The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-30

mat crude llmner, OIRl NetnerhoIe. Nds
there any subtlety about her? Duse.
we'll. that il another story. Duse would
make Lady Windermere subtle.
Minnie Hauck used to he regarded az
the ideal Carmen. Viewed now in the light
Of Emma Calv6 she In seen TO have been
fat. forty and domestic, a Carmen OF the
backstairs, a gypsy Of the laundry. CalN"
gave us a brutally frank and salacious
Carmen. a debonair vampire, a cornoraht
OF mems bodies, sheer sensuanst. size
was sinuo,is and picturesque. daring in pose
and facial disclosure. bold in the reve-
htions of her basilisk eyes. But how much
difference was there between her alluring
Carmen and her seductive Messdhne in the
notorious chamber scene?
Yet the question may fairly be asked
whether Calvd did not give us all there ~
III the operate Carmen. She is simply a
butterfly of sensual delight. She sounds
the keynote of her character when she hrst
comes upon the stage and the chorus OF
tn nous aimeras." She answers: "Quand
je vous ainerai? Ma fol, je ne sais pas.
Peutetre iamais. Peutet 70 demain. Mais
pas aujourdhu. c'est certain when
shall love your My faith don't know.
Perhaps never; perhaps tomorrow; but not
to-day: that's certain
All that wonderfully tragic recitation over
the cards. which makes carmen seem to be q
deep nature, il, when you come TO examine
II. simply a stage effect introduced by smart
u'lT''SS''S IKE awe. Ht' ttAl VI wv F''i'r
shows that the authors meant to portray
very supplemented, naive fatalist, con-
WINGED that the cards could not lie and pretty
thoroughly scared at the thought OF death
Sometimes when clever performers re-
model a role to suit their oW n pcculiarities,
as Nine Calva always did with Carmen, we
proclaim them beings of creative power.
But If We We're to proceed Oh this principle
We should have TO admit that Charles logh-
lan's Claude Melnotie was great and that
Sir Lee. A "a dr. m
OF genius, There II such Q thing as carry
ing originality too far. ar Puccini did when
he wrote the music of the finale of Act ii,
i'll La Bohame But that is yet to come.
One thing may be said at this time
handsome woman with certain amount ol
vivacity and good voice, with a pleasing
variety Of facial expression and readiness
To assume the posture Of continual invi-
fation toward the opposite sex, can make
Succc-- Of her imp%rsonation Of Carmen.
She may not carry Us away and she may
not crowd our minds with troubled Thoughts
but she can live up to the requirements
OF the opera. which are much slighter than
the profound essa yists would have us be-
licNe. When the imlrrsonator OF carmen
goes beyond these requirements. she Is
proferring to us added the destinations oi
her own cancellations TO the book. When
they are a. seductive a. those OF GAVE
on one Of her artistic nights. not when she
II skylarking with the gallery-we accept
them with gratitude.
IL is pity that the performance OF Aida
on Thanksgiving night was married by the
| accumulation OF indispoeitions i'll the COM
pany. 1t promised TO be stirring per-
! Torrance. II began very placidly, to he
sure. for Mr. de march, MAJ plainly saving
| himself for the outpourings Of the Nile
scene and Mr.. Edouard de Reszke was In
such poor condition that ne could not sing
half dozen conseC utive notes in tune.
| II may a. we'll be- said now that he pro-
| ceeeded through the evening in a sad state
Of shortness Of breath In the temple
scene he war unable to deliver in one phrase
the final exclamation, "lmmenso Phtha'
He sang il thus: 'lmmen Sophtha!'
But the opera would have gone well
enough without his being in his best form,
| for Rdmfs. the High Priest, is, after all,
only sacerdotal marionette with phono-
graphic. bass-clarinet attachment. He
human beings in Aida" They are the
heroine, the unhappy Princess Amnsris
| and the savage father, AmOhdsro. These
operate creations are all alive. They are
| breathe, they throb. They make rs thrill
with their emotions. They stand out upon
the lyric canvas with splendid brilliance
Verdi has characterized them nobly. They
belong 10 the gallery of operate portraits.
But Rdddmess, the ,pos,uring hero, the
weaking, the insignificant, what does he
do' He sings pretty romanza IN the
first scene, he il sung To in the second, he
i not on the stage in the third. and he emits
As and Is fats for the gallery in the fourth
and fifth. After that they take him to ia
His finest opportunity for really beaul iful
singing il in the final duet. 20 terra'addiu,
The shoutings of the bdmb,ni of Italy in the
gallery after the strenuous pealingS of the
Nile scene cannot disguise from music
lovers that this duet Is the most beautiful
inspiration Of an inspired opera.
AmOndsro and AmReris need no descrip-
ton now Amneris stands among contralto
and second soprano parts in the class with
Donna Eirird and Brdngdene She is
grand figure, though here again, il may be-
that memory aids Imagination. There was
an imneris once, We gods, Their. was an
Amnoris who strobe the stage with all the
| majesty of an Impress, who sang with
the overinastering tragic htterance of
Salvini, who printed on the records Of her
time craven image of Pharaoh's daughter
like to the creation OF Shakespeare. She
sings no more, but men who treasure all
that is noble and beautiful bow their heads
when they recall the Amrer's of Annie Louise
Cary.
But 10 return. II il pity that the per-
Torrance Of Thursday night did not pro-
coed a. II started. for when Nine. Eanes
made her entrance she struck an electric
spark, She had evidently keyed herself
up To give a vigorous dramatic interpre-
tation. She had surely been studying
| the music with view to improving certain
nuanccs and the stag business " dh the
VI ltl' IClpildl lIHSSikt VI
her assumption II is we'll known to the
inner brot herhood that Mime. Eames cher
lshes an ambition to become dramatic
soprano. She surely hoped on Thursday
night to show how much stitication she
had for her desires. II was unfort innate.
therefore. that Miss Bridewell's illness
should have made il impossible for her to
carry out her original plan
The great scene between the two women
in the second act had To he Gu, out. That
was enough to throw any soprano into a
state Of depression. Then came the general
slump" of the performance, tn" long waits
between the acts. and the depressing an
nouncements Of Max Hirsch. When Nine
Mantelli was found and the integrity Of the
opera in the latter half restored, II was too
late, Atfd was practically through. She
had only The final duet left. And, what was
still worse. her original mood had been
oblitcrated. However. We shall have other
opport unitics in the course of the season to
witness Nine. Eames's latest developments
toward the position of dramatic soprano.
Let us all hope that neihe We nor she
will be disappointed,