The sun., 1901-12-28
"DON PAsQUALE" AT THE OPERA.
Douizettts Opera Is Sung Instead Of tho
Barber of SeyiIie'-Sembrich's Return.

Barber 0f NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. netuT"'
Giuseppe Campanari, good singer
and tue, seldom disappoints his pubnc'
but yesterday morning he succumbed 70
tonsillitis sending word TO Mr.. Grau that
he could not sing Figaro in The Barber
OF Seville in the evening. But the mechan-
ism which controls our operate manage
ment WAS soon in motion and Don Pas
| uiale, a veritable musical comedy. dropped
| into the place of Rossini's masterpiece.
II was a happy selection, for IL still gave us
Marcella Sembrich. who thus made her
reentrSe in the Metropolitan Opera House
as the merry, bewitching and intriguing
| widowNorin in Donizettis witty and spark
ling music
Nine Sembrich was in buoyant spirits
and voice. She sang her entrance num-
Der. -Quel Guardo II Cavaliere,' with ex-
quisite art. The trill was phenomenal.
In the concerted numbers. especially the
duo with Scotti. Pronta 10 Son. her voice
never sounded 30 delicious in color and
vibrating brilliancy. she gave us with
ease the gay gamut Of emotions expressed
by Norma from mock shrewishness to
arohest flights OF merriment. Sembrich
was enthusiast ically applauded through
out the evening Scotti was capital
MaLaies,o, singing his forid music with
unusual care and acting in the same old
time key of vivacity. newcomer,
buffo, Tavecchia by name. was the Don
Pdsqudie He gave a c-editable perform
ance on the histrionic side OF the amorous
old bachelor But he had not much voice
for TN foco insoleto." Salignac was
Ernesto and delivered his recitative and
air "Povero Ernesto" and the favorite
Com Gentil- with his accustomed suav-
ity. The quartet. "E rimasta,' went very
well. and so did the concerted music OF
the garden see e. The audience was not so
large az il might have been, while the IN
terinissions seemed interminable Flon
conducted.
THE MESSIAH" SUMO By THE oRAroRIo
SOCIETY.
There was sung at Carnegie Hall in the
afternoon to a large audience The Mes
siah.' For more than a quarter of con-
tury the Oratorio Society has produced
this work annually and IL chooses the Christ
mas season for the pleasant task. Singers.
orchestra and conductor are by this time
so thoroughly grounded in this score that
the performance must Of necessity be
smooth one; and unless the elements OF
chance brew some evil plot one hears from
year TO year identically the same calibre
of performance that one remembered
time and unblushingly confessed that the
music was too long for the text. Since
then. with each hearing, the beauties OF the
music have become apparent and now II Is
easy to realize why the Oratorio Society
dares make IL a yearly affair; II Is a great
work and has much of the bigness Of Handel
interviewer in the classic setting of the
pious text.
What is missed out in it-and this only
when the ostensible purpose OF the work
is remcmbered-is the intimately religious
note And Handers lordly life explains
so logically the character of the work. He
was such a tremendous man also apart from
his role as composer, he managed opera
schemes 30 vast that even to-day, with
our huge disregard for the size Of capital
involved. we gasp AT them; and II was the
most natural thing that when he turned
seriously TO the composition of religious
music he should accomplish IL on the same
extravagant scale. For small things he
had neither time nor patience; he needed
a large canvas, wide brus and a big
audience And there are places in the
Messiah" when one feels this reaching
out after wholesale effects. or course Han
del does not fail-only intrigue and death
ever conquered him-but just at these huge
climaxes does the intimate note disappear
and in its place live awe and admiration.
OF the performance there is little 10 record
save that IL went very well, The monster
chorus" which since the time OF Handel
has threatened TO annihilate us with volume
or tone, was in the case OF the Oratorio
society nicely subdued and there was
distinct and appreciable effort for nuance.
For solo singers there were Miss Sara An
derson- who hal been called upon at half
after the eleventh hour 20 take the place of
Miss Palliser. indisposed 30 Miss Homer,
from Mr. Grau's forces. the contralto; Mr..
Glenn Hall sang with all the fervency OF a
true tenor and Mr. Bispham-in excellent
voice indeed INDUCED in his customary
exaRgerations Of enunciation. Mr.. Dam
rosch conducted The performance will
be repeated tonight.