Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-16
High prned Concerts.

High PRICED Concerts.
Artbur's Philsdeifhia Home Gazette has
the following, whicQasH probably be received
by ,oax renders rs excellent common sense:
II is abou. & RI. ehe public demurred to
The hi9A prices which popular singers and
grsspiagSeents have of late been exac,ing
and in Sbmotns. and sustaining which the
press has lent its efficient aid. Since the
Jenny Bind Juror, which was created through
the exceeding adroit management Of that
prince of oil managers. Barnun, q similar
excitement has been attempted with each sue
cees star. and, in some cases, not without
q grSa measure of success. That tie public
have submitted to the thing so long, is not q
little remarkable.
"Why must popular singer claim thou
sand dollars q night for singing four or five
| pieces, when hundred would be a most lib
eral compensation? The thing is preposte-
rous! When smusements md recreations
are taxed in this way. they become buESep-
| some-are rather evil than good. A &Sh,
| With his wife aud two or three daughtefs, if
| he would hear Sontag or Albon, must pay as
| much for good seats in the conccrt-room, du
| ring single evening rs would provision his
family for week, or buy fuel enough to Keep
| some poor widows humble abode warm for
whole winter.
% The thing is entirely wrong, and we hope
right thinking and sensible people will give
1t little reflection. In nil conscience, II dol
lar for single admission to any concert is
| enough. From fourteen chun red to twu
thousand dollars in the house ought to con,'
pensate, every one concerned literally, and
leaves wide margin for the primo donna.
Beyond this, whatever is paid is in all proba-
bllity so much lost to justice and benevolence.
The man who expends from five TO twenty
dollars ON single concert will be apt TO con-
slider himself a-little poor for week after
ward and feel, in justice to his family
pledged to close dealing with the market wo-
man and day lnborer, and be utterly insensr
Bile to NIL appeals to u generous humanity.
g. Those who are perfectly able to pny
these high prices do not make up the bulk If
the large audience that sit for weary hours
in close aud crowded concert rooms, until all
sense Of enjoyment is blunt. d the larger
number, either from passion for music that
will seek Qualification at any cost, or from n
weak devotion to tho nero popuh,r and fash
iouable. attend by sort of constraint, but CAM
not really afford these exhorbitnut charges"
But we have on objection (says the
ANC" AV1A 1NcuiuS I oS'J w COIOcse 70 ""ASh
strikes even deeper than anything here
urged They are quite unsatisfactory In
themselves, being the mere fragments and
debris of operas. Complete and perfect per-
formances Of the masterpieces Of music arc
what the public wants, and with these alone
it should be contented. Nothing con be
more tantalizugto q wcll-instructed musical
ear than tue habit which cnncert-givers have
Of exciting the fancy ny sume delicious bit
fran Norma or puritani, and then, ns soou
AS the whole. mind is a,tuned to the due cpn..
dition,: breaking in upon itwit somehorrlple'
Carnival Of Venice or other. Let us have
the whole thing, or none ut all.
As for those classes Of the community,
wmoSe moral sense is SO delicate that they
will notnttcnd an opera, though they rush
to the concerts When it is given piece meal, |
aud without the harmonies Of dress and scenic
effect, we would suggest that oratorios be
given once year in the Tabernacle Tor their
especial benefit.