The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-12-07
....NEW YORK THEATRES. Opera and Great Singers-Mr Mansheds Production of
 SE Julius Caesar Great Event in Dramatic History T
BY. ALoNzo NEWCOMER.

sion-there was so much fervor in the work of Flames, De Marchi and Scotti that what began weakly, progressed halt ingly, ended most brilliantly. In It's pie toral aspect Earnes's Aida is long, lin- gering pleasure to the eye. This idaugh- ter of the Ethiopian king is an exquisite creature Dramatically and vocally the role though is beyond her powers. Cu- riously it inspires her to efforts which are never present in her other parts. She be- comes physically active. vooally animated, and in the great duo of the Nile scene a page which is illuminated by Verdi's genius she almost reaches heights of tragic force. This performance revealed a curious weakness in the personnel of MT. Grau's company. He would have found no difficulty to have found an Aida among his sopranos had one been needed, but when 1t came to the matter of another Amneris he was forced to call in an outsider. It was his good luck that such an experienced artist as Mantelli was at hand. For the earnest contralto who is said to have eschewed opera for. vaude- ville, the sudden call must have been gratifying. It Is always pleasant to a persons vanity to be in demand Be- sides it was call to sing a mezzo-so- prsno role, and that is the greatest bliss that a contralto can enjoy. It was Annie Louise Cary who said once after being congratulated for Ter superb Amneris; "Yes, yes; but I'd give all the applause and five years of my future career for the pleasure of once seeing my name on the top line of the programme. Mantelli Is evidently like all her sisters, for she sang on Thursday as if her song was one hig jubilete.
 Anthes Is a tenor of rank. He has e good voice, full of body, bit dull. yet agreeable in quality. He sings in the German declamatory style, with wilful ignorance of legato. He Is a good actor. Hertz. the new conductor, is an acquisi- tion if his future work is of the character indicated by his reading of the "Lohen- grim score. He is keen to the development of the orchestra and is full of delightful gradatiors in tone, volume and color.
 ,
 MT Mansfields production of Julius Ceasar will be an event in the history of Shakespearean productions. It Is we'll known among those who take an interest in the bookkeeping of plays that Shakes spear spells r-u-i-n. No one knows this better than MT. Mansfield. In producing these great plays he is actuated by artis- tic, not monetary motives. Booth never made a dollar out of his productions un- til he played with Barrett, and the policy of these stars was to discard the scenlc possibilities and the scenic temptations and to produce them in a way which put modern scenic art on the shelf. If MT. Mansfeld's splendid productions of Rich ard IT., and Henry V. are to be taken as a criterion, Julius Caesar will be a pageant and an astounding event. It Is a decidedly off year with him when he does not attempt something to advance the standard of the stage and also his own position in his profession and since with Henry V," he exploded the o.l supersti- tition that Shakespeare spells ruin, he may be counted on to accomplish some thing noteworthy with the bars grand Roman conspiracy. As for the production, Julius Caesar" requires discoufa gingly | elaborate scenic investiture, but Mans fields liberality may be counted upon to overcome that obstacle, The danger Hes in the cast, which includes dozen parts that demand the very best acting talent
 How the star will meet these require. ments is the thing thst remains to. bs