The sun., 1899-03-05
XorEs or rGE

al
.-ssuc,Icns Of thefssason. Both Don Gio1
vr.,nl" ana Ia Nozss al Figaro" have been
- in previous seasons with an allotment Of
.,.vers almost ns brilliant a. thoae assigned
sshs two works at their latest performance:
s.I,he public took no such interest In them.
~ What lengths Mozart cycle might
Il "a not possible TO say. IN Flauto
T,sIeo" would at least bo a certainty,
"A ana or two other works might
: r,pR- enough In all TO Justify the word
s,-s,e. which may prove to be as much OF .
,,f.man next year as It has proved 10 the our
.l.,y.eries OF representations, 1t would be
.S,lble 10 give some interesting variations TO
- already familiar casts. Nine. Sohumnnn.
sI,Inl next week sings DonRe Eipira In italian
!. ,.TA1adelphia. and che would be an interest
~ addition to " Don Giovanni" Nine. Melba
|. aid TO have added the Countess In Le NozEe
NIiRaro" to her repertoire. and such q novelty
!, that would give fresh interest to this work. Il
s,rue that tho operas will require more intelll-
,.n, stage management than they had this sea-
.on and sorne ething more OF their original spirit
iii have to be retained. In spite OF II.
N,urels lauded- participation In Don Gio-
unni" the performance was quite what II has
e. work as given at the Metropolitan bears 20
lille relation to what the production nhould
R9TH se Of The ossrs house SSs
as ss sS''Fasat oT"ras although there coSld par
S.r y ThS Ss'sTsd esr
tsa,S tsso.asS to "t the '' nerior%anees y Se aesrS.
,T Te,T win nna h tn. 'fEsa Maurice alaa
many will give more OF It's time 70 road per-
tn. This ,Sn VII ,Ss be sssly sfseesea
sSaeo sR f['"SifI ani the Pacs q sag oss su
cent VIII he Abe tS s5ioy tss
Vho are 10 take thiP journey. II will be neces-
sary for them 70 maks their guarantees setis-
~ undertaking the trip without q certainty OF
avoiding q loss. Persons acquainted with the
situation believe that. 90 far as the California
ylst is concerned. the enterprise would be
highly profitable. 80
The frankness with which the audience Dc.
eided to take the ballet In "L'Africaine" /" as n
,oke last Monday evening was an ingenious
evidence OF the rublic's attitude toward any
attempt OF spectacle in the operas at the Metro
politan. The ballet was most amusing. Every
evolution showed some new phase OF tho abb
,urdity. and the hilarty was as unrestrained
q II Edouard de Resske, were acting BdsiHo
with his usual JUNCTION and humor. The most
,uccessful group In the ballet. inasmuch rs u
created most amusement. was composed OF b
half dozen women dressed as negroes. They
have been seen before in Aida" but their
powers for fun were never displayed 50 freely
before. II they had been little moro awk-
ward and frightened and had danced with o
little less sense OF time and grace they would
certainly have received an encore. As II
vas they barely escaped. The disasters In
"Rgoietto" on the following night were not
amusing. although they might have been ifthe
public had seen some OF the absurdities which
we're fortunately prevented. When the court
Jester was brought to his house from which The
band bad not been placed over his eyes, He
wasalIowed to gaze at his oyn house quite long
sS9h the /" FSGSnTs anr " ohs Aer d be Ss hs Ssn
Esrehef over his eyes. The Duke. after
ndeceiving thejester. WAS able to come and go
athis ease atterward. The Inst act was sung
in absolute darkness: Usually one OF the ae-
Illuminated, but on Wednesday all was darkness.
For such sbsu urdities there IL. Of course. no ex-
swsys ss
made the OCCASION for the stage manager to
exhibit ignorance or contempt. Possibly there
Ksan the % General "a % principIe @ tfSt h WhateHer % Is
done. at all Is worth doing well would
ssys ,, these works from such treatment as :. Rig
tn be sung, again. and It is promised that an at
tempt will be made to correct these faults OF
presentation. There 10 certainly no excuse for
them.
30 other singer ever made her frst public
eppearanca under circumstances quite SO un-
usual as those which marked the debut OF
Narcella Sembrich. 1t was scarcely to be con-
,idered an appearance. IA the audience was
only the congregation OF n small church near
Vienna. When she began her studies In sing
inc har 4raf oh lfyad N ha mil ofa
tired Major who had been a friend OF her
father. He was not rich man naturally. but
he was In the habit Of taking his family overy
Sunday on an excursion through the country
near Vienna. These parties were usually made
up Of his wife. his daughters and Marcelline
Kochansky. which was then the name by
which the future prima donna was known.
On one OF these excursions. which always
began with a railroad trip. the Major landed his
party at a small village. In the square In front
OF the church ne met the orRanist. who had
formerly served under him In the army.
Nothing would satisfy tho Major but that the
youthful singer should show his old friend the
favor Of singing in the service, It was in vain
;ha. she remonstrated and cited Rokitanski's
mIunctiors that she should not sing before any
one, tn" ret red aofAcer conducted his family
Sna m ltary, hnsfs. and he was in the habit Of
e. ring %hhey,d So the timdity Of the pupil and
ltwas agreed that at certain stage Of the
.ine, Avc Maria,.' The party walled in tho
i9r the hymn came. Then the future prima
donna mounted 70 the organ loft mud began the
G,Itnlng bars Tier, was no choir customarily
10 the church beyond Gronp Of old men who
sapplird all the singing that was heard. The
eHert on III" woman = voice on the congregation
was rs Astonishing IA might have been ex-
Pected The priest turned Immediately around
70 s@e from what quarter the unexpected
melody had como. The condition of the con-
Eregafinp was equally excited Marcelline
kochan-ky slipped ont OF tho church after the
hymn and was marching along with the rest OF
ne family under the direction OF the Major
tc'ore the congregation had mn opportunity TO
md or, from the organist who the singer was.
Albert Sa,eza Is distressed over some OF the
hardshps which fall 10 the lot OF the second
enor. His appearance In Boston will be con-
hn@d to Wednesday matinee OF Romeo at
!u!!ette." a concert. and "Ero Leandro."
he is not inclined to believe that under these
SrcumstancCs no will he ablc to do himself
Justice. Mr.. Grau always arranges repertoires
with hut one idea, 20 please the public. He
Knows what the people want. aud usually does
u much as In can toward giving It to them.
" no singer can ever Justly complain that he
or She Is being sighted to tho advantage 2