El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-03-03

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| that Spohr wrote the above before the
score had been turned over to the stage
manager, and the ST. Louis Globe-Dem-
ocrat says. s'In truth the work seemed
quite lucid last evening, and the listen
ers were seemingly of the opinion that
| if Wagner had written more of the
same kind the world would be better off
for an important addition to its store OF
| treasured melodies"
| The music was suggested to Wagner
while on his trip by ship from Riga to
the mouth of the Seine with the score
| of RienZi. The plot is a seaside love
| affair, the Dutch man being the skipper
of phantom vessel. The opera is
episode, and marked with striking
| situations.
This opera festival has been great
thing for St. Louis; and the local pap
ers have employed the most accom-
plished local critical talent to properly
report the events, and the reports have
been the best obtainable. The ST Louis
plan of Incorporating in the reports
historical sketches of the plots of the
operas is very good:
Della Fox, Lillian Russell, and jeff d.
Angelus have whacked up combina
ton. and wi give opera ia the New
| York casino n April comic Of course.
William Mertens, the baritone who
is now doing so well with the Damrosch
Opera company, appeared in this CITY
with the Juch and Tavary opera COM
panies. so that he is more less known in
Ell Paso. Mertens is said. to have be-
come one of the first baritOnes in the
United States.
Exaggeratiou is quite common in a
statement of operate salaries, says the
Globe Democrat, but the facts are
striking enough. On good authority
it is said that can de Reszke receives
1920 for each performance, with %
per cent of the receipts above $4,000.
Calves contract calls for S1400 a night.
Melba obtains about the same, Eames
5000 and Plancon S400. NOrdIca's
terms are now about equal to Melba's.
These artists receive less in Europe,
but with offsets in their favor. Jean
de Reszke sings for $1,000 in London
and 800 in Paris and Melba commands
$1,000 at Convent Garden. Operate
salaries are advancing in Europe. Two
tenors in Germany are paid from $4,000
to Sl2, 600 each of their seasons work,
an amazing figure to old-time managers
in that country. There are artists who
get more in Europe than America.
Sybl Sanderson gets 5000 a night in
St Petersberg. Sigrid Arnoldson about
the same, and Sig. de Lucia, the tenor
less than $1,000 night. The European
tenors now most in vogue, Alvarez and
Van Dyck, can not cross the ocean at |
present, but it is not likely that Amer |
lean managers would hesitate to offer |
either of them $1,000 night.
The musical people of this city are
themselves on the re-
turn of Mrs. E G. Roberts to the local !
concert stage. Mrs. Roberts has
studied under the great Kullak in
Berlin. and was subsequently a pro-
fessor in the New England conserva-
in duet with Mrs. Goodman last Satur-
day night, thus breaking the ice, and
it is to be hoped she will appear fire.
luently.
Madame Calves absence from the
Damrosch season of grand opera in St.
Louis, it was feared, would detract from
The attendance, but it didn't. and Dam
'osch is glad now she was away, as the
Extra cost would have cut into his net
receipts.
Clever Jessie Bartlett Davis suggests
likely to please postman. For a |
lress maker she recommends pOlonaises, {
or wits impr plus, for dog fancer 5
ark-arolles, for lunatics mad rigals, I
or soldiers canons, for fishermen a I
latch, while ladies, concludes Miss t
Davis, are sure 20 prefer hims. The
air Jessie intends Withdrawing from |
he Bostonians with whom she has {
,een so long, ana starting an opera of
Ter own, just as Emma Abbott did. {
Madame Nordica sang in concert at
tica, N. y, the other night. She !
made such an impression that the peo-
lie rose in their seats to cheer her. and
me lady sent in to the singer, boquet
# roses as large as one man could
larry. i,
Victor Herbert has written new
,pera for the Bostonians called The ,
Serenade. :
The pastor of Trinity Methodist Ii
hurch has done a sensible thing in call
ug congregational singing practice I
Meeting every Friday night, in the t
church auditorium. This will lead to ,
more hearty general vocalization in
he church. and relieve the pa stor W ho
8 at present rather compelled to act as J
)recentor, which by the way, he does
Tery well. {
Fanny Edgar Thomas Justly saws s
hat the piano is library, for it is the {
only means by which one may arrive at s
l kno Wedge of the literature of music
In France. the bass drummer, the or {
yanist, the composer, the critic, are
first of all piansts.
F. Wight Newman. one of the most
successful managers Chicago has ever
lad, says that Chicago Is unsteady
lead. Chicago people, he says, will
lot attend concerts, Will go to hear and
see nothing but sensations any more.
Foley, the great Irish basso who has
not been in this country for many
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