The record-union., 1896-07-12

Chile Widow" .5vill, of course, be the
principal play during their travels, but,
besides that, they will present to the
American public the new unnamed Sar-
dou play, never done before on any
stage, THE LIAR" Kitty Give" "The
Queens Proctor" and Monsieur de
Paris" in which VioletVanbrough made
a tremendous success in London few
months since.
The history Of music shows that as a
rule composers barely earned enough to
pay for their daily bread, while the
singers who interpreted their works
reveled in wealth. Even Wagner re-
ceived only $500 for the score of "Tris-
tan and Isolde which it took him
several years to write, while Jean de
Reszke gets twice that amount each
time he sings in it. 1t is therefore SEEM
ingly paradoxical that a composer
should provide for singers, as Verdi has
done in Milan. He lately visited that
city and deposited $4,000 towards
building an asylum for aged and invalid
stage artists. It is to be located near
the Porta Magenta. 1.-THE singers,
says Verdi, helped me to win my for
tune; to them, therefore, in the first
place. wish to dedicate it,
According to the London "Athen-
aenum," one plagiarist has been pun
ished both properly and promptly. The
offender is DIR. Kopped- -Ellfeld, the
superintendent of the Dresden Court
Theater, who appropriated another
mans work and was detected. The
press demanded his dismissal and,
therefore, he sent in his resignation,
which was accepted without more ado.
Most of the critics in London have
treated Miss Olga Nethersole's Carmen
in the manner it deserves. There seems
to be no doubt that she has toned down
some of the most objectionable features,
but the general effect is still fnartistic
and offensive. To say that a thing is
realistic is no valid excuse for its public
presentation. Such an argument, If al
lowed, would lay the stage open to every
kind of unspeakable abomination. No
doubt Miss Nethersole's Carmen is
realistic 1t is also vulgar, and, being
vulgar, has no artistic merit. There
are some good points in her perform
ance, but they are not those to which
her managers have sought industriously
to direct attention.
For the Crown" has now passed its
| fiftieth presentation in the London Ly-
ceum Theater without any abatement
of popularity, and doubtless will con-
tinue to run to crowded houses to the
end of the season.
"The placing Of the Lamoureux Or
| chestra may have struck London con-
| cert goers as rather unusual" says the
critic of the Daily News" I'm front are
| the harps, while on either side, spread
out like a fan, are the first and second
violins. The double basses are at the
extreme right, the 'cellos coming next
whereas it is the English custom to
place the basses on either side of the or
chestra. The violas are in the center,
| the wind and percussion in the rear
| The London Sunday Times" says of
| the Partisan orchestra that it numbers
ninety seven, of which total sixty-four
are string players, the strings quintet
being composed as follows: Thirteen
first violins, sixteen second violins, ten
violas, ten celli and ten double basses.
For the purposes of comparison, 1t LIS re-
| corded that at the Crystal Palace the
| band is ninety-two strong, with fifty
| five strings and twenty-seven violins.
| In the Philharmonic Orchestra the fig
ures are total eighty ty-fve-strings fifty
/ six, violins twenty-six4- AT the Leeds
Festival last year there were thirty-nine
violins, eighty-one strings, and 119 men
altogether, while DR.. Richter has thir-
| ty-two violins, sixty-six strings and
ninety-four players
| The critic of the London World" In
| speaking of a recent series of Beetho-
ven concerts, has about as much attrac-
ton for the average man as early ris-
| ing. He is inclined to shun both, and so
Mr.. Henscheps concerts are drawing
| bigger and bigger audiences as the
Beethoven gets later and later" The
| same writer happily describes Wagner's s
"Meistersinger" prelude as that glo-
rious tangle of sound, in which every in
strument seems to run wild and so at
| tain perfection, as flowers in an Old
| World garden, which make wilderness
Of scent and color"
| Charles Frederick Robinson Hay
ward, a Denver editor, wrote learnedly
| of the drama, and could keenly anal
we every phase Of the actors art, says
the San Francisco "Argonaut. But
his shortest criticism will probably OUT
live any other written by him. It was
as follows: George C. Min, the preach
er-actor, played Hamlet at the Acade-
my of Music last night. He played it
till IL O'Clock" The only other criti
/ o;~ fn Wi
emanated from Leadville, where per-
formance of Richard III. by a barn
storming troupe was chronicled under
the gIaring headline of MANY Lives
Lost"
We can imagine the Iook of surprise
which would come over the open coun-
tenance of Bran Stoker if he got six
months hard labor for allowing a lady
to wear big hat at a Lyceum perform
ance But--this is what comes of living
in a free republie-the Legislature of
Ohio has very nearly passed law to
| that effect As it is-we suppose the
milder spirits were in the majority-the
Bran Stol5ers of Ohio are for the fu-
ture to be mulcted in the sum of SO, or
two solid English sovereigns, for each
hat which hides the stage from the au-
dience. Every Dlay-goer of the male
sex will be in sympathy with these re-
formers. To the long suffering pittites,
the huge and jagged mountains of mil
linery, composed chiefly of birds. feath-
ers. and even portions of a wild beast,
which often entirely hide the leading
lady or gentleman from view-to say
nothing of the subordinate members of