Evening star., 1922-12-05
PoL1's-san Carlo Opera, "Aida." "

Aida" Giuseppe Verdi's popular
opera. which shows the Wagnerian
oneras., was the choice of Fortune
Gallo. tmpresario Of the San Carlo
Opera Company. for the opening night
at Polls Theater this week. In spite
OF the bad weather. the musical folks
and society Of the capital nearly filled
the theater last night. All the prin.
cipal roles were sung unusually well
by singers who have as individuals
and in companies previously. proved
their excellence in the vocal art to
Washington audiences.
Marie Rappold gave splendid dra-
matic as well as vocal Interpretation
Of. the title role. She made AN effec-
tive IIy e. picture OF the royal Ethiopian
| into the class of a slave by the prin-
cess of the Pharaohs. Her soprano
voice showed fine timbre and she
enunciated very clearly. Her aria 20
won her the warmest applause. but
her duet. with Manuel Salazar as
Rhadames which followed. was
equally delightful. Their duet in the
! last act also was most effective and
Mr.. Salazar's tenor voice also has
| fine tonal quality which carries his
softest notes with IL pleasing dis
tinctness. Only in the most dramatic
moments of his singing does the emo
almost pompous Interpretation of the
warrier hero slightly overbalance the
musical tones and give harShness to
a few of the notes.
Egyptian princess, with many mar
velous curls and a Jealous disposition.
has mezzo-soprano voice of great
dramatic fervor, which she conSci-
entiously endeaVored to combine with
dramatic gestures. Richard Bonelli.
M he
king. who was made up as most
barbaric individual, really walked
away with the dramatic honors of
! the opera. however, and gave a very
realistic Interpretation Of his part.
His baritone voice was wonderfully
| rich and he sang his fiery passages
! with admirable ease and power His
Duet with Aida. in the third act, was
iuit OF dramatic as well as musical
interest. Natalie Cervi. as the King
OF EGYPT. and Pietro de Biasi as the
| high priest Of the temple Of Isis. both
have powerful bass voices. which
more than fulfilled the demands of
their parts in the opera. Francesca
Curci and Anita klinova made their
! small roles stand out with the charm
! of their voices.
| Special commentator should be
made OF the impressive chorus Of
priests In the temple scene. in the sec
ono act. From point of view of
settlng: dramatic dignity and musical
solemnity this scene dominated All
others in the opera. The off-stage
| singing OF the feminine chorus dur
ing this scene was effective and the
harp in the orchestra did much to
augment the beauty of this episode.
me triumphal march into Thebes.
which is the piece de resistance of
Inls opera, was quite satisfactorily
gone although the rather crude ef
1ects or the much-used small Rroup
OF soldiers and few other incidents
IN ,he setting and populace rather
trled the risibies Of those in the au
oience VINO possessed sophisticated
sense OF humor. a young Russian
cancer iasia Ledowa, gave an ANA
| conan barbaric dance during this
scene tnat was excellent in its grace
! Iui poses and rhythmic swing. 1t
| really ,ypihed the spirit of the opera
@ ano adoed a spectacular bit to the
o,rer wise rather stodgy setting.
IN 1ts commandment to the Singers
and Carlo Peroni. the. director wa.
given as enthusiastic applause hv az
! interested audience as the sineers
! themselves. e''eeiS
| Puccini's lovely opera. MADAME
Butterfly" will be presented tonieht
announcement is made by Fort1,ne
Gallo of the San Carlo Grand 0nere
company that the Jewels of the Na-
| donna" will be withdrawn from the nra-
gram OF operas scheduled for wash
lhsIon sn and in its place Nine. Butter
| ny, with Tamaki Miura, KIinova
Boscacci and Vale. will be suhst;'
J tuted for the SATURDAY. mafinaa