The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-10-11
THEGRAND OPERA.
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 The Metropolitan Opera company under the management of Maurice Grau, began its present season by pre- senting Faust" at the Hyperion thea ter last evening. Despite the high prices the house was crowded and it was eVl- dent that New Haven truly appreciated the opportunity of hearing Madame Calye and Edouard de Reszlle, and re-
 sponded by attending in large numbers The nearby towns also contributed and
 it was altogether gathering Of the
 clans. There are always certain draw backs of necessity to a local perform
 ance, but there are the compensatlons
 of the intimacy of smaller auditorium
 than the Metropolitan and the pleasure of hearing the opera without the fatigue and extra expense incident to the enJoy- ment of a performance in New 1ork. When the gods cast treasures in our laps We are foolish not to grasp them. Last night there was the especial ln- centive of a first performance Of new season and particularly the curiosity to hear Madame Calve after her two years retirement. It was quite a gala night and MT. Bunnell deserves thanks for hls enterprise in bringing the company here Tonight they sing ''The Barber of Se- ville" with Sembrch in Springfield.
 Gounod's Faust is the perennial fa- vorite of the opera -goers. Its charm IS never failing. Some persons rebelled against the choice of the work for the
 performance here, but it is always safe from the managerial standpoint, and last nights attendance showed that the public approved as a whole. Faust was last sung here by the American Opera company, with Charles Bassett in the title role and Emma Juch as Marguerite. There is vast gulf be- tween Emma Juch, who was an admir- able artist within certain limitations, and Emma Calve, who has thrown tra- dition to the winds, and, like most true geniuses is perfect law unto herself. Whatever Calve does is certain to be the result of her own ratiocination whether you like it or not it is sure to be consistent and original Her name is most closely associated With Carmen" in this country, but she Is equally great in certain other parts, such as 'Ophelia' in Thomas Ham let and the "Margherita" in Boito's ''Meflstophere" Her Gounod's Mar guerite' is a marvellous bit of acting but as pure vocalism 1t Is not always satisfactory. The originality of her by play and her wholesale rejection of the traditional "business" of the role have been much commented upon. Last night for some reason she reverted to
 a more conventional portrayal in some of the scenes, notably the garden scene with the King of Thule" and the Jewel Song" George Moore in his musical novel, Evelyn Inness," is sup
 posed to have described Calves Mar guerite.'' To quote: Tn the garden scene, she sang the first bars of the
 music -minededly, dusting and folding her little cape, stopping when it was only half folded to stand for getful moment, her eyes far off, gaz- ing back into the preceding act, Awak- ing with a start, she went back to her spinning wheel, and, with her back to the audience, arranged the spindle and the flax. Then stopping in her work and standing in thought, she half hum-
 med half sang the song 'Le Roi de Thule This description agrees with her performance when it was last seen