New-York tribune., 1911-04-23
The Promises
That Managers
of Opera Make
A DIPPEL MENACER1E
Catti. Casazza and a Repertory
The Education OF
Singers.

MI tho road" with tho Metropolitan
lV1 Onera Company; Mr.. Dppel is
gone. or is on the way. TO Europe heiore
depar,ing from the city both as Is the
manner Of opera managers spoke ih'i'i"s-
ly TO the public concerning the eA'aoi-
dinarv pleasures which they are TO purNeE
nex, year "All lovers swear more per-
formance than they are able. ana YET re-
serve an ability that they never perform
vowing more than the perfection OF ten ana
discharging less than the tenth part oi
one" SAYS Cressida in Shakespeare play
and the sweeter juliet. parodying an an
cient saying. remarks AT lovers perjuries'
they say. Jove laughs.
Substitute "impresarios" for lovers III
both speeches. and the public FOR 'JoNe
in the parody OF Tbullus's line. and the
words would aptly describe the operate
situation to-day. morstrous deal OF
promise in the spring and summer to en-
tice subscribers: an inhnitesimdl amount
Of fulflment after boxes and stalls are all
signed and paid for. It IS lecause the pro-
ceeding has been going IN for so many
years without provoking an effective pro-
test that The Trihune's reviewer. summing
up the season last Sunday. declared II ~
he unnecessary. Subscriptions for the new
year begin to flow in before the conclusion
Of the old No questions are asked about
the repertory; few about the singers why.
then. do managers continue TO stultify
themselves by offering at least three tints
as many novelties a. they can possibly get
readyo In the same breath with which
Signor Gatti-Casazza tells about the sub
scrip,ion and special performances 10 be
given next wear in New York. Brooklyn
and delphia-perform6nces which will
keen the singers and instrumentalists busy
seven Gays and nights every week-he an
nounces that the new works next year will
b. Charpentier's La Vie du Poete.' Le-
roux's La RENE Fiametta," Ravels
"I.'Heure Espagnole' Goetz's Tanning Of
the Shrew" dn German. Of course), Arthur
Nevinss Twilight" Wagner's "Rienzi.
Wolf Ferraris lie Donne curiose' Fran
chetti's "Cristoforo Colombo. Leo
Blsch's "Versiegelt" and. possibly. Nous
sorgskys Boris Godourow" Also there is
10 be revival" of VerdiS "Un Ballo in
Maschera." an opera which seems TO re-
auire revivifcation every two or three
years. Yet never maintains itself in a rep
ertory that has known it for generation.
Now, if there really was ghost of
chance 10 hear all these operas, II would
be pleasure to say something about each
one Of them. They are not all new TO the
local stage. one of the most interesting
from every point of view is the Shake
spearian opera by Hermann Goetz. a COM
poser whose early death caused sincere,
deep and universal lamentation in Ger
many. The opera CDer Widerspdnstigen
Zahrnung'D was the first work produced by
the American Opera Company at the Acad-
emy OF Music. on January (. 1856. Mr
Theodore Thomas was the conductor. and
in the repertory of the season there was
another Shakespearian opera. by German
composer which. properly prest nted. ought
to become a feature at the Metropolitan
opera II for no other reason than 10 repel
the charge that German opera means moth
ing outside OF Wagner and Humperdinck.
1t would be peculiarly interesting expert
ment to bring Nicolais Merry Wives OF
Windsor and Verdis "Falstaff' into jux-
Imposition. II Nj. Hertz recommended
Goetzs opera 10 Signor Gatti-Casazza he
showed better judgment in this than IN
choosing Wagner's "Rienz" which was
produced with brilliant scenic effects at the
Metropolitan in the season OF 1861 sc on the
same night that the American opera Com
pany gave it's first performance 10 the
Merry Wives of Windsor at the Academy
Of Music. With seven performances out OF
GNy-two. il stood fourth in popularity in
the seasons list. but it was performed by
group Of singers which the present com
pany cannot match. the principal roles
being IN the hands Of Lilli Lehman. Mari
anne Brandt. Eloi sylvia, Adolf Robinson
and Emil Fischer. Anton Seidl conducted.
The next season Anton Schott appeared a.
Rienzi. and the opera had five representa-
tions but IL dropped down to thirteenth
place in a list of fourteen operas. 1t ap
reared for one performance. after two
years silence. in the season II 1880. when
d. series of performances was devoted 10
The Wsgnerian dramas from "Rienzi' TO
"GOtterdammerung, in chronological or
der Since then II has been in the limbo of
forgotten things Its first performance in
New York was by the Pappenheim- Adams
company. in March. 1875