The Washington times., 1921-12-23
SAN CARLO CO.
SUCCESSFUL IN
FAUST AND AIDA
Pietro di Biasi Proves Polished
and CentiemanIy Msphisto-
pheles With Rich Voice.
Mastery art and stasecraft marked

Mastery art and stasecraft marked
a highly successful performance OF
Gounods Faust by the San Carlo
Grand Opera Company yesterday
afternoon at Polls.
Madeline Kettle lent to the part OF
Marguerite a youthful freshness OF
tone and q dainty, girlish beauty. Her
voice, trtfle weak In the beginning
developed In strength toward the
close and her singing OF portions OF
the wonderful prison scene was highly
satisfying.
The finest work Of the afternoon
was that OF Pietro di Blast. He made
Of Gounod's polished and gentlemanly
Mephistopheles a brutal, ieering. and
sardonic fiend. his evil intentions ap
parent, though yelled. in every phrase
he sang. His acting Of the part was
superb. His voice In full. rich. and
powerful and his tone control was ex-
cellent. Every word and shade Of ex
preston got across" clearly. In ap-
pearance he was everything that
could be desired.
Romeo Boscacci made an acceptable
Faust, though he has been in better
voice at other performances. HiA
singing Of the compact" duet OF the
first scene was one Of his best contri'
buttons.
Joseph Roger. who has made an
excellent impression on Washington
audiences, was q soldierly Valentine.
In tho dramatic scene OF defiance.
when Mephisto In recognized In his
true character, and again In the duel
and the death scenes he was at his
best.
Ada Paggi was effective a. siebel.
Manuel Perez, az Wagner. and Anita
Klinova. as Martha. filled the parts
we'll.
Tho work of the chorus showed the
effect of careful study. The acting
was natural and the lively Kermesse
scene was colorfui and far from the
usual wooden" staging Of the scene.
The scenic effects throughout were
exceedingly effective. 1t Is to be re-
GREETED that there was not SUM-
cient time to present the COM
plete work. The weird church scene
and the return of Valentine were
eliminated. In addition to the usual
cut Of the spinning wheel" scene.
The ballet was not given.
Aida.
In the evening performance Of
Verdis spectacular opera, Aida"
Elizabeth Amsden replaced Blanca
Saroya, who was Ill. Nine. Amsden
is a strikingly effective Aida" her
portrayal and that Of Gaetano
Viviano as her father "Amonasro"
ranking foremost in the cast and
among the best interpretations Of the
San Carlo company.
Aida" was picturesque In setting.
but the small proportions OF chorus
merely suggested the pageantry the
opera requires. It brought the COM
partson of the production of Aida"
by our own Washington Grand
Opera Company into mind, for at
home we have put on a far more
noble and impressive Aida"
In Elizabeth Amsden, however,
was an artist OF forceful dramatic
power and insight. Her slave-princess
was splendidly delineated and sung
with excellent vocal appreciation Of
this exacting score. the Return
Victorious" and the duet with her
father being notable. while her siren
wooing Of Radames when she urges
him to fly with her was brilliantly
in the picture.
AS Radames a new tenor. Gaetano
Tommasini, was heard. Mr.. Tom
masini walked through his part with
utter indifference and with no
thought Of unity in the drama. He
sang forcefully at times. at others
with inadequate muffled tones, max
ing one wonder whether II was mood
or indeed lack of voice that made the
role so Intellectual. Nina Frascani as
Amneris sang at times with good
effect, but she was miscast and
scarcely realized the part
To Vtviano, a most satisfactory
artist in voice and drama, was given
the task Of experimenting Nine.
Amsden. He was a splendid Amo-
nasro. And Pietro di Biasi was an
excellent High Priest. The King. by
Natalie Cervt, brought an excellent
character singer into an uncongenial
role.
Tonight Elizabeth Amsden viii sing
Santuzza in "Cavalleria" and Sofia
Charlebois the Media in ''Pagliacci,"
with Boscacci and Agostini In the
tenor roles and Viviano singing Tonic
in the latter opera.
JESSIE MacBRIDE.