The San Francisco call., 1899-09-10

stated in a recent interview in London
that he would like to have grand operas
sung in English for the reason that
they would be more thoroughly enjoyed
by American and English audiences
yet 1T is impossible to do 50.
1T is all right in theory" he SAID,
but it is not all right in practice When
you come to sft the objections you get
down finally to just one, and that is
that the artists, as a rule, don't wish TO
sing in English. Some of them, of
course, can't speak English, but that
doesn't matter so much when you come
to consider that Plancon for instance,
sings an entire opera in admirable Ger
man without being able to speak a sin
gle word of that language in conversa-
ton. 1t isn't the difficulty of acquiring
English, but it seems to be an objection
to the language itself I dare say that
if we were to ask Nine. Nordica, an
American, born in Maine, to sing grand
opera in English she would object. So,
doubtless, would Nine Eames and all
the other singers whose native tongue
is English. 1t doesn't appear to be so
much that English is hard to sing as it
is that it is considered beneath an art
lists dignity to sing grand opera in
English. They seem to feel that it
would be somehow a degradation"
Inasmuch as there are a good many
men and women who are just as nice
folks If not as fine singers as Eames,
Nordica and the rest, who do sing
grand opera in English without being
degraded, it is evident there is some
thing wrong with the Grau theory
Grand opera in English brings about so
cents an orchestra STALL while in any
other language it brings $5 a gallerJ
seat and becomes a social function.
That may have much to do with the
problem. It doesn't degrade the artists,
but it lowers the prices, and that is
enough to make any high-souled devo-
tee to the most spiritual Of arts quaver
in the voice and give forth raucous
tones.
1t is quite within the limits Of prob
ability that one of the reasons why
gifted singers with heaven n-sent voices
scorn to sing grand opera in English is
because there is no fit translation of the
words. 1 have never studied the Eng
lish libretto of a grand opera, and
therefore cannot speak with certainty
on the subject; but lately 1 have had
occasion to note the English version of
the German of some Of Schubert's
songs, and have found ample cause to
believe that English versions of opera
must be something that could be safely
recommended to kill cats.
In one of Schubert's songs, "Auf dem
Flusse," the poet addresses a frozen
river whose current is hidden under
thick ice. The translation in Pauer's
edition Of the songs contains this gem
of verse:
AS still as death you seem;
A hard substantial flooring
Is laid down overhead,
And motionless and dreary
Lies on the sand outspread.
Now, what singer in the wide world
could pour forth his emotions in song
through the medium of such bill of
specifications as that calling for a
hard, substantial flooring, laid down
overhead? / waive the question of
putting the floor overhead where the
ceiling ought to be, and submit the
proposition solely upon it's aptness to
incline any rational creature to sing it.
Retrospect" is one of Schubert's
songs in which the poetry in the Ger
man is finest and best. 1t opens with
an outburst of passion in which the
singer declares that his 1mpatience and
his eagerness to hasten away from a
town of misfortune are such that al
though his path is through ice and snow
yet his feet burn. In the English ver-
sion the song begins more like the wall
of tramp than the rage of a poet:
With broken boots fresh anguish causing
My burning feet press ice and snow.
It is not worth while to pursue the
theme When the burning impatience
of lovers flying feet is turned into
the anguish caused by broken boots it
is time to abandon translation and stick
to the original. 1t is, indeed, even bet
ter to return to our own native, true,
American minstrelsy and give utterance
in melody to the fervor and beauty of
such words as these:
Baby don't go and leave me,
You know it's gwine to grieve me.
Hold me tight, / lub YOU baby mine.
Don't want a cent of sugar,
Don't want no other niger.
When you linger by my side
It's honey all the time.
We must go East to learn what is go
ing on in San Francisco and get a clear
insight into the motives that cause the
going The Filipino village at the Me-
chanics' Fair affords an illustration of
the dear old truth In this city we may
believe the F'ilipinos were brought here
partly to enable us to see what a Fill
pino is like and partly to furnish a
novel attraction for the fair. In the
East they have far higher wisdom
than that. The Washington corre-
spondent of the Philadelphia Public
Ledger informs his paper that the Gov
ernment has been notified that the Fill
pinos were brought here for political
effect He says they are of a very low
order of intelligence, extremely careless
in the matter of cleanliness, and adds:
''It is believed that the real object in
bringing these degraded specimens of
humanity to this country is to show
what a mass Of ignorance and savagery
the United States has become respons-
ible for, and that the result would be
the creation of a sentiment against
keeping the Philippines"
To that statement there is hardly any