The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-11-13
IN The WORLD OF MUSIC
tBOi q "6RiNV tND "fOvfr
DpIRa.
yhr Di,Iinction Iistwren the Two ana
the Misuse rf "Oprra' on Broad~ ~
Peace ~ the Metropolitan SONG
,citai> TNsI Are of Great Interest.

slice, zen Bolt writes tn ask this qu.s-
VI n. % you think II smart always to use
., rotation mark wErn YOU write the
word, grand opera or do rpu in''an
some ,hirg 10y l.: II you do, perhaps you
would not mad telling a d~eler IN the
ne, her gloom Jri>; what 1t -
Ne Alice ". do not mind telling you
what il / , We love 81 do JtI,t that W"
arc getting up particularly early in the
morning ON purpose So do II. We have
bought n very frr.h bottle of ink and -
stub TEN IN ORDER To- do II appropriately.
In the r.iiL"r," ~ your ardor you have
proVife| 10, with "a chance To do some
thing W. have ,"Crctly ycarnrd 10 do.
We have often w.hcd Ia tell people why
they ought not - say grand opera and
row you niel IN" gate
In il not wrong 2, say grand opera
-imply because tn" "Nc"ll"It adjective
grand has ceased tn mean anything 20
American Your true American haS
grand PIE foe luncheon. grand gloves for
thel,re wear and grand scrapp!e for break
fast tho next morning. When Maggie
zoe, to Cnn"y island on Sunday dressed
in her best she looks just grand. and
FOR that reason Mont Blanc and Pixies
Peak have rad 20 content themselves with
looking fine
Grand opera does not mean opera that
Il 'just grand. Mamie; We ought TO hear
ut No. IL does not mean that kind Of
opera at ell Grand opera IL an inven-
tion % the general public to signify opera
which /, sung in an opera house bv singers
commanding high salaries. To th"-e
PEOPLE grand opera means Faust.
Carmen Aida -Rigoletto.- -Manon.-
~Fidelio." Fra Diavolo.- The Bohemian
Girl etc.
They use the expression grand opera
TO distinguish works OF this kind from
what they call comic opera BY this
latter expression they mean opera which
is sung in a Broadway theatre and hes
slnpstick comedians and showgiris in II
Il would astonish mos; Of :h"ss excellent
0eTsona IL they were told tina tine musical
-irufessicn docs not recognize their detin,-
ions and that 10 the great Fingers whom
hey worship from afar the expression
grand opera is entirely useless.
These famous personages are no.
Anown TO themselves grand opera
singers Mr.. Cariso il by profession an
opera singer. He IL not grand opera
singer, beca,ise the form OF art product IN
which he sings is professionally. his
orically and critically called just opera.
and nothing else. The Broadway creation
popnlarly known a. comic opera" IL
never called opera without the adjective.
and hence by no mental process can it
he COMPOUNDED with what il unnecessarily
called grand opera" Groves -Dic'ion-
ary OF Music gives this definition Of
-onera-:
"A drama either tragic or comic. sung
throughout wi'h Appropria'" scenery
aud acting to the accompaniment Of a
full urCh.-' "a.
This is no; quite ;parfact hut IL -
good working definition. Now take
notice that he. It orv may b. either serious
or comic For tins reason Mozart = lie
Nozzc Iii Figaro and Worlds -Fal-taH =
which are both comic operas are classs.d
among what the general public calls
grand operas Rossinis Barber of
Seville ~ a comic opera Cornelius
Barber nf Bagdad- ~ comic opera.
Wagner Dia Meis'crsiuge is a comic
opera.
Tn. Italians distinguish the light.
humorous operas of their country by
the title opera bufra- hut that means
\ nothing NOR. than comic opera. The
French have a species Of their own namely
IN which some or all of tn. rectative is
replaced by spoken dialogue and the
dsnouement II happy. Under this d.fin!-
ton Beethoven very serious opera
-Fldelio- would have TO be- classed a.
opera CnrnIqu".
What Broadway means by comic
opera j. not opera AT all. but op"r"'ta.
or III German ternInoloEy --IngspIel
The German -,ng-pl"l ~ a song play. IL
~ a drama In which tho songs are Incl
dental ~ u were. There - no attempt
to set the whole thing TO music Tn.
dialogue Is all spoken. there arr 10 elabo-
-ate ensembles or chorIses. and tn.
music T. not ~ any way raised 20 that
principal position which would claim for
tho work the standing Of ii great musical
creation.
Out of tn" old sing-pirl developed tn.
modern German pp"r"-ta. ~ which ia
l1iliar example ar" IN" works Of Johann
Strauss and thp-., Oi Supp. -Th" Merry
Widow ~ a true German comic oper-tta
N VIII oh tn" music rises to n plan. of
-orncar1 hut IN" comedy might be- carried
N even withoI: u
Bit Broadway ~ not gong To- stop
--alling op"-"ttl- and musical comedies
and vaud.v lies by IN. nn.. EASY nth.
II comic op"-a.- II - not important
In, II should do 80. But rpera IL opera.
AID II - wholly unnecessary Ia speak Of
Z a. grand opera II Won. GENT. Alice.
.hoIId -.. G"rnlitn" FIr-ir IN -om.,
pIbiir pla"" aud ppin' h"r ont 10 your
tr.cu1 from khnktk-., II will not ba
e~-ert al "a. you o say Sh'. = a celebrated
gIald op"r ng"r- You iu-r -ay that
that 'li-- F.-rl~ &. 4 famous opera singer.
and yoLr friend WIiI know what YOU
mean Nl-, Farrar'- rla~" IN IN" whlrl-
,ng SorId 81 arr VIII b.. r"rf.c-lv fixed
nd tn English IanGI4g.. wllI feel that
OF" much "y"rwo~a"d word has had
a riom"n; ~ yell earned r"st
4 -tuui" d.at"nIc meditation leads ~
iirr''lv 3D. IN" second principal theme
we OF. Z season II Will Dpsn Tomorrow
nigh under the solo direction Of GiulI.,