The Coalville times. [volume] (Coalville, Utah) 1894-1923, 1899-09-15
1T is A WICKED PLAY.
MEssALiNE IS SENSATION or
LONDON.
VIII Hardly he Acceptable to American
Patrons Of the rhrn'rr uad in riot
aud said to ne Vulgar T. An right
Artisucauy


tLondon t.cticr)
Just after the dress rehearsal OF
Mossalln,. lsidorc de Lara. the COM
poser asked me 10 ! thought the opera
would go In the United States. and
asked him what made him think that II
might not tie said. Oh. perhaps. the
plct would be- considered TOO or too
hlgh-colorod Al could say was that
after our acceptance or Olga Neither
solcE Carmen of Tristan and Isolde.
and or the Old Testament. 20 aid not
seem to me that We had one right log
really, TO object to anything. But that.
OF course. we were nothing n not Hog
zeal, especially as regards religious lit
eratnre, drama and the opera DC
IAras question. and his underlying
reason for asking a. Is good index
10 the sort OF opera that Mcssallnc Is
10th ns 10 plot and presentation. both
DE- 20 story and the musical intorpreta-
Ton OF that story The librctto ~ one
which calls for the literary equivalent
OF the soft pedal. n you are reading Il
yon viii do well 10 put cotton In your
ears; II Il Is being read to you you
VIII hnd u advisable TO hold your nose.
and either shut your eyes or take on
your glasses. Mental ncar-alghtedncas
becomes a distinct advantage. and
deafness Of the intelligence an unmit-
lgaiod blessing when one has to en-
counter such a story ~ Armand syl-
voster and Eugene Morand have chosen
to set forth In words. and DE Lara has
elected TO copiously illustrate In
music. George Moore. the novelist ana
critic. wrote sentence once about
dAununzio, which. at the time read
H. sounded rather meaningless. lie
said THE habitual color OF dan
hunzio's mind Is a delicate mauvo. II
has on the lrldesccnt glorles OF
ruined sunset" Paraphrasing Mr.
Moore, ] may say that the hahltuai
color OF Mossalino IL hot purple. and
that Il emlts the phosphorcscont glorles
Of dccadent inventiyoness. The only
way TO get through the opera without
hlushing until you are sunburnod and
'reckled Is to take the score and attend
strictly TO the music. and even TINT Is
not an entire relief. for as said. Dc
Lara's music exactly illustrates the
libreito. And you cannot help getting
a notion Of immortality from his use OF
the chromatlc scale. and OF llccntlous.
ness In the chord OF the dlminlahod
seventh.
know quite wen that what have
Just written viii amount. as far as
some people are concerned. TO a very
good advertisement OF the new opera
There are some birds and animals who
have an Unborn taste for whatever Is
specially and unmiatakably decayod.
and the worse Il ls the better they like
IT, That sort 81 taste will, I nhlnk.
Ind ample qualification In Mosahllne.
and can say that I truly believe that
the kind OF people who POSSESS that
sort OF taste will not. OF course. be
made any the worse for seeing even
such nm opera az Mossallne
So much for the work from the out
of-date standpoint OF the decencios.
From the puroly-no. should say the |
merely artistic standpoint. the work
Is somewhat beautiful and entirely re-
markablo do not know OF any other
opera that is so complete and success.
iul a character study as Is this one,
both from a dramatic and q psycholog-
Zeal point OF Wow Thanss 10 De Lara
and the libreitlsts Mossallno Is not
merely a musical opus with an alleged
plot attached, hni not Joined to Il: a
is consistent dramatic conception.
carried out With an amount OF care and
'iaDoration which results Ia an Inn
preston Of reality equally convincing.
brilliant and dotoslahle. Thanks TO
Heglon who created the title role. and
TO kenaud ana Alvarez. who inter-
preted the two male parts. the three
main characters are not merely three
modern singers In antique costumes.
VINO sometimes sing ana sometimes TT.
Dut who never do both AZ the same mo,
a'nt They are three people OF the