The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-03-08
A YOUTHFUL SOPRANO HEARD
ELVIRA De HIDAL6O APPEARS
as ROSENA.

umaane renes-nlss neneeato eangang
AsaomAohes q mseP~pol1tna OperA
mauSs Annaenee-EBer Range % votse-
Lovers Of the opersatas Of Gilbert and
Sullivan win recall that PooA-BaA when
asked to greet YWm-Hum declared that
he was not In the habit Of saying How
d do 60 any one below the rank Of stock
broker; but after some persuasion he
reluctantly remarked: How de do. little
girl. how de do IL was apparently
without rSluctancs and with excessive
cordially that the audience % the Metro
politan Opera house aid How de DO.
little Riri. how de do last night 20 ElvirA
de- Hidalgo. . very youthful soPrano.
This now singer. an her name implies.
10 spaniArd. All hidalGOs are spAniards
hut Of course ali spAniards are not hl-
dalGos. The meaning Of this remark
lies in the application % IT, The opera
in which Miss de HidAlgO appeAred gas
II BArbiere di Siviglia' and her role vas
ROsina. This part has been sung NJ the
Metropolitan OpsrA House also by Ade-
lima Patti. but not lately. IL vas De-
lisved in PAtti's day that IL would Dc
impossible to find a better kostna. Of
course no one expected Miss de HidAlgo
TO equal Patti. for the new Spanieh singer
10 very young and inexperienced.
Her debut was expected % show
promise. and it did. But old frequenters
0f the Metropolitan Opera House az
perhaps find it difiicult TO ccnssder tse
institution ~ Q nursery for promiains
little girls. Misc de- Hidalgo has vosce
of small proportions and very thin
quality. Ia II far from deficient In GOOD
natural timbre. especially IN the middle
register. But Il In not vel equkiissd-
Furthermore. the young woman's tone
production 10 very faulty. especially IN
he high tones. which she sings with 30
much throat tightne~s that the sounds
are shrill and piercing.
Her cantilen a showed LITTLE apprecaa-
ton OF the musical traits % koasint
melody. and her phraslne was only that
which might he expected - the prod"cs
/ ol a teachers studio. Her colorature
showed that the voice. light and tracta-
/ BILE in material. had beeu freely exercissd
! in the delivery Of horid music. Her
staccato was remarkably rapid and
brittle. but IL was aloo 30 singular In tons
a. Co produce an effect more amusing than
otherwise. singing of this kind 10 some
times described ~ fireworks. hut Miss
de HiSialro's staccati would beat be called
| frecrackers.
Her singing ~ Prochs Air and Varta-
/ tons in the Lesson scene showed the noss
extraordinary features Of her coborature.
/ The final variation. which contained a
staccaso passage with nnte obIiGatO. Wa
| reciema nded. for II can he said without
reservation that such singular. psnetratine
and disconcerting vocal sounds had never
before been heard from the stage Of the
Metropolitan OperA House.
Miss de Hidalgo - IN yet quite Innocent
Of the art Of acting Her impsrs nation
OF Rosiaa vas without archness. without
tho distinction Of bearing that should h.
found in a future Countess. and without
dramatic direosness Of purpose. In fact
the young woman did nos sem to know
! Just what to do with herself. and the I'M
preston she gave was anything bSi that
Of a young Spanish woman 81 blithe nature
and blue blood
The general impression msde 10y the
performance suffered greatly from the
want al Champa gne in the prina donna e
share Of IL. Mr Forsell's Figaro was veil
conceived and generally well sung. hut
its Eayety was somewhat forced and often
heavy of foot Mr. Bono sang the music
! OF Aimorird admirably and acted the part
! tolerably Mr. Didur vas q conventional
! Ba siiiO. and the same thing NAV he said
Of Mr. Pini-Corsi's BrT'o!r. Mr. P0aesti 4
conducting did not much help matters.
The opera was followed by a hllle'
advertisement in which Anna Pavlowa
and Michael Mordkin. the Russian dan
GERS. again gave great pleasure to the
spectator. They repeated thu adaR'o
by BlechmAnn already seen. after which
Mizs PavlowA danced Chopin's ID IA.
major vaI@e 4 Russian dance Wy the
two concluded the divert sSs~nent