The New York herald., 1921-01-16
Long Absence of Charpen-
tiers Opera Cause of Some
AstOnishment.
By w. J. HENDERSON.

WfitttH dDOut i>ut Wilt
= out doubt the life Of that an
cient city is excellent material for lit
erary men. dramatists. special corre-
spondents and composers. Leo Orn-
stein wrote Impressions OF Notrc
Dame.' He had lived in New York all
his life, and 1t never occurred to him
to compose any impressions of Trinity
Church. Ethel Leginska made a piano
piece Of the gargoyles of Notre Dame.
She mover thought Of making one Of
the busts in, front Of Keen's chop
house. Who would?
The great men of Paris set the ex-
ample of writing about their. town.
Boost Paris" seems to have been
their trade CRY from early times. Even
3alzac could not refrain from writing
about the city as If it were the only
genuine home Of romance in all the
world, and his precious ssther Cob
seek" was little worse than Charpen-
tiers Louise" who returned to us In
all her infamy yesterday afternoon at
the Metropolitan Opera House.
The title of the opera might we'll be
Louise. or Why Girls Leave Home"
What Is it all about? Pretty much
the same thing that is worrying decent
fathers and mothers all over this town
at the present moment. Louise desires
more than her station in life can give
her. but, most of all, she wishes to be
bad. She hates the staid existence OF
her respectable home, her honest, hard
working father and her virtuous but
cross mother.
1t does not appear that Louise feels
that life is worthless without fine
rsinlent. She does not have to own a
$500 fur coat or SIS shoes. In this she
differs materially from the New York
girl OF to-day. who must have these
things or simply perish. Immortal souls
may be important. but In the opinions
of thousands of innocent looking young
women they are merely exchangeabla
commodities in return for which fur
coats and other such insignia of wealth
are to be had.
1t is not this sort of thing that troubles
Louise. What she wishes is life"
Now. have you ever noticed that there
is no such thing as life without i'm
morality? If you live decently that is
not life. You must get right out into
the glare of the white light district,
saturate your soul with iniquity and
your stomach with illegal liquors stupefy
whatever small intelligence you may
chance to have and go the pace" what
ever that is. Otherwise you are
"piker."
Yearncd for Paris Inferno.
Louise, according to Charpcntier.
yearned for the inferno Of Paris. Not
the theatrical inferIfo run for the be-
devilment of idiotic tourists. but the real
thing. the one that even George Moore
did h,ft yxith xphicl IiftlR
grisette. midinette or. other satanette can
become acquainted by the simple process
of making present of herself to some
triumphant debauchee. Louise presents
herself to Julien who converses with her
across an alley. She leaveA home and
brings grief and shame to her mother
and her father the latter, by the way.
the best and most lovable human being
in the whole drama.
Meanwhile we are invited to observe
studies. dramatic and musical. of the
streets and sounds of Paris. Some
clever work Is done here. II is note
worthy that the sounds and sights of
Paris have impressed artists of that
town for so many years. Clement
JanneQuin away back In the sixteenth
century composed '"rhe Cries OF Paris"
We are invited also to observe the In
dustry of a Partisan sewing room. Quite
new materials for opera. all these things.
to be sure. But how is 1t that the
Partisan sees II all so differently?
Suppose a composer of real genius
were to set himself to put into music the
life Of our Tenderloin and its seductive
temptations for the poor working girl
from Brooklyn. He would compose the
Broadway loiterer. the ticket speculator,
the cursing and insulting ts,xicab chauf-
feur, the always raging traffic cop. the
rewsboy, the libretto seller. the people
who insist ON keeping to the left as they
promenade, tho picl<pockets. the runners
in. the silent. watchful women of the
lowered heads and uplifted eyes One
would expect that under the web of
thcmatic. fragments meant to indicate
all these VIC should hear the dread coun-
terpoint of the wages Of sin.
We should hear some echo Of the in-
evitable misery pursuing II. the decay OF
body and mind, the slow growth OF dis
ease, the final conquest Of horrible death. !
Even IN gay Paris the tragedy follows
the comedy. But the exhilarating text
OF Mr. chsrpentiers drama is that the
sins OF the daughters visit themselves
Upon the fathers And with this per-
version Of the Biblical promise he makes
the music of Louise and her paramour
an incesssnt operate proclamation Of
''Jc vous oime." which must OF neces-
sity be sung IN duets under moonlight
with embracings and osculstions and su-
rerfiuous gesticulation.
Truth in Nelodramattc Expression.
The truth in uselodramaiic expression
is reserved for the father. IL Is in the
first and last acts that the composer
has sounded the truest notes Tha
sketch of the home OF the workman, his
shrewish wife and his wsywardly in
clined daughter are faithfully drawn in
Tho Hrst scene, and the music here ffts
Well the dramatic purpose. The cries Of
Paris scene is clever. and because the |