New-York tribune., 1912-01-28

trv.' he said. 81 was here twenty years
ago. when I conducted a season OF opera
in Milwaukee. have, however lived at
one time for six years in London, and only
left there when the Boer war made II I'M
nossibIe for any German-even cOnduc-
tor-to obtain employment in England. ] am
nretty well conversant, therefore, with mu-
sical conditions i'm England, and n the last
four months I have also made a study oil
similar conditions in this country.
Right here / wish to make a statement
that may prove surprising, coming as IL
does. from a European, but the more see
OF operetta I'm America the more come 10
realize the superiority of the chorus as II
exists in America over that we have III
Germany and Austria. The German ana
Austrian chorus girls are such not because
+bcy have either merit or ambluoh' bu1
hecause II is easier work than being q
dressmaker or miiinor and because
they have rich men backing them. Th'S
have. as a rule little OF no talent ahc
simply drift along aimlessly. IT is very
different in America. Here the girls OF
the chorus are far better educated nave
better voices and more ambition. They ann
some day 10 be stars, and many OF theh
succeed I'm their ambition. II is dehght
for a composer TO be able 10 deal with such
material Your women principals are also
excellent. but as much cannot be salo LOT
your men, American men who sing N lsHt
opera rarely have good voices, which seems
surprising, considering the ability OF the
women.
SOME AMERICAN FAULTS.
.It seems to me that the chief fault with
American light opera productions is the
lack of originality and variety displayed
The average producer works always along
one line. especially in the arrangement of
the chorus Always there are the squads
the, 'broiers.' the show girls always ar
ranged in the same way. Why not vary
the method? The public likes something
new and would appreciate it, and this
sameness of production ] feel is what has
caused failure after failure The material
is there-why not make the most Of il. and
show little originality in its handling?
First and foremost in the success of a
light opera comes the need OF a good H.
bretto. A light opera that has poor music
can succeed II the book is bright, but the
best music in the world won't save a
work that possesses a dull libretto Mu-
sically the best opera that Johann Strauss
ever wrote was The Night OF Venice How
well remember him leading the orchestra
that opening night in Vienna He looked
for colossal triumph. and the opera fell
absolutely fiat simply because the Ib~etto
was stupid. II managers. both American
and European. would only realize this fact.
how many failures would be saved thcml'
Then Herr Hollaender became retrospec-
tive.
i consider the palmy days of operetta
to have been those Of the Paris of the
Second Empire, when Onenbach, the prince
OF us all. LecOcq and Planquette We're in
their heyday. What masterpieces in little
are 'Orphee aux Enters La Belle Helene
and La File de Madame Angot'i Les
Contes d'Hohmann' is a masterpiece also.
though of a slightly different kind In this
connection IL may be Of interest to know
that an intimate friend Of Onenbachs once
told me that the well known barcaroIle is
not by Offenbach at all According 20 my
informant the barcarolle was written by
an amateur who allowed the composer to
incorDorate II in his opera
These French composers well realized
Inc value Of good librettos, and MolIhac
ana Haievy we're fully as much responsible
ior the SUCCESS Of their works as were the
composers themselves Their librettos pos
sesSed wit, fancy and real literary value,
ana AFTER all the much abused public. If II
ohiy mas the chance. will appreciate these
Qualities Take the success Of The Pink
Lady 1t seems to me that this was due
lar more to the book than to the music,
ihoush the music did have popular appeal.