The Washington herald., 1921-09-25

music and knowing the maSterpiec
gent opinion.
In Europe nearly every city. cer-,
tainly all OF the large ones and most
of the small ones, has its municipal
opera, run by the city government
Everybody has tickets, limited in
number, but they are always able
to buy special tickets for any per-
fcrmance, II they have not gotten
them free as their share of the cost
Of running the theater, such as Is
: the rule In some of the South Ameri-
can cities. Opportunities are fire.
quent for the younger artists to
show what they san do. The reper-
u toirs, consisting only Of the stant-
ard works. changes daily. A play,
% OF opera, Is not continued for a long
run to the exclusion Of other good
works, Just because 1t happens to
make a hit The pest Of everything
,ais presented to the people and they
learn to understand music. and with
'spthe understanding. begin to love
y what was unknown to them before.
More Opportunities
The young singer has excellent
opportunities for getting q place
with some one OF the smaller COM
panies- II the voice Is good. the
dramatic talent promising. the rise
to larger cities and bigger pro-
ductions Is certain
The solution Is, think. govern
ment or municipal-b l-backed opera !
know We are a young country. but
that II no reason why we should
remain. as a country, more or less
ignorant Of the finest works which
have ever been created by the great
1PN - adn
eating along that line. When the
opportunity Is given for Americans
to show their talents. we will be
proud of them. We are denying
them that opportunity now. We need
to give the artist his chance to prove
his worth, to gather professional
experience starting in q small way,
where opportunities ere numerous.
and where Advancement according
4 to merit 10 certain to come.
- orchestras Increasing.
= In the thirty-four years I have
; been In this country have seen the
= orchestras grow In number and
quality, until now almost every city
of any size boasts of its symphony
:. organization. This is a fine sign
: of the approaching of better musical
Ssintelligence. But the beginning Is
hardly made. Washington, for ex-
ample. could easily support, and
<<could well AFFORD to have, it's own
I, symphony orchestra. is surpris-
> ing to think that the ions Capt.
tai should be without one, in fact
-rIt has the opportunity for more con-
certs. before appreciative and intel
ligent audiences than most cities.
1t has an aura cast around IL merely
; from being the National Capital, the
s-heart OF the nation. That should
certainly be reflected In the arts,
and in music, the former through
buildings, statues and sculpture, and
!. the latter through a national opera
I~hOuse and an orchestra of the finest
caliber possible to provide In the
: nation
: In all the capitals Of the South
: American nations you will find a
: splendid building, the national opera
house. Even the small nations have
--opera houses which eclipse in beauty
and design those We have in this
country. The opera house in Buenos
Ayres Is a marvel, and the theater
in Rio IL hardly less. And these are
all supported by the government.
That is necessary,
The nrst step IL to get the sup
municipality. Then the government
should not only furnish the theater
rent free. but make allowances for
any deficit Put the management In
sthe hands Of artists with proven ex-
perience, whose names are sufficient
10 guarantee the quality of the per-
formance., Talented musicians
should get the opportunity to prove
their ability, and the stock of train
cd men would ever Increase. Then q
course OF music should be laid out,
Just as Is q curriculum In school.
Gould Well Afford II.
z our government could well af-
ford 70 get behind music, as the
governments Of other countries
have done. It would not cost a
great deal We could learn much
from even the little nations, not to
spsak Of Europe, II we are not too
proud 20 learn from those who know
more than we do, along certain
lines.
9 Here you often hear the express
sion: We give to the people what
ths people want; the box receipts
prove that Il does not prove any
hing Of the kind. How can the
people know what they want when |
they don't know what IL available |
for themf For years some mana
gers have put on shows of doubt |
tui character. A clean show comes |
along and It's run eclipses those of |
any Of the shows which were sup
posed to be what the public |
wanted In fact. I think the pub |
Nc seldom gets the chance to
want anything. It takes what il
gets. with very little choice in the
matter. When they do have a |
Choice Of something good, which |
they readily understand, they show |
quick approval.
= why, have heard the comic
opera. The Mikado' for example,
Produced In English, by an English
company. in Stuttgardt. before a
German audience. But the opera |
was done so well, and the acting
and conducting was so splendidly /
handled. that IL was an Intelligent
90 them as II German was being
spoken. They never failed to get
Die point, enjoy the music or the
action. and the laughs were as fire.
quent as from an English audience,
for there was a masterpiece of the
lighter muse.
Now, take that principle, that
the people enjoyed the performance
because they knew what to listen
for. and Understood 1t when they
beard 1t. You can get the exact re-
verse. when you take someone not
nusically trained 20 listen to a n