The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-20
MUSIC AND MUSICIANS.

/ succesa in anch an ,,t.mnt Tha ro,sons no
| scarcely neadod met now h,t Ma do,s an do
| subiect ara intarostino 7, rov ha ron,on,-
| bered that n f,v veore 400 nortormonco n,
| 1.-THE Bohemion f,irlo In tho yernnculnr ,y,s
discussed nv rho novor. A. tho Motronoiitor
i But nothing cnmo NJ n Mr. Grou rafers m
that project He said N Tho corrosnon1ent n,
| an American newsnancr. ~ National onero
Il means operos Inv tba best CON, nosors ~, what
ever nationnlity auno IN EnolIsh inv tho
| beat prtists available ,vhotevar nationalitv
| then am 40 heartily In favor NJ n TINT wouIJ
| want to try Il in Americo next sooson ~ circun
| stances would hermit In theorv there I. no
good objection 70 grand opera in English. and
there are sound arguments for II Even the
| Wagner operas would be enioved better Inv the
| general pubIic ~ sunp in FnpIjsb and how
vastly more en;ov,hle 70 all bnt few would be
| an opera like "Don Giovanni +" ~ sung in E.p-
lish. Yes. I can saw unreservedIy that ~
"I ohanas,n" ~ $3.50 ~. 80 p d..
Lonenerin' In English IN New York But
| theory but it's not nil right in practice When
you come to Sit the objections xou Set down
finally to Just one. and that is that the
n1 E"sss s e%s Of cont t..m wish ., to .ns
matter no much when you come to consider
Al. nj.
that Plancon. for instan ce. sings an entire
| opera in admirable German. without being able
to speak single word Of that language in con
versaVion. hish I inc ainculty OF acquiring
English. but 1t seems to be an objection to the
lanpuape itaelf dare sav that 10 w. were IN
.ot NJ. Nnra;oa a. .,.,o., - ~
Maine. to sing grand opera In English. she
would object. 30. doubtless. would Nine.
Eames. and all the other singers whose native
tongue is English. 1t doesn't appear to be 30
much that English is hard to sing. as 1t is that
1t Is considered beneath an artists dignity to
sing grand opera in English. They seem to
feel that 1t would be somehow
degradation. l suppose 1t must be be-
cause. unhappily. English Is not
the native language OF grand opera. English
men and Americans don't write grand operas.
AS soon as the English-speaking race begins
to produce successful grand opera. then the
stigma on the language in the minds OF singers
will begin to disappear. At one time sug
RestHa that me bohemian Hirl De pnt on IN
Violently. hut when lean do Reszte mentioned
| the matter to the late Sir Augustus Harris.
1mat ma. man noiu Jean tnat II ne heard MN
neyer sneak TO him again The eist
OF the matter seems To be in the I'm
preston OF the singers and the pubic that
cIass and cheapcr Find 81 Entertainment
1t has been 80 regarded in that light for half
century mere and In England. No other
neTfnrn ances ae somet hipn iess diuniead than
foreign tongue. but that is the unalterable
view IN New YORK. and II Is doubtful II with
own tongue the andiances at The Hetronoliian
would not always prefer to hear Wagner Ia
German. dounod IN french and Nerdiin Italian.
s,o,or po,;,,o,, 1. 80 ho ,ho ,o,,,,o.ou =,
n,inta, so..on 30 ItoIi,r o,o,o e., Io,1o, ~
dar tho rnana,or,ant ~ siano, lac aaar 20
tha hoort ., tho pr,tioh ruhI,o haoaroa 10 era,
introduced the Ravocli sjsters 70 their isle
Massenet's cinderella" is to be the mainstay
~ the nndertating Sionor Jaeo ia also the
vi '''o u"uoi "a ms eiEhot i.oso 10 a'so VIZ
manager OF the San Carlo at Naples this year.
London audiences are delighted at the rumors
that Jean de Reszke is to remain next season
IN EUROPE and Will not come to London after a
o,hsr anu s,naars .howod - Ionnon VI t tho
o'her slnso's ono"eu III i1ohuoh the
same results OF their American campaign
oOa I'M III.
s sHn,a mere anu III ionuon. ."e return
enough. They receive there less than half OF
the amount OF fees mid at tbe Metronolitan
The London season was again prosperous and
Garden in regard to quality of the singer. and
| will appear occasionally on the programmes.
great many more nave been announced. Rey-
| er's "Salambo" is to be sung for the sake OF NJ.
n, a. anu wv ~ 60 y, .ie nns
| there for the next three years. In London
| nav worka ore give, Mt tba and ~ tba saason
| Nv" WV ,e' .. ,'io CIV y. VIC SEASON.
| Just as they are mere when inc pubic inter-
| est in the opera has already begun to
| wane A survev Of recent seaaons at tba
| mane ou''oy VI ieeen' oe"so"' Ut .'o
metropolitan would snow that nearly all OF the
new works given there were never reached
until late in the year. ''Werther" indeed was
| postponed until the supplementary weeks OF
1 tho year in which it was sung. lmpressarios
are likely to know their public better than any
| body else, but it seems reasonable to believe
/ that interest In the unfamiliar works would be
| greater before a long succession OF Faust"
| "Lohengrin" and Carmen" had whetted the
public first desire Tor music. "Messaline' at
| Covent Garden was held back until nearly the
| last week OF the season with ''rehearsa!s" as
| the explanation. But as rehearsals at Covent
1 Garden are not much more important than
| they are here, that explanation was pro-
| badly meant to conceal the fact that the
| management did not care to risk an
| unknown work for three performances when
/ the season was at its height II Mr. Grau ever
| tries another new work at the METROPOLITAN il
would be interesting to have the experiment
! m ade early In the season. With the departure
| OF its opera singers. the musical interest Of