transposition
and with astonishing dash and brilliancy,
terminating it with the phenomenally high
note, which hitherto only Patti has, we be-
lieve, attempted. AS the opera progressed
Miss Adams success grew, indeed it is long
time since the Academy of Music has offered
us such an interesting debut"
Leghorn is hardly the sort of place where
musical critic would expect to witness the
first night of an important new opera, although
the prejudice may seem little unreasonable,
seeing that Leghorn has seven theaters, one OF
which is the third largest in Italy, and also
that Mascagni was born and still continues to
live there. Be that as it may, the handsome
Goldoni Theater has just witnessed another
opera by a Livornese that will assuredly take
high rank. The composer, Ettore Martini is
well known as conductor of orchestra, and
this gift has stood him in good stead in writing
his opera, ''Yorick." The story, which is dra-
matte and powerful, is taken from tragedy
by the Spanish playwright Estabanez, and is
very popular in Italy under the title of Gun
Dramma Nuova." The period is Elizabethan,
Shakespeare figures among the various char
acters, and the last act takes place in his thea
ter at Blackfriars The music is q bold expert
ment, for "Italia ia da SCI throughout the
opera. There is no trace of Teutonic hardly
even of Neo-Italian influence; scarcely any
more OF the lett motive than Gluck would have
used. "Yorick," however, is said to be beauti-
full and scholarly, while steering clear of the
Scvlla of modern tumult, and the CharybdiS
of old-fashioned righteousness.
Lison Frandin, the most admired exponent
of Carmen" in Italy, is responsible for a
singular combination opera, which is at
present being written. A few days after the
Signor Sonzogno invited to a banquet all those
who had contributed toward the success of his
venture. The prima donna, Lison Frandin,
proposed that all the composers present at the
banquet should arrange to collaborate in the
composition of an opera. This proposal Yves
met with applause and the special work was
distributed. Leoncavallo undertook airs and
duets, Caronaro selected the choruses, Mas
cagni promised the intermezzo and spiro
Co, tn fha -
the Instrumentation for the illustrations OF his
collaborators. Another artist undertook the
libretto and set himself seriously to work
When on the morrow the artists were sobered
down, some OF them wished to renounce their
imprudent promises but the diva, Lison Fran
din, insisted so strongly that the composers
have had to set to work.
Berlioz once made q severe criticism on
Chinese music, intimating that it was beneath
notice. Chinese music is anterior to Japanese
music The people of Japan took their music
from China, and have improved upon it, al
though the appreciation of their melodies can
scarcely prove an easy requirement to Amer
leans. Apart from the feebler quality of tone
of the instruments and its singular character
Japanese music takes extremely complicated
forms, and demands the most delicate phras-
ing to express its individuality. The modern
works have been composed almost exclusively
for the thirteen-stringed koto. For the shaku-
hachi-a Tipped bamboo pipe-there is also
quantity of independent music, which seems to
have come down to the present time from diff
ferent sources than those from which the koto
music has been derived. The music of the
biwa has not altered for over 600 years. Music
in Japan is one of the recognized professions of
the blind.
Warden Patrick Hayes of the Kings County
V \ dod
plan for entertaining the prisoners there. They
will be allowed to play upon musical instru- !
ments one night week. The penitentiary is
in the outskirts of the city, so that no neigh
bors can be annoyed by the musicales that
take place. There are at present over 1000
convicts in the institution, and when the
unsteady inclined begin to play upon banjos,
guitars, drums, trombones, comets, flies, man.
dolins, accordions, concertinas, jewsharps,
harmonicas, violins and other instruments
there is likely to be pandemoniun such as
has never been heard in those parts before. The !
unfortunate prisoners who cannot play upon
any instrument and who have no souls ior
music will dread the nights when the weekly
musicales of Warden Hayes orchestra take |
place.
Dr. A. C. Mackenzie, the well-known COM
poser, has just been knighted by Queen Vic |
toria. If there were any merit in the thins ct |
all the knighthood should have been conferred I
years ago. Even now it is difficult to unier- |
stand why composers like Hubert, Parry VII |
liers. Stanford, ]. F. Bridge and Freterc |
Cowen have been passed over in favor Ok curt /
musicians like Sir w. G. Cusns and Sir Gorge !
Elvey. No one, however, has deserved title /
better than Sir A. C. Mackenzie. This lard
working and eminent physician sprang rom
the people, for he himself four and thirty vars /
ago was a bandsman in an orchestra, ais /
father was leader at the Theater Royal e. n
burgh, his grandfather led the orchestrs Of I
James Durrow, and his great-grandfa her in
the last century was piper in the band OF ne
Forfarshire militia.
Mile. Vuillaume, prima donna at the Pajs
opera Comique, has just come off triumphant |
in q rather curious lawsuit against an insul- |
ance company. The singer possesses a nun Der |
of valuable jewels which she had insured Re /
Gently when her maid busting her dres- |
ing-room at the opera-house, she swept out
pair of pearl earrings, worth 10000 france |
into the corridor, where the delicate ieyes
were trampled under foot and ruined. Tie
insurance company had insured the earrings sor
$500 francs and when Mile. Vuillaume eiairgea
the amount the reply was that the insure zee /
only covered cases of accident and not daissse