The Washington times., 1922-04-27
FARRAR' s GOING
LEAVES BIC CAP
|NOPERASTACE
Veteran Critic Reviews Her
Successes as She Quits
Singing Roles for Good.

Geraldine tafrar, VINO Tor sixteen
years has reigned in undisputed
glory at the Metropolitan Opera
House, terminated her service with
this great organization at the Sat
| urday matinee on April 20. when
she sang the title role OF Leonca-
vallo's 'Zaza" with Martinen and
De Luca.
1t is a fine appreciation Of the
| little American prima donna that
the veteran music critic w. J. Hen
derson gives. Writing OF her fare
well, he said: "It ought to be under
stood by opera-goers that Miss Far
rar is not leaving the Metropolitan
temporarily. She Is leaving Il for
good. The only fact worth consid-
ering," he adds, after speaking OF
the many current stories concerning
Miss Farrar's retirement when she
is still one OF the greatest cards"
at the box office, ''is that the Amer
ican prima donna, who has built up
for herself a large following and a
high artistic reputation, will not
again be heard in that lyric theater,
/ and that no other American singer
IS in sight to take her place. =.
| AT this time, then, IL may be
! interesting to review a little of the
history of Miss Farrar's achieve
ments I'm this city. II will not be
necessary TO tell the whole story, to
make a catalogue of all her roles
and all her appearances. Her early
days here should prove TO be in
| teresting. for without doubt most
of US have forgotten much that she
did then.
Miss Farrar made her debut at
the Metropolitan Opera House, un-
der the management of Heinrich
! Conried, on November 2s, 1906, at
the age OF twenty-four, singing "Ju.
liette" in Gounods opera Romeo
ct Juliette." Her debut was a sub
! Ject for much animated discussion.
! She came at a time when the public
acquaintance with the highest
! type of singing was far greater
than II is now, when taste was much
more fastidious and knowledge much
more general. In these days Miss
! FarrRr's Juliette. as IL was sung
in 1906. would be regarded as a
marvel OF beautiful vocal art We
have not had all these years of edu-
cational opera for nothing.
Deemed Inadequate in 1906.
But in 1906 it was deemed made
quate, and there was much talk
| about the difference between sue
ceeding as Juliette in Berlin and
here. Some of Miss Farrar's stage
! business was condemned as being
| too realistic, and II earned for her
the undying hostility of some opera
! goers. But II Is safe to say that
! II a new Juliette were 10 emerge
| tomorrow and repeat that business
there would be no more than a
gentle flutter of amusement The
bedroom drama had not swept the
wells OF reticenoe from the stage
when Miss Farrar's chamber scene
startled the venerable guardians Of
the public morals in 1906.
On December Miss Farrar sang
her first Marguerite, not her of
| Gounod. but the heroine of Boito's
'Mefistofele." The devil on that
occasion was a perfect gentleman,
| NJ. Plancon, and Rousseliere, Mr..
| Conried's very expensive tenor, was
| the Faust. The production was
costly and hopelessly Improbable.
Mr.. Conried banished IL from his
stage until he could secure a more
impressive fiend.
On February 6, 1907, Miss Farrar
gave one of the most artistic ipo-
| presentations she ever disclosed to
this public, an impersonation of
which few present-day opera -goers
have even heard. She sang Eliza
beth in "Tannhaeuser" with Nine.
Fremstad as Venus, Mr.. Burrian
as the erring minstrel and Mr..
Van Rooy as Wolfram. No better
| performance of Wagner drama
has been given on the Metropolitan
| stage since Jean de Reszke retired.
Finest Creation of Her Career.
Miss Farrar's Elizabeth was not
| only one of her best achievements,
but II was one of the most beautiful
and touching impersonations of that
| character ever given by any artist
on any stage. The present reviewer
| is almost ready to express the opin-
ion that it was the finest creation
! of Miss Farrar's career. Certainly
she never surpassed IL. And yet
| this exquisite embodiment of Wag-
ner's ideal woman was permitted
to pass into disuse and almost out
| of the memory of the living.
| On February IL, 1907, the first
performance OF Madame Butter
| fly" at the Metropolitan took place.
The cast embraced Miss Farrar as
| Clio -Cio- San, Mr.. Caruso as Pinker-
ton and Mr.. Scotti as Sharpless.
| Others have since been heard as
the little Japanese bride, but the
role became indissolubly associated
in the public mind with Miss
| Farrar.
And then he cites Miss Farrar's
Mimi in la Boheme," her share in
O Mozart festival as Zerlina In Don
| Giovanni" Violetta in "Traviata,
Mignon in the Thomas opera, and in
1908 she sang Michaela In Carmen"
the title role of which opera she was
to make so famous. At that time
Maria Gay sang Carmen and Caruso
was the Jose.
There were many other roles. 1t
was in 1914 that she first sang the
role OF Carmen. And yet" con.
cludes Mr.. Henderson, Carmen is to-
day not regarded as the American
sopranos representative part. Prob
ably Metropolitan patrons will re.
member her longest as Cio-Cio-San
in Madame Butterfly" a role in
which she has been without a rival;
and as Tosca, into which last Mon
day evening she put all the re-
sources of her art and all the emo