New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-03-20

Of its phrely literary aspect ga large
aspect iu every respect IN France the
MOussorgsky cult Of the last few years
was mere outerowth ~ the p"-
Htical aHlliajion between France and Rus
sia. as such it NAV be- looked upon 10
the same lipht as the sudden appreciation
of Eerlio2 which was a product ~ the
Chauviuism which followed The Franco
PIuseiau Wa. Il is easy even for Young
people 10 remember when a Wagner opera
Al the Academic Rationale raised rot ana
when the dances AZ the Moulin Roug, ana
such places could not begin uniil the hand
had PLAYED the Russian national hymn.
Were Il not for considerations cf TINS
sort il would oc surprising TO contem-
plate the fac, that Moussorsslly has been
more written ana talked about I'm France
than he has in his native Russia. and that
even his friend Rimsky- korsako"' 10
whose revision Of the score Boris
GodOunow" owes its continued existence
has been subjected 10 much rude crit
cjsm because Of his work. though We can
only think Of IT as taken up in q spirit
of affection and admiration since he was
an intimate friend Of the author. lie ana
th. Russians. with scarcely an exception
say that his labors were In the lin" OF
nulincation and recUfiCaton, but the mod
arm extremist. will have il that by
re,nodying its crudities Of harmonization
a,d Recommendation he weakened 1t
that what he thought its artistic blemishes
moro its virtues OF that we are IN no
nosition 10 speak. nor ought any one be
rash enough 10 make the procIahld'io'i
until the original score is published ana
then only a Russian or musician fain"-
Tar with the Russian tongue and It's genius.
The production OF the opera OUTSIDE OF
Russia and in a foreign language ought
TO furnish an occasion TO demand stay
NJ the artistic cant which Is all TOO COM
mon lust now in every country
We arc told that Boris Godounow' Is
the first real Russian opera that Ameri-
ca has ever heard. In sense that may
no true The present generation has heard
little operate music by Russian compos-
org Rubinstein's Nero was not nus
sian music In any respect. "Plque Dame
bv Tschaikowsky also performed NJ the
Ne,ronolitan Opera House. had little In IL
that could be recognized as characters
tIcally Russian. Eugene Onegih we
know only from concert performances
and it's Muscovitism was neeIlglDIe
quantity The excerpts from other nus
sian operas have been Few ana the'
demonstrated nothing, though In an IN
termezzo from Tschaikowsky' Ma
zeDpa" descriptive OF the battle OF Pol
tava- which has been heard here. we met
great animation to the most stirring
scene I'm "Bors"-the reclamation Of the
Car by the populace in the first act. Oh
this something more presently. There
| were American representations, however
of a Russian opera which in its day was
more popular than Boris has ever been,
but that was so long ago that all mem
| cries of IL have died, and even the rec
! ords are difficult TO reach. Some hfty
wears ago Russian company came to
these shores and performed Nerstowsky
| "Askold's Tomb" an opera which was re-
nublished as late as 1897 and which with
| I'm the first twenty-five years Of It's exist
| ence had 400 performances I'm Moscow and
200 I'm ST. Petersburg. Some venturcsome
critics have hailed Verstowsky as even
more distinctively a predecessor OF Nous
| soresky than Glinka; but the clamor OF
those who are preaching loudly that art
must not exist for arts sake. and that
the ugly is justified by the beauty Of
ueliness. has silenced the voices Of these
critical historians.
This may thus far have seemed a long
and discursve disquisition on the signih-
canoe OF the new opera: but the questions
% which the production of Boris Co
aounow" give rise are many and grave.
especially in the present state OF our OPP
ratio activities. They nave q srpng
hearing on the problem of nationaism in
=. "a. OF which the administration Of our
opera appears to take careless view.