The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-04-20
LORENZO PEROST.

New York iconoclasts have cast dis
credit upon a new-found European
prophet and thrown down another idol
of Italian art. For six or eight months
the oratorios of Lorenzo Perosi, a
young Italian priest, have been herald
ed as a new revelation of genius, and the
composer has been elevated to a place
beside Bach and Palestrina as a mas
ter of religious expression in music.
The earnestness and persistency of
these encomiums have been received
with more than ordinary interest both
in Europe and America, thanks in part,
no doubt, to the high ecclesiastical pa
tronage accorded Perosi. for the court
of Rome stood sponsor for the worth
of his achievements.
Not even Mascagni with his "Caval-
leria Rusticana" cast a more brilliant
light upon the horizon. and in time the
rudy rays of this dawning day of
modern music reached America. This
week, one of Perosfs oratorios was
sung in New York, under the direction
of Frank Damrosch, with Miss Ire
belli, Ben Davies and Giuseppe Cam
panari as soloists. One has also been
attempted in Boston under less am
bilious circumstances, but the New
York performance naturally commands
most attention, for the oratorio was
"The Resurrection Of Lazarus" the
third of Perosis series. Some dissent
from the habtual Italian rhapsodies
was expressed when the work was
brought out in Paris, Vienna and Ber-
lin, but it seems to have been left for
New York critics to deny Perosi the in
spriation of genius and tear his handi-
work to shreds and tatters. A few
critiques will be instructive.
Says Henry E. Krehbiel in the Tri-
bune: Nothing that was heard last
night or that can be read in the score
of the oratorio can possibly justify the
trumpeting and drumming with which
these oratorios have been sent into the
world. 3" It hanks back to an ex-
tramely ancient manner of reading the
passion employed by the church in
Holy week. In the attempt to
daily sentimentally with the essentially
Gothic form of Bach, Perosi has al
ready had a French predecessor in Gou-
nod, who greatly outranks the young
italian in fiuency, consistency, contin-
uity and sensuous charm. Don
| Perosi IS not a great musician, but he
saa,ooe 70 baua n, hin, tho M alyipo Of
one. Nothing could be more obvious
than that his clever talent is in state
of violent fermentation and royliness.
He has discarded the old set concert
forms and floats his dialogue on a
! stream of instrumental music, but the
current Of this stream flows most ir-
regularly and incomprehensibly. His
ideas-few good, some bad, many in
different in quality-haYe no consisten-
cy with each other and seldom any
with the text"
In the Times. William ]. Henderson
writes; "Perosi is evidently a well edu-
Gated musician and he writes in a
scholarly style. But his work does not
contain a single moment of inspiration
or a passage of genuine originality. His
| recitative is monotonous, lacking in
Characterization and frequently in the
dignity that should be inseparable from
a sacred composition. His choral parts
are made up of bald limitations of Pal
estrina and Lott, and his orchestration
/ sometimes follows the same models as
/ Signor Mancinelli follows in the writ
| ing Of his Fro Leandro.' Henry T.
Finck finished up the business when he
/ said in the Evening Post that the ora
torio lis lamentably dull, empty, anna
flourish, almost childish not a hint
! of genius or even of talent"
Considering that furore that has
ragged over this new prophet of music,
who combined the greatness of Bach
| and Palestrina, of Wagner and Verdi;
/ this favored son of the vatican, who
was made maestro di caDeIa at St.
Marks cathedral, Venice, and of the
! Sistine chapel at Rome, and in whose
| honor special permits were issued In
order that priests might attend per-
formances Of his oratorios at the thea
! tres these are scorching words. There
is reason for genuine disappointment at
the result, but Germany had already
given a hint that the hired critics of
italian publishing houses had rather
more than earned their money,