The sun., 1908-03-22
THE RISE OF GGTTl.CASAZZA
IMPRESARIO TELLS or MS TEN
YEARS At H. SCALA.

They Started the New OporaWe IRA IN
Mllan--ResultsA Achieved NTH Seanty Re-.
sources h MSnsy-FOrelEn Competition.
LONDON, March iO.-ln securing the ser.
vicss OF Tosoa mini and 0atti CasaSza, the Tor.
msr the mualOal director and the latter the
Rsneral director Of Ia Scala, the Metropoh.
tan 0perA House gains skilful maestro and
a cultivated regisssur, the value Of whosa
work at Milan Il would be difilcult 10 eIag.
Eerate.
Speaking Of the origin Of his theatrical
career. Gatti CasaEn says:
1t is 10 be found in the town whero | wa,
born thirty-nlne years ago and where my
family still resides, at FerTara. Ny fathey,
who Was cavalry oficer wished me- to b..
come ss[lor. Therefore be sent me to The
Naval Academy,
But life on board ship did not attract ma
much: soon eft tho academy, but TO keep
one foot still At sea took laurels At Genoa
in naval engineering, One fine day nv
father. who was president Of the theatrical
committee at FcrrAra. was elected deputy
for the town. That was In 1893 Then tbs
citizens wished that ! should take the place
formerly occupied by him.
In spite Of his aee--he was scarcely a.
he ross at once to the height Of the Office en-.
trusted to him. and during the Ave years o.
his service he completely impressed his per.
sonality on the TeGtro Municipale. One O,
the most memorable seasons directed bv
aim was that during which there were per-
formances Of 'CnstoHoro Colombo Pal.
star aud 'Otsllo, which were absolute nov.
elites. Gett- -Casazza wes now launched On
an operate career.
In 1895 among the most influential Cit
lzens OF Milan there waS formed a stronF
group OF shareholders who undertook T.
their own risk TO run the Scala, which hal
been closed for year in consequence Of the
withdrawal Of the municipal subsidy The
president Of this group was the Duke Via
cont de Modrone. the Hce-preeident being
ArriRo BoTto. composer OF "Mefstofee
They Immediately began thinking about
the arr ointment Of a director general of
the Scala who should worthily initiate the
new era AZ result of the unanincl'
Judgment Of Puccini, Mascagni and Fran.
chetti, who had been able to form an opinion
Of the talents OF Gatti-Casazza while thcy
we're in Ferrars assisting 10 the production
Of their operas, the former naval engineer
was summoned to navigate In the waters,
At that time sufficiently treacherous, Of tho
greatest theatre In Italy.
Arturo Tosoanini was chosen as muslos'
director From that day two young men
not In the thirties presided over The desiinle'
Of the most conspicuous temple Of the lvr1
art IN the world. dedicatins thereto the best
forces Of their intellect.
Speaking Of his approaching departurs
after ten years, Gath-Casaszs said'
Il 20 with many, many remembrances,
but not all happy. Yet the progress which
the Scala has made under tho direction o'
myself and Toscanini is sufficient to console
Us for any bitterness
we have always proceeded with COM
pIete unity Of thought and action, 40 that
We have overcome every obstacle As soon
as we came 10 the Scala-which at that time,
may tell you, had nothing but its walls--we
sst ourselves 70 form first class orchestra
and chorus and 10 give great importance 10
the mise-en-sCene, which in Italy had always
been neglected. For this purpose | studied
the organization Of the principal foreign
theatres many Of which | visited.
Our first season, though an artistic sic
Sees, was a bad one from the financial
point Of view, because OF the expenses Of
the complete reorganization Of the theatre
But in successive seasons the economic side
improved, and we we're able to balance our
budget, a thing which had seemed i'm.
possible In view Of the limited financial
resources Of the theatre itself.
THE ideas which We followed we're abso'
htely eclectic We wished that al schools
and all composers, without regard to na-
tion atty, should become known at the
Scala, and We can say, not without cer'
tain sense Of satisfaction, that no nom
Italian oLera was unsuccessful
Naturally we gave a large place u
Wagner, We staged, for the first time in
italy, the 'Rheingold' and 'Siegfriei, and
all the other works Of the genius Of Bav'
reuth we're produced with splendid sue
cess. Such was the case last year with
Tristan und. Isolde and now with mo
00tterdAmmerung. 'PaTsiiaf was per-
formed at concerts.
sOf the Russian school we producer
T-p1a!kcgaly'a Eugene 0negin' and PlQue
Dame Last year Strauss's 'Salome was
performed sixteen times. During this sea.
aon modern French music has occupied
a prominent place in the programme
Louise and Debussys Pei
LAS AZ MSlisande' having been given