New-York tribune., 1922-08-13
The Growing Appreciation
Of Mozart's Dramatic Music
Salzburg VS.. Bayreuth; An Idol of the Masters /;
Mozart Propaganda in America; The
New ssCos fan Tutte"

di Figaro" and "The Magic Flute dn
erman and Italian versons) were IA
| miliar enough to old opera-goers. But
a foreign flavor adhered to all these
works because of the adherence to the
original text and traditional methods
| of performance. 1t would be curious
inquiry (but one incapable of solu-
tion) to try to discover how large Cor
small) a percentage Of the thousands
who have listened to them has under
stood the plays. In general way the
plots we're known, of course; but only
persons familiar with the Italian
tongue could understand the dry reci-
tative in which the dialogue was car
ried on in lie Nozze," "Don Giovanni"
and "Cosi fan tutte," and only persons
familiar with the German tongue the
spoken dialogue Of "Die ZauberA6te." ="
AS consequence the pleasure derived
from the performances was restricted
| to that which came from hearing the
music of the airs and ensembles; and
from intellectual enjoyment. Then,
few years ago, came The American
| Singers with few representations of
two little works in English, one "Bas-
tien and Bastienne," the product of
Mozart's childhood, the other "The I'm
presario," which reflected the ripeness
of his genius. The former wrought
charm because of its historical inter-
est, but the latter was captivating not
only because of it's delightful music,
but because of the ineligible inter-
weaving of the dramatic with its mu-
sical elements.
"The Impresario" is not an opera.
though it is habitually spoken of as
such and is even listed with operas
in the books. The music which is
properly associated with "The I'M
presario" Cor der Schauspieldirek-
tor which is its original title) con-
slsts of an overture, two airs, trio
and a final ensemble in the nature of
a tag or epilogue. This music was
composed by Mozart as incidental to
drama descriptive of the perplexi-
ties of a theatrical manager who is
engaging company to put on the
road" as the slang of to-day would
have it. One of the incidents is trial
OF the voices of two singers and their
contention for superiority. The dra-
matte character of the delightful music
attracted the attention of playwrights
early in the nineteenth century, and
a number of them wove plays around
1t in which the dramatic motif of the
quarreling prima donnas was pre-
served. The little comedy given in
New York was the latest of these musi-
cal plays and differed from it's earliest
predecessors in an expansion of the
dramatic idea to give it an historical
flavor and in making the score ex-
clusively Of Mozart's music, some of the
first comedies having drawn on Gina
rosa and other composers as WELL
This style of play, in which the
music was culled from two or more
operas, was popular in England at the
end of the eighteenth and beginning Of
the nineteenth century Not even
Don Giovanni" escaped being turned
into pasticcio in London, and q con-
siderable number of classical works
reached America in this form. "The
Beggar's Opera" and the ballad
operas for which it set a model, had
taught the people to like comic operas
which they could understand. They
have continued in that liking ever
since, and in the operettas of Gilbert
and Sullivan the type reached standard
Of artistic excellence and refinement
far above the French opera boufe OF
the German operetta.
The lmpresaro'' in its present
form is a comedy with music. It's dia-
iogue is spoken, but is consistent in
that its dialogue merges into and
energies from the musical numbers
which are illustrative and expressive
of the dramatic sentiment. Its success
IN New York led Mr.. w. w. Hinshaw
TO purchase it and attempt an expert
ment in musical culture with it. Last
season he sent it on tour, giving per-
formances before schools and musical
clubs. The experiment proved to be
remarkably successful throughout a
large territory, and led him to reorgan-
ize his company for another tour next
MUSICAL INSTRUCTIONS
NYESvYF NyOr~ ~~v