Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-04-24
THE CRITIC Talks
TO MUSIC LOVERS
Weekly Comment on Thin. 49,,
cal in Discriminating
philadelphia

We perversitS OF man, whether yrc,,
= or small in talent and ability il S'va'
sisting upon doing that which ho
least well. had another cScmn,;e., "oes
in the performance of Tschnikowst"V.a
opera. Eugene Onegin." at the NJ,
ropolitan Opera House last TuovS..
evening. The great Russian comno"'
was essentially a symphonist. bo 'I.e hs,
no especial qualifications for thc ora"' o
and chamber music was distinctly d'
tasteful to him. '''
Yet, in his later years cspcciallv +.
was obsessed by the desire to wri,.
for the stage. He composed a nu,rh..
of operas. of which "Oncgin" ;s n.
most successful. although "pon.
Dame is heard on the European onor
attic stage just frequently enough !,
keep it from dying out altogether.
Tschaikowsky is by no means the oD,
great creative artist who was held can.
tive in the thrall Of operate. comma;
ton. Schubert. who possessed not ON.
single element necessary for the Gonna. !
sition Of an opera. except the MAD
marvellous gift of melody the world b.,
ever known, made repeated efforts /,
this direction and completed scvcra,
none Of which was ever performed b,
an adequate company. All that is loh
Of Schubert's operate works are ths
excerpts from "Rosamunde." the won.
derful overture and the exquisite ballet
music. Most of the more than 1OOo
pages of manuscript which he wrote in
this opera were used by servant to
kindle the fire.
! CCHUMANN. who had absolutely M
~ knowledge of and no special liknr
! for the theatre. was another great com.
poser who longed to write opera. and he
tried his hand twice. Both works are
still extant. and ''Genoveva" is still
occasionally presented in Germany at
| long intervals. although it is much that
| an opera should not be. Schumann was
utterly devoid of dramatic feeling. IL
the stage sense. although. like Tschai.
! kowsky, he had it to high degree 10
absolute music.
1t is not generally known. but even
! ATendelssohn wrote at least one opera
which had several performances: but !
It is almost unnecessary to add. It was
not a congenial form Of expression to
him. and. therefore. it is now dead for
many years. Beethoven s desire to com.
pose an opera and the long search he
! had for q libretto which would satisfy
/ his exactiOns is we'll known. TIc did
produce a really great work. muSically,
! hut Of only fair merits dramatically
! While il will live for many years. It Is
! not now and never has been sufficiently
popular to be produced every season.
even when German opera was being
regularly given.
The ovprturcs to "Fidelio" are among
the most popular on orchestral pro.
grams. and they are unique. for one
thing. in the fact that it was one Of the
exceedingly rare concessions which
Beethoven ever made to public opinion,
, for in the effort to satisfy this somewhat
ncbulouS force. he wrote three OF the
finest works in this form ever composed.
THE operate composers and the com
l. posers of absolute music fall natu.
| rally into two separate groups. Only
one composer since music began can
Justly lay claim to equal rank in both
/ classes and this is Mozart. This as
founding genius wrote with equal Dower
in all the great forms and he is the
only comnoser who ranks with Zee.
thovcn and Brahms in the symphony and
in chamber music. with Wagner ana
Verdi in the opera and with Bach in
sacred music. All the others had some
! form Of composition in which they were
not nj their best. Mozart alone wa'
equally great in all.
Nevertheless. there was one compose,
of absolute music who resisted the caHt
Of the opera. il indeed he ever iCIt ~
This was Brahms. and he is the op.
musician Of the first rank cX"rpt naCp
/ who never rssayed this style OF CON,
pOsition. form calling for a higuN
snecializcd knowledge OF the tccn9lan
Of the stage. something Wh,rn VI a ~,
7 cInssic group only Wagner. Weber ana
ycrdi nossessrd. Brahms felt that MS
talents lay in other directions and nr
had the sternness of will and the powe'
Of sclf-coutrol to compel himself 10 G0
only that which he felt h" rou'a 40
best.
rNHE thanks of Philad'Iphi" are '"s
l. to Mr.. Cattle -Casaz2a for giVlns
the chance to see "Eugcn" Vnrsn,
and the size Of thc audience Iu.F yu
tilted the assertion often made III '"e,,
columns that Philadelphia Will tMtn 1;u. OuI
in liberal numbers TO see ho'e''''S
acknowledged merit. -, u,,,
In spite of the protests Whlrn Mu.'
literally voiced when W" had lrV,
tore. - THE Barber and 'huca a.
most in a row. Mr.. Gatti has gwen Nv
a fair proportion Of ovclticS TINS seS
son. We have only sixteen P'r'Srm,
onces in Philadelphia 5 season. ana vu'
Of these sixteen We have had iour nV'.
oIt;os 'Iazu." "ClcOpatrU : Nign,,'
Ia Juive" and "Eugcnc on"Sle
not by any means in unfair prrr"u'as',
In addition we have had two l"ou',G
oneras. "I.'OrucOlo' and -. Amorc w.
Trc Re" 50 that when the case H..
analyycd We have no just kick on Wv
selection. Nevertheless. Phllad'lpn't"nII tnI
cannot hclp but wish that Mr.. HatIl 10"
substituted "L'CoQ d'Or, 'oOrrVd
or "parsifal" for ono or tW" OF IT"
q, better known old Italian operas
nDHE visit Of the Harvard "i'C '."' Nv
l. last Monday was receive" ,So.s
varying emotions by the audience; ,;o 81 5"V0r a.
emotions being largely contro,,n,co0 II,.
rather stimulated by whether INV nSi,
tcucr attended the concert to nrGn r " In
or for "A revival OF college fc"l,hs, s'.,rogs
the old days the Glcc club o' u oo% oiicss
was. the social organization OF ,,'I"sie SJ,mf
life. 1t was led by an und'rGr"""iEn nnin
and its programs were made np ld, Tb bsru
cinalIy from the songs which Iaa S.s V'''
sung on the campus for many Ir", 10
The Harvard Club as II IH." ~" nro.
philodelphia changed all tins lls KIN.