New-York tribune., 1920-04-25
Opera Seas0ninReviewI
Chronicle and Comment of Events i'm Twelfth Year
OF Mr. Catti's Management of the Metro.
politan Opera Company
By H. E. Krehbiel

- We have to record to-day the end
Of the thirty-fifth season Of opera at
.the Metropolitan Opera House and
Smake chronicle and comment of some
Of the incidents of the twelfth year
aof Mr.. Gatti-Casazzas management of
the Metropolitan Opera Company. The
essential things in the twenty-three
weeks Of opera which had their begin
ming on November II, 1919, can be ex-
-tracted by those who are curious on
1.-THE subject and have patience from the
calculated statement which appears be-
low, from which en- be learned what
operas were performed, the dates of
their first production, the number of
times each work was given on the sub
scription evenings, which were Monday,
y Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and
aen Saturday afternoons, and also on
The extra occasions, on afternoons
ssend Saturday nights, when, as q
rule (the exceptions being what are
scalled benefits) the prices Of admission
were lower than on other evenings,
though the merits Of the representa-
-tions were equal. In years gone by
there used to be a marked difference
between the two lists owing to the
divergence between the taste of the
Subscribers, who were largely swayed
by notions Of fashion, and of the
larger public, whose motives were love
and appreciation of opera. For the
latter was reserved the majority of
serious works, especially trose of the
German list, With "Parsifal" and the
dramas Of Nibelung tetralogy consti-
stuting a large portion of the list. That
distinction has been largely erased as
u consequence Of q policy forced upon
the management by the World War;
but the segregation of the lists has
been maintained for the sake Of the
information which it may afford to
those who wish to study.
That the record is an extraordinary
,one needs scarcely be told. 1t is so
extraordinary, indeed, that it can only
be considered as monstrosity from
an artistic point of view. In the period
compared by November II and April
"a there were 100 days, upon 1873 of
(which operas could be given. Within
that time there were 1856 operate per-
sformances in New York besides twenty
two concerts, not counting that Of
tonight, which employed the orchestral
forces Of the institution, some of the
;solo singers and on several occasions
the choristers also. And more-in
philadelphia there were sixteen, in
Brooklyn teen operate representations,
making total of 1872 performances of
opera within 1873 days. 1t is possible
to marvel at the industry of the artistic
handicraftsmen who accomplished such
an amount Of labor and the excellence
Of the colossal results without public
evidence Of jar and friction, but it Is
scarcely admirable in the eyes of those
who know the demands which artistic
Productions make upon muscles, voices,
brains and emotions. No wonder that
great leniency had to be exercised in
spronoucing judgment upon the per-
,formances. that, to use a homely met
-aphor applied In a recently published
roVoA Ci CIlLiC8l essays, Cne Sn1rt naQ
Ito be looked upon as "clean enough"
Going over in retrospect the last
seven seasons of like duration (there
was one of only twenty weeks-that
of 1s14-1s15, when the Russian ballet
monopolized attention which might
more profitably have been given to
,opera). there is one fact to be noted
(which augurs we'll for the future. It
Is the steady growth Of performances
In French and English. The latter was
.non-sxistent before the advent of Mr..
Gatti, the former had been permitted
sto languish In the days Of Conried and
the early days Of Mr.. Gatti. The cause
OF the new tendency Is obvious enough,
but the result mono the less praise
worthy. Rather than consume space
by describing this growth with its at
s'endsnt phenomena we exhibit it in q
tabular form which brings 1t more
directly into notice: