The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-03-07

coldly to the great music dramas that Dam
rosch is conducting, but even the most rabid
Wagnerians have to own that there is one fail
ing in his star singers, and that is scarcely one
of them sings all the time in tune. Reginald
de Koven says of the great tenor, Herr Alvary:
"He looks and acts his parts exceedingly well;
his singing is another matter" Marie Brema
is great actress, with a splendid voice, but
she sings sharp Another critic says of the
great lyric actress Rosa Sucher, cher supreme
ecstacy in the duo, with its fine, exalted real
ism, more than atoned for the occasional lapses
in intonation''; and so on through the list of
most of the singers, though for Emil Fischer
all the critics have unqualified praise. As
writer IN musical paper, however, observes:
singing of the old-fashioned sort avails not in
seething, surging scores like these. 1t is in
tensiied speech that is sung and acclaimed to
u.s." But though Damrosch is not to blame for
the prochvities of Wagneran singers, "Wag-
ner's seething, surging speech" would be more
acceptable in tune.
Women have accomplished a great deal in
the arts and sciences, but there is one field
where they have utterly failed to hold their
own against the sterner sex, and that is in the
field of musical composition in its broadcast
and grandest proportions. Mile. Augusta
Holmes, whose lyric drama, ''The Black Noun
tain," has just been produced at the Grand
Opera in Paris, is the latest example of the Oft
made statement that women cannot quite sue
coed as composers. Miss Holmes opera almost
succeeded, but not quite, and the critics, even
the ones most noted for their severity, have let
her down very gently. One of them
says: "Miss Holmes rs already a we'll
known composer, and less vauting ambition
than hers would have been satisfied with the
celebrity already achieved. But she seems to
have taken for her motto, What height can I
not scale?' She forgot, however, that it is not
enough to scale heights, the ambitious climber
must be able to stay there, and while genius
can breathe easily at great attitudes, simple
talent gets out of breath and falls back. Never
theless one cannot help admiring the audacity
which inspires one to say, Il do not mind the
risk OF breaking my neck Now when Miss
Holmes, who has considerable fame at stake,
undertook the ambitious task of producing
lyric drama at the Grand Opera, she actually,
morally speaking ran the risk of this misfor-
tune. All honor TO her pluck"
The music of 'The Black Mountain" is CON-
pared to one of those transparent lakes which
reflect the grand panorama of nature without
having any color oftheir own. Miss Holmes
music reflects turn by turn Wagner and Masse-
net; indeed, her admiration for the former
caused her to write her own hbretto. The ae-
ton is supposed to pass in Montenegro, though
1t Is the old, old story of Hercules giving up
everything for a designing woman. Mirko,
Montenegrian chieftain, just returned from
skirmish against the Turks is about to wed
village beauty, whom he calls "the gold
of his SOUL" when Turkish dancer
is brought in and accused of being
a spy. Mirko, touched by her voluptuous
grace, pleads for this dancers life, and she is
given to his mother as slave. The perverse
creature soon wins Mirko away from the viii
lage beauty, and most of the second and third
acts are taken up with their flight and love-
making. Asher, another Montenegrin, tries to
rouse his renegade friend TO q sense of honor,
and failing to do so, stabs him, while the
dancer seeks safety in flight. Some of the love
scenes are set to graceful and really original
music, though others recall Rubinstein's
PERSIAN Melodies" The patriotic airs, songs
of victory, ETC., are good, though not always
tree from banality."
Emily Crawford, the well-known English cor
respondent in Paris says that "The Black
Mountain" would have not been declared a
failure if man had written it. 'I pity a
French woman" she says, "who has to strike
out in an out-of-theway and ambitious path
There is nothing harder than for man as IA
nous as Gounod was or Verdi is, to get four
act opera received at the Grand Opera-house.
But when the composer is woman the diff
culties are simply appalling. Augusta Holmes
is twitted with having been patronized at
the opera-house by the all-powerful Nine.
0lduss anu I'll eAotlc frlncesS, VINO rolls IN
riches and is a bosom friend of that lady and
of herself. They may have helped her. But
trust Bertrand not to bring out four-act
opera if he did not think it had first rate quail
ties. The work Augusta spent on it was sim
ply prodigious. The rehearsals at the opera
house were the least part of her labors Every
one who had part was drilled in it at her
house. In some parts the orchestration is
weak, but the opera in many respects has TAX
ing characteristics. and p0uld haVa hean copo
posed by no commonplace musician"
number of the newest and most popular
composers have lately made contracts with the
Berlin Opera house to produce their works in
the German capital. Quite suddenly this enter
prising policy has been abandoned and the
works that Berliners were eagerly looking for.
ward to hearing have been scattered to mum.