The San Francisco call., 1909-01-25
Dolores Frau Combines Ora
matte Gifts With Mezzo So-
prano Voice That Thrills
CAST OFF CHARACTERS
IN vERDTs DRAMATIC OPERA,
I'll Tr0vafOrev
By Walter Anthony

Lambardi's singers made good last
night at the Central theater in verdfs
dramatic and melodious opera, n
Trovatore." The house was nearly filed
and the enthusiasm at times reached
the cheering point, as. for instance, in
| the third act, where Alessandro Soda
brini. the robust tenor of the company.
! sang "Di quella, pira" with excellent
voice and dramatic fervor. But the star
of the production was Dolores Frau,
! the new mezzo soprano. She sang the
role or Azucena. She might have had
| a harder fight for the artistic honors
of the opera had Pimazzoni, the favor
ite barytone of the last Lambardi sea-
son, been at his best. He suffered
badly from a cold. through which his
rich, resonant voice struggled with
difficulty and sometimes pain.
A cold also afflicted the Leonora.
whose tragic role was sung by Elvira
CampoH. She does not vie with Signor-
ina Gonzales, who was last heard in the
part, in appearance, but there is no
comparison between their voices That
OF Nine. Campoli is rich and powerful
In its lower tones but thinning out
rather suddenly above high A She is
an excellent Leonora, however, and re-
celved her share of braves
COMPANY UP TO STANDARD
The company as a whole. if the cast
last night is a criterion of the balance
Is fully up to previous standards ser
by Lambardi, and in the person of
Dolores Frau is a star who could sing
anywhere that music and true singing
is lived. The crowd went wild over
her rendering of the plaintiye .C4iorni
PoNerI and in the second act as well
as the fourth act her dramatic gifts of
voice and action were given fullest on
portunity for display. 1t is seldom that
grand opera star can act. and 1t is
seldom that Lambardi has brought ms
real artists in the mezzo soprano roles
Ihus the enjoyment last night when
dolores Frau surprised us was trin1ed
Scolabrlni is an improvement on Sig
norln1, though he too is throaty He
sings with freedom through a part of
his range, but his method is family
and he forces his voice beyond its
resonance on top notes. However. to
say TINS Is TO create a wrong notion
or the impression he made last nipht
with his immense audience. which
cheered him and called him back and
hung with ecstasy on his high notes
which were undenfably big. and true
to pitch. He has a splendid and
buoyant spirit, and sings with great
gusto and warmth of emotion. His
i a
he interprets his songs with excellent
effects of shading and tempo
FRIENDS SHOUT "BRAyo.
Pimazzoni was given warm vel
come when he stepped on the stage he-
fore the cloister in the woods Ia sing
his II Ballen." His friends of last
season remembered him and cordially
shouted bravo" but Pimazzoni col,ld
only give an occasional evidence of
his real ability and power for the CON
gestion that choked his voice marrad
and tore the beautiful caressing ouali~
ties which his voice possesses. He
was the artist throughout however
and exhibited that class" which dis
tin guishes him.
Arttdoro Mauceri. another old friend
was welcomed in the role of Ferrando
and sang with accustomed vigor and
bigness.
had nearly said that 1T is the same
old chorus, but for the ambipuitv ~
the expression The men1bers ,nai,,,,r ~
are wanting in comlieness and youtbs
but we are accustomed to the tradition
that italian opera choruses to be GOOD
must be like wine-old They sano
with great spirit and the various narts
are nicely balanced with an adeouata
amount of tenor tone-and that is not
common in a chorus.
CHORUS UNIFIEs TONE
The anvil chorus went with ana
swing; the soldiers chorus in the tbird
act with Mauceri's big voice leading II
WAS thrilling In its unified body of
tone. Again in the misereri scene tbe
chorus was fine feature and kept in
excellent time and tune For. their
singing of "Ah, che la morte. botI,
Campoli and Scolabrini were given an
ovation and the latter had to appear
from his tower dungeon to acknowl-
edge his lions share of the applause
His voice was at its best In that num-
ber.
Agide Jacchia was the director LAST
night and has grown in musical stature
since he was here before. He still wields
youthful baton with much nervous
energy and force and he seems to hava
developed an extravaganza of postnr-
ing which, while 1T is unaffected. M
doubt, is somewhat disappearing His
orchestra is better balanced than be-
Eastern Crfffcs