The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-02-01
MARIA ~BARRIENTOS
MAKES HER DEBUT
Snanish ColOraturc Soprano
Heard in '.Lucia di Lam
mcrmOOr."
v,RTlNELLI As EDGARDO

o,p.z,ias Lucia III Lammcrmoor"
sins 81 the Metropolitan opera
y.,ss las, night. and Maria Barrientos
IA her frs, appearance here as the
,,,r.. An audience of great size as
.,,hled and the applause was remark
by vigorous.
oLacia nat not been sung at the
Metropolitan since November, 1913,
,sen ltalo Cristalll made his debut as
rs,ordo. The representative of the un-
,,,,ura's Young woman on that occasion
rag Fr.eia liempel. and the unyielding
r,rco vas MIR. A,nato. The opera was
card at tines at the Century Opera
House. Its vogue in recent years has
~, been large. There are two chief
..,sors for this. IL the lack OF
.oot colorature sopranos and the other
10 lack Of good tenors who can really
n,srpret the role of Edgdrdo.
Mr. Caruso sang this part In his first
.ason here. He was the best Edgdrdo
.nce ltalo Campanini. probably the
,sa,cst exponent Of the character the
rera stage has known. Too much
,.ross is laid on the soprano part and
q tendency is 20 make the work a one
lar opera. This is a mistake. for Ed
ordo : one of the most dramatic Of
! pJre,y lyric roles hut 1t requires an
,or 10 bring out its real value. How
ser. since IL is now The custom TO
Isat The opera as a soprano exhibition
''a accessories attention may be be-
',osei, first of all, on the newcomer
Miss Barrlentos disclosed herself last
i'enirE as a singer OF varied merits.
ie- voice il very light in color and
Dune. hut il il one of genuinely beau
ItIl quality. Its light tin tends fire.
lsn'lv toward whiteness. and IL seems
robdh'e that the organ viii not readily
mi itself To the expression of feeling.
Toe singers tone production was I'M
ven She sanG her Italian 4 very open
q ire low register, and her long | in
- uprcr range very much on the teeth.
-1e - suit was continual shifts from "A
'roa'y tone To one very piercing.
He intonation was almost fawless
md 0er phrasiug showed not only COM
and of breath, but musical intell,-
Her mastery Of the MESA di
.e--the art of taking a tone
aH.ssimo and making a Crescendo and
4 d.mlnuendo on twas extraordinarily
and was used TO make some beauti-
effects. Her colorature in the mrs,
&C. showed a tendency toward staccato
nd her runs were not in a perfect le-
.a'o style. She sans "Quando rapito''
9TH excellence in the general plan and
some beautiful touches, but the
|lmber was marred by some of the de
mentioned. In the sextet she lacked
'e tonal power necessary TO give the
l!"ber its proper balance.
IN the mad scene she gave a display
, her best qualities. Her singing of
Arion glincens!" was marked by taste
$ we'll az by much elegance OF style
nd musical intelligence. The cadenza
n suns with great care. Perhaps here
.'ter she will show more abandon in IL,
u 4 was delivered with accuracy and
= airy delicaCy Of style rather than
-,liancy. Her triil IA particularly
and her stiCrsti very clean and
gs Al. II must hr added that tn"
03rauo seemed to he very ncrvous and
Ir'hcrmore the house was very warm.
ndrr better conditions she will doubt
Is sing even better. Her debut was on
= vNole successful.
NJ Mar,inelli. who appeared as
Was not in his best vocal con
.'.ou, hut he sang the music commend
'hy Mr.. Amato was admirable as
.nricO Mr.. Rothier was good as
PIuuoHco and Minnie tggener sang
-editah'v tho brief recitations OF Alisd.
ne cast included also Angelo Bada as
~ ,ro.
NJ Rtvagnoli conducted and the
-N4ulo orchestra transformed itself into
hs guitar without palpablc effort.