The New York herald., 1922-09-17

eHIeT pTlbe WItcu uc faboi ho Sohu
profit to themselves and pleasure to
others. But there was not much
prospect Of permanency in any
scheme Of opera at low prices be-
cause there was always secret feel
ing that it was not the real thing"
That singularly clever and talka-
tive impresario Oscar Hammerstein
doubtless did more than any one else
to dispel the mists which surrounded
grand opera" with an appearance of
mystery He introduced what he
called "educational' opera, the object
of which was to train up generations
of opera goers by giving them opera
in gentle doses. He hoped to con-
vince people that opera was like the
ancient beverage called whisky, of
which the Southern gentleman said
that some was better than others, but
none was bad.
This has now come to be a truism.
You cannot convince any one that
there is such thing as bad per-
formance of opera. 1t must be good
because 1t is grand" opera. Fortune
Gallo has measured all the possibili-
ties Of the state of taste brought about
by the new point of view. He does
not give bad performances of opera.
Some of those he offers are quite as
good as those proffered by Mr. Gatti
Casazza at twice the money. But Mr..
Gallo makes no pretense at rivaling
the Metropolitan. He gives commend
able performances at prices moderate
and possible to all.
Opera Not All OF Music.
Descriptions of Mr.. Gallo's offerings
and some reflections thereon will ap-
pear in THE NEW YORK HERALD. Mean
while II may not be amiss to invite
attention once again to the indisput-
able fact that opera is not the whole
of music in this town. Neither is 1t
the most important part of It. Wag-
ner's DER Ring des Nibelungen."
which trails it's huge length through
four ponderous performances. cannot
even yet lay claim to that assured
greatness which belongs to Bach's b
minor mass, Beethoven's fifth SYM
phony or Palestrina's Missa Papae
Marcelli.
Nothing Is proved by the excited
shouts OF excitable listeners whose
souls are raised to rapture by the high
tones OF a tenor or the trill of so
prano. The music of the theater is
that which most easily reaches the
understanding of q large number of
hearers. But New York has quite con-
clusiyely demonstrated that its ap-
petite for good music demands some-
thing more than opera. The increase
In the number Of orchestral converts
In recent years has been noteworthy.
The splendid records of the Philhar-
monic. Symphony. Philadelphia and
Boston orchestras are impressive. To
be sure there has been too much con-
ductor worship; but that is part OF
the general trend of the time. Every
one desires a hero. This desire mani
tests itself also In the busy domain
Of the recital. Here. indeed. the adora-
ton of the hero rivals that of the
opera house.
This is inevitable. Great musical
masterpieces arc closed books TO most
Of us till the interpretative artist ar
rives with his eloquent publication of
httooobts
conductors will appear in the course
of the season and there will be the
usual discussion OF their readings. The
exaggeration Of the Importance OF
readings" has been lamented in this
place often and will doubtless be la
mented again. The value OF Bee
thoven's Fifth Symphony or Richard
Strauss's TOD und Verklaerung" does
not depend on the methods of either
Mr.. Mengenberg or Mr.. Coates. 1t is
inherent In the work, and a sound or
cnestral performance. ought to disclose
t. The necessity OF altering tempt and
nuances in order that one star may
differ from another in glory is not
clear.
The Return OF Padcrewslsi.
But in the recital field there ia to
be one solo performer whose return
viii arouse the greatest possible in