The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-11-27

reception Accorded to Mr. Bonci'S de-.
livery of English songs Tn. audience
Expressed in no uncertain manner its
comprehension of the fact that the artist
had don" something much more aston
i~hirg than To sing a high e. which since
the advent 81 Mr. Puccini'- -racconto-
has been proved To- b- in the property
room 81 every singer OF tenor parts.
The early return OF -Cavalleria R,lsti-
cana and -Pagliacci- To tn. rrpertory
OF the opera house and thu glad acclama
tons with which the familiar double bill
Vas received might send a spa-m ~ re-
greet through the heart Of "A SINCERE music
lover WERE u not that he wisely du+'> not
take the opera hou--' too seriously. Opera
continues Ia occupy IT.. position which
1t claimed whom il was established in the
dawn If tne seventeenth century II il
a fashionable. amusement. and no amount
or pretence can make II anything else.
Dncc in a while composer arises TO
make a protest against the public atti-
tidc toward his art Sonnet lines by sheer
forc. of IN. novelty OF his style he fastens
tine attention Of jaded opc ~ goers upon his
creations and gains FOR himself fooihold
u
before the ancient form of amusement is
back where he found ii
Gluck's reforms aroused n storm in
Paris. hut in the end h. won his way 10
recognition and was crowned victor IN
the famous contest OF song in which his
op.nnont was the really talented PiCcini
But II was not long before all Europe was
humming "Di tamil palpiti- and the good
old fashioned Neapolitan opera. rejuven-
atcd by the theatrical cunning of Rossini.
waspgain in the ascendant
4 few years passed and another W.
former troubled Israel This time 1t was
Wagner. and the guns of critical assault
were all turned upon him But he battled
in his slngularly blatant and persistent
manner. hurting polemics and operas
alternately at a sauirming public till II
eventually sat zap and took notice and then
discovered that a Few musical sensation
was before IT,
In this country Wagner reigned undis-
putcd master OF the operate situai ion for
some years. But presently rumors floated
across the -ca ihat the theories Of Emile
Zola in fct ion had pcne, RI led the domains
OF lyric art and that there was a one act
opera called -Cavalleria Rusticana,- in
which the low passions OF peasants were
expressed in music a frankly brutal al
the passions themselves II was also re-
ported that IN this new opera there was a
positive return 20 the most strioent styl.
Of Italian song. tho sustained high tessi-
tura and the rapid succession Of tours de
fory~.. IN. noisy orchcstration and the
p"alinE vocal tone
In h.ar n ffIrt hasr ror of
classic repos.. There was To be a com
pleie severing # all ties binding Italian
lyric composition TO the sIIuve and sculp-
turesque manner of the golden age Of
song Wagner. indeed. would find him
self cha llenged in he very rena Of heated
defamation: and his NEUROLOGICAL mys-
ticism would he met with the relentless
ATTACK Of a sordid and rspulsve realism.
Cheap galleries Of stritting gods and half
baked heroes would h. painted out To
make room for a new collection Of oper-
attic portraits Of elemental inn keepers
a nd wire merchants.
-Cavslleria Rusticana- came and was
heard and conquered To the vens rsble
Quaker city 81 Philadelphia is due the
honor Of the first American representa-
ton ~ this WORK and 10 Gustavn Hin
rIchs tn. glory Of Discerning that this
way success beckoned Tn. splendorS
OF MasCl gni's production were not long
r"rmltt.d to blaze alone. Soon the
companion picture. Lcoucavallo's little
tragedy was imported To show us that
even the sgualid life of vagabond mines
hud it, dramas "a profound and moving
as those OF any Young or Phillips who
moved in the cer,!l.an realms Of blank
verse
And then came Nicolo Spinelii's A
BIssp Ppr1p" and ". found that there
wera depths below the level OF either
MascI gni or Leonclvallo Gentle reader.
tn. chances are that you never had the
TO hear A Basso Porto al
though IL was produced in this city. II
u is ever given again. hasten To hear II
just To satisfy yourself to- what depths
tho lola theory in opera can sink what
was once a polite amusement
Tn. particular aspect of affairs which
suggested these wandering reflections IL
the difference in the attitude 81 the present
generation Of operagoerS toward Wagner
and Ma-cagni et al. and that which ex-
ut cd AZ the time when Mr.. Hinrichs in
troduced Va 20 the having !Sdpfuzxd.
Simon the Jester threatened that II his
sisters did not cease to condole with him
he would sit upon the hearthrug and
howl like a dog Do not all these peasa nj
Y ictims Of Fate sit on their dramatic
hearth rugs and howl?
And that il what rhe operatic public
now aiores. When -Pnrsifal- ~ per-
formed an audience composed partly OF
rabid Wagnerites flor Their. ar" still some
Of them lefD. partly II music lovers who
go TO near all good music. and partly of
EXCELLENT people who honestly believe
hat they are assisting az "A religious cere-
rnony. sits respectfully through the repre-
and expresses i's approval in
a thorou ghly decoro,ls manner.
When there IL an opportunity TO hear
Mr. CarIso sing -Ridi. Pagliacci- at the
top 81 his lungs the house IL packed rill
ne doors bulge. Excitement makes the
yery air tr.mbl.. The people in the high
galleries hang over Till one fears that
hey may fall into the orchestra and kill
a fiddler. The standing room at the rear
u the orchestra il crowded fill the doors
INTO the corridors refuse to cloae. And
when the great moment arrives and the
- u