The Washington herald., 1922-02-26
Entertainers to Include
Swedish Minister and Wife
Mrs. Coolidge to Be Guest at Luncheon Given
BY Mrs. James A. Reed, Wife of Senator
From Missouri

the movement to erect SOmG sort
OF a civic auditorium in the Cap
tai.
Think Of it. because OF the thea,
ter situation-and this was before.
'hc closing OF the playhcuses-
Washington had to go to Baltimore
for the first presentation OF Sam
son and Delilah" by IT'S very own
opera company. And only one per.
formance-a matinee at that, ac-
Cording to the original plans
could be arranged here!
SUCCESS SCORED ny
OTERA COMPANY.
The Washington Opera Company
scored a distinct success with its
Baltimore production Monday night
and brought out an audience which
crowded the huge Lyric Theater and
was made up of the most distin-
sUished element OF Baltimore So
ciety. Many Washinstonians were
present, too, among those who en-
tertained box parties being Maj. and
Mrs. George Oakley Totten. jr., Mr..
and Mrs. Eugene c. Pomeroy, Mr..
and Mrs. Thomas /, Logan, and Mr..
and Mrs. Mark Reid Yates.
Nine. d'Alvarez. sister of the Mar
quis Javier Alvarez de Buenavista.
OF the Peruvian Embassy staff. sang
the role of Delilah magnificently
and reused the great audience to
spontaneous enthusiasm. Nicola
Zerola was a thrilling Samson. The
supporting roles, most of them
sung by Washington artists, were
splendidly filled: and on all sides
the production was complimented.
l surely was glad I went over,
and glad for many reasons. M the
first place i wanted to see IL Balti-
more's cream Of society compared
fayorably with ours, and il was one
occasion when absolutely everybody
who was anybody in Baltimore
were gotten together: which was
rather unusual. for. after all. ths
Washington Opera Company was
entirely new to them over there.
My, but they were enthusiastic,
though, And well they mignt Le
for the production from beginning
TO end was just splendid. II you
all had only seen it as we saw Il
in Baltimore there would not be
standing room tomorrow night. .
/ went back Of the scenes after
the show in Baltimore and met
Nine. dAlvarez, who was a member
of the Chicago Opera Company. and
found her raving-wildly enthusI-
astic about the whole production.
and said that on her word of nonor
the chorus of the Washington uT-
era Company was every bit as so1!
as that Of the Chicago company.
She declared that she is most
anxious to sing with the Washing.
ton company again. and hopes they
will invite her to sing in the COM
pany's production in Washington
next season. Mrs. Victor KALff-
mann, who went over to Baltimore
Monday. said she saw the Samson
and Delilah" production in Pariy.
and that the Washington company
was better.
Another enthusiastic person was
Mrs. John W. Garrett. who Gccu.
ested in the opera development in
America.
Opera development in America is
the hobby of both Mr.. and Mrs.
Edouard Albion. you know. He is
president and general director c'
the Washington Opera Company ans
the National Opera Association.
Mrs. Albion is secretary OF the Ma
tiOnal Opera Association. Mrs. Al.
bion says that the United States
ranks far behind Italy in enCoU--
aging its natl-e-born artists. She
is a native Of North Carolina and
quite the typical charming South
ern woman. Not only is she low
er OF the opera, but she ardently
believes that every opera lover
should help native-born American
artists to get across"
SAYS ITALY HAS
248 OPERA HOUSES.
There are 246 opera houses in
Italy alone" Mrs. Albion exclaimed.
Think of il, In that land every
young singer can get good expert.
ence. He csn get across
Here in America we have only
two opera companies-the Chicago
and the Metropolitan. There is
not room for all the beautiful
voices in these two organizations.
Nor will these companies accept an
artist who is without reputation
they cannot afford to. Young
American singers, no matter how
good they are, cannot get into
these two companies. Many have
to wait until they have grown old
before they are sufficiently adver-
tised.
Its the peculiar psychology Of
the American people. We believe
in advertising and advertised goods.
The artist. so to speak. has to
sell himself to the public: his
beautiful voice alone will never
get him across.
I've rambled a bit. I meant 10
tell you that the same cast that
so distinguished itself in Baltimore
last Monday will sing tomorrow
evening, with the exception of d'Al-
varez. who will be replaced by Cis-
neros, one of the worlds noted
Delihas. who was coached in Rome
by the writer of the opera itself,
Saint Saens Her costumes. too,
are beautiful. having been made by
Pauuin and designed especially for
her. With the exception of the
costumes worn by the principals.
the costumes are all those worn in
Hammerstein's London production
and are handsome
Though the opera is to be given
at Central High. tickets can be
bought at the National Theater. |
am rather glad the production will
be given at Central. for ii will be
an evening affair now and there
fore much more brilliant, and then
the stage up there is 30 much
bigger. the whole place much larger
and more attractive and comfort
able. Also it Is a wonderfully
constructed auditorium apparently,
with many posts. beams and sup
ports, all of which means much to
the nervous audiences of today.
IL nra GAnrOA naklPv