Los Angeles herald., 1907-03-17
A SEASON OF GRAND OPERA

Two weeks of the best grand opera
ever heard in Los Angeles have just
closed; and the various impresarios,
managers, hackers and treasurers are
now figuring out how much they lost
during the fortnight of melody. In
dollars and cents the amount will not
be nearly so great as was deemed
necessary at the beginning of the sea-
son, but that it will be writ in red
on the wrong side of the ledger by
practically all concerned seems newt
able.
Grand opera is an exotic at best;
it is not a self-propelling proposition
1t is for the few; to the general
it is caviare. One must have a mu-
sical instinct or a cultivated taste toI
understand and appreciate it and
money to attend it. The combination
is rather a rare one, hence grand
operas public is limited. Even the
wondrous money reported made by
| Conried and Hammerstein in New York
is too often the chimera of some press
agents imagination the opera there
is heavily subsidized and is backed
by the millionaires who have social
| prestige-or want it-and who make
of the season one grand society func-
ton, as little related to music as is
their horse show to equines. The
music lovers are relegated to the gal
leries and the rich go in fine raiment
and Cn1nnndaG Of ta Il
chat. There are enough plutocrats
there to divide the expense of this
amusement, and to afford keen rivalry
among their women folk in the sar-
torial display; so grand opera is looked
upon as a gold mine by the promoters.
But all of that is different here. We
have no idle rich class, save as it is
composed of tourists who come from
the east for a season and who find
in the wondrous charms of this out
door life a welcome surcease from the
Observation-Disclosures they be balls,
operas or what MOTTO which they are
accustomed at home. Any opera COM
pany that comes here must appeal to
the musical element and must do so
through main strength and sheer abil-
ity. And the appeal must be long and
persistent and engineered with the
highest skill. Too many gold bricks
have been passed out in the name of
grand opera to make Los Angeles
overly quick to accept unknown guam
titles.
The San Carlo company came on the
strength of few high names and good
reports from the east. It's advent was
badly handled, and after a vicious
quarrel among the managers, who did,
or thought they should control its des-
tinies, it was dumped into an utterly
inadequate place to which Los Angeles
promptly and emphatically refused to
trek seeing that Los Angeles built for
just such affairs the finest building of
it's sort on earth. And this was proper,
Then, when the warning elements
began to lose money hand over fist,
they patched up truce and put the
company where 1t belonged; but too
late. The mischief had been done.
People were suspicious. wary and dis
gusted. They had stood in line for
one set of tickets; now they had to
do it all over again. and several times.
They refused, in large measure, and
as no season reservations had been
made. no hold could be kept on them.
The natural result followed.
Los Angeles must not be blamed for
the financial results of the opera sea-
son; 1t is no fault Of this city Los
Angeles supports everything lavishly
that comes properly handle and is
worthy. This company was eminently
worthy, but more wretchedly mis-
managed ana wholly inadequately ma