Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24
ADJUSTMENTS
Victor Herbert's "Natoma."


Whatever may be said of Victor Her
/ bert's American opera. "Natoma." which
was presented for the first time in Wash
ington by the Chicago Opera Company at
the Belasco Theater last evening, 1t at
least has the virtue of being original
well as unique. 1t seems to run the gamut
of musical composition from material for
the most tragic grand opera to that
which would do service for a Chinese flu
neral, and always no matter what the
theme for the time being. the climax
seems to bring with it crash of brass
| that makes one feel that Wagner did not
gather in all the noise. Yet. withal. it
! held the deepest interest of one of the
largest and most representative audi
enceS that ever crowded Washington
| theater.
There was no wild enthusiasm at any
| time, only deep, very deep interest, ap
parently, and attention such as is rare
| ly given acknowledged masterpieces. The
| performance opened at the scheduled
| time, and there were but very few who
| left before its c,ose, which occurred close
| to IL 30 o'clock.
There is much that is beautiful in the
| score. The song in the first act in which
| Alvarado declares his love is a veritable
| gem of melody. The lullaby of Natoma
! in the last act, sang to an accompaniment
| that might be likened to the swinging of
| a gate on rusty hinges, was also beauti-
| full, if weird. Two big ensemble choruses
We're magnificent. The lovers duet that
| closed the act might have been written
| for modern musical comedy. Nationals
| invocation to the Great Spirit of the
| Hills in the second act another
| beautiful number.
| But the delightful numbers were blend
! ed with the deeper phases of compost
! ton throughout in such manner that one
| scarcely knew what to expect next. Yet
| the audience listened with close atten-
| ton. AT times many would applaud per-
sistently and the singers would bow and
| depart but still it always seemed as IL
/ the greater number were waiting and
| thinking, perhaps trying to understand
the composers motive And IT was the
| composer himself who conducted the
opera throughout and he shared in the
honors Of the applause.
Miss Mary Garden, the prima donna,
having said "Natoma'' is not grand
| opera. Be that as it may. her dramatic
| performance helped to increase the inter
est in the performance, and her friends
| in the audience We're many. She sang
with much better voice than when last
| heard in Washington. And she was also
| one of the features of unique phase of
opera. when, although the leading prima
j entire act without doing anything but
dancing the dagger dance" and with
out ever singing a note
There was charm about Miss Car
iden's performance difficult to describe and
yet it was unmistakable. She sang beau
| tifuly what she had to sing and it was
not much; but she was the ideal indian
girl in her every movement Her acting
| in the last act the most impressive OF all.
| perhaps, dominated the act beyond ques-
ton, although the sentiment of the situa-
ton was such as one might think would
easily dwarf everything else.
! Mrs. Jane Osborn-Hannah had the role
of Barbara, the convent girl. whose re-
| turn to her home developed the tragic
| love situation for Natoma- She sang
| is daintily and we'll Honors among the
men of the company were divided be-
| tween Mario Sammarco. whose superb
| baritone was heard in the role Of Juan
Bautista Alvarado, the rejected lover of
| Barbara. and Hector Dufranne. who sang
| the role of Father Peralta with rich.
| glorious voice that one longed to hear
oftener But mention of the few Is not
| intended as discrimination against the
others of the cast. All did well with
| in the proper limitations of their char
acter representations
George Hamln sang the role Of Lieut..
Paul Merrill. the United States naval
officer beloved by both Natoma and Bar
| bara. and one Of his numbers, tribute
to Columbus. was warmly applauded-
Their of Barbara: Armand Crabbe was
| Pico. Constantin Nicolay was Kagama.
Frank Preisch was Jose Castro and
| Rosina CALI, the charming premiere
danseuse, was ChiQuta, role that en-
abled her to introduce one Of the most
delightful Spanish dance numbers seen
| in Washington for long time.
The plot of the opera concerns the love
| of Natoma for Lieut.. Merrill, who. in
| turns loves and is loved by Barbara, the
Indian girls adored mistress. The epoch
of the book is $50, the locale the Island
of Santa Cruz, off the coast Of California,
and Santa Barbara:
At the matinee. for some unexplained
reason, Carmen Melis, the prima donna
of the Boston Opera Company, who was
scheduled to sing Aida" failed to ap-
pear or to send word why she could not.
For time it looked as IL the audience
might have to be dismissed, when the
telephone rang, and Miss Alice Eversman,
a Washington girl, a graduate of the
Georgetown Convent and the Peabody
Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, in
CURED if she could secure two tickets for
the opera.
She was told she could have anything
she wanted if she would but come and
sing the role of Aida She responded very
quickly and the performance began about |
O'Clock. Miss EverSman, who has sung |
in concert in Germany and Russia, ii is |
said had not seen the score Of the opera |
for a year. yet she sang the role with |
great credit to herself. although toward |
the close it was evident she was severely |
taxed physically by the effort. The audi
ence was generous with its applause, and
the young singer did exceptionally well.
Aida was magnificenty mounted and
very we'll sung, the chorus work being
especially fine Nine Eleonora de Cis-
neros with her magnificent contralto
voice and impressive personality easily
dominated the opera, and her artistic eff
forts completely won her audience. Her
work in the second and third acts was
especially brilliant and effective, both
vocally and dramatically.
Amadeo Bassi sang the role of Rha-
DANES with fidelity and effect Hector
Dufranne's splendid voice was most ef-
fective in the dramatic role of Amonasro.
Henri Scott sang Ramfis; Constantin
Nicolay, the king: Agnes Berry. the
priestess, and Santo Mendelli, the mes
senger. Ettore Perosio was the con-
ductor A feature of the production was
the Introduction Of a full brass band in