New-York tribune., 1900-12-31
MUSICAL COMMENT.
porNcs AT THE OPERA - CHRISTMAS
MUSIC FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
MOZART REDIVIyUS.


Il is expected that the return OF NJ. Jean de
eszke this evening will bring that spirit OF glad
zoraeness into the opera season which thus far II
has lacked. Artistically. nobody could have asked
moro than has been offered without appearing
cburlish. All the performances, down TO ''Fidelo"
on last Friday evening. were brilliant musically.
sna even the substitution OF ''Tannhauser'' for
Die walkire" last Monday oceasioned no
discord. Mr.. Grau's subscribers have doubtless
learned TO be philosophical They know that they
VII hear all the operas in the list before the
son is over and the order in which they hear them
IS a matter of small moment. The Saturday matt
nee audience VIII hear die wallzlre' before the
reople OF Monday. but the people of Monday. Prov
idence permitting las the pious folk say in New
England). VIII hear Jean de Reszke before the
saturday matinee audience Fridays opera formed
.lr,ost as h-rsa a contrast TO that OF Wednesday
IN performance di6 in story and music. Fraulen
Ternina is profoundly in sympathy with ''Fidelio'
o,s particularly well fitted for its principal role
ana acquitted herself nobly; but there was clog
,,non the performance, from which even she could
not release herself. Its blood flowed sluggishly:
Nr pamrosch put vitality only into the ''Leonore'
overture which filed out the second wait. 1t was
a performance without inspiration. Mr.. Dippels
rlorestan though intelligently conceived and pre-
sented with complete and unselhsh devotion. is not
. heroic figure. Mr.. Blass. the new Rocco, sang
z-su but disclosed his limitations as a character
srtor There was a newcomer in the cast in the
-s-sor OF Miss FRITZ Schef. piquant little per-
sonage full OF arch Viennese coquetries neat in
saturday there were repetitions Of La Boherne''
a, the afternoon and Romeo et Juliette" in the
evening There being little that can be said in
approval OF the first opera and absolutely nothing
-,nvel about the second. note on the performance
,,uxt cover the case. If there were any evidence
maj La Traviata'' had lost its old vogue because
the rublic had become nauseated with its SUBJECT
81 would be easy TO predict that La Boheme'
whsch IS tenfoId more nauseating would never ac-
,,,i-e 2 vogue But it is only the musical style OF
Ia Traviata'' that the people have wearied o.
mt its delectable story. La Boheme' Is mooern
r its musical manner; its blood runs wildly; when
the supposedly pathetic personages in 1t are not
=, the stage its action is divertng-there is noth-
ing in II TO encourage somnolency. Besides II Is
sruerbly sung and acted; its pace warns even Ihe
voice and action Of Melba, and no one ought TO De
surprised II it prove 10 be the first OF MI Graus
rovelties 10 achieve success. Yet saturday auol-
eace was small. In the evening MISS suzanne
Adams q singer OF delightful gifts. which are
-tpeninr day by day. cheered the hearts Of many
proud OF Americas record on the operate stage at
The end OF the nineteenth century.
A. Frank Damrosch gave Christmas music to
the patrons OF his Young Peoples Concerts on
saturday and since a large portion Of the pro-
rrsrnme was given up 10 the Nativity section OF
Handlers Messiah" and the audience was more
numerous than usual, the inference would seem to
be that the two performances OF the faVorlte
CHRISTMAS oratorio by the Oratorio Society had not
exhausted the peoples desire to hear it. What
singular, and mayhap instructive. experiment II
would be 10 give The Messiah" at some other
time Of the year. Besides the Messiah music, in
which Ny Darnrosch had the help of a large cho-
rus chiefly but not exclusively recruited from the
PEOPLES Choral Union, he gave the orchestral
march from Iiszt's Christus "a peculiarly empty
thing aside from its programmed, his own arrange
roent Of the German Christmas song silent
Night Holy Night" and three Of Cornelius's
Christmas songs for solo voice and pianoforte Here
there was little 10 commend.
Miss Macintyre was so badly used by the voyage
from England that II has been found necessary TO
change the opera for Wednesday night. Instead
OF .NehstofeIe'' The Flying Dutchman" will be
given IN German. with Nine. Gadsd in the part Of
Senta-
It seems likely that the first decade Of the twen-
+ieth century viii see revival OF interest in the
music Of the eighteenth The programmes Of or
chest-aI concerts IN Europe and America disclose
q steadily growing list Of archaic pieces few
wears ago only three Of Mozarts symphonies, the
Jupiter" G minor and fat. could by any chance
be found upon the current lists; now II is COM
mon occurrence 10 see the remark, for the first
time" after Mozi n symphony title in Berlin
and Boston. M Sarn Franko is illustrating the
tendency here and has found novelty for his
next American symphony concert which is un-
known 70 the historians UP TO to-day. 1t is 'sn-
fonia concertante' for oboe. clarinet horn. oas-
soon and. orchestra. which was not even known to
K0cheI. unless It be, as Breitkopf and Hartel in
.fraate the work which Mozart wrote in Paris for
the Concerts spirituels. the performance of which
was frustrated by the intrigues Of his enemies
This was in I7S Mozart sold the score to lie Gros
and kept no copy. and both jain and Kochel
counted the work lost forever. There would
scarcely be any doubt about the identity Of the
work which was revived by the conductor Of the
Mefutngen orchestra a year ago, and the Paris
svnphony OF which know only from a letter
az Hozart's Il Il not for the fact that the
etter indicates that the concertante instruments
Of which he writes flute. oboe, horn and bas~
soon instead Of oboe clarinet, horn and bassoon
Other interesting old novelties which Mr Franko
promises are z group Of dances from Gretry's
'-Cephale ct Procris." and Cherubni's overture TO
'L'HoteIlerfe Portugaise"
SUNDAY NIGHT AT THE OPERA HOUSE
A considerable holiday outpouring attended the
second Of the Sunday concerts at the Metropolitan
Opera House last night, and as usual went IN Tor
the whole show. Encores were as much matter
Of course the numbers on the original pro-
gramu7e A varied offering was given, including
songs by Herr Dippel. Slgnor Scott, NJ Planeon
Nine Olitzka and Frsulein Ternina (who sang the
.'I-iebstod" music from Tristan and Isolde ,,
violin solo by Afr Franko and the necessary or
ehestral selections. Mr. Damrosch was the con-
6uctor