The New York herald., 1921-02-06
this. too. the female of the species is
fiercer than the male.
Psychology of Opera Audiences.

this, too. the female of the species is
fiercer than the male.
Psychology of Opera Audiences.
All words ending in "ology" are open
to suspicion, especially psychology" and
sociology" but the temptation to muse
on the psychology of opera audiences Is
! irresistible The temptation to ponder
the operations of the public mind in
] opera houses need not be resisted even
| though warnings are hoisted by the
Italian brethren, who for some inexplica-
BILE reason regard themselves as deeply
| injured II their doings are described.
! This is not about the enthusiasts who
are annoyed at such description. The
interesting fact Is that emotional people
are to be found in all parts of an opera
house and that the most emotional, or
rather the most demonstrative. are not
women but men. The men can make
more noise than the women, and they
do 1t Is the men who shout Bravo -
and why the Italian gentlemen should
believe that no one can shout that magic
word but themselves ard that all COM
| ments on the untmely shouting of 1t
refer to them must ever remain a mys-
! terry.
In the course of some recent perform
ances at the Manhattan Opera House the
| writer has been much interested in OBJ
serving the ways of auditors. 1t has
been equally interesting to note the con-
stituton of the audiences. For instance,
last Monday evening, when Nine CALI
Curci made her first appearance of the
season. the audience was one of wholly
different type from that which assem-
bled on Tuesday night, when Verdi's
"Otello" was sung.
1t Is impossible of course, to tell
whence came the people who composed
the Galli-Curci audience, but most of
them see ned to be strangers to New
York, and many of them strangers to
opera. Doubtless a large number went
purposely to listen for the first time to
the famous singer of whom they had
heard so much and doubtless listening
to famous opera singer was an unusual
experience to many. One evidence OF the
| inexperence of these auditors was the
| frequent beginning of applause in the
wrong place, interrupting an air in the
middle or drowning out the final high
notes of a scene.
When Nine. Galli-Curci sings two
things are evidently regarded as rea-
sons for applause-forid passages, no
matter how executed. and sustained high
tones in closing cadences. prolonged
trfll is accepted as a vocal feat Of the
| first order. Now any singer who has
| studied the technics of the art should be
able to trill. And It should be said in
| fairness to far less celebrated singers
than Nine. Galli-Curci that most vocal
artists can sing a trill better than she
can. She almost always slides on the
pitch when she trills; but departures
from pitch are apparently never noticed
by opera audiences.
This is another popularity of their
psychology. for it Is inconceivable that
all these listeners fail to hear the dif-
| ference between orchestra and singer.
| There is some idosyncrasy In the state
| of the operagoing mind which makes 1t
careless Of out of tune singing. The
| opera soer as a rule simply does not care
whether the soprano or tenor sings in
| tune The naked sound OF the voice
and It's exercise in certain mechanical
functions are the matters with wnicn
the operagoing mind concerns itself.
Applnuding of Fiorid Passages.
Hence at a Galn-Curci performance
we find the majority of the audience
paying no attention TO departures from
pitch and vigorously applauding every
florid passage and every loud conclusion.
Now the manner in which the ford
passage s executed does not seem to
matter greatly. The point is that 1t Is
executed at ALL This soprano is colo
rature" soprano and this is her colora-
| ture We are getting our moneys worth.
Much that Is best and most beauttful
! In Nine. Galli-Curcis art is permitted
| TO pass unnoticed because II does not
| fall into the one or the other OF the
classes named. Her most beautiful sing
ing is her delivery OF flowing melody
lying within the middle range OF her
voice But about such delivery there Is
nothing exciting, and we are driven %
haf rffOlaDt excitement
of the nerve centres is what the typical
operagoer demands.
III we can believe this we shall have
an explanation Of many otherwise puz-
ling things For one example, why do
operagoers not like Mozart? Because
his music is absolutely unexciting. The
singers cannot even force high notes
into II. The style Is aracterized by
fluency and reposc. The present day
opers roer will accept a certain amount
OF nuency. but repose he simply "ili
not have. Incessant rcstlessness In style
Is what he seeks with the greatest
avidity.
He Is ever ready TO give full approval
TO force, no matter how inappropriate te
10 the situation: no matter how con
trary to the artistic purpose or the
composer The singers well know tnis
and they refuse to sacrifice the success
Of tho moment to the wish OF tho COM
poser. Verdi wrote three ''p's" over the
last note of Celeste Aida but the ten
ors invariably sing " at the top or
their lungs and get much glory thereby.
They all fear to sing It as II Is writ
ten. lest no bravo" should follow.
Titta Ruffo is the chief idol OF All
such rs adore loud tone. Let these
adorers watch the barytone His voice
does not sound rs well as II used 10.
" he continues to force II TO its limit
in order to please the clamorers 70.