The Saint Paul globe., 1900-04-10
MUSIC AND THE STAGE.
METROPOLITAN.

In glorious bursts of melody and
song, and in an opera glittering with
! gems in solo and concerted work the
| French Opera Company of New Orleans
/ opened last evening at the Metropolitan
| opera house In a superb production sof
one OF the most pretentious works in
| modern repertoire. French opera in the
| vernacular, and given by an entire
french organization. was a novelty to
/ say the least to most of the audience
present last night to greet the first per-
/ tormance of the week in the brilliant
La Juive." Manager Scott is to be
! congratulated at once upon his cour-
! ageous spirit in engaging If only for
| short period, an organization demanding
SO large an outlay as this French Opera
company. Since 1896, barring one year
! st. Paul has had a spring opera season,
! the present company marking the third
in Importance since the Damrosch Opera
| company, whose performances in 1896
| aroused the music lovers to such a pitch
/ of enthusiasm. The excellent results
! Of the musical education that st. Paul
has been receiving during the past few
! years were demonstrated last night in
| most striking manner. as the curtain
| rolled up on the first scene of La Juive,"
| and an audience of imposing and cul-
tured proportions greeted the opera COM
! pany in their initial performance in the
| Northwest.
La Juive" is a grand opera in five
! acts, and although very old, first given
| in Paris in 1885, contains some of the
| most beautiful music ever written. The
scene Of the opera is laid in the time Of
/ Constance, fourteenth century, and Is
pre-eminently spectacular it's music
dramatic and declamatory and rich in
I coloring.
The prominent features of the first act
| are the solemn declaration of the cardinal,
1 NT
| BouXmann; M. Gauthier as the aged He
! brew-Eleazar. gave a powerful imper-
sonation Of the part, in which he was
/ powerful and strong support to the hero
| inc, Mile. Clement, who sang and acted
/ the part with charming grace and ten
| derness in the love scenes with Leopold,
4 while her pleading for the life Of her
| lover was intense. Mile. Clement sang
| herself completely into the hearts of her
| audience and received the Hons share Of
/ applause for her excellent hlstrionic as
| well. as musical gifts. At the close of the
| first act the four soIoists received an
| ovation and were given a triple recall,
| bowling their thanks amid tumultuou5 ap-
piause.
The second act opened with the Pass
| over celebration in Eleazar's house and
| introduced a solemn and impressive
prayer sung by M. Gauthier. In this act
| also there Is a passionate duet for
| followed by a spirited duet between
Rachel and Leopold Rachel in in
| tensely dramatic aria, claiming her share
of Leopold's guilt, and the act closes in q
| trio Of anathema pronounced by Eieazar,
bringing again to NJ Gauthier burst Of
! applause.
| The third act brings In once more the
! excellent concerted work OF the COM
pany, and q quartette of magnificent
| power and spirited dramatic effect was
| sung by the four principals. Mile.
| Clement who rises to such sublimity In
| this scene, is a strong type and charac-
| ter Of the French race and temperament,
| which is so universally significant of
/ yiVacity, fire and Unborn dramatic ac-
ton M Salvador sang the difficult part
of Leopold with much taste, and his
work was especially good in the latter
/ scenes. The ballet in this scene con-
stituted an interesting feature, and the
/ solo dancing and figures were artistic and
| intricate.
The chorus sang with vigor and intelli-
gence, and the orchestra, under the di-
rection Of M Vianesi, supported the Vo-
cal forces effectively.
! M Charley has presented to the city
| one of the greatest opera companies ana
| galaxies of artists ever heard Ill tne
Northwest, and no DOUBT TINS eVenins
performance will bring out the stand
| ing room only" sign. Students owe II
| 70 themselves to hear these great artists
| and this city owes much to the enterpris-
| ing efforts of the Metropolitan manage
| ment, ~
At the Metropolitan tonight the French
| Grand Opera company will present
Gounod's a opera, Romeo and Juliet. with
! M Ronnard and Mile. Eta de MontJau
| in the principal roles. Tomorrow after
noon Gounods Faust" will be presented
and the engagement Will close VIII
Reyer's new opera. "Salammbo,; tomor-
row evening. The evening performances
| begin at o'clock sharp, and the matinee
| will commence at 2 o'clock =,
| walker Whfteside and his company will
| heein an engagement Of four nights ana
Saturday matinee at the Metropoltan
| opera house Thursday evening Thurs
! day. Friday and Saturday evenings and
] Saturday matinee Mr.. Whiteside will
| nresent Hamlet" and Sunday evening
he will appear in the romantic drama,
"The Red Cockade."
Miss Ada Rehan's repertory In St PAU
will ne as follows: Monday evening, April
| 1s "school for Scandal" Tuesday, 'As
Won Like It." Wednesday matinee and
evening, 1.-The Tanning Of the Shrew"
GRAND.
| That colored people can lay special
| claim to distinction as singers Is well ex-
empIIfied in "The Hottest Coon In Dixie.
| which played to another large house at
| the Grand last evening. There IS abun-
/ dant action, clever dancing and old and
new coon melodies Of the rag-time va
| riety which give the entertainment
great deal of life. and every member OF
| the. company is an artist
Phil r. Miller, In writing 'Ihe Hottest
/ Coon in Dixie" has thrown together
many bright specialties and catchy songs.
The piece found favor with every one
| who saw 1t, and the audience vouched its
appreciation by frequent encores. Miss
| NearIe G. Hawkins leads the musical or
| ganization and her singing won merited
| favor Her voice is one of remarkable
| sweetness and she exhibits good range
and control. Will Crawford, as Old
Hoss, kept the audience convulsed with
| laughter, and Fred t. Carey, as Waldorf
| Misft, a lawyer, keeps the, ball rolling.
j Will H. Proctor as Hy Roller, the hot
test coon in Dixie, and also as Ebenezer
| Fowler. supports to large degree what
! there is of a plot. The other members
| of the company who contribute to the
fun are r. A. Kelly, Will Grundy. Billy
| Cole Eddie Harris, Norris Smith, Charles
Ross, James Douglas. H. Dixon, Will
! Crawford. Arthur Payne, Miss Belle
Carey, Miss Bessie Hamilton, Miss Maude
! Grundy, Miss Mollie Sullivan. Miss
Georgia. Dobbs Miss Sallie Douglas and
! Miss Bessie Kinney A number of diff
/ fieult cake-walk steps are introduced, and
are at once popular with the audience.
/ "Who Is Who" with Pusey and St.
| John in the leading roles. will appear at
1.-the Grand next week