New-York tribune., 1912-01-29
MUSIC
WOLF-FERRARPS CANTATA
La Vita Nuova" at Metro
politan Concert.

Time was when Sunday night con err
given by the forces OF our Italian opera
never ventured in choral way beyond that
opera in ecclesiastical vcstments,' Ros-
sini's "Stabat Mater" At the Metropol'
tan opera House some years ago larger
ambition took possession of the manage
ment and we had some excellent per-
formanccs Of Verdis Requiem" com
posed in honor OF Manzoni, an achieve
ment which Mr.. Hammersteins people
going so far in the first season
at the Manhattan opera House as to per-
form the mass on regular opera night
Good Friday. 1907. If 1t was notable ana
commendabe thing for our operatic Choir
listers TO attempt so ambitious a work ag
Verdi's Requiem" 1t was still more nota
BILE and commendable for Signor Gat;.-
Casazza's people last night to perform
Wolf Ferrari's Vita Nuova." which IS
much further from the sphere OF operate
activities than that work, to say nothing
OF Rossinis "Stabat." La Vita Nuova"
is indeed. considerably removed even from
tho field ordinarily occupied by our choral
societies. Dr. Frank Damrosch produced
II for tho first time in America at con-
Der 4, 1907. and repeated 1t a year !ater
Il introduced the composers name to the
music lovers OF America, hut In so question
able a shape that neither the devotees or
the opera nor the more sober sided adj
mirers Of oratorio quite knew what to make
OF him. Very different was the case when
no burst upon the public with the two effer-
vescent operas which have been heard in
New York; and unless report and the
printed page are deceptive there IS another
surprise In store when his latest opera, 81
Giojelli della Madonna" reaches the
metropolis.
La Vita NuOva" was performed In Chi
cago ny the excellent Apollo Club week
go yesterday, w!th the composer conduct
ing. II was so performed at the Metropoll-
tan last night with the chief solo part i'm
the care Of Signor Amato, the less siGnih-
cant soprano solos cared for by Miss GluCk
and the strong background Of the chorus
and orchestra Of the opera house When the
work was first heard here The Tribune's
reviewer felt the conviction that the form
in which the composer had cast the cN-
cerpts from Dante's singularly beautiful
work (from which title and text are de-
riyeCD, the forces enlisted and the manner
in which he employed them; the
marvellous spiritual eXaltation attained
by him while using devices which
seemed at first blush to be purely products
of reflection: the strange combination OF
rnedlHval feeling with the most modern
methods of utterance; the indifference to
which found expression in both
al nartG-th1t thaga
and many things more made la Vita
Nuova" seem ono of the most cXtraordi-
nary products of the generation. Since
then the composers command OF another
and very different idiom has been made
familiar, but the admiration for the genius
shown I'm the earlier cantata was only aug
mented by last nights performance-aug-
mented manifold.
Under the circumstances something ought
TO be said about the style and structure OF
the work for II is as unusual In its muster
of forces and their employment as in its
subject There are two solo voices--so-
nrano and barytone. The former appears
chiefly I'm the prologue, being silent there
after TIL near the end OF the work, when 1t
"a heard in n few words only (and last
night was all but inaudible). The voice is
identified with that Of Dante's Beatrice
who inspired not only la Vita Nuova,"
but also La Dlvina Commeda." The barry
tone is indlvidualized as the poet himself
who sings his sonnets inspired by his great
love. There is a double chorus of mixed
voices and third choir of boys. There is
also an unusual distribution OF instruments
in tho orchestra, including two harps, an
organ, two bells and a pianoforte, which
last instrument is employed solo I'm accom-
paniment and also as an integral part Of
the orchestra once II is introduced with
two harps, the string band and seven kettle
drums (when the composers instructions
are obeyed. which did not seem to be the
case last night, for which occasion there
may have been some changes in the score).
The cantata is divided into two parts, the
first preceded by a prologue and the two
separated by an intermeZzo. All the forces
are combined in the prologue, which is de-
voted to a glorihcatlon Of love, the text be-
ing derived from poems which are not a
portion Of the "Vita Nuova." An angelic
visitant procaims her coming as the mes
senger OF love; the barytone Identifies the
vision as Beatrice-the ideal whose praises
he must sing or die; the chorus chants the
praise of love in the words which begin the
thirteenth sonnet. The first part is in the
form Of a balata-that is the old English
ballet which has nothing to do with the
modern ballad. The composer has taken
a poem In praise OF nature and spring and
set II In dance measure for barytone solo
and chorus This he follows lin with an