The San Francisco call., 1905-02-05

sons fishing. TO set maiden 10 make
supplication to their gods for the
safety and success Of the expedition
The maid must be pure and fair or
great disaster would come upon the
expedition. The Pearl Fishers" Is the
story OF one that loved and so was
doomed to die.
The opera has three acts, and the
characters are four-I1eila, Soprano;
.Nadir, tenor; Zurga. barytone. and the
High Priest. bass. The chorus appears
as fishers. priests, warriors anti so on
In the first act the High Priest has
just returned with Leila, whom he has
brought from a neighboring tribe. Ma
dir is a warrior. Zurga the chief OF
the tribe, and they are blood brothers.
Both have loved Leila. but have sworn
never to see her again. each for the
others sake. Nor have they seen
her as the opera opens. Leila then.
veiled, is brought to the temple In the
rocks where the supplication is made.
She prays. Nadir hears the voice. re-
members. waits until the worshipers
have gone, then climbs the rocks to the
lady. II am Nadir." he sings, and they
fall into each others arms
The second act. Of course. begins with
a. terrible tempest. The High Priest,
willy person, understands just what has
caused 1t, and hauls up the recreant
lovers before the people. They are con-
demned to die. Zurga then is summoned.
Zurga is chief by choice Of the people.
by the way, and he asks them, Am I
your chief or not? If am, am your
master. Release these people," They
are released. But Zurga has not yet
seen the lady's face. She is still veiled-
The priest, however, tears off the veil.
Zurga then recognizes her, and driven
by jealousy and rage at his friends
treachery condemns the lovers anew to
death.
The tent Of Zurga IL the first scene
Of the third act He Is consumed with
grief. To him comes Leila. asking that
Nadir may be allowed to go free and
that she may die. Zurga. who has been
plotting to free the lovers. forgets his
grief IN jealousy. He refuses. Then
Leila as she goes out gives a necklace
OF pearls to a servant, asking that Ii
may be restored to her mother after
her death Zurga then recognizes the
necklace as one that he had given to a
child OF a neighboring tribe that had
sheltered him from the attacks Of her
own people. 1t was Leila The second
scene Of the act shows the forest. with
the sacrifcial fire In the distance. Zurga
has reDented- To save the lovers he
has had the funeral fires made far in
the forest. and tells the people that
their houses are In danger Of burning.
They rush TO save them. and Zurga
cuts the bonds Of Nadir and Leila. He
hoH 20 foPx In, fz
person the vengeance Of his people.
All good music lovers win co glad 10
hear of three more days witt he Dell
metsches. next Wednesday ard 7.ss,ra
day evenings and Friday afts5ocr- Al
the Wednesday evening a - -EEl5
concerts the whole program ~stl ~
devoted to songs and music oE S.ldire-
speare the Thursday evening to the
charming miscellaneous programmes
that have been before given All Of ths
numbers will be new No musician can
afford to miss hearing these lovely be-
ginnings of the art, and any music low
er missing them will be the poorer by
a uniquely charming experience.
An orchestral and choral concert for
the benefit of the Verdi monument
fund will be given at the Alhambra
Theater on Friday evening, February
"a under the auspices Of the Verdi
Monument Committee. The Minetti
Orchestra, consisting OF 100 players,
and the James Hamilton Howe Club,
an organization comprising 200 singers.
will contribute their services Several
vocal soloists will also be in evidence
The Loring Club gave its first con-
cert since the death of it's old conductor
last Tuesday evening Mr.. w. G.
Stadtfeld conducted. and it is evident
that every effort was made to- keep the
club work to the standards set by Mr..
Loring A very good programme was
offered, and the club was assisted by
Paul Freebooter. cellist. and Mrs. Cora
Hall. soprano.