Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-04-18

Puccini has been invited by President
Dia2 to write an opera for the opening,
five years hence. of the ST., 600 opera
house to be built in Mexico City Here
Is a chance to immortaliZe himself with
a Mexican opera. as Verdi did with his
Egyptian Aida" There was time
when one of the most famous operas ON
the stage-Spontinl's Ferdinand Cor
tez"-was Mexican. Spontini's operas
are dead and cannot be revived; but
Puccini is up-to-date, and with good
collaboration TO provide stirring MeXi-
can libretto he might be inspired 10
surpass all his previous efforts.
a new musical league has been found
ed in England which Is to be similar to
Germany's Verein, the OBJ
ject of which is an annual festival. at
which are performed new works by
contemporary composers and older
works that are undeseVedly neglected.
The president of the Musical league is
Elgar, the vice president is Delius. and
among the members of the committee
are Granville Bantock and Percy Pitt.
The omission of the names OF Parry
and Stanford is old. Does st indicate
cliqueism, or is it because the works of
those composers are to be performed
particularly? One of the clauses pro-
vides that mo member of the commit
tee or of the music selection sub-com-
mittee shall be eligible TO have any of
his works performed at a festival of
the league during his term OF office"
Adelina Patti. Baroness of Ced-
erstrom, has under consideration
her final farewell of farewell tours to
us. The silver throated songstress has
lust received the largest offer ever
shape of "a gilded proposition by cable
from the Friars. an organization OF
wide-awake American press agents.
The Friars seem determined TO secure
the strongest attraction possible for
their bill THE FIiars' Festival, TO be
given May Il. Nine. Patti Is the lrst
European artist to receive an or"r
They desired to import the diva for
single performance and are said TO
have a fund that will enable them to
pay her as high as 100000 II she will
undertake a flying trip to New York.
A recent magazine writer says 1t
was my rare privilege to spend sew
oral weeks last summer in Peterporo,
at Mrs MacDowells request, gong
through her husbands sketch books
and manuscripts to see II therc
was completed work of any
Kind WnlCn nau no. Htt pNNi
published, and which could be
used. But. Mrs. MacDowell warned
me that it was likely to be n vain
search. for before her husband went
to Europe four years before, he had
made a holocaust of all completed
manuscripts which he did not want
to have published, and which he fear
cd might be, If he should be suddenly
taken away Among other things one
act of an opera and a string quartet
We're burned.
But did find very much of interest
and ! learned that MacDowell was one
of TIE severest critics of his own
works that ever lived. He was con-
t!nuaily revising. Some of his earlier
published works have been republish-
cd in II much improved version, not
ably the First Modern Suite" and
"The Mariopettes" Before publica-
ton they were often rewritten several
times. and / would find movement
begun and continued for half page,
then Il would be broken off suddenly,
ami a remark like this written at the
end. Hand organ to the rescue!' He
would try scoring passages for or
chestra; part of the first movement of
the "l<eltic Sonata" exists in orches-
trail score in one of his sketch-bo
1t is generally known that The Sar-
acons' and THE Beautiful Aida" were
parts OF a symphony 10 he called the
ireland Symphony" The first move
mcnt never satisfied him, and he sup
pressed it entirely. As 1t is among
the earlier works it may have escaped
the Conflagratlon on tEat account.