Los Angeles herald., 1906-04-09

OPERA CHARMING
GERMAN COMPOSER DELIGHTS
CRITICAL AUDIENCES
"HaenseI und Grete" Inspired by
Quaint Folk Songs of Fatherland.
Instant Success In Large
Eastern Cities

Mason opera house on April 80 has been
| intensified by the visit here Saturday
and yesterday of Charles Henry
Meltzer, representing the Metropolitan
grand opera company of New York
city.
Mr.. Metzer's coming here was unex-
pected, though he is a we'll pleased
visitor. He was en- route to San Fran
cisco, but a landslide on the road
switched him at Barstow and he came
| to this city.
"The people of Los Angeles" said
| Mr.. MeltZer to a Herald representative
yesterday at the Van Nuys, will soon
have an opportunity of hearing the
work of the man who is recognized as
the leading German composer of today.
| To those of us who are accustomed to
| Wagner, with all his grandeur and sub
Unity, the work of Engelbert Humper-
| dinck, author of Haensel und Gretel,'
will come as delightful surprise.
"Mr. Humperdinck visited the United
States for the first time this past
season, and his work was produced at
the Metropolitan opera house in New
York under his personal supervision,
aided. of course, by the Herr director,
/ Conried He was delighted with the
presentation and with the work of the
artists who will also be in the cast
| here
Quaint Charm and Sentiment
'The libretto of 'Haensel und Gretel'
is built upon one of the best known
and most beautiful of the German
| folk tales, or rather fairy stories,
| Full of quaint charm and sentiment
| which usually attaches to these tales,
the beauty of the story is added to by
the scenic effects of the production.
While not an unusually expensive pro-
ductiont 'Htensel und Gretel' will COM
pare in artistic merit with any pro-
duction of the Metropolitan company
Herr Humperdinck told me himself"
continued Mr.. Meltzer, chow he came
| to write the music of his opera. He,
| with many other German composers,
| felt the great shadow of Wagner over
| the musical world of Germany and felt
| that competition with him was to court
failure. Realizing that Wagner, I'M his
cwn peculiar field, was supreme, Hum
perdinck turned his attention to the
many quaint and beautiful legends,
folk tales and fairy stories which
abound in German literature. In this
he was greatly aided by his home life.
| He lives in a secluded town on the
Rhine, and one day he was making a
| pianoforte arrangement of German
folk songs. 1t occurred to him that
something more than mere amuse
ment for children could be made of the
songs.
He told me- added Mr.. Meltzer
that he saw all over Europe composers
of other lands were adding to the
| fame of their countries by their pro-
| duCtions, while Germany, musically,
was at a standstill. Verdi, Puccini,
Leoncavallo and Mascagni were adding
| to the fame of Italy, and he deter
mined that he would create an opera
and prove again Germany's claim to
musical prominence.
He wrote 'Haensel und Gretel,' and
when I tell that it was produced no
less than eleven times at the Metro
politan opera house in New York city
last season you can appreciate its in
stant and striking success.
This success has been repeated
wherever we have produced the opera.
In fact this season has been most
successful one in every way. Chicago
alone will show receipts of $S0,00O to
advance sale of upward of 100000.
And our singers are in great voice
this season. They have stood the trip
we'll and are looking forward with keen
delight to their visit to the Pacific
| coast. San Francisco always extends
a royal welcome. and Los Angeles will,
| know, be equally enthusiastic when
the occasion offers.
"The production here will be exactly
similar to the one given in New York
The cost Of transporting scenery, or
chestra, etc, is tremendous, but the adj
vance sales so far justify the outlay.
BurIesque on Wagner
"a particularly delightful bit in
'Haensel und Gretel' is the Ride of the
WITCH burlesque on the famous ride
of the Valkyries of Wagner.
1.-The cast of 'Haensel und Gretel will
be as follows: Haensel, Miss Jane
Freund; Gretel Miss Bella Alten; Ger
trude Miss Marion Weed; The Witch,
Madame Josephine Jacoby: Little Sand
Man, Miss Mulford; Little Dew Man,
Miss Shearman; Peter, Otto Goritz.
Nahan Franko will be the conductor.
'Haensel und Gretep will be fol-
lowed by Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci,' the
cast of which will be: Caruso of the
golden mouth as Canio, Scott as Tonic,
Reiss as Peppe and Paris as Selio.
Arturo Vigna will be the conductor.
! Among the singers with the present
grand opera troupe is Josephine Jacoby,
| a gifted contralto who has never been
| abroad and who, as she says, owes
everything to this country. Her entire
musical education was obtained In New
York city, and all her successes were
| OBTAINED tnefe. Sne mas sung with
equal success in German and Italian
| opera.
"Florence Mulford, whose name in
private life is Mrs. Frank Hunt. is an
other American in the troupe Her
native place is Minneapolis, and her
successes We're made in New York.
Marion Weed, the soprano, is a ma
tive of Rochester N. Y, and obtained
her musical education in this country.
She, too, has been remarkably success
| full in grand opera.
IT have received many requests for
n second performance in Los Angeles"
said Mr.. Meltzer in conclusion, but 1
cannot make any promise that / will be
able TO give more than one production
here. ] am afraid that the engage
ments of the artists with us will pre-
vent"