The record-union., 1897-08-01

Yup companies The wife Of Chan
Yang a See Yup highbinder. elopes
with his rival, Man Low Yek, a Sam
Yup merchant Chan Toy, the first
born Of Chan Wang, is living in China
town with his father. The guilty wife
and her lover steal the child. The IA
ther pursues them, and in the struggle
the child is killed. Chan Wang follows
his rival. and the little drama ends with
the killing of Man Lo Yek by the man
he has wronged. The other characters
introduced are a slave girl, a pipe-bowl
mender, a guide, vendors of various
. Chinese dishes, highbinders, etc. The
drama is in one act and two scenes.
Preceding the Chinese play, the laugh
able comedy success, Lost for a Day
viii be given. The comedy is on the or
der of All the Comforts of Home, d"
Confusion" etc.
The First Born" is the first drama
of its kind ever written and presented
by American players, and has enjoyed
the longest run of any play in the his
tory of San Francisco theatricals The
stories Of San Francisco's far-famed
Chinatown scenes have been spread all
over the world. Few tourists have
visited the city without seeing the
place, and this vivid reproduction of
the life there bids fair to enjoy pop
ularity for many years to come. Man
ager Hall viii present the play to the
patrons Of the Metropolitan Theater
August 9th and 7th, with the entire
Alcazar company and all the original
scenery.
Ellen Beach Yaw of Los Angeles, the
phenomenal soprano. who is to sail for
Europe in November, Will give series
of recitals in California in the early
fall, supported by excellent artists.
Miss Yaw is the only vocalist whose
vocal range is the full compass of the
violin. Her range is from &c" below
to "E" in altissimo, only two tones
short of two full octaves
Isabel Irving is the leading lady of
John Drew's company, shortly to ap-
pear in Sacramento in Rosemary" un-
der engagement to Manager Hall of the
Metropolitan Theater
Robert Be Mantell, who enjoys the
distinction of being one of the most
versatile actors before the American
public. is happy over the prospects of
his new play, BY Secret Warrant -
Mart W. Hanley, his manager, is also
jubnant over the prospects for the COM
ing season, and has experienced no
trouble in booking Mantelrs route.
OF Ibsen's works, says Enrico Ferri,
in the August Atlantic Ghosts" is
the drama which above all others most
intensely follows the lines of human
pathology as revealed by modern sci
ence, although the crime it involves IS
only family indicated. and we are left
to ascertain at the end whether the
mother gives her son the liberating
poison craved by this victim Of pa
ternal vice Another confirmation of
the right to die is found in Coppee's
Bon Crirne,' showing how this view
is making headway among higher
thinkers. Ibsens work is inspired by
rare knowledge of scientific facts re-
produced with more or less philoso-
phic precision. Thus Hedda Gabler
hews out as from a rude block the
figure of a neurotic woman, hysterical
and criminal. In The Wild Duck -
We encounter the triumphant criminal
and sWindler, a contemporary figure of
haute finance now too often met with
In The Pillars of Society IbSen de-
picts the so-called great men of poll
tics, at once criminals and neurotics,
who display in a different environment
the environment of parliamentary life
the same tendencies that influence
the brigands of the roads. In Ghosts, "
wherein the author attempts to demon
strate the organic basis of crime or
madness, the picture of Oswald lacks
somewhat the precision of a hospital
diagnosis. but the making of diagnoses
is not the function of art 1t suffices
that it should ask of science the fun
damental facts of life. and then be free
to change the colors in order the better
to impose its real artistic creations on
the collective conscience. This effect
is attained by Ghosts" as it is also
attained by Zola's "L'Assommoir, 3"
which has fixed the disasters resulting
from alcoholism. just as Ghosts has
made US comprehend the hereditary
transmission of paternal degeneration,
even though the inexorable uniformity
of this law is a little exaggerated.
One of the most musical cities in Eu-
rope is Budapest. Besides the usual
operate and concert institutes, it sup
ports as many as 120 gypsy bands, 32
military bands and p orchestras of fe-
persons make their living in connec-
tion with these bands.
London has had a chance to hear
Richard Strauss new symphonic poem,
Thus Spake Zarathustra,' before New
York, but it did not go wild over the
performance of it. One of the critics
says that las the work, which is di-
vided into numerous sections, each
bearing its own title, has no fewer than
fourteen different themes. and the score
whole repertory of music, it would OBJ
viously be absurd to venture upon an
opinion Of it after one hearing. That
some of the music in this long, forty
minutes piece is unlovely may be
granted Strauss probably intended it
to be so. That the finale is quite
unique is also true enough. Like the
book of Nietzsche on which it is bas-
ed. the music has no real ending, the
sudden breaking off indicating the
Eternally Unanswered Question. But
although there is a good deal of non
sense in the labelling of the themes
motif for once was aptly named-the
extraordinary ability which the COM
poser has shown as a master of or
chestraI scoring is beyond doubt"
Madame Sans Gene has proved so
successful at the London Lyceum that
it will probaly be revived there at the
beginning of next season.