The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1920-02-29
D's Hamlet IS AN
NIPPLE Of BEST N ART
NJ III. II. KREHBIEl.
IN the New York Tribune

tow York, Feb 2S.-Something
4Ef Eey8n years ago Signor Titta
NeGo sang drinking song AT the
f. Metropolitan opera house and evoked
1eA storm of noisy acclaim 1t
1enNd 10 ii the proper thing Tor MIR.
nEasc To do was 10 go and hide
11Axcr his diminished head. Last
INT the sncident Was repeated at the
r. G&3ngton thester and the reverher-
&ttng plaudits were possibly longer
knd louder AT least they ware SO
&s10mg and so lloyd that Sigror Ruffo
had the curtain raised and sang the
Eong over again
Incidentally. it may be remarked
s&AAt the singer was inpersoaat ting
#HAmict at the time ard The song vas
4 AEpposed 10 be fer the entertainment
MOf the players who had come 20 him
9 ~ learn something about how to act
pEay 10 cagcff The conscience Of Il
king. IL has the the stoutest and
u tnc4t swinging tune in the opera.
whose other high light Is the mad
neans and death OF 0phelia, in which
StAe poor lady before going down to
EA muddy death makes some glitter
\ ng vocal pyrotechnics with a patheti-
sally beautiful Swedish foiksong mel
oay.
Everybody has heard frequently OF
~ Hamlet" with the melancholy
Dane left out Of the play. The opera
concocted by Care, Barber and Am
1eolee Thomas when performed with
rita Ruffo in The east. is in the oppo-
n1<e rase--a Hamlet with the play Left
,out II is one of the most futile of
the efforts which constituencies
French opera makers have made in
trying to III Shakespeare to the lyric
Stage Eerdis "FalstafT' is one OF the
lsest and his 'Otelio" is a good second,
Int In both Of these the great Italian
composer had a cola borator who was
= scholar and a poet as we'll as
musician. RossinIs ''oteIlor and Yer
as "Marhetto" have gone into the
limbo of forgotten things.
III People who are so old as to be
proud of their long and capacfous
imeusor ar SO tiuaid that they are
afraid stu be accused OF senility may
recall. scene from BeIlini's "Montec-
Ehie Capnietti." in which Adelaide
Phillips. CT noble memory. used 10
sing the part Of Romeo Git was about
The time when Charlotte Cushman
played the hero In Shakespeare
Tragedy and the middle-aged pa
irons of the Metropolitan opera house
r&R1e miner with exquisite plea sure
s44&AAE E&. stf HiEstfttS ~ 1bhita
ssEcrneo Ell Juliet,e" but they were in
me days of Media and Jean de
Neszke, with whom such radiant
xlories savanisbea from the stage OF
the gi,ded house In upper broadway,
s*ss An older 81 ne,9tion may bark
6&ck to a sinale p&rfot nance ian Ger
SssAsi Of Ni@olai's fascinating opera
~ which Mines Sembrich and
fEhHmann- Helnk were the Merry
wives. Only -four years ago had a
herman Tanning OF the Shrew."
There Is SO much artistic life blood
III these two operas that it might he
|worth while to WITTY them with an
EnEiish translation; but as for tire
one other opera Of the Shatespeariau
list which comes To mind Just now
|when we are making an effort not
fD he too reminiscent, 1t Is a. dead
II. Handeis Julius Caesar" We
have in ry1ind lie Scnge dune Mutt
;lste" ~ the same nan who made the
music for Hamlet which we heard
last night.
*EaTs4.s-s" lives through Titta Ruffo
sMra III one mans art can Justify its
8Nxis.pnc@ Il fn5s It's justification in
EsirF strrfYe ami srtinv rs the Italian
bArytore exhibited last night, It waa
sxsrsainsv an excellent, wonderful, an
aextracrasnary performance; most OF
all extraordinary in the volume and
range of voice disclosed by the singer.
d IN the mastery oi vocal technique, in
the vitality, vihrancy and beauty of
his tones. his skill in giving dra maIic
expression through finished diction
Snnd vocal color
He fired The enthusiasm of the
mnititude with his generous high
tones but he won the admiration OF
ssthe malicious by his finished art. his
pIastic poses, graceful and significan
move merits, the mobility and expires
FHsvenrgs of his features, He made al !
Else that was seen and heard during
4 HE evening sink into nothingness.
1hourn we are unwilling 10 forget the
4 excellent singing Of Miss Florence
Macbeth as Ophelia
Simply for the sake of the record
We add that Gertrude van Gordon
1 yang the music of Gertrude. Edouard
II {,ctr~uil that of the Ghost fvery well,
I by the way Niliorio Trevison that or
7 poionius. Lodovico Dsiviero that OF
I.aertes. Jose Marcello, and Constan-
tin Nicoiay that Ct HoraZio. NJ, Char
lier conducted and the opera was sung
st In Italian