The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1916-11-16
FIRST GRAND OPERA
PERKS ''Dafre" Marked the Start
Of a New Era In ,,usic.
WAS SUNG ONLY III PRIVATE.

rs Performances Were Confined to the
Palace 1T Ccrs, and the Score Is Lost
to the Wor'd--Tte First Opera Given
In Public Was "Eurydee."
There is no form of music so gener
A1ty popular with all CLASSES today as
Gpern the combination of action and
music. Opera has made extensive
Strides duriny the last century, al
Though It's origin is very remote. 1t
yelopmeni from almost the beginning
III the Christian era. Earliest libret,
ists were such eminent men as
Apsehylus and Sophocles, who accom-
panied their spoken drama with band
M Tyres and duties.
kut grand opera as we understand i,
to-day originated about the end of the
sixteenth century, When JacOpo PERKS
sl,cra "Dnftje" was first presented. 1t
artgiutltcd through the gathering of
small party Of music lovers at the
no!ut' of i',ulcntine noblenan. These
spirit of til. renaissance to rediscover
She music ~ the Greek drama.
Theories 4rt"- into actualities when
4 perlorin1n. Q Of "Dafne' was cele
Drafted il, t.sp palace of Corsi in 15o5.
'ThiS opera #ns successfully performed
several t;u%~. but always in private,
and now iii: score is not discoveiable
Tie pnbli. had the privilege of hear
bag opera iTe years later, when two
settings Of s.urydice" We're made, one
b. s'uri and the other by Caccilli.
Boil, the operas were produced in part
3rriug iho marriage celebration OF
Henry ", and Marie de Medici at the
fetit palace on oct 6, 1900.
AIeasuring the accomplishments of
these enthusiasts with the opera OF
Aot many years later, the former must
appear rid,oolol,s and very wide of the
mark !,ilt here at least was a step
ii. an untrodaen path. Opera was now
ON II basis which admitted of develop
alent: Its career had begun.
S'Eurydtce' was the first Italian Op-
era ever performed in public, and the
work excited an extraordinary amount
af attention. The score was first pub
Astled In Florence in 1000 and was
dedicated tt Marie de Medici and it
kas printed in 1905 in Venice, a copy
W the latter being we'll preserved in
sa.c library # the British museum.
For fifty years "Eurydice" remained
dc luxury of MOBILES. being performed
ars,y before courts during special fes
Svals. hIo,s1eyerhe added the over
t!,re to the t'eli opera.
The next important oleratc work to
h produce. was that of Monteyerde
ssstitle,i G1gIen." which was present
~ in 1907, aud Il year later ".Ariaulla
These two operas left Peri and his
Comrades ia. in the rear Work along
t1sis line Developed slowly until 1881
when the / patro di san tussiano was
opened at Fenice. which was the first
public opera honse. Now that the
rsasses had a voice in the matter, it
s.r,n became evident that the people
&>,st be pleased and the Florentine
ideals forgotten.
sater la the century the melody OF
aa.*. Rria was enriched by two compos-
cas- named layalli and Nesti The OPP
era. by stimulating solo singing and
reyiving ii taste for the beauties of
popular meody, supplies the necessary
q nj inf ~
sounding aH.1 finished melodic themes.
Cuyalli was a tireless worker, and he
pspduced ciasp to forty different op-
elas, zone Df which has survived.
Scarlattt, who followed, was another
esse,ess worker. his first opera having
tAan produced in Rome in 1879. after
Wflich he brought out more than sixty
3fslers. l,ronl that period to the pres
egst Gay the italian composer has held
kis place with the greatest of any
countries and has produced more op-
erfas Than all the other countries COM
tiued
sshe earliest operas in France were
composed by LuIli at the end of the
seventeenth century and Ramean at
IT, IeginIt.ig OF the eighteenth cen
ttl1y, bat they were little more than
limitations % the Italian style. The
ea,is q the E5rencll opera was laid by
C.uck ii. The latter half of the eight
tt.tth cent iry. Meyerbeer, kossini
G.};tnud aud Thomas represented the
most popular OF the SUCCESSORS of
GfU:k, with the more modern Massene,
hi,1 Chaiuentier.
u. Germany until the rise of Wagner
The opera aas marked by little Ma
tiot a! originality. Mozart was the first
opera waiter among the German com
ettsers 10 Weber especially will re-
main the glory of having first founded
O. distinct German opcratic style
Washington Post
One View of Golf.
Many anecdotes are told of some Of