New-York tribune., 1919-06-15
IN THE WORLD OF MUSIC AND ART

The ball is passed from hand to hand
Mr.. Gattt- Casazza remains silent. Then
suddenly he raises his head and says
IN French: "Speaking entirely object
lvely"--and the debate is on. The
talk rises and falls, twists and turns
and balances itself, but always the
grave Italian seated on the bench is
the centre and often the storm centre
Almost instinctively the image of the
great Doctor Johnson rises before one,
for, different as is this worldwise,
slightly cynical Italian democrat
from the narrow-minded paragon of
British Tory common sense, Mr.. Gatti-
Casazza's personality dominates, not
because he is the head of the institu-
tlon but from sheer force of character
speaking entirely jectively"--these
are his opening words, and in sense
they express the philosophy he so per-
1ectly symbolizes. Yet in their verv
effectiveness there is an extraordinary
concreteness, even an extraordinary
fire. 1t is the experience of the oldest
OF European races, of the children of
Rome and Greece, which finds express
sion IN his talk. The effectiveness of the
past, little of sense of the futi]itv
OF all things, but with it an intense
belief in the admonition Of the Roman
sage that "The only true happiness is
IN understanding things"-this is what
makes Mr.. Gatti- Casazza's obiectivitv
SO intensely subjective.
And last week Mr. Gatti- -Casazza
talked of his consulship at the Metro
politan, Of what he had tried to do. of
what he had accomplished, of his be-
lle1s' OF his operate philosophy. Let
us set them down as we remember
them.
Opera is always compromise
There is art and there is the public.
and unfortunately the public does not
always care for the best in art. In
order to give rare and beautiful things
1t is necessary to give things which
are neither so rare nor so beautiful. A
magnificent production of a new work,
or of an 'Orfeo' is possible only
through the presentation of pa
gliacci,' 'Boheme' or 'Tosca.' To give
with one hand we must take in with
the other. |
Il realize that the great day of
operate stars is gone. OF course there
are a few left | believe twenty wears
from now that Enrico Caruso and Ger
aldine Farrar will 60 down with the
great names of the past, yet it is un-
deniable that the Carusos and Farrars
are far less numerous than thew were
twenty or forty years ago. Wagner,
with all his advance, harmed the art
of song. To-day, singers must sing one
sort of opera one day, and another the
next. The line of bel canto is broken.
We must accept it and make the best
Of it,
Since my coming to the Metropoli-
tan | have aimed at one thng-to give
greater perfection to the ensemble, to
create more beautifully rounded per-
formance. l had to go slow, to feel
my way. But now | have the material
at hand and can advance more quickly.
With scene painters such as Urban
and Anisfeld, such as the young
American Norman Bell Geddes, l can
give a luxury to the stage settings i'm
possible in earlier days. Take last
seasons 'Oberon,' and La Refine Fam
mette,' or the preceding seasons 'Lc
Prophete,' and lie Cog dor the seem
cry and costumes of all three were of
an extraordinary artistic beauty. Such
things as these with our superb or
chestra and chorus have raised our
performances to a far higher general
level than those of the past, however