New-York tribune., 1922-05-07

+ citais and a considerable number o
ambitious musical fcdglings cssayet
their first metropolitan flights from
theaters. There is no reason why i
should be so. but it is fact, neverthc
less. that it is more difficult to per
suadc dcadhead audiences (the onl,
kind that go to hear the dcbuts OF
novlceS) to go to thcater than to =
concert hall There arc many theatere
in New York admirably adapted 10 con
cert giving, though they arc, OF course
available only in afternoons (savc on
Saturdays and Sunday evenings.
Financial Outcome
OF the Season
Financially the season in New York
has been on par with the season
l920-'21. Throughout the country it
has been probably the most disastrous
on record for local managers, includ
ing the music clubs which give concert
courses The great artists Of cstab-
nshed regulations have done we'll for
themselves AMI their managers: but in
many cases the money made bv them
for the concert-g -givers has been lost
on other engagements BY the success
full artists who have done we'll for
themselves and their managers we
mean chiefly those who were estab-
lshed in popular favor before the sea-
son opened. Other artists of wide re-
pute. brought by venturesome mana
gers from Eurore, and sold to specula-
tive managers in the United States.
have carried home large sums Of money
which old favor;tes had made for their
old agents. There have been several
enterprises a la Barnum for which
managers and their hackers (piano-
forte and photograph manufacturers
particularly have had to pay roundly,
though the artist has reaped the re-
ward for which he contracted before
coming The tour of Richard Strauss
IS case in point. For the sake of
'i1e' Apii IIldiIN IdDle ndtlNp ar
lists of established repute and some
equally or more admirable foreigners.
have been sacrificed. The era of specu-
latlve management which is now upon
US is encouraged by the notion which
prevails in Europe that America owes
Europe living. Having narrow
ly escaped destroying itself at a
large sacrifice to the United States
a sacrifice not yet measurable). Eu-
rope seeks its salvation at our hands.
or course, the people whom it has
pleased German writers in particular
to denounce as utterly wanting in
ldeallty and artistic appreciation are
not too mean for plucking SO the
European invasion will continue, and
resident and native artists must yield
up their share to preserve it. There
Will continue to be large traffic in
names. We shall have an increased in
fuX OF conductors, who viii be per
mltted TO conduct orchestral concerts
rot because the present conductors are
inefficient or overworked, but because
they, foreigners themselves for the
greater part, are willing to have the
qua rantors of their organizations
mulcted. and the guarantors are will
ing to pay in order that they may
parade themselves as Macenases in
art. Composers will come and conduct
orchestras and play the pianoforte ir-
respective Of their ability to do either.
VIII musical culture be promoted? No
one asks the question least of all the
speculative managers. The return Of
Mr.. Coates is assured; contracts are
making for Bruno Walter; Glazounoff
is IN the ofing, perhaps also Siegfried
Wagner. America owes the son Of
Richard a fortune. of course. Why not e?
America is rich ard generous and gull
bic. We have glut of foreign artists
already; therefore let us increase It,
Affcctation Of culture will be promoted,
at least
There is bright side, naturally. TO
every situation, and so to this which
We have sketchcd, Though the man
ayers of the cities of the Pacific Coast
and some excellent artists hitherto
popular have suffered more than those
Of New York, many towns in the Mid
die and Far West have benefited bv
visits from artists made more or less
by the changed conditions
Perhaps the law of compensation con-
tinues operative. But our concern
when we set out on this excursion was
with local affairs, and to these we must
return.
The Migrations
OF Artists
1t would scarcely be possible, even if
desirable, to attempt to compare the
of this season with those Of
past years in respect of their artistic
quality. Outside of the orchestral
affairs the majority of them were
given by singers and instrum entalists
who had never before been heard in
New York, and Of these the overwhelm-
ing majority viii probably never
De heard in New York again. These
are the myriad of mediocrities with
misguided ambitions who emerge above
he kind waters OF privacy, waste the
money of their parents or friends in a
single exhibition Of mselves and