Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-11-14

Act Hail in tn castle Of Colgny
Al the Tribunal Kct ffV-Prison Of St La
zarc.
According to the mandates OF taat In
visible empire. the critics union, reviews
OF operate performances should begin with
reference 20 the last presentation OF the
work dtgroSs into history of It's compost
tion and end UP with an account of the
occasion itself. There are times when this
process seems triniug and dry, When a
large enthusiasm steps in and demands that
now shall have precedence over then"
So one reviewer thought last night.
For on the stage of the metropolitan
there was enacted cnd sung an italian
opera that ought to have place beside
"Tosca" In point of brilliant orchestral color,
tensity of situation and dramatic value for
singers who can act. II scens incredible
that ANDREA Chenicr" should have been
in the moth-balls for the last twenty years,
so far as this city is concerned. Yet II Is
so. II needed therefore. the enterprise of
Mr.. Rab!non. always ready to do the in
teresting thing instead Of the necessarily
lucrative, to give II here. lie gave II in
fine, in thrilling style with Zenatelo and
Baklanoff and Villani--thrce artists Of dra-
matte as well as vocal merit--and with "A
general sense of theatric values that height
cned and Illuminated the emotional points
of the story. Such was the stage business
in those scenes where the head Goddess
OF Reason held mob-sway and where the
lovers went gladly to the guillotino. And
with II all were heard the rich melodies. the
ingenious Italian counterpart. on which
I'uccni today thrives. but, paradoxically.
frcshcr and thicker" in the older COM
poser's way of doing it.
SO it does seem strange that n generation
that applauds its hands sore at the aria of
the stars from "TOsca," the duets in "Bo-
heme' and "Manon Lescaut," should not
feel at once the grip of ingratiation that
Y 'hpOipr' makes the pIIlga nd ipt to1-
liSence For every act there Is the big
number for tenor, soprano and baritone.
ana there are pages and pages of highly
dramatic writing interspersed like the first
act chorus Of French otus-eaters minuet-
Ting away the time while the far-off roar of
the Revolution sounds unnoticcd II is this
nicely felt relation between situation and it's
expression in music that makes the opera
so warm with life, despite its age ; so SYM
pathetic so real It is surprisingly real
throughout for the lihrettist has disregarded
some of the most cherished conventions.
His villain is actually a good fellow!
To Chenier, poet, reformer, distracted
slave of love" go the most impressive Of
the arias, and It is to the artistic credit
of the Boston Company that it's members
are artists enough never to snatch at the
linelight. never to disturb the placement of
character and episode. Thus Mr. Zenatello.
in his best voice, was but one though the
most tragic. in the procession of eighteenth
century UEuItS. w nPn MS great moments
came as i'm the denunciatiOn of the aristO-
Gratis i'm the trial scene and on the way
to the tumbrs, he shook his ,ience with
acting that was touching and singing that
was sincere-and always In the picture
II was true too. of Mr.. Bakanoff and his
credible and human portrait of the COM
munist head and except once or twice when
her voice seemed not quite adequate, of
Nine. VILLAIN.
But It was not this excellence of manage
ment and production that gave the night its
chief SAVIOR and beauty 1t was, first, the
resurrected score, too long asleep, and next
the innate quality of the story Through
the surge and sweep of the music, with the
red echoes of the "Carmagnole," the dark
hilarty of the "Marseilaise" and the recur-
ring theme of a poets hopeless ideal came
thoughts of the times when the streets of
Paris were scarlet though not with wine;
of Sidney Carton and "The Vengeance" and
the click of womens knitting needles as the
powder on patrician heads mingled with the
sawdust of the ominous baskets So like
ancient balms, music and story keep for us
the past of horror, of love and of heroism.
b. ID.