New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-02-06
German, English and ltal-
ian Each Has Its Own
Special Inning.
"WALkUERE" GREETED
BY BIG AUDIENCE
madeleine" and Don Pasqtale'
Given in the Evening
Toscanini COnduCts.

German. English and italian opera each
had its inning at the metropolitan yes
terday. Wagner's Die Walkire' was
sung in the afternoon and Herbert g
Madeleine" and Don'zcttis Don Pas
quale" In the evening The 'Walkure
performance was in the regular Rims So
RIGS and a true Wagncrian audience was
present In size this audience rivailcd
that of a Farrar Butterfly or Caruso
Aida: IN quality OF appreciation il was
probably far above either New YORK
possesses a public which IS rarely seen at
the opera except at these annual WaS-
merriam offerings. offerings which the faith
ful hold as little less than sacrosanct
Though Die Walkiire' had been heard
twice before this season. yesterday per-
Torrance was Of unusual interest In that
II marked the American debut OF new
tenor. Rudolf Berger. II had been re-
ported I'm the journals that Mr.. Berger
was a barytone made over into tenor.
but his singing gave no evidences To sup
port this statement His voice proved TO
be one of true tenor quality. heroic in
power and in tone, but one which bore
some of the unpleasing results of the pres
ent approved Germanic school. Splendid
as it was in declamatory passages. 1t was
uniformly hard and utterly lacking In any
attempt at nuance. AS result his Sieg-
mund. while superbly conceived In It's
aspects of primitive power, was lacking
in poetic charm.
In stature Mr.. Berger is a giant, his
a al foo ,,nhila and his
bearing both dignifed and plastic; when
he has learned the value of nuance ana
logato he will undoubtedly prove a most
valued acquisition TO the company AS IT
was, he won his audience yesterday as
few tenors Of recent years have succeeded
in doing, and at the curtain Of the first
act received what was veritable ovation.
He and Nine. Fremstad were called before
the curtain nearly a dozen times. and
frally the fair soprano persuaded him TO
take a call alone, which lac did. % the
accompaniment of deafening applause and
even cheers. In closing, Mr.. Berger might
be asked in what books Of antiquities he
discovered the portrait of Volsung, or. II
not, what authority he can produce for
the particular style of headdress he af-
fected yesterday.
Another element of interest was the first
appearance of Nine. ODER as Fricka. Nine.
Ober's Fricka will stand comparison with
any of her other approximations. Hers
was no jealous virago. but goddess. the
very emblem of outraged law. Nine. Ober,
in voice face and bearing, made virtue
attractive. Nine. Fremstad was the
Sleglinde. Nine. GadsN the Briinnhilde,
Mr.. Braun the Wotan and Mr.. Ruysdael
the Hunding. Mr.. Hertz conducted.
The evenings first offering was Victor
Herberts Madeleine" of which all that
can be said has been said. Nine. Aida
was again most charming in the title
part. and Mr.. Polacco conducted with
authority. And then, almost as if with
ironic intent in exposition of how light
subject can be treated lightly, came Don
Pasquale."
The revival of the old opera under the
baton OF Arturo Toscanin was one Of the
rare delights of last season, coming,
as il did, not until the first week in
April. For Don Pasquale" is one Of the
supreme masterpieces OF opera bouna, and
under Mr. Toscannis baton the music
sparkles as it must have sparkled in the
days when it was young. So that music
sparkled last night, and in a manner
equally delightful sang and acted Miss
Bori and Mr. Scott.
Miss Boris Norma last season gave
promise. but last night 1t was altogether
delightful arch, humorous, hayward, CO.
quettish-all that Norma should be. In
addition, she sang the music with fine
STYLE her tril in particular being I'M
usually clear cut. and her brarura being
thrown off with 6ciat.
Mr.. Scottis Doctor Malatesta has al
WAYS been one of his most effective roles,
figure OF true high comedy: while Mr..
Pinl-Corsi's Don Pasquale was fat and
funny. The weak spot in the perform
ance was the Ernesto of Mr.. Cristalli. Mr..
Cristali is an earnest and at times a
pleasing singer. but Donizetti's music re-
auires master of bel Cdai0. The audi
ence was small one for a subscription
night.