The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-05-11
Grand Opera at
Popular Prices

T New York city will have plenty OF
grand opera next season, according
| to present indications. and interest
has risen higher and higher with each
OF the important announcements that
have been made within the past few
weeks.
Early last winter Milton and Sar-
gent Aborn gave publicity to their
decision to give grand opera in Eng
fish for the season of 1894 in an
opera house to be built for them by
Felix Isman. the Philadelphia capt.
talist.
The next news item came from Os-
car Hammerstein, stating that he
would also build theater for the
rome Of grand opera In the vernacu-
lar The particular interest in this
announcement lay in the fact that the
Metropolitan Opera company, when
1t bought Hammerstein out several
years ago, stipulated In their contract
that he should not enter the grand
opera field in New York for ten years.
The latest pronunciamento is from
the City club, of New York, an or
ganization established originally for
civic betterment, and composed of
some Of the wealthiest OF residents of
the metropolis who are anxious to do
anything that will forward the welfare
Of their fellow citizens In everyNeway.
Their activities extend to all fields,
| including education. amusements,
| health and social conditions. They
1 have appropriated four hundred and
| fifty thousand dollars for the purpose
| of giving grand opera to the people
of New York at popular prices during
the next three years, and have desig-
mated the Century theater formerly
the New theater) as the home of this
grand opera institution. Several can
didates for the position of managing
| director Of the City clubs operate
enterprise have been discussed, and
| the leader In the race so far seems to
be the firm of Milton and Sargent
| Aborn.
In the meantime Messrs Aborn
| have gone ahead on their own ac-
count. and have mailed a prospectus
of their coming season to thousands
| Of music lovers in Greater New York.
Their opera house, they state, Is to be
| built at Fifty-eighth street and Sew
enth avenue. and will open October
LIST. Their plan is to have the people
of New York own their institution. and
to this end they have invited subscrip-
tions to stock in their company at
s25 per share. Their first announce
ment alone has brought forth orders
for stock to the amount of $2h,
Messrs. Aborn, when seen by repre-
sentatives of the New York newspa-
pers, stated that they were not con-
| sidering any combination with the
| City club for the presentation of
grand opera in New York, but would
continue with their plan of making
the public their partners. giving a
season that would thus be truly pop
ular."
| And still these are not the only pro-
ducers who have declared their inten-
| ton of supplying New York with opera
| next season. as there have been a
number Of other announcements from
/ impresarios who come to the front
every year. give few weeks of opera
! with hastily organized companies and
then disband. These ephemeral OPP
cratic producers have also caught the
fever for announcing operate plans.
| and apparently "everyhody's doing It."
Consequently 1t now appears that there
will he at least a half-doZen organi-
cations supplying opera to the New
/ York public next season, including the
peerless Metropolitan Opera company,
the Aborn English Grand Opera COM
pany. Hammerstein's organization the
City clubs company at the Century
theater. and two or three of tho
smaller fry. If they all carry out
their intentions 1t will be battle
! royal" and 1.-The survival of the fttest"
will eventually solve New York's OPP
cratic problems the sturdiest of these
many organizations continuing until
the spring of 1914.