Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-02-24
DRAMA

Modjeska as Camille doubtless her first
hearing of Camille as the sequence
points, was much moved. She sought out
the actress husband. the Count Bozenta
Chalpowski and poured out rhapsodies to
an alarming extent. She declared she must
see the madame and thank her before writ
ing word. The count escorted her to the
stars dressing room. There the gushing
critic repeated her eulogy with emphasis
and fguration. But, ah madame what
trying evening for your she concluded 81
finest efforts should have been marred by
that wretched cough, which seemed to
grow worse and worse
Puccinis opera, La Boheme," was first
sung In the United States on the Pacific
coast, couple of years ago, by an Italian
opera company on its way home from
South America. In the middle west they
We're showed up" by a dramatic chron-
icler. who wrote warningly in advance:
Ih1s company needn't think we are as
green as cheese or dense as Erubus in this
community. La Boheme' is advertised as
a new opera by an alleged composer named
Pucc1m Giving strange composers name
and foreign title to The Bohemian Girl
won't deceive the musical public of this
city,
Eugene Field used to pose as lacking in
familiarity with dramatic and musical mat
tiers, to the amusement of his readers and
equally to the disguised amazement of for
elgners who We're not in the joke. One of
his memorable efforts was a philipic
against wasting time on a Boston SYM
phony orchestra concert. With gleeful seri-
BUSINESS he lamented the time devoted to
three hours, and only four pieces of music
When an equal amount of time and energy
applied to the art of hog-stickfng at the
South Side abattoirs would accomplish a
remarkable total in prepared pork. 1t was
n stock joke with Eugene Field to write Of
Sol Smith Russell as a son of Lillian Rus
SELL
0narafin ~ Il
stage next week invites to literary lore and
there are few more fertile topics in this
connection than Faust" Goethe spent the
large portion of his long life in writing
Fthe Faust poem, in which he, like Shakes
peare worked up several of his town ac-
quaintances into characters, who will live
now as long as poetry Is read or history
written. Goethe did not work at all con-
tinuously on what he intended to be the
masterWork of his life. He wrote it in
pieces, in what he considered his best mo-
inents- In the gaps between the completed
portions he placed different colored sheets
OF paper to show his eye at a glance where
more work was to be done. Long before he
began his work on the poem the legend of
faust had fascinated him. He exclaimed of
1t: 1T appeals to all minds with the ire
sstible fascination of an eternal problem
ana with the charm of endless variety. Ii
mas every element-wit, pathos wisdom
5unoonery, mystery, melody. reverence,
doubt. magic and irony; not a fiber of the
heart untouched" Goethe felt that the
Faust legend, with it's contrast with
Satan. had almost fathomless depth
OF meaning, and in which all human
life was concerned. and all human mys-
terry expressed. In writing Faust he en-
deavored to tell the mysterious phases of
human existence. A poem on such a legend.
50 great subject, and from such hand
can hardly be expected again. In his
etghty-second year the gifted and petted
poet laid down his pen. after the words
which conclude the second part of Faust:
Upward, the eternal feminine leadeth us
on" N
The libretto Of Faust" catches all of the
poems most dramatic points: and the sue
cessive scenes of the opera are like head
lines to library of wisdom. Gounod has
had the wonderful ability that enabled him
to vary his musical mood with every chang
Ing emotion of the text.