The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-08-26
|0PEI AIR CONCERTS
POPULAR EVERYWHERE

POPULAR EVERYWHERE
Richmond has grown to like the open
air concert. and apropos Of this, the
following from the Christian Science
Monitor II interesting:
The movement IN favor Of ii fresco
music, which. for some years past has
spread slowly. very slowly, IN the
United States. OF late has been gaining
strength. The gold that II has done
liz quite incalculable.
Too long II was assumed Though
rome knew why) that. when the
spring came, music--rea1 music
ceased to appeal to the Americans
vi no. through the winter. had sup
cert room. Warm weather, was sup
rosed to call for amusement OF trite
and trivial kipA--for cheap misnamed
"cQmic operas" and for concerts given
up to popular rubbish. The enter
tainment which was offered. years ago.
by Tammany bandmasters in VARIOUS
New York parks would have disgraced
! most villages. And what was played
would have been hooted in some cities.
ious politicians. the art of music was
dragged into the mire. Those Tam
rs:any handmasters preferred their own
works to Beetboven's. and. of the mu-
sicians who drew pay for promised
services, many were Ignorant.
Nor was this all. II was q common
practice In those days to engage polit-
ical proteges. as a reward for votes.
who merely held instruments in their
hands or pretended to play on them.
This scandal was exposed and done
away with largely through the activ-
tiles of such musicians as Nahan
Frankie. the well-known conductor,
who has devoted a great part Of his
Industrious life to the improvement of
the peoples taste in. music.
Then for time the New York City
powers allowed an annual sum of be
tween thirty and forty thousand dol
lars to be expended on popular con :
certs in the parks. at least partly clas-
steal In character.
Nahan Franco. Arnold Volpe and
some others. largely altruists. were
intrusted with the direction Of these
functions. And there were days when
ten or twenty thousand persons, Of all
sorts and classes. stood In the Mall
Of Central Park to enjoy selections
from the works of great composers.
The minor parks and squares Of the
metropolis were not neglected. So
deep and wide an fhterest was created
In the reformed concerts every sum l.
n,er that 1t was hopedNew York might
ere long find 1t not 80 Impossible as
had been. supposed to organize mu-
nicipa1 orchestra worthy 10 compare
with the fAr-fAmed Garde Republic
caipe band Of Paris and the admira BILE
coldstream Guards band OF London.
Depenas On IAAivfAnals.
Alas, these hopes have not a. yet
been realized. After the withdrawal
Of Mr.. Slower from the New York
park commissionership. tho interest
OF the municipal fathers quickly faded
The small subsidy which has been set
aside for public concerts was ruth
l.ssly reduced to q mere trifle. And a
few days ago = statement In the news
papers announced that aconcert to be
given In Central Park had hoen ar
ranged. Thinks to the kindness OF a
certain private citizen.
But, In the course OF the past ten or
fifteen years. q serious effort had be-
gus. outside of the official world. to
provide New York with summer music
Of a dignified and serious kind. AS
one outcome of this effort we have
seen the foundation of the excellent
Stadium concerts-to which crowds
hrve been focking to hear symphonies
and operatic excerpts played or sung
by favorite artists or musicians. The
stadium pops" supply a long-felt
want, though insufficiently. 1t is a
FAR cry from the center Of New York
and the East Side district to the vast
stately college grounds upon the
heights Of which they are given. Why
should not Central Park be still pre-
ferred? And why should not the poor
% the metropolis be privileged. for =
nominal payment. or---which would be
better-without payment, to listen in
the sweltering summer months not
only to symphonic music. but also to
performances Of opera.
Before the war. the idea Of giving
wooden thcater, was suggested
mapped out thoroughly. and approved
in theory-by the park commits
sioner. The Mall would have been
admirably suited to the proposed per-
formances. Meetings. which were at
tended by critics like Reginald de
kovep and Charles Henry Melt1er: by
conductors, like Nahan Frankie, volpe
ard Kaltenforn: and even by some
managers. discussed estimates. The
whole cost to the community, at that
time, for a series Of free opera per-
formances to take place thrice week
". on 2 movable stage. provided with
simplifsed scenery, the required sing
ers and musicians. would not have
exceeded eighty or ninety thousand
dollars for three months. A tribe
like that. sum would have meant moth
ing to the ave millions OF New York.
And the delight which COUNTLESS
music lovers, WHO were unable to In
dulge their tastes. at the Metropoli-
tan. might have been given. would
have been out Of all proportion to the
expense involved.
Opposed I'm Some Quarters.
The usual outcry OF reactionary
newspapers against the abuse Of PEG !.
pies parks" for improper purposes
could have been answered by point
Ing to the success Of the perform
aIlees which had 70. several years been
given In Paris in . French peoples
park-the Gardens Of the Tuileries.
There. In shaded corner Of the
grounds, on summer nights. artists
( I'M the Opera Comique mot. OF
course, the most expensive artists).
with an excellent orchestra. a chorus,
and sometimes q corps de ballet. had
been. interpreting the works Of Gou-
nod. Masscnet. Saint-Saens. Pucctni,
and Bixet, In the open air, and on
wooden stage. without any protest on
the part OF the Parisianss a. mass.