Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-12

VIENNA, August 2, 1906
- IRECTOR Heinrich Conrled of the
Metropolitan Opera House Is do
ing some great hustling In Eu-
rope this summer. The Herr
Director" as the Viennese call
him, Is usually a pretty busy man when he
comes over here, but, owing to the San
Francisco catastrophe, the work before him
this trip Is so enormous that his former
business visits were mere holidays in COM
parison. For to replace the scenery and
properties of twenty-one operas and the
1O24 trunks of theatrical costumes swept
away by the great earthquake on the Pa
cIflc coast in May last is no easy task. An
ordinary man would hardly know where
TO make q beginning. But Conried has,
according to his Viennese friends, posi-
tive genius for organization and an unlim-
tied capacity for work and he threw him
self into his task with the utmost speed
and vigor Before he had been a day in
Vienna scenic artists and coStumerS mad
begun the work They saw before them
orders aggregating nearly million kronen
OF two hundred thousand dollars probably
the biggest contracts ever given out at any
one time. and they prepared to hustle ac-
cordingly.
BY TAR the greater part of this sum will
be expended on dresses, which are being
made at the Austrian Costume Atelier here
in Vienna. the most celebrated establish
ment of its kind in the world. Conried
placed a few orders for ballet costumes IN
Paris, as the French understand these
things better but for everything else In
the way of theatrical costumes Vienna
stands pre-eminent as the place of proddc-
ton.
Since Director Conried's arrival the 200
odd employees of the Austrian Costume Ate
Her have been working day and night and
Sunday The work rooms are crowded with
things being got ready for America. There
is bewidering mass of materials and col
ors. But what strikes the amateur most
remarkable is the wonderful quality of all
the materials employed. There are silks
and cloths and velvetS and satins equal to
any which one could find at a fashionable
dressmakers in Bond street or 9Th avenue.
The common idea that stage dresses are
always cheap and tawdry is found to be
entirely erroneous-no more costly or dur
able materials could be found than those
employed for the costumes which will Later
be seen on the stage.
And every bit of these stuffs has been
scrutlnlZed by Director Conried. The chief
of the Vienna atelier, Rudolf Winteraitz,
declares that his firm has no more particu-
lar and exacting customer than the New
York opera director who knows exactly
what he wants. and insists upon having 1t.
COnried's memory is marvellous, says Win
has once seen. He has in his head the
scenes of every opera and can tell Instantly
what particular shades OF colors must be
used for every group or single actor.
The costume atelier Is most completely
equipped. There are dressing rooms and
trying-on rooms with walls, ceiling and
door all covered with plate glass, from
which the artist can his costume from
every point OF view. But, besides this.
these rooms are fitted with stage electric
lights OF various colon arranged as foot
lights, and also from - ad. Thus one
can judge of the effect or ene costume I'M
der all conditions of light and shade.
All the new costumes for the Metropoli-
tan have been specially designed by IA
nous Vienna artist Prof. Heinrich Loefer.
From his sketches, which are really finished
pictures the costumer makes the dresses.
following most strictly the artists designs.
All these sket ehes are first approved, how
ever, by Director Conried.
**
Dresses for the different operas, of course,
vary greatly both in quantity and degree
of elaborateness. Faust requires, for in
stance. over 800 costumes, while "Hansel
and Gretel' takes only twenty-five Meyer
beers THE African has over 400, many
OF them very costly. OF individual dresses
perhaps the most elaborate and beautiful
Is that worn by Elsa in "Lohengrin"-a blue
silk mantle, with wonderful and heavy gold
embroiderieS, and dress of white crepe de
chine. also magnificently embroidered in
light blue silk and gold. Another specially
gorgeous costume is that OF Tannhausar
entirely composed of silk, heavily embroid-
cred with gold.
In marked contrast TO such creations of
the costumers art are the simple smock
frocks made for peasants and work people
who form the choruses and stage crowds.
Scores OF packing cases filled with cos
TUNES and properties have been already for
warded to New York. and the whole of the
orders must be completed before the fall.
Scarcely less arduous than the task OF
procuring SO many hundreds of new COS
tumes is that OF getting entirely new seem