New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-06-04
GATH asazza, Humanist,
Talks on Modern Opera
To Fill Out Our Repertory He Says We Must Borrow
from Operas of the Past-and There
Lies the Difficulty.

older operas, which. none the less, they
must sing.
"Now fifty years ago the opera
houses had the advantage not only o.
possessing a far larger number OF
works Of the time. but singers al OF
whom were grounded in the art Of song,
and who, therefore, could sing with
facility in any school. Indeed. when
Wagner appeared they easily turned 70
his works and outdid those who may
sing them to-day and who have not
been thus grounded Even in the
operas Of Puccini and Leoncavsllo, the
singers who are most successful are
those OF the old tradition. Mr. Carus0
is an excellent example Of this.
Though the greatest tenor in modern
Italian opera, he was trained for the
works Of bel canto. II singers would
Only realize that though they may sue
coed in the modern operas with only
two years study their success
would be far greater with six years OF
preparation, then we might hope for
better singing to-day. But the COM
mercial appeal in a commercial age IS
difficult, indeed, to resist-indeed, al
most impossible.
81 am thus firmly convinced that the
basis for the proper presentation OF all
opera is a knowledge Of the art Of song,
and until such a knowledge returns the
old works can receive no such presen-
tations as IN former days.
To-day the ensemble Of productions
and the average Of acting is, however.
undoubtedly higher than It was former
ly. But there are few such great per-
sonalities. When We remember that
performances of Les Huguenots,' at
the Metropolitan, once contained such
names as Victor Maurel, Lilli Lehman.
Jean and Edouard De Reszke, Nordica
and Plancon all on one bill, we may
well rub our eyes! IL is TO my mind
unquestioned that this democratic, sci
entiic age mas weakened the power OF
the Imagination in both creative and
interpretive artists What We have
gained in organization we have lost in
individual fervor and spiritual insight.
But in this the opera is not slone--the
same state of affairs exists in the the
atre, where great acting is becoming
rarer and rsrer.
This condition is not peculiar to
America-it is equally true OF Europe.
The operas that are popular here are
the ones that are popular in all other
countries, and the same in less measure
is true of the singers. The world, in
deed, is becoming more and more Of
a unit
ITO my mind the basis OF popular
operate art must always be melody.
/ This is the reason that the old works,
when well sung, are always popular
1t is indeed the reason why Wagner is
popular, and it certainly accounts for
the vogue Of Puccini and Massenet
realize that works like Debussys
'Pelleas ct Melisande' are MASTER
pieces, but popular appeal will always
be small. OF young composers. Italy
has Zandonai and Montemezzi, the
former to me perhaps more truly
original than the latter, whose music
! has a Wsgnerian tinge. In France
there are Dukas and Ravel. 'Ariane ct
Barbe Bleu' is the creation OF a master.
but it failed because Of It's undramatic
libretto; Rayels 'L'Heure Espagnole' I
bought 20 produce at the New Theatre,
but unfortunately the Metropolitan is
altogether too big for its presentation.
Yet, It is undeniable that the modern
list is far from copious, and 70 fill ont
our repertory we must borrow from
the operas of the past. Thus, we are
at double disadvantage-th paucity
of modern works makes necessary the
I inclusion of works written for artists
trained in bel canto. while at the same
time there are to-day very few such
artists"
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