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

could not have done anything better,
for the style of that masterpiece sug-
gested to him just the type OF music
to dance in time to the merry moods
OF this roaring farce.
1t is in this operetta. however. that
the general public will miss the broad,
sHimmering rivers of vocal utterance.
for comic pattet is the natural enemy
OF the lugubrious sentimentality
which melts the average operagoer's
heart. To enjoy "Gianri Schicchi'' 1t
is essential that the auditor shall
know precisely what is going forward
on the stage, and that is the one thing
tat the typical operagoer will not
take the trouble to do. A vague SUI
perficial notion of the plot and some
glimmering OF the meaning of the
principal situations OF tragic opera
will often suffice to give him fairly
good platform for view OF the music.
But with comedy the positions are al
tered. The auditor must see every
thing from the point OF view OF the
composer; indeed. from that OF the
characters themselves. otherwise 1t
is all meaningless to him.
| shows Real Artistic Devotion.
Puccini has written "Gianni Schic-
| chi" within real sincerity. One
| familiar with his haphaZard methods
in larger forms OF opera would not
| have suspected him Of such artistic
| devotion. He certainly was not con-
sidering the quick applause of the
multitude when he wrote this work
Its music bubbles with Gayety and its
spirit runs to the.very verge OF reck-
| less abandon.
! The two or three purely lyric mo-
ments are artistically superior to the
composers typical achievements in
this line Certainly the little plead
ing solo OF Ldurettd. simple and al
most commonplace as st is, fits the
situation as prettily as the costume
Of the period fits Miss Easton. the
charming singer OF this bit.
The ensembles are admirable. They
are very short, 1t is true, and there
is no test Of Puccini's ability to write
a sustained concerted number, but
that is not vital. He has done what
there was to do and done it well.
These rambling comments precede
the second performance of the three
operettas, and-that performance may
force a reconsideration OF some con-
illusions. 1t is not likely. however
that 1t will materially alter the
broader view OF the new contribution
to the stage. Nor will II cause any
change in our posture OF astonish-
ment at some OF Puccini's latest
methods. Certainly one cannot quickly
reconcile himself to the composers
forcible immersion OF his soul in the
fathomless sea OF modernism.
Why does Puccini shoot madly
from his sphere? 1t is not part OF
his musical constitution to write
melodic squeaks in two keys at once.
II Is no part OF his mental constitu-
ton to conceive harmony as basing
itself on discord and treating the
consonance as a mere preparation
Yet there are pages in I'll Tabarro"
in which he has written Just such
music, II Cyril Scott writes It, or.
Scriabin or Stravinsky, they do It
as to the manner born. They handle
the idiom with perfect naturalness,
whereas Puccini stasgers about I'M
der its burden as ono under the
giants robe.
Articulation in art IL rather a sad
business. No good ever came Of IL,
and this modernistic cacophony is
entirely foreign to the spirit OF Ital-
ian music, especially italian opera.
Puccini began experimenting with the
new materials In la Fanciulla del
West" He ought to have discovered
then that this was not for him. How
ever, he has not smeared the pages
Of "Suor Angelica" with 1t and in
"Gianni Schicchi" the veneer is well
applied. "a