The sun., 1916-12-17
D. w. J. HENDERSON.


ario Of the Metfopolitan
opsra House. sweeping with msian.
eholy yes oil the horizons Of Europe
end seeing no young singers arising
10 an the places Of those consummate
masters and mistrsssss Of the art Of
III canto. Melanie Kurt. Nasgsrsts
obsr. Carl Braun ana Jacques Urius.
has At any rate discovered Q new
opera.
The title Of the work 10 Francesca
"a Rimini." II might also b called
"L'Amors del Ire Fratelli," since II
deals with n tragedy caused By the
marriage Of a yonnG woman to the old
and ugly brothep. her fatal passion for
the young and handsome brother. and
the betrayal 81 her secret by the zeal.
Gus third brother.
The story II naturally not new. No
story Of love snd jeslously can lie.
But doubtless ont oreragoers, who
snnot I've expected 70 occupy them
selves with searching the records. will
ask why the theme has not given us
an drer5 before now The answer Ii
that at least nfteen are known to
have been performed.
without going Into details 90 &, -
brcttisis and theatres. the hftsen can
lie listed by the names Of the coinpos-
ers briefly as follows: Mcrc dante,
1928: M.issimiilano Outlet. 1879: Gem
erali. 1899: STATE. 1881: F%Jurnier-
Core. 1882: Borgatto. lS8e: Nordnl.
1870: Devasinl. 1874: Csnstt.. lsA3.
B~rancass!o. ls4t; Franchin!. 1851:
Boullard. 1869: Marcarini, 1871: Mos
cuza, 1877. and Cagnon!. 1878.
A theme which has been permitted
70 sleep since 1875 msy we'll he taken
up again. The librc;,o Of Cagnoni's
work vas written by the iibrettist OF
aida Gh!sianyoni. "A very competent
author. and the opera had no small
success. I'ut evidently this impres.
sion was not lasting. since Il has
disappeared from the r.. ~ocrtories Of
italian opera liouses.
The literary foundations Of the Fan.
donai work ssem TO have been laid
with much care. The composer has
wisely followed the example Of Mon
temezzi. composer OF "L'Amore del Ire
Re- in choosing for his book a work
by a distinguished Italian poet. II is
Gabrielle d'A%nnunz.o's tragedy which ne
sets. but notifications needed for the
lyric form. including the necessary
condemnation. have been made by Tito
Ricordi. now head Of the famous Milan
publishing house.
In preparing a l.hretto for the use Of
auditors at the performances no at
tempt has been made TO give a literal
translation Of the italian text. The
English words are from Arthur sy-
mons's translation OF D'Annuhxio's
poem. and II will be found that they do
not NJ the music At all.
For the Operago<r who reads his
i~bretto-and there are q few such
psople-this Is q distinct gain. The
English translations Of italian opera
texts ars usually such a. make culti-
waited persons shudder. In this in
stance we have q literary creation Se-
fore w. and something Of the rare and
radiant atmosphere Of D'.Annunsio 10
rproduced.
M, r.ha,,,. ,,,x..-.S - nj" ,,C
chita." opera In four acts. was pro-
csso cnar. Cs-T|U. - IN
,s,s ~. .,... uais'
nuh,,c 80. ms' W."
want Of lyric beauty In the voice parts.
II was an opera hiled with strenuous
action and declamatory utteFsnce. pro-
un.ss, "a =. 49, ..OvS
1.I NJ. 0'e"s'-
nn"r~. . ,,-
kl"u sehsIaily is"'
.,.h, S-"p"~e's ""o '""e
drsm..i. m,.;a :, = W.. '.shsss o.
.nn,'"" mus'c " 70 utter tho great
on,'' =. a rama n tnst mis- can
mus, :. ~ mus'ca. tormr"
.tsrv - po.,S s"s s.n ovsr. INC
an, -;c, % sc snouid
svn....,a, p~r" LOT p1oed lyric
49, - ~ ~n,ae ~ n s.me Time tne
roc,n o.. n..na.o prov,os' sumc'eht
cv,n,, ""us,a,va .c'ion u 'he
~" p !" oIn.'sn' cohversatlon
,n,s-.., .ns VIII 90 o"ssrvs1 WIN
ths, =, nil, no .,' s opeIasosr VIII mop
.,"n WI Nv us permanent addi-
"e ''pe''orS'
80 ...
y 10. 49,. ~. ,s,y .on..uNe ple"'s.
the most S,oncw,. ns.S.-~..a.s !" ..,.
world /, ia nrohnc,,"- ~ Ssva-sh;.
balance AZ N. snN . .....n 30
orchestral conc.,t. re- r.. o.. M. -
son tina. prea, tr.t,,r,cn,aI o."a."
lions u have S-usrsnts. funds ~