The record-union., 1896-04-12

horn, and frees with it her brother and
lover, but full Of rage and revenge Lau-
rl(n has the beautiful girl dragged off
to glacier, where she is almost frozen.
when the Goddess of Love wakes her,
puts new life into her, and leads her to
her lover.
In an obituary notice of Ambrose
Thomas, Jules Simon recalls an inter-
esting incident of the Commune days.
His villa was at Argenteun, which was
reduced to ashes by the enemy. After
Peace was restored Thomas hastened
to Argenteuil, expecting to find hts
house a ruin, but to his delight it was
untouched, and on a table he found the
card OF German officer, with the
words, Nephew of Meyerbeer."
Thomas was moved to tears by this
tr- ute to his genius.
Berlioz's opinion that as far as the
higher regions of the divine are con-
cerned Italy is really the least musical
OF all nations is borne out by the strange
lncapaclty of the Italians to appreciate
French music. The latest illustration
comes from Milan, where the season
OF La Scala opened with a performance
or NJ Saint-Saen's opera, Henry VIII,
the composer, who was present, having
conducted the final rehearsals. AL
though the performance, under Signor
r FerrarIs direction, was a fine one, it
was received with complete indiffer
ence by the audience, and the com
poser, who had not even received the
usual compliment of a call before the
curtain, left the town the same evening.
In Paris that opera is very popular,
and 1t is needless to add that Saint
Saens is the most thorough musician
France has ever produced.
In article on the late Ambrose
Thomas Hans Wachenhusen recalls
some interesting circumstances con-
nected with the early appearances of
Christine Nilsson. Thomas was So
years old before he had a real success
with "Mignon." This encouraged him
to write Hamlet" but when it was done
ne lamented that he had no Ophelia.
one day the publisher Choudens intro
duced him to a handsome blonde girl
as the person he wanted Thomas gave
her rehearsal, after which he ran to
Choudens and exclaimed: "I have found
my Ophelia!" The price of tickets for
the first night went up to 500, and the
success was enormous. 1t was during
a subsequent performance of this opera
that the Opera Comique was burnt, in
Volving the loss of about 200 lives.
The bill to prevent the wearing of
big hats in theaters has become a law
in Ohio, and the dispatches say it has
been thus far enforced; that the women
did not need to be warned, but either
removed their hats or wore inoffensive
ones. This was in the Cincinnati the
aters last week.
But the Record Union" finds in the
Cleveland Leader of the 4th inst.
expressions of managers and others ad-
verse to the bill The Cleveland Opera
house manager objects because it i'm
poses hardship on managers" Pity
about that. Is it any hardship on the
manager when he snatches the news
paper reporter, or any other human
male, by the scruf of the neck, if the,
fellow dares to keep his hat on in the
auditorium? Pah!
Manager Hartz told the Leader"
man that if he dared to compel lady
to remove her big hat her escort would
intervene and lick him. Too bad, too bad!
Get licked, then, sir. If escorts to ladies
CD defy the law and dare you to enforce
1T, call in the police and jug these ruff
fans, for they are nothing more But,
he says, women are hysterical and will
create disturbance by going into hys-
terical fits and all that" Well, then,
stop them before they get into the audi
torium with their cartwheels. Think
you, sir manager, that if the Record
Union" man tried to march into your
Cleveland theater with a long joint of
stovepipe on his head he would get any
farther than the lobby door?
But the law should tell US what a
high hat is, how many inches above the
head" Bah; that is silly, sickening
and babyish, Mr.. Hartz.
Manager Henshaw of the Lyceum
thought the bill "nonsensical." Singu-
lar that the Legislature and the Gov
ernor did not see it in that light, isn't
it, Mr.. Henshaw?
1T would be intensely humiliating
to us and to the lady to ask her to re-
move her hat" Oh, for shame. and
f1e, poor Henshaw. Humiliated, indeed,
to ask a woman to be decent and respect
the rights of man; to be little chival-
rous herself. Humiliating forsooth.
Get you. to some other business; you
are too sensitive by half to run a place
of public entertainment. Go into the
millinery business, Henshaw.
Manager Drew said to the Leader: !:
1T is not fair to put the burden Of en-
forcing the law on u.s." Then who
should bear It, pray? How are we to
know a big hat?" Get new eyes and
brain, Mr.. Drew, and new understand
ing, or bribe yourself to be something
more than a baby skulking behind a
petticoat 'It will hurt our business"
cries this poor fellow of the Star Thea
ter. The women will come to the box
Office for their money and never visit
the house again" All. ha, Is it there
the shoe pinches? But what silly talk
it is, to be sure.
Goldmarck, whose Queen of Sheba"
used TO be so popular in New York, has
won a brilliant success in Vienna with
his new opera based on Dickens
Cricket on the Hearth" He was called
before the curtain no less than fourteen
times, and the behavior of the audience
throughout the evening indicated that
the opera would have as brilliant a ca
reer as Humperdinck' "Hansel and
Gretel" Goldmarck seems to be the
first composer who has used a story
of Dickens for libretto, and the critics
agree in calling the choice a happy one.
The London Daily Telegraph"
vouches for the truth of the following
story, which is honorable to both per-
sons concerned: Some time since