The sun., 1908-01-16

vr,a Lusa Tetrazzini made her first
l,,casrance in this city last night at the
Eisnhattan Opera House, singing the music
/, VjcleY1 Ta,trg in Verdi's opera La
4 Frr,visfa BY reason OF the cabled re-
Ircr,s of the extraordinary stir caused oy
b.r recent performances in London public
,ariositv here had been stimulated TO the
,srss Of excitement and the theatre was
I,.cynieI I, the limit Of its generous capacity
Ihv nervous. eager, busting throng. Like
III New York first night audiences this
I.ss.nblage contained a very large ssement
-,,h irs decision formed before the curtain
,ass so that Nine Tetrazzini upon the
v instant of her appearance was acclaimed
Patti might have been. No disinter-
..tsI and uniformed spectator would
hare supposed that these people had never
| before heard the woman and did not know
"a vet whether she was fact or a mere
4 phantasm of the cable.
Nine. Tptrazzini came to New York under
n the most trying Of all conditions, silly and
ax,ravagant oyerpraise OF her brilliant
sroress with The popuIace in London there
can he no question, But how could Amer
,csn students Of operate records know
vbether history had not repeated itself
with startling fidelity? When La Traviata'
was first performed in the English
oapsl in the sos, the exponent Of
VioIeii0's glorifying passion and redeem
4 ing ~nrspmption was Piccolomini. Lon
\ don went quite mad about her. People
fought with one another for places in the
opera house Seats were sold at exorbitant
prices
Ystitis matter of record that Piccolomini
had a small voice and smaller ability az a
singer Her most potent charms appear
10 have been unbridled assurance and a
h beautiful pronunciation Of Italian. When
, Bosio arrived in London the next season
and sang Iiol.Hn without extravagance,
with purity Of taste and style and with
. artistic repose the amiable Britons awoke
4 from their dream.
Those who know the London Of to-day
A are aware that it is not incapable Of entering
5, into a new Piccolomini delusion Those
/, who remember that the great Piccolomini
urore had its inception in press agent
tricks. even inclusive Of broken contracts,
have naturally waited to hear Nine.
sTetrazlini before deciding that all mem
q ories Of Colorature art and pure bea cantO
we're 10 he effaced and a new standard
set up for people who measure merit not
4 nv its approach TO the ideal but by its su-
4 periority over what they have already
+ known.
The claims set up for Nine. Tetrazzini by
!. her san Francisco admirers we're that il
I. she ever camc to New York she would drive
4 Melba and Spmbrich into unending seclu-
sion Similar predictions have recently
heen set sAoat in Vest Thirty-fourth street.
Such talk does no real artist any good. II
arouses the hostility of the rartisans; il
A creates profound distrust in the minds Of
N he impartial
II In the case Of Nine. Tetrazzini il can be
N said that after last nights hearing il
' did grave injustice 10 a singer who has
certain we'll defined claims to popularity.
The audience ready As it was with the un-
failing reception, was moved to vigorous
}snd prolonged applause at the conclusion
III ~ the first act.
The cheers and the other glad noises
II could not have been greater had all
| memories been obIiterated and the new
n singers delivery accepted as, the gospel
+ Of new art. Even those industrious
\ journals which take il 10 be their duty to
\ create excitement when there is none
must be hard put to it to overdraw the
demonstration Of last nights audience after
4 the banquet scene
A Thar there was a most Ominous silence
\ after the duet with Gcrmon, in the second
act may have heen due to real interest in
the art Of delivering simple cantabile music
with repose. finish and pathos or to dis
appointment at the absence Of more feats of
j oOlorature
Like the traditional Violenas Of old time
Mn,a TaNr ,,v,, H.
any immediate danger Of wasting away
with consumption. Her figure is well
nourished and her face is as round as the
silver moon. But she is a woman Of pleas
Ing appearance for all that, and her smile
s both generous and frequent. Her ooun-
tenance cannot fairly be called mobile or
sensitive, but for the workaday conven-
tions Of opera world it will suffice And
after all the singing is the thing
Nine Tetrazzini has fresh, clear voice
Of pure soprano quality and Of sufficient
range though other roles must perhaps
Adiscose its furthest flights above the staff
The perfectly unworn condition and youth
ml timbre of this voice are its largest
charms. and to these must be added a
splendid richness in the upper range IT.
deed, the hest part Of the voice as heard
lAst evening was from the @ above the
stan TO the high G. The B fiat in -Semper
Libera' was a tone Of which any singer
might have been proud. The high d in
the same number was by no means so
good, and the high = fat which the singer
took in ending the scene was a head tone
Of thin quality and refused to stay on the
"A pitch
In colorature Nine. Tetrazzini quite
justified much that had been written about
ner. She sang staccati with consummate
ease. though not with the approved method
II o. breathing Her method is merely 70
oneok the flow between tones instead OF
lightly attacking each note separately. But
me effect which she produces, that Of de-
Fached notes rather than Of strict staccato
charming. OF her shake less can he
said In praise. II was neither clear in
emission nor steady. and the interval was
purely az least open to question.
Descending scales she sang beautifully
vim perfect smoothness and clean articu.
alton. Her Transformation Of the plain
ale IN the opening cadenZa OF "SempeI
cera into chromatic scale, though a
eparture from the letter OF the score. wa
o. a. all out Of taste, and it's execution fully