The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-05-30
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsEIN. Director.
Washington, ID. C.
MUSIC FOR THE MANY
washington, d. C.

|
in all of the principal American
cities, at prices which will make it
possible for the general public to at
tend, is the object of the National
Opera association which has been Or
ganiZed recently by Edouard Albion,
director of the local opera company.
| <In Europe, opera is q leading popu-
lar amusement, and Mr. Albion be
| heves that it can be made so in
| America as well.
The people of America, he says, are
as musical as people of any other
! country. The huge numbe of mu-
| sicians introduced to the public by
music schoolsl every year bears this
out. And if we have no work for
many of them to do, no audiences Or
! ganized to listen to them, that is a
| lack to be supplied.
/ In three years, Mr.. Albion has
shown that a resident opera company
| composed almost entirely of local
musicians can give grand opera to the
| taste of fastidious audiences. This is
| an achievement for one city, and it
has been repeated in other places,
| but these scattered projects are only
a beginning for the country.
| 1t is no exaggeration to say that
| grand opera is almost unknown in the
| United States. We have wonderful
| productions in New York and Chicago
at large prices, and we have several
| dent companies, handicapped by lack
/ of opera houses. But the mass of the
people know opera only thru the
monograph which reproduces the
voice but gives no idea of the story
| or of the acting.
! In Italy, 246 opera companies are
supported by a population one-third
the size of ours. The famous operas
can be heard there by every one.
Equally important, musical talent
lat CIV djT-nR
from his conservatory, can go into
small opera house and begin his
| operate career. There is enough de-
mand for his art so that he does not
have to spend tiresome- years waiting
for some one ahead of him to die or
| this country.
Here, finished artists, some perfect
| ed in as many as fifty roles, crowd
into New York, eager for chance to
| be heard by an impresario. And sup
| pose they do achieve a hearing? One
operate officials says he hears every
week young singers with promising
voices, but he has no room for them
in his company There are enough
| singers if New York to create ten good
| grand opera organizations. But alto
gether the operate institutions we
have use not more than perhaps 1000
voices.
A Chance for Native Talent.
Mr.. Albion points out that if these
singers, who want dramatic careers,
! could be scattered among the smaller
| cities, and could work with local opera
companies, they would be doing the
thing for which they were trained.
A resident company gives from four
to ten weeks of opera in a year, re-
hearSing mainly at night. For such
a company 20 make a satisfactory rec
ord, the performances put on must be
professional in standard. arranged by
a competent director, stage manager,
dramatic coach and conductor. --
| Members who show ability are given
a chance to take prominent parts and
to appear before the same critical
| audiences that greet the stars of the
! stage, and the experience and public
| ity resulting from such appearances
are of indirect financial value, even in
cases where q company getting its
start cannot at first pay its singers.
| The practical possibilities OF a resi-
| dent opera company have been shown
in a number of cities. Here in Wash
! liacci, Secret of Suzanne, and other
| operas have been produced in the
past three years. To put ~on a single
| performance of one of these opraS
/ would be regarded by many people as
| an extravagant financial undertakin
and one sure to end in heavy indebt-
| edness. Considering, however, that
the resident company has no i'm
ported stars under expensive con-
| tract, and no travelling expenses the
! production of an opera is not so eX-
| pensive. Averaging losses on a few
performances and gains on others the
Washington company has managed to
| break even.
Occasionally expenses are made
| heavier by bringing in two or three
| professional opera singers for a per-
/ Torrance when necessary. Mr.. Albion
holds that local singers should be
given chance to appear in important
roles whenever they are of a high
enough standard. But if the com
munity cannot furnish a satisfac Glory
singer for any part, then it is better
to import a professional and keep the
| work up to a safely proficient stand
ard Mr.. Albion has also tried the
method OF alternating the best local
singers with hired professionals at
| different performances of the same
| opera. This is an interesting test of
the local singers and it is instructive
for the company.
The Cooperative Spirit.
The spirit of a resident opera COM
pany has proved to be one of its in
teresting and surprising features. The
jealousies andtemperamental outbursts
of professional opera are proverbiaL
! Singers wait years for an opportunity
to sing certain promised roles. and the
tension is necessarily high. But COM
| munlty opera is more OF a IaInlly az
fair.
When Marguerite Sylvia a1ternated
with Celia Fioravanti, a Washington
singer, in a performance of Carmen,
Madame Sylvia gave up her dress re-
hearsal so that the girl who was to
make her debut might have the extra
| practice. Madame sylvia attended the
rehearsal. however, and made few
suggestions to the young singer and
offered to lend her own Spanish shawl
to the rival Carmen This interest In
lanother singer by a professional was
| decidedly unusual, but it seemed alto
gether appropriate in company
where every members was working for