The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-11-26
AT THE MANHATTAN
MARK GARDEN MAKES HER
DEBIT IN AMERICA.

Elegant and MeIOdIOus styIe--MF.
Rena1d Adds Another Success 90 Hta
g Gallery Of Admirable stage Portraits.
-ThAis.' lyric comedy in three acts,
che book by Louis Gallet, the music by
jules Massenet, was produced at the Man
haitian Opera House last night for the first
time In New York. Possibly il was also
the first perfoTmanoe in America, but tiu
the clSims OF the TivOli Theatre In San
Francisco and the New Orleans Opera are
presented no one in this village can be Ger
tain Of CHS. II does, however. seem safe
70 say hat last evenings enertainment
was the medium OF the postponed first APP
pearanoo in this country Of Mary Garden,
a singer who has fiourished at the Opera
Comique Of Paris and who has been a sub
ject Of much critical comment OF excited
style.
The opera was received with pleasure
by an audience OF liberal disposition. while
Miss Garden. though a novelty, had TO
share the hOnOrs Of the night with Maurice
Remand. The two artists put vitality
into a work which cannot be described
~ a product OF genius. A highly finished
piece Of stagecraft by = skilled workman
equipped with a good technic and a
special feeling for theatrical expression.
That's" invites public approval by its
ingenious and effective employment OF
devices which nave stood the test OF time.
While not niggardly in its supply of those
externals which &c to make charms for the
eye it's action il mainly concerned with
inner life. The foundations Of the story
are laid on a conflict Of personalities. a
battle OF emotions. These are the elements
Of a genuine music drama and in the hands
Of a composer OF creative force. unfettered
by Gallo traditions, they might have been
developed into a stirring tragedy. MIR.
Massenet wrote with Paris in his soul and
the portals Of the Grand Opera in his view
And after all he could not help being the
same Massenet who composed "Werther'
and "Manon.'
That's" was produced in Paris on March
IA, 1924, with Sybil Sanderson and Delmas
in the leading parts. The book, made
from the story of Anatole France in the
Revue des ,Deu1 MORdes. had the advan-
tage Of being already a topic OF discussion
in literary circles. Mr.. Frances story
had made a great impression because Of
it's beautiful style and the fidelity Of it's
art, and his heroine had touched a chord
always quick to vibrate in the Gallo soul.
A fair sinner saved is irresistible-in fiction.
This That's is not she of Alexander's
court, a woman whose chief claim TO celeb
rity appears to be that she suggest ed the
burning of Persepolis. That enchanting
person lived more than 300 years before
the Christian era. while this one dwells in
Alexandria in a time Of monks. nuns and
a~scetics. and in the mistress Of Nicias, a
Greek vOluptuary.
AthdnGeI. a monk. resolves to save her
soul. Nicids practically challenges him TO
the ordeal and clothes him in fine raiment
in order that he may properly meet a
woman with a past. That's at first laughs
him to scorn.b but his earpestness impresses
her. She learns to fear the hereafter.
At length in the second scene Of the
second act, under the dominance OfAthdnaeL,
she burns her palace and in mean attire
goes to seek salvation in a convent. The
populaoe resents her taking or and stones
the monk, an episode which provides ma
terial for a theatrical finale OF an effective
kind.
The first scene Of the third act shows us
Athdndel leading the foOtsOre That's into an
oasis in the desert. The monk lashes him
self TO his duty. but il ia quite plain that
he has succumbed to the beauty Of the
woman. She, however, has turned her
TWIN tkCh WV WI w NAAAA NV NFI ENEN
on heaven. She is received by the White
Ladies and AthonGeI is left TO rush despair.
ing back to his own fraternity and confess
his sin.
A vision OF That's dying appears to him.
He flies to the conven C.. 1t is true. Thois
is leaving the world indeed. Athan0el
3 implores her to live and to love. She
r~epulses him with his own former words.
-Viens! dis-moi. ie vivrai, /" cries AthdndeL.
lie son des harpes do m'enchante. An,
le ciell Je vols Dieu!" murmurs That's az
she expires.
Here il good dramatic material Massenet
and his librettist have made of it good
market place opera, just that and nothing
more. The music IN charged with sensu-
0us beauty. The melodic idiOms are ele-
giant and prepOssessing, the OrOhestration
Ia embelished with alluring details Of color
and contrast. One can listen to such music
with pleasure and without any exhaustive
disturbance Of the emotions.
Always interesting. Massenet is invari-
ably polite. He is never depressing. never
irksome, never bald in thematic illustration
nor dapper in presentation. On the other
hand he never rises to passionate heights
and does nothing to stagger the imagina-
tioD. There is hardly a page in the score
of That's" (which is not worthy OF the com
poser's reputation and which will not in
due time be dismissed from the memory
without a pang. Even the %melIihuous
intermezzo between the two scenes OF the
second act. which was encOred last night
apparently because it was an intermezzO.
will sing its gentle way into the rosy abyss
of the easily forgotten.
Mary Garden. the star of the evening.
proved also to he in almost every way
worthy of her reputation. From Paris long
ago came the report that while her voice
was perhaps no more attractive than KG-
tishG's face. she had. like that Gilbertian
damsel, a left shoulder blade that people
went miles to see. The shoulder blades
were both there for public inspection,
together with item, one pair Of shoulders.
item, one pair of eyes. item. two arms. and
item, a generally willowy and clinging
structure.
Miss Garden was a joy 10 the eye. She
10 perhaps not the most beautiful woman
on the operate stage. for there are others
III -. 4 -