New-York tribune., 1918-02-12
CHARACTERS
By Grenville Vernon

cause of French opera have been DO
tent. The Gallic mantle he received
from the shoulders Of Oscar Hammer
stein and the musical gospel according
to Debussy, Charpcnticr, Masscnct and
others he has been preaching for the
last five seasons from his Chicago pull
PIT. Only month ago he added new
composer to the list when he produced
Sylvlo Lazzari's lie Sauterot,' and
/ this same opera he gave to New York
last night at the Lexington Theatre.
M. Lazzari, though not n Frenchman.
having been born in Batzen, in the
Austrian Tyrol, is no less distinctly
French musician. He has lived in Paris
since 1882 and was pupil of Guiraud.
lie has written much chamber music, a
grande symphonic and several operas.
HIS operatic fame, however, rests
chiefly on "La Lepreusc," which was a
pronounced success in Paris, but which
has never been heard in America
The libretto of "Lc Sautcriot" ("The
Grasshopper") is taken from the play
of E. de Kcyscrling by Henri Pierre
Roche and Martial Perrier Since its
first production, in Chicago, it has been
shortened by its composer who has cut
from 1T one entire Scene-that of the
lovers in the forest. The story is one
which combines with a brutal realism
ania and deals with the heartaches
caused in the breasts of two women by
the village Don Juan. The Don Juan
is Indrick. He is secretly loved by
Orti, the illegitimate daughtereof Mix
kel, but 1ndrick loves Nadia, Mikkel's
sister.
The story opens in the, home of
Mikkel, where his wife Anne lies at
the point of death. The priest gives
Anne the last sacrament in the pres
ence Of friends and neighbors, and the
doctor hands Orti vial filled with
deadly poison, Of which a few drops
are to be given to Anne should she
grow worse. Orti is left alone with
Anne and Trine, Anne's old mother
and they speak of the pilgrimage TAX
ing place on the morrow at Viazmi,
and of the misery that awaits should
Anne die. Trine tells Orti of a miracle
performed by the Virgin of the Black
Chapel, when the Virgin took the life
of mother to save her dying babe
and Orti, deeply moved, wonders if
she could make such a sacrifice for
Anne.
Indrik enters to fetch NADIA He
kisses her in the moonlight, Ignoring
Orti, who in despair decides to go
that night. to the Black Chapel to offer
the Virgin her life and save Annie.
The next act is during fiesta in the
square of the village Indrik and
Nadia have quarrelled, and NADIA is
flirting, with Josef, the village scribe.
Indrik and Josef quarrel. and Josef at
tempts to stab Indrik, who is saved by
Orti Indrik then takes notice of Ort,
and after perhaps the quickest seduc-
into the forest. In the last act Indrik
goes back to Nadia, and Orti, whose
offer of her life to the Virgin has al
ready made Anne better. drinks poison.
A discussion of the morals of this
particular Lithuanian village would be
futile. AS far as the young people are
concerned, they simply don't exist
Orti is quite frankly a young animal,
despite her religious eXaltation in the
first and last acts. Yet the story con-
tains undoubted poetic touches, and
the libretto of Messrs. Roche and Per-
rier is full of color and fancy. As
unhndered in the soul of youth, it is
work of power and imagination. It
possesses lyric beauty, passion, tender
ness.
The religious motive is much less
chedible, and the whole first act
bears little relation to what is to fol-
low. The Introduction of the sick
woman appears altogether too much of
an artifice. If we are to have q study
cCIf Ill
mere fact that after her abandonment
Orti decides to poison herself and save
the sick woman doesn't convince. We
simply feel thtt, having had her fling
and been disappointed, she has not the
courage to live-that her self-sacrifice
is really a sham-which wasn't the
impression given us by the first act.
These are the two leading ideas in the
opera. One of them, that of religious
self-sacrifice, dominates the rst act;
the second is entirely taken up with
the old story Of light maid and
tickle youth; the third contains this
theme until, at the very end, the lib
rettists remember their first act and
lug in its idea, to bring about the hero
ines self-destruction. This .reintroduc-
tion confuses the motive and weakens
the end. In short, the libretto may be
an excellent study in abnormal psy-
choIogy, Dut It's lack or simplicity is i'll
suited to operatic treatment.
The composer himself has felt this,
perhaps unwittngly. His second act.
with its simple display of the primal
motives Of love, jealousy and vanity,
with it's holiday merrymaking, its
rough pleasantly, is the most sue
cessful part of the opera. Here
Mr.. Lazarri uses effectively music
of distinctly Slavic folk character.
In this act there are delightful bits
of Characterization, charming dances,
graceful lyric touches. The tenor's
opening air is as melodous and sing
able as the most hardened opera -goer
could desire. and the music throughout,
while not original. possesses color,
dramatic contrast, lyric beauty. The
man who wrote it proved that when
given chance he can write good mu-
sic which is also dramatically effective.
The first act is much less effective,
though the music is we'll made, with
more than hints of Wagner and Debus-
sy. The dramatic purpose is clouded
and the audience is left in doubt as to
what it is all about. Moreover. the act
is altogether too long.
The last act has many charming bits.
notably the scene where the three
young girls take Ort into the circle
OF the light-o'-loves. 1t is a scene poetic