New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-01-04
French-Arab BarytoneRegrets
Certain Musical Tendencies
of the Present Age
Believes Strongly in
Conservatolre.

Those who attend regularly the per
iormanccs at tn Metropolitan Opera
House have often seen man of tall and
unusually athletic figure and leonine
name Of hair. black as ravens wing.
stroll slowly slone the corridor and then
vanish through the door that leads TO the
mysterious precincts behind the scenes
This man is Dinh Guly. the French-Arao
BARITONE OF the company whose rise IN
public esteem and in his own art has been
continuous since that night four years
ego when he made his New York debut
in Massenets "Werthcr' on the stage OF
The New Theatre As Mr.. Gilly is one OF
The very few French artists now singing
At the Metropolitan. a change, indeed
from the days when a well known critic
dubbed that theatre "Das Faustspielhaus,
his views on musical art and the general
operate situation are not without inter
est. and. as is the rule with graduates OF
the Paris Conservative. AR Gilly IS
singer OF unusual intelligence and man
whose horizon is far from being limited
by the walls Of an opera house or even
by the restriction Of his original Gallo
training.
TALKS OF HIS EARLY LIFE.
To a Tribune representative Mr.. Gilly
last week save an interview which had In
III much of the man himself.
81 am half French and half Arab.
said the barytone. II was born in Al
goria. where my father was stationed
as an officer of zouaves. lie there had
married my mother who was OF an old
Arab family. and / thus have had the
rather unusual opportunity Of knowing in
timately both the Occidental and the ORR
entail After leaving school in Algiers |
served nv time I'm the army in the regi-
rnent commanded by my father but my
fathers wish that ] should be an officer
was here sadly disappointed. The very
fact that l was the colonel's son made
the soldiers life all the harder for me- FOR
in the French army they show no favor
itism l had enough and more Of the mil
jtsrv career at the end Of my prescribed
service. but as yet ! had no idea Of tax
ing up music.
first went to Paris where l entered
the Sarbonne. with the intention OF tax
ing UP law. I continued for while but
was at length persuaded by Guerin, the
famous defender of Fort Chabrol, in the
Drevfusard times, to give up my inten-
ton. Guerin was one Of my best friends,
and he told me that ] was not fitted for
the law. but that he had heard me sing
and urged that l enter the Conservatory.
Finally after taking my bachelors degree
In Oriental literature. l decided TO do this.
/ remained two years at the Conserva-
toire, leaving there TO make my operate
debut as Hamlet at the opera.
BELIEF IN CONSERVATORY.
1T seems strange, indeed. that France
is the only nation which really possesses
a conservatoire I am not one Of those
who believe that such a training harms
originality Of expression What demo-
cratic age needs more than all else is
"a regard for tradition and for thorough
ness of training. This is what nearly all
singers lack to-day. They are willing and
anxious TO make a debut on the operate
stage after only six months or a years
vocal study, and the result is that there
are very few singers who can sing Mo-
Fart or Gluck or Donizetu or Rossini.
Miss Emmy Destinn is one OF the rare
exceptions. but Miss Destinn worked for
seven years before venturing to appear
on the stage. The result is that Miss Des-
tim can sing nearly anything that a
soprano can sing. But how many are
there like her?
att is not only in America that democ-
racy has made such inroads into the
musical art, for Europe is practically as