The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-09-16
GOSSIP OF WEDDINGS AND
APPROACHING EVENTS
Music Birmingham Girl Belle in selmaCards Issued
to Cabaniss Weatherly Wedding-Daughter of Former
Alabamian to Wed in New York-Topics of Time
ly Moment-Personal Notes
BY MYRTLE MILES

There has been so much talk of late II
regard to grand opera in English it is
interesting to receive view point de-
scribed as emphatically this one. A New
Yorker. writeing in a musical magazine
of the week. says:
For PHYS sake, let us be honest with
ourselves! With all this talk about grand
opera in English, there seems to be nc
one who dares come out with the only
real objection to opera being sung in Eng
lish, the only senible and reasonable fash
lon for Americans. We are snobs; we
are a race of snobs, and in nothing does
our snobbishness show as it does in art.
If only grand opera were as greatly ap-
preciated as the money spent on it would
20 to prove opera in English would have
been successfully established decades ago.
But Americans think that opera and
other forms of music to be genuine and
worthy of their support must have some
decided foreign imprint upon 1t, this even
10 the extent of robbing themselves of a
good half of the pleasure that might 9TH
erwise be theirs.
sIt is a curious thing about our patriotic
race that 1t is ashamed of its tongue
(not that 1t doesn't talk enough and aim
lessly). A language which has been the
medium of some of the worlds greatest
literary geniuses is not deemed elegant
or lyrical enough for fastidious music
patrons. This is the real cause for ob1ec-
tions to opera in English.
There is that type of person who goes
to see Bernhard and, not understanding
a word this actress says, declares to
friends that the marvellous woman makes
every word understandable Boshi Let's
be done with such self-deceit. Great as
she is, Bernfardt has been known TO
bore a lot of us who are not familiar
with her language, except in the big
scenes of those plays with which we are
so familiar that we need not know the
language to follow the course of events.
These same people are typical of that
great crowd of opera-goers who find
SNUG satisfaction in hearing opera sung
in its original tongue purely because they
imagine they are greater devotees to art
in so submitting themselves to the tor
ture. To them translated libretto Is
nothing short of a sacriege in the most
holy shrine of music!
I'VE have listened to such folk long
enough. They retard the development of
sincere music appreciation in this coun-
try.
II have had the good fortune and pleas
ure of witnessing several important ven
lures of grand opera in English, both in
this country and in England One of the
chief reasons for the failure of opera in
English in this country has been that Gn
those undertakings which did not succeed)
the Interpreters were woefully lacking in
ability to perform their tasks.
'As for the librettos, what Mr.. Meltzer
sr <C1 In+,
have sensible and decent English transla-
tions, but I often wonder if those who
civil against English lbrettos have ever
stopped to think of what rubbish a lot
of the original French, Italian and Ger
man librettos are. Sung in foreign
tongue, much of the banality of the text
IS lost, even upon those who understand