The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-05-02
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d ed, the brim Of his hat must be worn out
with taking it off to the feminine portion
oil them in the street. He has induigent
friends enough to fill the Tivoli at every
performance, and fresh cohorts of them
have booked seats far into this week.
they may think the plot OF ''Shamus
O'Brien" is barren and the music wanting
in melodies. 1t may be their private
opinion that it is a question whether
Irish subjects can be successfully sub
jected TO modernized operate treatment
ana secure popular results, ana in their
secret souls they may think 1.-The opera is
not entitled to place in high art" But
whato that!
They Will be true to their friend and in
duIqently endure all the deficiencies of
ga show that vii! not meet with popular
rfayor. in order TO testify their lndulgent
friendship for Denis OSullivan. The
Infringement at the Tivoli finds il difficult
10 supply all its patrons-every one OF
them an individual friend OF O'SuIlivan,
and only there to testify love and devo-
ton. TO that youth-with seats. Strange
that people should persist in paironizng
so dreary. a performance, and very bad
taste in face of the assurance from know
/ wonder whether that lying Banshee had
anything 10 do with some of the criticisms
of "Shamus O'BrieA" published on Tues
day morning. She certainly deceived
Shamus and his WIFE perhaps she inspired
some of the critics to prophesy that the
whole miserable show would come to
naught Beware of lying spiritsl
The dismal Bapshee must have coIlab-
GRATED with the critic who seemed SO
acutely annoyed that a young San Fran
ciscan. should come home from foreign
successes and be enthusiastically well
coined by his fellow townsmen. This
critic, whom l can imagine as Il hopeless
dyspeptiC, was evidently IN terror lest the
barytone's- cup would run over with too
much sweetness, so he thou htfully
dropped the following dash OF gail and
bitterness into it: eff the young man
were foolish enough to accept the spon-
taneous welcome of those who love him
for what he may expect during the con-
tinuance of his engag ment he will soon
De disillusionized." l wonder what he
meant by soon ? Was it a question Of
hours, or days or weeks? Moralists tell
Us that every one who CANDLES is either
knows he will win, and he is q fool if he
doesn't Those who prophesy boldly be-
fore the event must also come under one
of these heads. Oh course, if man waits
to see which way the wind is blowing, he
misses the chance of saying, II told you
So" but how foolish he looks when every
thing turns out contrary to his predic-
tionsl
The dyspeptic prophet who foretold the
downfall of Denis U'Sullivan guilelessly
remarks that Stanford's music is wanting
in melody, and that it Will disappolnt
those W 40 yearn for Killarney" Wonder
fui! and yet more wonderful Think OF
man who critic yes opera with an air of
wisdom, not knowing melody when he
hears Il! l can quite believe that people
who went TO "Snamus O'Brien" expecting
a+string Of Irish dltfies and turns" as
they are given in music halls, would go
away with hungry, unsatis6ed yearning,
and that Standards tunes would not
exactly hit the taste of those whose must
cal aspirations soar no higher than "Just
Tell Them You Saw Me-" mamie, Come
Kiss Your Honey. Boy" and other gems
beloved of the vaudeTillers. l do not
think, however, that an amateur educated
up to the standard of-say of 1.-The
Maiden's Prayer" could spend an hour
over the pianoforte score of ''Shamus
o. Brien," and afterYard say it IVES not
= melodious.
The score is simply saturated with
= tunes, and tune Is a tune, even if it does
not tickle every uneducated ear that it
- strikes. The tunes in "Shamus O'Brien"
n n Of : bal ind hot nov
would whistle the first time he heard
: them, and to tastes vitiated by slap bang
: music nall ditties the melody may actu-
ally not be apparent on first or even
second hearing, but ''Shamus O Brien'' is
saturated with melody of. refined and
lasting kind. m elOdy that is iust as full of
tune as Killarney" only we have had
that pounded into our ears on hand
=: organs and at amateur concerts for SO
many years that the most unmusical
listener does n OF fear 10 put his foot in it
when he proudly recognizes it, and ex-
hibits his knowledge by remarking
That's Killarney"
The odern orchestration in "Shamus
O'BrieR"f is what worries and confuses
people who know nothing abont modern
lyric comedy. They are blandly ignorant
OF the orchestral treatment used by ad-
vanced operate composers, and when the
orchestra does not follow the voices ser
vilely they fail to pick oct the tunes: l
think, though, that il selections from
t!Shamus 0'Brien" were played on hand
organs we should soon have every mes
senger-boy in town whistIing the old
march, "Weli, He'd Take Me by the
Hand" Il Can't Let Him Go" etc.
There is always little army of anna
ieurs in San Francisco ready to give the
glad hand and the willing dollar to any
thing good in music. 1t was safe to pre-
dict that these amateurs-friends OF Denis
OfSullivan or otherwise-would support
'Shsmps O'Brien," and appreciate the
subtle beauties of the minor key and the
grooming Erse me iodies but it was toss
up whether the music would not roll over
the heads without reaching the intellect
O. of the average Tivoi audience. Irish
music loves the minor key; American
com po.ers are very apt to despise and
neglect it, and San Francisco, not being
musicaIly blessed with regular opera
season, has not been given fair opportu-
nifty of acquiring taste for modern ope-
ratio methods. When We get that taked-of
ooera-house and have an annual season
reopIe who write about music will learn
20 know a tune when they hear it, how
nl1naf ral fro "a q n