New-York tribune., 1908-09-06

Importance which Boito had assumed IN n. a.
velopment Of Verdi That development Is on. =,
the miracles of music. In manner Verdi rso,.
sents full century of operatie writing. He bex.,
when. in Italy at least. the rbretto was a ma.
stalking horse on which arias might be hung An
that he did besides furnishing vehicles for airs ~,
to provide motive for the scene painter and fh.
costumer Late the growth OF drama.,,
Characterization In his ensembles and the dsv-lo,
ment of strongly marked and inseniousy Gfsrsnr-
ated moods in his arfas without departure iron, '.
Old fashioned forms. In this element lay much =,
the compelling force of his melodies. even tho.
commonplace ones which were pricksd for ths bar
rel organ almost before the palms were cool rhsoh
frs. applaudeo them.-1iks 'sDf quea pira" and Il.
donna mobile" Then set IN the period Of r.
nection. The darling OF the public began to think
more OF bis art and less of his popularity. L.n
iu1petuous les, fecund, perhaps. IN neodic fnvsn-
tion he began to study how to wed dramatic stua-
tons and music. This led him to enrich his bar
monies and TO refine his Instrumentation, which Ia
his earlier works is frequently coarse and vulgar IA
the extreme At this stage he gave Us Ia Fora
del pestino' and Aida" Now the hack writer's
Of opera books would longer surics him Hs
had already shown high appreciation OF the vrtus
which Hes In a good book when he chose Ghislan-
zoni to versify the Egyptian story Of Aida"
But the final step necessary to eomplsts his won
derfuIly progressive march was taken when he
associated himself with Boito- Here was man,
rho united In himself IN a credtabls degree the
qualifications which Wagner demanded FOR his
"Artist of the Future: he was poet dramatist
and musician. No one who has studied Oteilo''
,.r ,.iI to see that Verdi owes much in 1t to the
conposer Of '.MefstofeIe; but the Indebtedness IA
80 ,ras,e- in a.Fralsta1s' where the last vestiye
~ Oh. old subserviency Of the text TO the music
has disappeared. From the first 10 the last the
,Iav fs now the dominant factor There are no
..nunbers' in 'sFaIstan there can De no repetition
of a portion Of the music without interruption and
dislocation Of the action one might as wei ask
Hamlet to repeat his soliloauy on suicide as to ask
90. - the characters in ''FalstafI to sing again
single measure once sung The play moves Al
most with the rspidty Of the SPOKEN COMEDY Ony
once or twice does one feel that there - an ua-
necessary eddy in the current
And how has this play been set TO music7 II
,ss bssn pIuuzed into perfect sea Of melodc
cbampaxne All the dialogue crisp and Sparkling
full of hu1nor IN itself, Is made crisper, mors
sparkIing more amusing by the music on which
and In which It floats, we are almost tempted to
saw more buoyantly than comedy dislogus has
Aoated since Mozart wrote LIE Nozzs dl Figaro
rrba orcbestra IS bearer OF everything, Just az
coronIetelv as II is IN the latter day dramas Of
Richard Wagner; it supplies phrases lot rs
singers supports their voices comments on tne'r
utterances and gives dramatic color 70 even tns
most aeetinz idea 1t Is marvellous delinssror
or things external as well as internal IL s"ells
the buIs Of the fat knight until he sounds as II
he weighed a ton. and gives such piquancy 70 tns
spirits Of the merry women (Mrs- QUICKLY monop-
olizinz the Importance due TO Mrs- rage, that
one cannot see them come on the stage Wl'nout
a throb of delight In spite Of the tremendous
.-iaaa rybIcb the art Of Instrumentation has
made since Berlioz mixed the modern orchestral
colors Verdi has In 'Falstar' added TO the Vsrie-
gated palette. Yet all is done so dlscreeuE' WIN
such utter lack Of effect seeking that II seems
az IL the art had always been known The Hood
upon which the vocal melody floats Is not f<s
that of Wagner; IL Is not development OF nxec
phrases though Verdi. too. knows the use OF
leading motives IN sense. but current Wnieh
is ever receiving waters. The defamation IS
managed with extraordinary skill and tnougn u
frequently grows out Of the Instrumental part u
has yet independent melodic value as the vocal
parts of Wagners Die NeistersingeT nave.
Through this Verdi has acquired comic poten-
tialitv for his voice parts which goes hand In
hand with that Of his instrumental parts
But Verdi is not only dramatically true and
rneIoJious his vocal parts. he is even when oc-
casion offers most simple and ingenious There IS
an amazing amount OF the Mozartian spirit IN
"Faistaf" and once we seem even to recognize the
simple graciousness Of pre-Gluckian DAYS. Tnus
the dainty fancy and idylic feeling which opens
the scene in windsor Forest. with its suggestion
of fays and fairies and moonlight "a scene BY the
way for which Verdi has found enhancing tones
yet without reaching the lovely grace OF NICOLA
owes much of its beauty tc a minuet measure
quite in the manner Of the olden time. but which
Is, after all, only an Accompaniment uV 'ii0 N0
nation which it sweetens. The 1nales OF Fai-
STAFF have been built up with all OF Verdfs old
time skill. and sometimes sound like Mozart
rubbed through the Wagnerian sieve. Finally, 10
cap the climax. he writes a fugue- fugue to wind
up a comic OPERA A fugue-the highest exempi-
fcation OF oIdtime arthciality in music. difficult
fugue to sing. yet il out smoothly as tns
conventional tag OF Shakespeare's own day. whose
place. indeed. it takes 1t is tag suggested oy
'AI the worlds a stage and though IL is
fugue. 1t bubbles over with humOr. H. E. h