Evening star., 1917-03-11

L
At last, in 1902. he got his chance a.
London. He played the part OF Davit
Lundier in THE Prophecy" and his per
formance was so remarkable that th'
London managers went to see II.
He accepted an offer from Beerbohr
Tree and made his London debut a.
His Majesty's, in September, 1903. ap'
pearing as the Duke of Yoke In "Rtch'
ard H." The dumb slave in The Darl
ing of the Gods" Cassius in Julius
Caesar" Master Ford in The Merry
Wives of Windsor" Sir Andrew Ague'
cheek in Twelfth Night" Prospero ir
The Tempest" the Ghost in Ham
let" and BoIingbroke in Richard II,
were some of the other roles he played
with Tree at this time.
In 1905 he got his big opportunity
when 'Oliver Twist was put on al
| His Majestys and he cast for Bill
sykes. With that remarkable imperson-
alton Mr.. Harding really came into his
own. He continued to play in Trees
company and went with that organiza-
tion to Berlin in 1907. On his return to
London he appeared in the title role OF
Barrie's THE Admirable Crichton," un-
der Charles Frohman's management.
Later he played the title role in Mol
mars "The Devil" at the Adelphi, and
at the St James he created the part
of Theodore Blundell in "Mid-Channel.
In 1910 he again scored an enormous
success as DR.. Rylott in 1.-The Speckled
Band"
In 1911 he paid his first visit to Amer :
ca. to play with Grace George in Just
to Get Married" During this visit he
also appeared in Much Ado About
Nothing and 1.-The Earth ana wnen
oliver Twist" was put on al the New
Amsterdam Theater, New ORG, Win an on
all-star cast he appeared as sykes, re
peating the triumph he had previously
scored in London.
Later, in London, he made tremen.
dous hit in the title role of "Drake,
h q
to America to appear in David Belasco $
production of Years of Dlscretlon'
In 1913 he gave his wonderful study OF
liam Carve in Arnold BennettS me
Great Adventure" at the Booth IheaIer'
New York. and later he was seen as i'r'
Rylott in THE Speckled Band" In Chi
cago. In 1914 he produced new YER
sion of The Scrap of Paper In Lon
don and then appeared in vaudeville IN
a sketch entitled For France.
Coming again to America in the au-
tumn of 1915. he played SVenga1l IN
'Trilby" for ten weeks through Canada
and then created the role of William
Dale in .'The Devils Garden" in New
York. Since then he has been playing
with Beerbohm Tree in Henry VII"
Long Operntic Tour The present
tour of the San Carlo Grand Opera
Company is said to be the longest and
most extensive ever arranged, either
in this or any other country. 1t en-
braces thirty-two weeks, and opened in
New York city Monday. August IS. 1t
will terminate late in April.
The itinerary took the San Carlo
stars as far east as Quebec and Mon
treal and as far west as Winnipeg and
Oklahoma City, embracing such opera
loving communities as Providence. To-
ronto. Albany, Syracuse. Rochester,
Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, ST Louis,
indianapolis, Kansas City, st. Paul,
Minneapolis, Duluth. Cincinnati, Co
lumbus and many others. Harrisburg
and other cities will hear the san
CarIoans directly after the engage
ment at the Belasco.
sive tour is that upon only one occasion
has it been necessary to change an
opera because of the illness of one Of
the stars-a record heretofore unheard
of. This. it is understood, is because
the organization carries three separate
and distinct casts of principals, so that,
In the event of sudden illness of lead
ing artist, another is Immediately
available for the role.
The organization will sing nine diff
ferent operas here next week, suf-
ficient number to display the excep-
tional versatility of the company and
the individual artists
Leschetizky's Method-The late The
ador Leschetizky had no more ardent
admirer and friend than Ossip Gabrilo-
witsch But the irascible old master
came very near ending Gabrilowitsch's
budding career.
1T was during one of his classes
when the pupils were assembled at his
home to play as If at a concert" re-
lates Gabrilowitsch. "I had been in
Vienna only few weeks, and I went
to Leschetizky in some trepidation.
Coming from the conservatory and
from Rubinstein, he thought I might
have big head and that it would do
me good to throw cold water on my
efforts Somewhat confidently I played
Beethoven sonata, and then with a
thoroughness that makes me shudder
even today he started in to give it to
me, l was terribly humiliated and de-
cided that I could not play a note.
Then and there I made up my mind
to drop music before it was too late
and to find profession more in keep
ing with my capabilities
But the next day had a lesson and
the master was very nice. He said:
You must not mind these little out
bursts They are for your own good
and do not mean anything else The
experience was one / shouldn't care to
repeat, for there were many people
present during my luckless perform
ance, and it was most embarrassing.
cere in saying that he did it all for my
sake / have since had occasion to be
thankful that 1 decided to try few
days longer before abandoning the con-
cert field"