The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-03-02

the house when neither of these sing
Experienced chroniclers Of the opera |
Win inevitably speculate on the possi-
BILE duration OF the power Of the plan.
How long will Nine. CALI Curci con-
'tinue to excite the public so much as
she has in the last two seasons? As
for Miss Garden. she will probably in
terest lovers Of her intensely personal
methods Of Interpretation as long as
the operas in which she appears do
not fall to pieces through their own
inherent weakness. She cannot live
by "Pelleas ct Melisande" and "Thais"
alone.
The high water mark Of artistic
achievement in Mr.. Campaninis sea-
son was the production Of "Pelleas ct
Nelisande," and this opera seems like
ly to hold its place in the Chicago
reDertory as long as Miss Garden I'm
psrsonates the heroine. What will be
its fate after she abandons 1t must be
. matter of conjecture. Possibly some
other singing actress will be found who
can keep it vitalized.
z OF the novelties, "Le Chemineau"
made the most pronounced impression,
yet It is not hazardous to assert that
LILO iyAiC uidAla OWNA. WHY iittiO ~ ilS
music. The episodesein It which most
stirred the audience afforded room for
very little singing and a large meas
ure of vigorous and at times violent
action. Hamlet would surely have
remarked of it, THE plays the thing"
Mr., Campanini opened his season
with Fevrier's "Gismonda," which
had received its baptism of fire in Chi
Frt~1 % hA Mo-
Garden with accessories. A remark
ably weak and ineffective performance
f Romeo ct Juliette" was tie next
Offering. and then came Madame
Butterfly" with the diminutive Japa-
nose soprano, Tamaki Miura. as Cio-
CO. San.
After lie Chemineau," Leoncaval-
los "Isabeau," in which at one time
1t was intended to send Bessie ABBOTT
through the country as the woman on
horseback, was presented with Anna
E1tziu as the equestrian. Except while
riding bareback Miss Fitziu was en-
tirely pedestrian. Nine. Galli-Curci
in Linda" disappointed her most ex-
acting hearers. because she was APP
parently very careless as to how she
sang.
Later in the season came Cleo
patre," an exceedingly poor opera on
one Of the most promising subjects, In
all literature. 1t seems almost tncred-
ible that so clever a craftsman as Mas
senet could have done such bungling
piece Of work. The best music in the
SCORE is in the last scene. when most
people will have gone homo wearied
by the dull prolixity and emptiness OF
the previous acts.
Mary Garden again. Mary Garden
In familiar sweeping gestures and
long lined poses. tanning the circum'
ambient ether with nobly modelled
arms and gazing with cold Melisdnd<
syes through the dusky slopes Of Egyp'
tan lashes. Maguenat made much o.
Mark Antony, as he did Of The Trdnf
in lie Chemineau." An artist In com
position this Maguenat proved to be
the only really imaginative male II
>tr. Campanini's company. 1t is
thousand pities that lie has not bet
ter voice. If he could sing as well a.
lie interprets he would be brillian
star.
It would be interesting to know VIII,
Mr.. Campanini produced "Werther.
His people made q mess Of II. TIT
opera needs a lot Of singing to max
Il interesting. Also there Is ground 10
speculation as to the reason for the re
vival Of Fedora" which is one OF tn
weakest of all attempts to turn Sar
dou play into lyric drama
It is hardly necessary to do NOR
than refer to the grotesque farce b
which an attempt was made to fool tn
newspapers into a record of stupendou
success. Some OF the weaker brethre
recorded the fact that the house was ]
an uproar, but failed to do their dut
in making 1t clear how the demonstra
ton was prepared and why. Howeve
the matter was one of tnfinitesimal I'm
port. 1t is unlikely to occur again.
MUSICAL EDITOR OF THE Sun:
sir-The plant of most OF your
correspondents seems to be OF crit
les not going after" this. that and
the other thing. May / add an in
curry in the hope that some day
may be enlightened through THE
Bun?
II Is stated with wearisome repe-
ton from time to time In the musi-
cal periodicals and the daily prints.
that the Temple of Art at Thirty
ninth street and Broadway Is
non-commercial institution: It's di-
rectors being devotees Of the art
of music, desire only TO come out
~. even" to employ homely term. at
the close of each season; ana We