New-York tribune., 1920-06-27

Venice was not wholly dolt, and
Verdi's music for him is not the pro.
longed roar of tortured animal.
But If the part Of Othello requires
peculiar gifts of vocal art and dra-
matte intelligence. the part of Iago
is one of the most taxing in all opera.
The music is constantly welded to the
color and infinite nuances in dramatic
expression. The operate Iago must
be well graced, experienced, subtle
actor and a singularly accomplished
singer. Surely he was not scowling.
mclodramatic fellow, with face
marked for the executioner. Othello
would have seen through him at once,
and Othello was by nature neither
shrewd nor suspicious. Outwardly
!ago was good fellow. He would
have been welcome in any club. His
reputation for honesty and sincerity
was byword. No one knew him
thoroughly except perhaps his wife.
In the earlier scenes with Othello
the operate Iago should behave with
certain lightness. He should not 70
at his diabolical business with too
much seriousness and intensity.
AS for Desdemona the character is
not complex. She is sweet, simple,
trusting, loving-in a word, womanly.
ZerOla's Singing and Acting
For what he lacked in looking the
part of the Moor, Mr.. Zerola made up
in his acting and singing. He had the
handicap of playing with tall Iago,
Mr.. Viglione, and an all-too-tall Des-
demona, Miss Saroya. Although much
OF his acting was done with these two
disadvantage of stature with dignity
and intensity In spite Of a makeup
which was little too swarthy, at no
time did he give any impression of in
feriority or unintelligent passion.
The duet with Desdemona at the end
of the first act was q pleasing piece of
acting in which both Mr.. Zerola and
Miss Saroya played not to accentuate
the fact that she was taller than he.
And his scenes with lago were we'll
directed in this respect also, the Moor
at all times keeping the relative posi-
tions on the stage which gave him
prominence.
Mr.. Zerola's voice was the high light
Of the performance, the brilliant spot
in finished production.
In carrying the sustained part Of
lago Mr.. Viglione furnished more than
an effective background for the
Othello. His solo work brought out
his own gifts and his duets with the
Moor served, in the singing as we'll as
the acting, to bring out the character
of his master. Especially in the ia
nous "Credo in un Die che m'ha
creato," after his talk with Cassie N
the beginning of the second act, did
Mr.. Viglione show that he was more
than foil. that his singing as we'll as
his plotting had character of its own.
Misses Subtlety of Iago
Occasionally he missed some Of the
subtlety of Iago in his acting, but
never at any time was Mr.. Viglione
the villain of the melodrama, and If
at times he underplayed rather than
overplayed the part, he accomplished
a fair development of character and
good climax.
AS Desdemona, Miss Saroya was
lovaly to look at and sang the part
we'll. Her voice was pure and we'll
suited to the part.
The parts of Cassie and Rodrigo,
taken by Mr.. Fini and Mr.. deBlasio,
do not offer much, and too severe judg-
ment of their presentation would hard
ly seem fair. These and Emilia, sung
by Ada Paggi, were the weak spots in
the. musical part of the performance.
Of the choruses, that which opens
the opera was fairly effective, although
the parts were not uniform, the tenors
being most Intellectual. The others
were only fair and not in class with
the singing of the three leading parts.
Settings Not Elegant
The settings for the four acts were
passable, but by no means elegant: The
lack Of furnishings, however, did not
detract from the performance.
Just q word as to the audience; it
had an especial disciplinary system Of
its own which killed much of the ap-
plause which the singers might have
had. Whenever solo or other part of
the music brought forth a spontaneous
wsve of-Sapplause a noisy h-sh-ing"
drowned it, at times developing into
violent kissing which was more un-
pleasant than the handclapping could
possibly have been.