New-York tribune., 1907-01-03
MUSIC
MANHATTAN OPERA HOUSE.
Nine. Melba and "Traviata. :

The return of Nine Meba after absence OF
two years and the production of, La Traviata" in
a new dress the incidents which made for
great gladness at the Manhattan Opera House last
night. 1t was, indeed the first gala night that the
house has seen since it's opening, and it fairly out
dld that opening in every way. There
tfn suggestion of splendor in the boxes. those In
the balcony being occupied from end to end for the
nrst time, and also the majority OF those in the
Prosceniunl; in these boxes and in the stalls there
W2s a brave show of toilc;tes; rout of listeners
$1,000 wherever room could be found to stand be-
hlnd the rails There the show Of excited ex-
pectancy for half an hour before the tardy lifting
of the curtain. and unbridlcd enthusiasm in season
and out of season, thereafter Nine Mclba was
right royalty welcomed and she made regal recon-
pehse IN the coin Of her realm. J. may be that the
hneness OF that coin questioned by the crit
ical contingent. who thought that there things
In Ferdi's opera besides scntlant vocalization and
VINO felt lonSGgs for the allurements of dramatic
Illusion and the charms of poetry: but even they
fell gradually under the witchery Of Nine NaIhss
vocal
When La Traviata" was first produced in
Venice, In 1853. it made monumental hasco. Verdi
laid the blame largely upon the inability of the
singers to understand the true spirit OF his music.
"hlch sounds strange to us to-day-as If there
could he anything to call for deep maginatveness
In these pretty and superficial strains There were
''Ii'I reasons however, and two of them were
called by last nights performance The original
representative of Violetta was Il monstrously stout
person. whose agonizing over her impending disso-
luton from pulmonary consumption provoked the
laughter of the Nenetians instead of their svm-
path9. Writing under the spell of Nine. Me!bas
beautiful art, it seems cruel say that a similar
strain was put upon the imagination of last nights
audience. Not that Nine Meba has grown mon
srously stout-not that but nature has been so gen
erous TO her in its hestowal of external integu-
ment that more dramatic persuasveness than she
possesses Is necessary give verismiitude to the
scenes which, in this story of sentiment and sin
are commonly looked opd
thetic. -
Inc second cause of the original failure was the
circumstance that Verdi and his librettist thought
II necessary 10 sarb his stage people in the fashion
OF the day with which the novel OF Dumas and
subsequently the drama. dealt. The operatic
world was not ready for so much vertisln half
" century ago. and the opera was overhauled
anu the supposed time of It's action set back
HIhdfed and fifty years before Il was launched
second time and began its trumphaI cruise
heretofore Violettas have aIwavs Yorn rho
latest fashionable creations without suggesting
't'e "''uEHI OF anachronism. though all the other
ps'P'' "I u'e play wore eighteenth century cos
tunes At tho Opera Comique In Paris a return
mas been made to first principles and at the in
stance OF Nine. Meba the dress OF all the raorIo -
III" phF last night made 10 conform 10 the
!''i"u "' buTnass novel and drama What the
i|Nu't would ihre been had there been a conven-
uohaI performance meaning by this the kind Of
performance mat we have been accustomed TO for
al ieast quarter OF a century wa can onr,. cur
misc Last nights performance was not conyen-
u"haI' thanks 10 Mr.. Renaud. Mr. CampaninI and
t"' ac"ust'cal excellence OF the new theatre which
'I'ueht inc audience Into such sympathy with the
pay as VIII never be possible In the less demo
cratic Metropolitan Opera House II would be OK
F'ihe!y agreeable could We make an exception also
'H iaF"r OF Nine. Mclba: but with all the beauty of
her song there was nothing In f. or in her acting
to help along the drama the lofty plane to which
MI h"naud suddenly lifted II in the second net
I Mime. Molba's voice has retained It's bruiancv
IT'S beauty and it's freshness; but Il Is deficient
IN warmth and there is not sufficient poetica feel
Ing In her intellectual makeup 10 lend a plausible
afectation Of emotion to her tones Her singing
gitters but 1t is with the glitter OF a Jewel It's
tie that It seems almost churllsh 10 note an occa-
to the purpose OF the present discussion MIR Remand
made drama instead Of hurdy-Eurdy concert out OF
the second act He put nobility into The character Of
Giorgio Germont, and his superb dlction made
a pathetic appeal out Of "Di Provenza' which
heretofore II has been impossible to think OF except
with smile at the old hand organ gentleman with
his belaced pantalettes Mr.. Bassi who suffered
from the operate change. sang the music OF
Alfredo as II, having been put into unpicturesque
modern clothes. he sing Ike the tenors who
are spelling their style under the influence of Young
( Italians, who compose operas like "Boheme'' and
Fedora. As can easily be imagined. the dramatic
/ element in the opera helped by n Gilbert
as' the doctsr. Does the great success of the
evening mark a turning point in local operatlo
/ history? II. f. X.