New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-05-20

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duet with Enrico's erstwhile sweet
heart. The original purpose of the
comic intermezzo, when its scenes
were sandwiched between the acts OF
serious operas. was to provide the re-
taxation which the opera serid did
not permit with its stereotyped
fcrmularies. Then an element OF
humor was found in parodying the
style of utterance affected by the
heroes and heroines Of the opera
proper, and putting the parody into
the mouths of vulgar personages who
represented types borrowed from Ital-
ian comedy-the grouchy old man, the
pert and designing housemaid, etc.
But the opportunities offered by
these sportivc trifes soon brought 1t
to pass that in beauty and expressive
ness, as well as variety of form and
style, the opera bufa surpassed the
opera serid. This was the case long
before Donizetti appeared upon the
scene. but it is still illustrated in
LElisir dAmore" and "Don Pas
Guale"; by that time, moreover, there
was no confessed purpose of musical
oaricature, and by ro6bing the char
acter Of Enrico of sincerity in his
disappointment at the loss of his
sweetheart Donizetti robbed his COM
edy of purpose. The mischief was
increased by the English adapter OF
The book, who quite inconsstently in
dicated that the heroine was quite
distraught with fear lest her husband
learn of the posture of affairs which
had existed between her and her dis
carded lover. That the farce was
needlessly vulgarized we have already
pointed out. 1t was professedly the
aim of the Society of American Sing
ers to avoid lascivious suggestion, but
in "The Night Bell" vulgarity went
beyond mere suggestion.
II would be easy to speculate upon
the reasons for the popular indffer-
ence to the experiment made ct the
Lyceum Theatre, but such speculation
would be quite useless. II is enough
to say that as comic opera Gas comic
opera exists in the popular mind it
was too good to endure, and that as
opera without qualifying epithet it
lacked the elements of fad and fashion
which are the life blood of the big in
stitution housed in the Metropolitan
Opera House. 1t is a long time since
opera in English was popular; in fact,
it has never been able to hold its own
against Italian opera since the foreign
exotic was transplanted TO this coun-
try. II was different before 1925, when
Garcia came to the Park Theatre. Be-
fore the year 1900 the English com
panies WAo came to visit us had
begun to carry their plays and ballad
operas in all directions. They went
northward into Canada, southwark to
Jamaica and New Orleans. The nine
teenth century was less than two
decades old when the venturesome
Thespians went over the Alleghanies
and down the Ohio River TO Cincinnati,
which for some years was only "A stop
ping place on the way TO the interior
towns OF Kentucky. When god was
discovered in California they started
FOR that distant region. Caroline Rich
ings was singing in opera there in
1855, and as Caroline Richings- Bernard
we heard the opera company which she
headed give performances between 1868
and 1872 which would compare more
than favorably with any OF the Eng
lish opera companies that we have
heard since. Not only this company
but others were giving performances
of excellent quality forty-five and fifty
years ago, with repertories that in
cluded masterpieces Of tragic, romantic
and comic operas. We can recall "Don
Giovanni" with Parepa as Donna Anna
and Brignoli as Don Ottavio, and in
the comic genre Adams Brewer of
Preston" with Nine. Richings and her
husband, Bernard, singing the prinei-
pal parts. Who remembers "The Brew
er OF Preston? A capital opera; last
summer We came upon Frank Van der
Stucken studying its score in the Bos-
ton Public Library. OF the type Of
opera which Mr.. Reiss's organization
was formed TO cultivate how delightful
was Sra Diavolo,' with Rose Hersee
as the maiden heroine. Mr.. and Mrs.
Edward Seguin as Lord and Lady ALI
cash, and William Castle as the gallant
brigand. Webers "Freischutz" had
performances in English In those days,
and his "Oberon," which is an English
opera that deserves a trial at the Met
ropolitan. And there were singers in