The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-22

opera. Mascagni's brutal "Cavalleria
Rusticana," despite its glaring defects
OF construction and its frequently
banal music, leaves the operagoer con-
WINGED that the entire tragedy has
been placed unreservedly before him.
He dismisses the comparative empti-
ness and watery distension OF the sec
ond scene with extenuation because Of
the completeness of the exposition in
the first. He even bestows his indul-
gent approval on the claptrap inter-
mezzo, which has no more to do with
the opera than the moon has to do
with the weather. The populace in
sists on discovering relations between
the moon and the probabilities and
between Mascagno's intermezzo and
the fortunes of Turiddu and Sdntuzzd !;
but nevertheless there are none.
Puccini Intermesxo "BelonEs."
Puccini doubtless thought he had
solved tho intermezzo problem for all
time when he wrote the orchestral in
terlude between the departure OF the
nuns to their dormitory and the re-
turn of Sister Angelica with her cup
Of poison. This intermezzo' does be-
long. And yet "Suor Angelica" leaves
us in a condition Of weakness. 1t is
not because it Is sung wholly by
women. So is Gluck's "Orfeo ct Euri-
dice" No one feels limp and weary
at the end of that except those un-
happy souls to whom all restful
beauty is as poppy and mandragora.
No, We have recognized women in
these days, and even when the stage
is filed with unsexed females and only
one betrays the possession OF circulat-
ing blood we place little stress upon
the fact that we hear what CORE
spends to an entire act with only
vomen's voices.
The truth is that the composer did
not find the poignant note for the ex-
preston of the great agony of the
mother the climax OF the little work
Here We stumble on the fundamental
weakness Of this popular composer.
In what opera and at what particular
point has Puccini swept the full
chords OF human anguish?
Certainly not In either OF the two
epitomized tragedies of this ternary
system Of lyric dramas. Is It in
Madame Butterfly? II so, where?
The music OF that adorable. opera
reaches its zenith in the publication
Of sensual passion. II reeks with
dithyrambic confession. When it
aims at the song OF sorrow 1t lulls
itself to tenderest pathos. But the
shrek Of unutterable agony is not
heard
Surely no one thinks to hear Il in
the equally sweet melancholies OF La
Boheme." It Is In this peculiarly
vocal opera that the soaring lark is
heard In all the opulence OF his I'M
premeditated song. The sensitive ear
is often shocked by the care free
manner in which the lark pours out
its exuberant spirit. II sometimes IL
would only try to At its flowing river
Of melody more closely to the text.
But Puccini cares little about his
text Give him a situation and he
paints It's emotions in his familiar
gaSish colors in broad sweeps of the
lyric brush without regard for out
lines or the distribution Of shadows.
Brilliant but Superficial
30 We are not astonished that when
he undertook the composition of three
condensed, concentrated scenic cpl
sodes from human experience he failed
to probe to the depths. Again he is the
same brilliant, superficial wizard OF
stagecraft, bewildering our senses by
throwing melodic masses right and
left with spontaneous facility but
never leaving us perfectly convinced
that We have not been befooled.
In III Tabarro" he strove nightly
TO be dramatic and was chiefly no
more than fussy. There is no moment
OF passionate eloquence In all the
score. albeit there is much strenuous
defamation and some Of the long
drawn phraseology With which the
previous operas had made US ac-
quainted.
Not tn he comes to "Gianni
schicchi" does Pucctni disclose 10 us
anything more novel than his bald and
meaningless imitation OF Strauss f.
The silly act OF making music In two
Keys at once. In "Gianni Schicchi"
we perceive the idolized master OF the
masses PROSTATE before the throne OF
The supreme lord OF italian opera,
Giuseppe Verdi. Puccini must Rave
spent many an honorable hour In the
study Of the score OF "Falstaff." He