Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-01-07
THE AMERICAN WOMAN
Her Rise as a Grand Opera
Star.
TEN HOLD THAT PLACE
IN THE METROPOLITAN OPERA
COMPANY IN NEW YORK.
Only Two Men of This Country Their
Associates - Discovery Made by
Herr Conried in Europe.
TEN HOLD THAT PLACE

At last, after more than a quarter OF
century of downright discoura cement. the
American grand opera singer is coming
into his-or rather her-own. of the forty
artists who make up Herr Conried's Met
ropolitan Opera Company this year. twelve,
or almost a third of the number, arc
American by birth or adoption.
Let us scan the list. Among the soprani
appear the names of Emma Eames. MAJ
guerite Lemon, Lillian Nordica and Ma
rion Weed-all Americans. There are SIX
meZzo-soprani and contralti and all are
Americans-olive Fremstad. Louis Homer.
Josephine Jacoby. Florence milford, Alma
Webster Powell and Edyth Walker. OF
the ten tenori only Is American
Frank v. Pollock. There is no American
among the baritoni, but of the four
bassi is an American His name is Robert
Blass, and he is the twelfth and last of
the American artists to be accounted Tor
1t Is noticeable that there are only two
raen in the list. From the beginning OF
the American art movement in music IN
the late seventies there has been decided
lack of participation on the part of the
sterner sex. This condition is undoubtedly
satisfactorily explained in the words of
leading New York authority on grand
|. opera:
Hope deferred long ago. in the early
stages Of the movement. made the mems
n.
severed along the tortuous path that every
American, aspiring to become grand
opera signer, has had to travel up to date
Now, they are coming into their own
theirs is the need: and the men, to fail
back on a time-worn expression, are ex-
ceedingly conspicuous by their absence-at-
most
Excepting Eames and Nordica who have
been singing in America since the early
nineties. and Homer, their fellow-Ameri-
cans in the Metropolitan Opera Company
owe their introduction to the American
public to Herr Cenried.
What Conried Discovered.
When Herr Conried succeeded Maurice
Grau as the company's impresario some two
wears ago last summer one of his first
official acts was to go to Europe In search
of stars for his first season. He went to
Paris, Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, London.
Milan and the other musical eenters of
Italy Vienna and wherever grand opera
is sung Everywhere he was astounded to
find scores of American women, with meri-
torious voices clamoring for engagements,
and, more astounding still, Americans fill
ing the roles of leading singers In many
of the opera houses. Miss Mary Garden
was the chief soprano at the Opera Co
miuue In Paris; Miss Bessie Abbott was
star at the Grand Opera House In Paris;
Miss Geraldine Farrar was the vogue OF
the hour in the Berlin Opera House; Miss
Edyth Walker was the leading contralto In
Vienna; every continental music center at
least had its one American woman whose
voice had received as it were, the official
stamp of appreciation both from public and
critic.
Moreover, Herr Conried became acauaint-
ed with another fact of which he had not
previously been aware-that these Ameri-
cans could not only sing WELL but many
of them could outsng their rivals, whether
they were German, French Or Italian. This
discovery astonished the impresario even
more than the other and it also fixed a
purpose in his mind-if possible, he would
I-secure contracts with some of the best
singers to appear In grand opera In Amer
lea. He felt sure that the departure from
the hitherto all but iron-clad rule of en-
gaging only foreign singers could be broken
with impunity and with credit to his en-
terprise. How far his conviction has been
justified has been reflected in the criticisms
of the newspapers and the public. Miss
Fremstads Carmen has been universally
acclaimed as superior to Calves; Miss
Walker has become a favorite in 'Ortrud
and in the other parts which the public
has so long heard Miss Homer sing: Miss
Weed is exceedingly well known as Kun
dry in "Parsfal," Elizabeth" in Tam
| hauser' and "Brunnhilde;" Blass' work in
"ParsifaF' has called down encomiums
upon his head; Pollock, profiting by
course of instruction under Jean de Reszke,
has not failed to attract much attention,
even though he has such tenors as Caruso,
| Burgstaller and DIPPED as competitors, and
| so on through the list.
| ThuS, IL WILL De seen Inat the Twelve
American singers have not only won
place in grand opera in their native land,
| but are continually being called upon to
sing what may be called the pivotal casts
/ In many of the operas. AT a recent per-
Torrance of "Lohengrin'' three of the six
parts were taken as follows: Nordica reap
peared as Elsa. a favorite part of hers;
Homer was cast for Ortrud and Blass for
Heinrich der Vogler
1t was almost American performance,
| with the English left out. Opera in English
has been a contamination devoutly wished
| for by many in this country for many years
| but 1t will not come to pass until, for one
| thing, English-speaking men, with prospec-
| tive grand opera voices, are content to
| drudge away in the European musical CEN
| ters for years, and put up with the major
portion of the discomforts and discourage
| ments that their sisters patiently endured
| in the hope that some day, some time, they
| would be given a chance to show what
| they could do, and then, succeeding. would
come into their own. Opera in English
could probably be sung now at the Metro
| politan Opera House, as far as the soprani.
| mezzo-soprani and contralt are concerned.
| But where the tenori baritoni and
! bassi who understand the intricacies of the
| English tongue and could interpret 1t in
song? There are only two In the twenty
two who are singing in American grand op-
era today-Blass and Pollock.
Result of Hard Study.
ALREADY limited the pyornep have not