New-York tribune., 1919-02-26
Opera
>ardou Drama Done Into Opera
Given by Chicago Company
at the Lexington
By H. f. Krehbiel

o''oei'o Glordano's Fedora" was
performed at the Lexington Theatre
last night. The opera is version Of
oardou's play of the same name and
mad short life at the Metropolitan
opera House dozen years ago There
we're indications that its revival had
!ot us most immediate purpose the
,,hlroductlon of Dorothy Ja1oon to the
iocal operatlc field. 1t served a SIM
,iar purpose IN December, 1905, when
pr. Oohrled brought it forward in the
nope that Lima Cavalieri might prove
attractive to the patrons of the estab
,ishment then under his management.
but neither the physical charms of the
prlma donna nor her acting, neither
her singing nor that Of Signor Caruso
could WIN permanent place for the
opera in the local repertory. After
tour performances in Mr.. Conried's
fourth season and three IN his fifth
(and last it died the DEAN which has
oVertaken so many novelties which
have been brought forward within the
last twenty years for 1heir purpose
ol exploiting an individual rather than
the promoting of the lyric drama
There is no territory on which Miss
Cavalieri and Miss Jardon can be
placed for the purposes of comparison.
Ihe former was a newcomer, who had
been loudly heralded on the score of
her personal charms and her Partisan
successes; the latter was not so com
pleteiy stranger. having been seen
and heard here in vaudeville and mu-
slcal comedy, in which fields, to Judge
by the reception accorded to every
bad and inditferent-she had plainly
made many friends and admirers. But
while MISS Cavalieri in appearance and
action, at least, presented faint re-
nectlon OF Sardou's character, Miss
Jardon did not. Because ihe Music
and her voice permitted it, she was
more strenuous than her predecessor,
but strenuousness is not necessarily
an element of good dramatic song, and
good vocal material, does not sing we'll
enough to satisfy the lovers of the art
of singing.
Giordano's opera, however, could
scarcely be saved even by good sing
ing. If it could be Signor Caruso and
Signor Scott might have insured it a
longer life twelve years ago-and
Slgnor Dolci made a strong plea
for it last night. The fatal defect of
the work lies in the fact that the music
does not keep pace with the play.
terial. For such expeditions dialogue
as M. Sardou created the only proper
vehicle is ordinary speech. Even a
coroner's inquest offers better material
to composer than a police investiga-
tion like that which fills the first act
of the piece. Signor Giordano, as we
know from this opera as we'll as others
which he composed later, has a facile
command of the modern way of making
lyric drama, and there is much more
that is admirable in the score of
scores which Mr. Campanini and Mr..
Gatti have permitted us to hear this
season; but when situation and action
demand swift and pregnant speech it is
idle to substitute for it declamatory
shouts, screams and chatter superim-
posed on a turgid flood of orchestral
tone in which fragments of melody
are whirled and banded about in the
belief that instruments can tell the
story which unintelligible words do
not.
Giordano's score occasionally be-
comes musical, but it is only when the
action of the play is arrested or a
scene is reached when lyrical express
sion is proper and efficacious. The
first act is barren of musical interest
The second, which opens with a scene
| of festivity, furnishing an excuse for
a substructure of dance measures. is
| less so, ard might have been made at
tractive had the composers melodic
| invention been Of a more refined and
aristocratic order. AS it is, we wait
for purely lyric strain, Loris's con-
fession of love, before sense and fancy
are seized by the music. Signor Dolci
sang this song last night with so much
vocal splendor and such fine skill that
the progress Of the play had to be in
terrupted that he might tell the Prin-
cess Fedora a second time of his pas
sion.
After this comes genuinely in,
interesting episode which has move
conceit to commend it. Fedora's guests
are entertained by a pianoforte solo
(artistically played last night by Mr.
Frank st. Leger), and during the play
ing the princess EFFORTS confession of
his crime from Loris Even here, how
ever, the conversation might as wei
have been carried on in the speaking
voice as in musical defamation. In
fact, we are not sure but that the
dramatic effort aimed at would not
have been heightened by such bit oil
melodrama Gin the old and correct
sense. At least the breach of good
manners would have been no greater.
Aristocracy of bearing and utterance
were sadly absent from Marguerite
Namara's inpersonaton of the Countess
Olga and other prominent members of
Mr. Campanini's company, Stracciari
and Huberdeau had no opportunity tc
distinguish themselves in any way.