The San Francisco call., 1898-02-27

tvf
 I notice with regret that the Tivoli
 has been getting the cold shoulder all round lately Since "The Geisha" noth- ing seems to succeed there Or course,
 at the present time the Tivoli is suffer-
 ing from the BostOnians, an honorable
 afliction. but earlier productions-"Th
 Pearl of Peking," for one-have been
 glitteringly good and have fallen on
 few ears The piece that has been run
 ming the past week The ViceAd-
 miral'' a very model of German comic opera, has gone absolutely begging. I confess the performance left something to be desired, but there was a lot in 1t that was valuable; and one of those stunning finales should have been feast in itself for anybody who cares 7 for tic unadulterated essence of the all " but lost art of musical comic opera :. The Geisha" spoiled the Tivolite Ever :. since the run of that jolly Anglo-Japa- : nese masterpiece nothing else has been : good enough for him; he has used the :. .excellencies of ''The Geisha" as a club with which to smite the shortcomings : of her successors. So the Tivoli man : agement has been practically driven to 4 :: go. wish the enterprise joy. No one : shouted louder than I in acclaim of the :. first "Geisha" production; the clinging jingle of the music and the lyrics, the :. grace of the pictures and the general = good work of the company prejudiced :. me prodigiously in favor of the little
 old opera house around the corner. | Tlied the adulatory adjective for all l : was worth that week, and gave the press agents a hard run in the race of '. praise; and I can now confess in mod - esty that they were beaten at their own : game. But doubtless they were handi-
 capped by the truth. Nothing can be
 more painful to press agent than for him to find that his rosiest flights of
 fabrication are nothing stronger than
 mere fact.
 - If local pride is ever to be considered in. the theater we have an institution :: to. gIoat over in the Tivoli, the ancestor -: of cheap. opera in America. The Tivoli :. used to stand alone as the house that . gave the most for the least, but the : popularity of cheapness has spread. . Philadelphia and Boston now pride
 themselves on inexpensive music. The
 Castle. Square Opera Company of Phil
 adelphia, an organization in direct
 model of our Tivoli, has established it.
 self in New York, the home of the most
 expensive opera in the world. And this
 little company with it's little prices has been gladly welcomed by the public and
 thecritfcs.- Its performances are given
 liberal space in the review columns of
 the metropolitan papers; the most
 Magnerian' and De Reszkefed critics applaud the scheme; even when the
 singers appeared week or two ago in :. the uncanny double bill of 'Pinafore" '-. and ,-.Cavalleria Rusticana" the critics did, not indulge in coarse jeers. The g. TivolI is generally pretty safe place
 t6 visit, and one to be encouraged so long. as it sticks to the present policy * Pf clean and. as nearly as is possible, legitimate performances. The town : owes the Tivo1i a debt for the first < Rearing of nearly all the later comic :: operas and many of the grand operas. No house in America has ever given ==e like performances of grand opera at a
 sim within a dollar of the Tivon's prices. I am told by MT. Leahy that
 the coming serious season will be a
 record breaker in enterprise. Monto-
 mari and Agostini, who were respon- slble for almost every pleasurable rec
 oilectiou of the late Italian season at the California, are engaged to appear : in 'Manon Lescaut," the two "Bo-
 henes" (Puccinis and Leoncavallo's), and several other new operas that are
 now being arranged for.
 :: Although the Bostonians have ex- perienced anything but pecuniary
 sights in the last two weeks, there has
 been a general complaint from the peo- pie who have filled the Baldwin at
 every performance of The Serenade"
 that that opera is long fall short of
 Robin Hood" So the good-natured
 Bostonians will revive Robin Hood"
 tomorrow night; and the long line of
 ticket-seekers that has strung from the
 box office since the opening of the seat
 sale definitely settles the commercial fortunes of this revival. And it is not too optimistic, think, In view of every
 previous performance of the work by
 these singers, to anticipate the artistic
 success as we'll Robin Hood" was
 built for the Bostonians, and it has
 fitted them closer than their cutfcle. sdefy1ng changes in the cast and that familiarity of tune which so often breeds oblivion. Its popularity as performance is unparalleled The humblest organ-grinder and the nickel .fn=the- slot music box have long since come to regard it's choicest melodies as unprofitable chestnuts; 1t would be worth the life of a concert singer or a person in private life to sing Promise Me- or Brown October Ale" And yet the line lasts at the Baldwin box office, and we will all go and be crushed while we listen for the hundredth time to- the tunes that have grown old young. There is an attraction in Robin Hood" that is impertinently lasting. At the moment have no idea what it really is. Perhaps I will find out Monday night.