The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-02-09
MUSIC AND JSICIANS.

~ NtIA y,
more markedly displayed h In the atl-
tude OF New Workers to-day toward the
season at the Metropolitan Opera House.
After Maurice Grau decided last year that
he would prefer to give no opera at all this
winter and was later compelled by the
terms OF his contract with the stockholders
70 give at least a short season, he settled
on eleven weeks as the maximum stay here
OF the company. this to be preceded by .
long tour on the road,
Only a month more OF this term remains.
Yet Mr.. Graz would gladly have il twice as
long; for the indications are that these
will be eleven golden weeks.
No previous season has been 40 pros
porous, never has the desire of the public
to hear the opera been greater. When the
season comes 10 an end. 1t will he found that
no other eleven weeks in the history OF the
Metropolitan Opera House ever yielded
such returns to the management.
The time is too short 10 give half OF the
novelties that hsd been promised ana that
would certainly have contributed stul more
to the financial prosperity OF the year;
Nine. Sembrich In La Boheme n
Mile. Calye in la Navarraise' would have
been a double bill TO delight the public
But neither Of these operas is TO be sung
A gala performance of Les Huguenots'
was In contemplation and the Verdi cycls
would certainly have Interested opera goers,
Mile, Cslve should have sung -Herodlade,
and Nine. Sembrich was TO have revived
.L'Elisir d'Amore,
But eleven weeks allowed no time for
these no velties and revivals and the man,
aRement has no reason To he dlssatsned
with the results OF the season. Indeed,
IL will he difficult for Mr.. Grau, after the
Maurice Grau Opera Company has de-
clared its dividend in the spring, To con
vince the stockholders OF the Metropolitan
Opera and Real Estate Company mat II u
their duty TO bear the nnahciai responA-
bility of the season.
Florizel Won Reuter-, the boy violinist, 10
the son Of a musician and teacher In Warsaw.
Mich. and look his first lessons from his
father. Ii was when he went TO Chicago
later that Max Bendix became his instruc-
tor Afterward he went 10 Geneva and
there had Henri Matreau as his teacher.
The bow, who is now 10. is advanced far
beyond his age In other respects than his
music. He is a v~oracious reader Of books,
and his memory is remarkable. He can
repeat several of the S~hakespearian plays
bv heart and acts them, notably. Macbeth
with great appreciation OF their dramAuo
Significance,
sHamlet" with what is said by persons
who have seen him 70 be remarkable dra-
matio power. All of these plays he knows
bv heart, and although he may not think
OF them for weeks at a time he Is lnmedi.
stely able to recall the scenes and read
the lines perfectly.
His knowledge OF history and his memory
for names and dates are nearly as phenom-
email as his playing, which is admitted oy
ali who have heard him TO be remarkable
for a child, whatever else was thought OF
His knowledge of natural history is as
much GU OF the ordinary. and nothing thso
he has ever learned afterward escapes hs
memory. The element OF premature nsHe
opment is thus as noticeable Ia MS i"o IN
In his music making.
Like most other infant phenomenons, ne
"a well. Throughout MS "hole
natlirs there are CHARACTERISTICS OF the
cLiId ubo has suddenly grown emotionally
snd intellectually to the status OF manhood.
FIorizel draws with astonishing accuracy
the pictures OF birds and animals about
which he has studied. He speaks French
with perfect huency and learned ~ WITHIN
sir months after his arrival in Geneva,
He ia marvriously expert at figures. ana
In only one respect is he other than the
customary wonder child. His physical
health IL perfect, and his development 10
thoroughly muscular and harmoni9us In
every particular he shows the youth oeNei-
oped Beyond his years.
THAT he has a musical talent IL beyond
dispute. II il questionable, however. y
TINT talent hns not like tho rest OF his meLLA
qualities been ripencd too soon.
II ia among the possibilities that Mme'
Sembrich Is 10 be the soloist at the Oratorio
Society at its last performance this season
when S~chuInann's The Peer and the Peri
is 20 he sung This will be- the priWs
donna's first appearance In this country
I'm ~oratorio aud she Is 20 be heard IN oAs
Of the roles tina, she has often sung before
The opera ompany is TO be In Boston az
that time, but Mmo. Sembrich will journey
TO New York for the concert.
Nine. Esmes frankly rays that she NJ"
no idea OF going to Covent Garden WIS
year when the attention Of the audiences
will be fixed on the royal pair in the box
rather than on the stage, and thai she WI
wait until some other time when III" pup''
will be more interested In the Stage pro-
ceedings.
Lillian Nordica Is the latest victim OF ne
San Francisco climate and l. now H,,Ws
through the experience that bei"l MINIS,
Sembrich last year and Nile. cave ltt
autumn. She Is fortunate in not haNLs
an opera company on her hands.
The French singers in New Orleans have
already produced during the present s+'
son la GiocondaH and 'Htrodiade, ana
IL may he that the Massenct opera WI rs
heard for the first time in New YORK from
these artists during their say AT the wv
toia.
la Gioconda" was sung In frenoh
II Ia interesting that the programme 10Y
the concert tomorrow night contains
an aria .Involami' from 'Ernaui. and one
from la Gioconda.' These two ertract-
are about all that will be heard Of the Two
operas this year.