The record-union., 1899-03-27
.pRIEsT-C COMPOSER PERoSI.
NEW POPULAR IDOL OF MUSIC
LOVING ITALY.
Excited Audiences Crowd the
Church of St. Ambrose,
Milan.


music as one OF his enthusiastic ad-
mirers has called him. is still the SEN
sation of thu day in italy 4 rev weeks
ago his new OratoriO, The Resurrec-
| tion," was produced IN Milan, and Ike
its three predecessors made a tremen-
dous impression.
Not only musical Italy, but all musi-
| cal Europe, is stirred up over the re-
markable work of this youthful clerit al
| musician, who, for the time beng at
least, has thrown in the shade his fell
low countrymen, the opera composers
Of the new Italian school, the Mascag-
mis-, the Leoncavallos, the Pucinnis and
their associates. Unfortunately, the
American public may have to wait
some time before it will have an op-
portunity of hearing any Of Don Perc-
sis oratorios given in full, with ade-
quate yocalists and orchestra. as it is
said his publishers demand $500 for
the rights, . sum which no manager
has thus far seen 1T IT, paw
Some idea ce Perosl's striking person.
ality. of the character OF his york as
exempl,fied III his latest oratorio, and Of
the feeling which it inspires in It's au-
ticle by Milan correspondent of the
London DAILY Telegraph
AT last The disappointed ones have
had their Will, and chose wbv waited
for Perosi have seen him face to face,
writes the Telegraph" correspondent.
The extra performances of La Risur
rezione di Cristo' have proved in no
way superf1uous, for a throng just as
numerous as before seized upon the
available tickets almost as soon as
their issue was announced Yesterday
afternoon the atrium fronting the an
cient Church of ST. Ambrose might
have been the approach to a popular
playhouse, SO eagerly were its precincts
invaded by the expectant ones. Nor,
am bound to say, was the parallel lost
in the interior of the basilica.
ALL EAGER TO SEE PEROSI.
The audience-for I can scarcely de-
scribe the gathering as a congregation
-surged and murmured in the side
chapels like a stormy political meeting
This outburst was at last merged in
the applause that greeted the young
priest composer as he mounted the ros-
trum set for him beyond the high altar
and its cupola. Of the chocisters and
instrumentalists one saw scarcely any
thing, fon nearly all were screened from
view by an arrangement of the Crches-
ira But the figure Of Lorenzo Perosi
in black cassock could be looked upon
by all. framed in the columns CT por-
phyry that support the affairs gilded
canopy. Here stood the young priest,
baton in hand, with his musicians
massed round him in the choir of the
church. and behind him gathering of
listeners filing even the remote corners
Of the further1nost chapels.
But before speaking of Impressions
formed at the performance it may
be as we'll to say something of the
composer who has made his way SO
swiftly to the heart of the Italian ma
ton Lorenzo Ierosi is 26 years Of age.
He was born at Tortona in 1872, and
his love for the art of music was fos-
tered from his earliest years. More
fortunate than Handel and other COM
posers, whose genius had to rise su-
perlor to their youthful surroundings.
Perosi sprang from family in which
musical education was a matter of
course. His first lessons he received
from his father, who was himself an
organist of some ability.
HIS MUSICAL TRAINING.
So apt a pupil dill young Lorenzo
show himself, ana SO quickly did he
win Juvenile distinction as Lianist. or
ganist and composer, that he was. sent
to the Institute of ST. Cecilia. at Rome.
Here further tuition and encourage
ment fell to him, and a. Katisbon also
he continued studies which led him
always to contemplate the church and
lts music AS quite :oung man Pc
rosl was nominated 20 q professorship
at the Conservatory of Parma, but in
cllnation led nim 10 .enice. where. con-
nimlng vows he lad already taken. Re
assumed The ecclesiastical habit.
AT venice the priest composer found
nlmseif amid surroundings that brought
MIN constant inspiration, and the flow
OF music from his pen became more
ana more rapid. AS time went on. to
number of masses, motets and other
cnurch compositions, there came to be
aGded the oratorios which first won the
young musician reputation outside his
own immediate circle. Perosi conceived
the IDEA. of illustrating in twelve of
THESE works the Gospel narratives of
Christs life on earth. In quick sue
ceSslon four of these oratorios have
peen produced; indeed, if 1 am not
wrong, the last twelvemonth has given
birth to all. To La Passione di Cristo''
succeeded La Transfigurazione di
Cristo'; this was followed by La
Ris7lrrezione di Lazzaro," while the
latest of the series is La Risurrezione
di Cristo,' to which Milan has just
been listening.
These are the works by which. thus
far, we have to plumb the depths of
Ferosi's genius; these are the compo-
sitions which are fast pouring the riches
Of this world into the young priests
lap, and which have so far won him the
Pope's patronage and good will that he
stands to-day Maestro di Cappella at
the Sistine Chapel. Perosi, l am told,
accepts his good fortune in calm and
modest spirit. In person he answers
to type not uncommon among the
italian priesthood. He has clear and
benignant eye, hair that curls upward
from the forehead, and a downward
twist to the corners of his mouth that
would seem to betoken a determined, If
not an obstinate spirit