The sun., 1916-01-09
~ W, J. HENDERSON.

L thy OF the operagoing pupiic
toward novelties. He laments |
because, according to the managers
oracle. tho box office, "Pagiiacci Is
the greatest Of all operas. II he we're
not under obligations to realize the
lofty ideals Of W. *. Vanderbilt. otto
Kahn. Frank Gray Griswold. Rawiins
Cottenet and several more aitruis'N
gentlemen. who are his employers ana
who regard the Metropolitan opera
House not as a receptacle for money,
but a. a benevolent institution oi art
he would not produce any more new
operas. but would feed fat the pubic
stomach with repeated feasts Of 1'uc-
cini, Mascagni, Leoncavallo and Nerdi'
The public IL indeed ungratetui'
especially IN its refusal TO regard
"Prince Igor" as a suitable companion
for the masterpieces In the list OF
favorites. Mr.. Gatti-Casazza has had
discouraging experiences. He has pro-
duced numerous novelties anu ucsef\cs
we'll II his day and generation.
Doubtless when he began to intro
duce new operas 10 New York he was
convinced that there was great pun
lie demand for them. People must
have been writing letters to inquire
why the operas OF Moussorgsky ana
Tschaikowsky were not brought out
here. At any rate Mr.. Gatt-Casazza,
who in the first years OF his reign was
aided and abetted by Andreas D!ppel'
has introduced twenty-seven novelties
to this community. Possibly pubica-
tion Of the list will assist some
thoughtful readers TO a comprchen-
sion Of the public apathy. Here 1t is:
'sriefland.' "I.e Will" LA Wally."
The Battered Bride" "Germania."
"Alessandro Stradella,' "Piaue Dame"
"The Pipe OF Desire" "Armide.' The
Girl OF the Golden West" "Kocnigs-
kinder" "Arane ct Barbe Beu,"
"Lobetanz." lie Donne Curiose,'
"versiegel,." Mona "The Secret Of
Suzanne" "L'AmVe Medico." "Cy-
rano." Boris Godunov.' Der Rosen-
kavalier." Madeleine" Julien"
"L'Amore del Ire Re-" mime. Sans
Gene" "L'Oracolo," prince Igor"
This is record Of which any i'm
presario might we'll be proud and one
cannot censure Mr. Gatti-CasazZa for
complaining against the indolent pub
lie. More than one-half of these operas
proved we'll worthy of production, and
some of them, which are now no longer
heard. might we'll be retained in the
repertoire. But no discussion of the
relative values OF Mr.. Gatti-Casazza' s
novelties is needed. The point t. be
made just now may be shaped best.
perhaps, in a question.
At what period in the history of
opera did the public clamor FOR novel;
ties? We need not go back into the
catacombs of the far past. No longer
ago than the days of Maurice Grau
the impresaro was complaining that
II he wished to make certain of a
bad house" all he had to do was
TO announce a new opera. We have
advanced far beyond that. for the
production OF n novelty in these days
almost invariably assemblies a large
company of eXpectant listeners
But still there is no aggressive de-
mand for novelties. There never was
such a demand. There is no demand
for new singers. There never was
such demand as this either. The
operagoer of to-day believes that
opera began and will end with Caruso,
and that he will never go into the
Metropolitan again after the famous
tenor ceases to sing.
In the same way the young man
or woman who began going To the
opera half "A dozen seasons back be-
l!eves that "PagliaCci" with Caruso Is
the very highest flight to which the
lyric drama can attain. When that
combination is broken this youthful
musical enthusiast will retire TO gloom
and mourning.
That is what they all think now.
But not one of them will think so
ten years hence. The operate world
Of New York thought its end had
come when the De Reszkes retired,
And 10. there arose Caruso. 1t
felt that without Romeo ct Juliette'
and Faust" and Carmen" (but only
with Calve) such thing as season
was impossible. Nevertheless the
opera house is still doing business at
the old stand and although the shrieks
Of Mr.. Meltzer's anguish are heard for
miles people persist in going to hear
operas which are not French.
There was a time when even I'll
Trovatore" was novelty. No one
demanded that It should be produced
The impresario flashed II before the
astonshed public gaze and after eyes
had ceased blinking and become ac-
customed TO the unexpected vision the
sternally conventional old public set.
was pretty good after all and ended by
loving It.
The public does not think. The
public does not lead. 1t has no initia,
tive. We are speaking now OF art
matters, remember, not of politics
though even there we may wonder
who manufactures the all powerful
public opinion before which the poll
ticians profess sometimes to bow. Bu
In the theatre, as in the picture gal
lery, the public waits for what il
offered to it. Unreasoning in all il.
autocratic ways, II would like to 81
calmly at home till after the noveit,
has become a fixed favorite and thel
begin to go to the theatre with tn,
0edOrting conviction that 1t wa