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

l "E n fNrMcu NOucertss
Artburs PhiladeS fhis Home Gazette has
the following. whio0xsi probably be received
by.oss resders as excellent common sense:
"ft is about me- the public demurred to
The higA. prices which popular singers and
graspiH gents have of late been exacting;
and in bmotins, and sustaining which the
press has lent its efficient aid. Since the
Jenny End Juror, which was created through
| tho exceeding adroit management Of that
prince Of oil managers. Barnum, q similar
| excitement has been attempted with each sue
cee& star. and, in some cases, not without
q gW4d measure of success. That tie public
have submitted TO the thing so long, is not
little remarkable.
"Why must popular singer claim thou
sand dollars night for singing four or five
pieces, when q hundred would be most lib
eral compensation? The thing is preposte-
| rous! When amusements and recrcations
| are taxed in this way, they become buEA&p-
some-are rather evil than good. &h,
With bis wife aud two or three daughtefS, if
he wonld hear Sontag or Aboni, must pay as
| much for good seats in the conccrt-rocm, du
ring single evening rs would provision his
! family for week, or bny fuel enough to keep
some poor widows humble abode warm for a
whole winter.
80 The thing is entirely wrong, and we hope
right thinking and sensible people will give
it little reflection. In nil cphscionce, n dol
lar for single admission to- any concert is
enough. From fourteen c'hun red to twu
| thousand dollars in the house ought to COM
pensate' every one concerned literally, and
leaves wide margin for the primo donna.
Beyond this, whatever is paid is in all proba-
bility 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 utte,ly nsensi-
bic to Nil appeals to u generous humanity.
g Those who are perfectly able to pay
these high prices do not make up the bulk If
the large audience that sit for weary hours
in close aud crowded couc-rt rooms, until all
sense of enjoyment is biunt.d the larger
number, either from q passion for music that
will seek Qualification at any cost, or from
weak devotion to the mere popular and fash
ionable. attend by sort of eonstraint, but cam
not really afford these exhorbitant charges"
But we have an objection (says the
Nv" AViA o'Shih6 oo' w WV WI w ""ASA
strikes even deeper than anything here
urged. They are quito unsatisfactory in
themselves, being tho mere fragments and
debris of operas. Complete and perfect per-
formances Of the master pieces Of music are
what the public wants, and with these alone
it should be contented. Nothing con be
more tantaliziugto wcll-instructed musical
ear than tie habit which cnucert-givers have
of exciting the fancy by some delicious bit
fran Norma or Purltani, and then, MS soon
AS the whole mind is a,tuned to the due CON.
dition, breaking in upon itwit.. somehorr,ple(
Carnival of Venice or other. Let us have
the whole thing, or none ut all.
As for those classes Of the community,
wuoSe moral sense is so delicate that they
will not attend 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.