New-York tribune., 1910-01-04
MUSIC
GLUCK "oRFEo ED EuRID1CE
AGAIN.
About tempt and Interpretations.

About Tempt and Interpolations.
1t IS pleasure to recur to Gluck's "Orfeo,'
which had its second performance this sea
son at the Metropolitan Opera House last
night, not only because the work is in all
things lovely and impressive but also
because it ought to serve a purpose in the
reclamation of an errant popular taste in
raYor OF dramatic music which is true.
pure. good and beautiful. The review which
appeared in this journal after the first per-
formance left several important matters in
sufficiently discussed. There was too much
TO praise in q representation which had
10 be recognized at the outset in most
things the first really adequate one which
the work had received in New York-not
because of its musical merit only. but also
because OF the appreciation which it dis
closed of the classic elements Of the drama
to allow of a consideration OF questions
which the very excellence of the perform
ance lifted into Importance. One of these,
limited at in the first review, concerned the
tempo of the most famous air in the opera,
Che faro senza Euridice." The concep-
ton which Nine Homer and Signor Tos-
canini seem to have formed If the time in
which il is to be sung IS fairly indicated
by the composers mark: 'Andante con
moto' But "Che faro" is a singular air.
marked that If its expression and tempo
were changed in the slightest degree 1t
would become a dance-tune; and famous
German critic pointed out-duite in
the spirit of the composer-tnat by mere
quickening of the tempo the music con-
ceived to express the sentiment, Il have
lost my Eurydice, nothing can equal my
sorrow" would be just as eloquent of the
antipodal sentiment: I have found my
Eurydice nothing can equal my happi-
ness" It is a case in which defamation
must go hand in hand with tempo If the
spirit of the air is to be preserved. Nine.
Homer sings IT. as if she had taken lear
out of the book of Nine. Niardot-Garcla.
She sings the first stanza in a moderate
tempo, standing at the side of Eurydice;
the second stanza, slower and with an ex~
preston of choking grief, leaning on the
corpse; the third, at the quickened pace
justified by the augmentation of the melody.
on her feet and away from the dead loved
one, as if Orfeo were already contemplat-
ing his own destruction. Nine. Homer's
performance is distinctly the most eloquent
one that we can recall, and yet we believe
that its effectiveness would be enhanced
by slight retardation of its fundamental
tempo.
Reference was made in the first review
TO the Interpolation of the air known in
French as "DivinitAs du Styx,' from Gluck's
''Alceste," in the finale OF the first act
The circumstance calls up a singular Incl
dent in musical history. Originally the
first act of the opera ended with a rectta-
tive. When Gluck carried his opera TO Paris
he recognized that, however much dramatic
proprieties might be subserved by such an
ending, it was n1usically lame and i'm I,
ioo hrin
the curtain So he introduced the air be-
ginning "Addio, addio, Q miei sospiri,'
which Berlioz retained in his version made
for the Theatre Lyrique in 1859, al
though he felt as every discriminating
critic has felt from the beginning, that
the style of the air was too archaic to fit
into the rest OF the music. Though II was
known, that Gluck had himself introduced
the air. suspicious were aroused concerning
its authenticity, and these were turned into
convictions by Berliozs statement that the
music was unquestionably that of an air
composed by an italian, Bertoni, for his
opera ''Tancredo.'' which Berhoz said he
had seen in the Italians score. and which
the Italian asserted to be his in letter
which BerIioz printed And this remained
the conviction of the world until z few
years ago, when NJ Tiersot established the
fact that the air was not Bertoni's. but
GIuck's, And was taken from the latter's
opera "Aristeo," produced At Parma in
1853. But this does not meet the objection
raised by the old-fashioned, undramatic
character Of the air, for "Aristeo" was
written seven years after "Orfeo." and the
air is an obvious reversion to the old man
ner which the critical historians would
have US believe Gluck put aside when hs
conceived "orfeo'
When Mr. Theodore Thomas produced
tae opera with the American Opera Com
pany. in 1886 he omitted the air, though
Nj Charley and Mr.. Halle had included
It in their English paraphrase which Mr..
Thomas used. The substitution Of ''Divintes
du Styx'' has much TO commend it the
dramatic as well as the musical side,
though, as has been pointed out, it is in
both respects anachronistic, and might be
spared without loss TO Nine. Homers i'm
presgive innpersonation. It is a question Of
taste into which familiarity with the Ian
guage and experience with musical styles
enter. as is shown by contrasting incidents
IN the early history of the opera. In ITO
''Crfeo'' reached London. Guadagnti, the
original Orfeo "a male alto, that is,
r1ustcol, sang his original part, in which
the French would not hear him. The score
was also stuffed with music from other
COMPOSERS, but there was no protest from
the English public. Three years later the
opera was given in Naples, where the
manager attempted TO introduce a duet
from another composer in the third act,
But the audience would not listen TO it;
Gluclz's music was demanded. and had TO
be given.
The opera was listened 70 BY large
audience with pleasure, which found loud
expression last night after every act.