The New York herald., 1922-02-19


and innocent maiden seeking new
say to the severed head over whic
loved three. L love thee yet Jokanaa
thy beauty; l am hungry for thy
body, and neither wine nor apples
can appease my desire. What shall
/ do now, Jokanaan? Neither the
floods nor the great waters can
, uuench my passion. l was princess
and thou didst scorn me. was
virgin and thou didst take my vir-
ginity from me. j was chaste and
thou didst fill my veins with fire."
But doubtless all this sort of thing
is going to be cut out of the opera
when Nine. Jeritza honors it with her
genius. Doubtless, too, some other
motive than that implied in the text
will be found for the actions of Herod,
who is willing to pay any price to see
Salome perform the dance of the
seven wells. 1t is a pity that Miss
Farrar is going away. She would
probably seek to emulate the example
OF TIE Viennese star and give 'Zaza"
next season with the first act cut out.
Originality in Interpretation is too
much sought in these days for It's own
sake. No actor worth page stories
would be ambitious to act ShyIocH so
that critics would say This is the Jew
that Shakespeare drew" He makes
rit lis business TO see that the line
reads This is the Jew that the great
Mr.. Me drew"
In conclusion comes the prophecy.
II Nine. Jeritza impersonates Salome
as an innocent girl who does not know
what she is doing the most disap-
pointed gentlemen in New York will
be those who are now vigorously agi-
tating for a restoration of Strauss
work to tte Metropolitan Opera House
stage, ana NINE. Jerftza VIII achieve
one of the most brilliant and con-
elusive failures oher career. To take
the salaciousness out of "Salome" is
to create a perfect vacuum.
Satirica1 Humor i'm New Opera.
Sorgei Prokofieff, the Russian pianist
and composer, is a person of grave
aspect. 1t is possible that he some
times smiles, but surely not in pub
lie. Nevertheless he strikingly re-
sembles the once famous poet and
philosopher Buntkorne in that there
is more fun in him than the casual
spectator would imagine. His opera
The Love for the Three Oranges"
produced last Tuesday evening by
General Director Mary Garden at the
Manhattan Opera House, disclosed
vein of satirical humor of which none
sing Russian usually beheld in the act
OF describing incomprehensibe pat
terns upon the keyboard of piano.
~ There was some doubt as to the OBJ
ssJect of Mr.. Prokoheffs satire, but
those second thoughts on first nights.
which Alexander Woollcott has taught
US g., 20 value, assists us to the con-
lhCiusion that il was opera Itself At
which the young librettist and COM
poser aimed his cutting shafts. He
had a fruitful theme. Opera is the
happy hunting ground OF rhapsodic
nonsense, of lacErymose sentimental
. itv, of bombast and fustlan. The
older works were far worse than the
n modern creations, for in the early
days 10 one seemed TO place any i'm
portance on dramatic verify so long
as tho singers had large opportunities
for tEe exhibition of their voices and
their vocal tricks.
In recent years there has been
sincere search after dramatic express
sion, which In the end wore itself to
exhaustion in the rather bald and pitt
ful realism of such works as "Salome,"
'Zaza" and "LOracolo." IL is unneces-
sary TO discuss this matter just now.
Jieaders of this department have fire.
fquently been asked to remember that
The ultimate purpose of opera is to
express in music the working of the
emotions in "a dramatic story. If the
r.suuonal disclosures are 80 small and
the physical actions so numerous that
music cannot obtain supremacy as the
medium of expression, then the drama
should be spoken, not sung.
~ A Pretentious Extravaganza.
On the other hand, when something
which might be made into real lyric
-drama is emasculated so as to make IL