The San Francisco call., 1907-03-25
"COrTncn" We'll SunQ
bySdnCdr|0 People
By James Crawford

rafting good performance of Car
man" rewarded the folk whose admira-
tion for the Bizet opera impelled them
to DEFY the rain and attend the Chutes
Theater last night. That. too. despite
the substitution of an inferior tenor
to sing Don Jose. for which Martin was
originally scheduled.
The ubstitute-Signor Alimani or
something like that-was adequate in
the part however, If he did not actually
strengthen the whole production by
giving Fely Defreyne better opportun-
ity to shine by comparison than she
would have. had with Martin in the
cast.
Now, please, don't accept the fore
going sentence as an intimation that
Defreyne as the gypsy wanton is not
strong enough to Withstand back
grounding when Martin is in evidence.
To remove any such impression /
hasten to opine that Defreyne as Car
men would hold her own against any
tenor l haev seen as Jose, and Caruso
was one of them. Indeed, next to Calve,
whose countrywoman she is, and whose
method she seems to have studied,
Defreyne is the most artistic Carmen
that | have enjoyed.
Yet her voice is not exactly suited to
the demands of the Bizet score. II is
a soprano of lyric rather than mezzo
quality, and in the low and middle reg
listers it would be more effective if of
heavier timbre. But she manages it
with a shrewdness that is art in the
literal sense of that term. With her
temperament she could not easily fail
to make music captivating, for she is
volatile to her finger tips. And as act
ing is no less essential than singing to
make Carmen magnetic figure those
who saw Defreyne as Musetta in "Bo-
heme' may be able to imagine how she
shone last night.
She acted with the incest conceivable
discretion. Less subtle than Calve.
who really invested the character with
degree of finesse that was incon-
gruous. and less hoydenish than Col
lamarini. who carried that quality to
coarseness, Defreyne conveyed the Sc
ductive charm accredited to the way
ward Gypsy in a way that was neither
ridiculously genteel nor repellantIy
suggestive. One could find reason for
Jose, officer and gentleman, becoming
enslaved by such a siren in tatters.
For the sake of the many admirers
of the opera who did not witness it
last highland the town contains
many of them-I am glad that il is to
be repeated next Saturday evening.
Galperini. as the toreador. took sec
ond honors. both for vocalism and dra-
matte force. His singing of the toread-
or's song was well voiced and splendid
ly accompanied by graphic action.
Tarquini did not make much of Mi
caela in any way. but then. it is an OBJ
scured role, anyway. Segurolas sonor-
Gus basso found striking ventilation
through the music allotted to ii Dan
cairo, and the rest of the cast was sat
isfactory
For the choral work it produces the
San Carlo management is entitled to
much credit. / have never heard the
Carmen" choruses given better attack
than they received last night. And the
orchestra. too, was worthy of praise
The staging was as good as competent
direction and fresh scenery and cos
tunes could make it.
'Rigoletto" is the bill for this even
ing. with Nielsen, Constantine and For
mari in the cast. Eastern critics have
pronounced Constantino's singing OF
the Donna e. Mobile" a beautiful ef-
fort. apd Nielsen's Gilda has also re-
ceived much praise.