New-York tribune., 1918-09-22
ps and Downs of the Third Season at the Manhattan
In the Midst of the Garden-Cavalieri
Fracas "Salome" Is Revived, for
Miss Gardens Benefit

did the proclaimed purpose to give It con :
the road" So did the announced intention s
to give long series of representations 5
before the subscription Of f907-'0e. s
Mr.. Conried surrendersa his rights ia the !
drama at what must have been large .
pecuniary sacrifice; and within a year or :
so Mr. Hammerstein acquired them. :
Why? After his own utterances on thu >
subject | cannot believe that he had be- :
come convinced that the withdrawal of the S
work from the repertory of the Metropoi- s
tan Opera House had left the public hun :
gering with consuming a hunger that to =
satisfy it was either artistic duty or :
promising financial enterprise. No. A new <
factor had entered into the proposition. =
Miss Garden wanted to be seen in the. titu- {.
lar role, convinced that by her acting dane g
ing and disrobing she could achieve the ,
success which had not looked with pro- :
pitious eye upon the first production. More -
over, Miss Gardens vision was not directed =
upon New York alone. Paris had wei =
coined Miss Fremstad's moving dramatic
impersonation and hailed her interpre.s- =
tion Of the music with delight. Even II =
Miss Garden could not hope TO cope with =
Miss Fremstad's singing she could outdo =
her acting if she TO do the dance off
the seven wells herself, and not by proxy
as Miss Fremstad had done it, and thuss
throw a shamelessly generous exh ibitionS
Of her body into the balance. Miss Garden
could not sing in German. however, nort~
could any Of her associates at the Manhat-sS
tan Opera House. So the project was
evolved of performing the drama in French,es
a proceeding which did not seem very revo-E
lutonary since Oscar Wilde had originally
written "Salome" in that language, and the
English version, which had failed to gain as
foothod in Great Britain and America and
the German which had ravaged Germany
were both translatons. Paris heard "Sa-
lone" in German; New York was the first
city in the world to hear it in French
This sounds somewhat paradoxical and
perverse; but perverson is the theme of
"Salome" in all its elements, and to discuss
scarcely be worth while Nor is there
much need of discussion of the effect of
French text upon the music. BY the COM
posers confession words and the
human voice were tolerated by him only as
necessary evils. Against his will was he
compelled to consort with the earth born :
there was one viewpoint from which the
association of such music as this with the
French language seemed anomalous. Ele-
gance of expression is inherent in all forms
of French art; dramatic truthfulness and
vigor, sometimes to the verge of uncouth-
ness, of German. The nervous chatter Of
8urrian's German Herod was much more
characteristic of the neurasthenic created
by Strauss than was the better cadenced
and more or less tuneful singing of Dali
mores's Tetrarch
But this largely matter of inter-
pretation. The French artist would not
miss an opportunity to sing a phrase if it
offered itself; the German was willing to
sacrifice everything to an illumination of
the pathological nature of Herod's pitiful
case. AS for the prcachments and denun-
Citations of Joachanan in which is con- "a
tanned the bulk of the sustained music Of
the score, except the final beatifcation of
the necrophilism of the unspeakabe Sa-
lone, they did not seem to be either helped
or hindered by the change of tongue The
stage-set was beautiful though the picture
was marred by incongruitics and an
achronisms such the Introduction of the
familiar winged bull OF AssyIia into
Herod's palace. The light effects were Of
great beauty and the people of the play
magnificently caparisoned The color
scheme was more garish than in Mr.. Con- %
ried's production and there was more than
a suggestion of barbarism in the habili-
ments of Herod, but these high lights only
served to accentuate the beauty of Miss
Gardens person and raiment OF thee
latter, however, there very little, and e.
in the climax Of the dance the utmost
limit ever reached by lyric artist or act
ress within long memory was attained
To have thrown off any more in emulation
of lstar she would have been obliged to =
doff her cutice