The Washington herald., 1911-12-31

New York. Dec 3o.-Now that every
one is on the eve of breaking all laws
Of hygiene that they may raise a monu-
ment Of sCkly resolutions. it might be
well to suggest 10 the managers of our
S. opera that the New Year would be
considerably brighter for lovers Of mu-
sic If the extra tariff were taken off the
orchestra coupons. the odor of garlic
renovated from the building, and
"lettle' better brand Of noise served TO
those who take their pleasure that way.
Ever sine" oscar Iinmmerstein sailed
for England with a million or two slowed
away in his jeans, the managers of the
metropolitan Opera House have seeming
ly emulated the man whose wife has
gone to the country. on numerous OC-
CasiOnS the artists and the orchestra
have been about a lap apart, and not in
frequently the virtuOso impresses his
hearers with his vast superiority and
contempt for all things American. save
the dollars, by "staliuE'' in his role. Six
dollar opera in New York bears about
the same relation to tho s. brand of the
llammerstein days MS docs a peanut to
a pickle,
ON the evening Of November - Mr..
Sturani made his first appearance at the
Metropolitan. The opera was Faust"
Not only did the conductor fail to keep
the orchestra and the chorus together
hut there were moments when his mu-
siCians were busy with one measure of
music when a principal was singing an
other. Herman Jadlowker. as Faust
was not artistlcaly satisfying during
This performance, and the same was true
"f several other singers who were in
trusted with leading roles November L.
when * koeniEskincr" was given its ini-
tial performance OF the year. Miss Farrsr
sang most indiffercntly, and the night OF
conducted. there was much to be desired
in the interpretations OF "Cavaleria
Rustcana" and II PagliaCci"
When "ParSifal' was given on Thanks
giving Day afternoon, an otherwise ad-
mirable performance was seriously
marred because Of mechanical mishap
in changing scenes that made il necessary
10 play part of the second act in total
darkness when the full stage light is es-
senttRl Two days later there were two
other presentations below the Metropoli-
tan level, Aida" being inadequate be-
cause of the moderate ability of Marie
Rappold and Theodore Orridge. and La
Boheme," failing to carry proper opera
tic conviction largely on account OF Mr.
Sturani. There are further instances of
artistic inefficienCy that might be men,
TONED. but in a season only six weeks
old this record is sufficient to support
The contention.
"ktsmet" n Success.
In the realm OF Thespis the plays Of the
past week have been chiefly remarkable
for their uniform success In fact, II
looks as though the second semester of |
the theatrical season were in a fair |
way to rival the first in the matter OF |
good plays. Perhaps the most note
worthy of these is "Kismet" at the |
Knickerbocker.
'Kismet." is aptly described as An |
Arabian Night by it's author, Edward |
Knoblauch. Had he heightened the phrase |
OF An Arabian Night and Otis Skinner |
he would have given credit where II is |
due and more carefully described his |
play, for Skinner is the moving spirit OF |
this very pretty drama a
Mr.. Skinner plays the part of a beggaT, |
who loafs In front Of a mosque and seeks |
AIMS. Presently an enemy Of former i
GAYS beggar who has turned robber, /
returns and throws him bag of gold. |
The beggar seeks to dress himself and /
when he is buying the hnery starts a
riot and makes away without paying FOR
the goods.
The result is that the begear is ar
rested and dragged TO the mansion ~
Waizir MRnsur. the chief of police who
demands shis beautiful daughter as /
wife, and insists that he gain his free
dom by killing the Caliph, thus making /
Mansur the ruler. The begEar falls IN /
eis attempt TO kill the Caiiph and q L