Evening star., 1923-12-18
BUTTERFLY WINS
|. BIG D. c. AUDIENCE
AN-American Cast, With
:, Washington Opera Com
pany, Sings Roles Well.

Last night was milestone In the
tnro~ress Of music in Washington, mile
fsstone that will long be remembered with
lpride by the citizens of the District OF
fColumba, who turned out in gala attire
land filed the President Theater TO u.s.
item TO the first presentation OF NINE.
tl3utterfiy," the opera based on ar Amer
i!can story and drama, by an all-Ameri-
lean cast, of the washington opera
sCompany. Edouard Albion. director.
| The audience. which included many
distinguished members of the ofhcial, as
vel as social ccircles OF the capital,
listened almost spellhound to the nne
musical and dramatic interpretation OF
the leading role by Edith Mason OF the
Chicago Opera Company. She gave vivid
realitv to her po' trayal as well as sing
ine the role beautifully. Her I'm Bel
3i' was exquisite.
Paul Althouse. the Metropolitan tenor
Who has become so popular in Wash
neton with his concerts during the past
+ Few seasons, was equally realistic in
his role of B F. Pinkerton, the phi'and
ring officer # the United States Ma ".
His duet with Cho- Cho-San in the
first act was WEI given and he rose
20 dramatic heights in his aria in the
last act.
Patton and Bonner Score.
Fred Patton, well known as an
American singer of oratorio, gave a
dramatic "Sharp'ess" that was well
balanced by the Suzuki" of Elizabeth
Bonner. heard here recently as soloist
with the Philadelphia Symphony Or
Chestra.
Among the other" singers, Frerdi-
broker. and Albert .Sheffernan sang
the Commissioner role. maintaining
the high standard set by the guest
artists In their lesser roles. Mrr-
guerite Meakin, Lawrence Downey
and George Harold Miller sang eff
Sectively. ~-
The large orchestra of Washington
musicians, under the direction of Jac-
Gues samassoud. Russian conductor,
acquitted itself admirably in the in
terpr citation of the Puccini score of
delicate Japanese and American mel
odies. If there were times when the
instrumental music seemed to threat
en- an overbalance of the vocal yet
the score was rendered throughout
with a skill and sympathy that won
the warm plauditS of the audience
musician who played with the orches
ira and who is himself a conductor
TO commend most highly the di
rector's fine work.
Chorus Work Effective.
The chorus deserves special men,
tfon. Mr.. Alb on has personally
trained many of these young WASH
ington singers.
Every one knows the pathetic story
OF M drme Butterfly" the Japanese
maiden betrayed into the equivalent
Of m" rriT ge with the impuls've, hot
.head ded young American officer. The
settings of the two acts were in ac-
cordance with the traditional Japa-
nese atmosphere. The costumes also
were rich in material and color.
Mr.. Albion offered as an equally
delightful addition to the short op-
era a ballet in one act entitled
"Chopini" Paul Gardner Tcher-
nikoff. bHllet master of the company,
utilizes the music of two preludes
and severSl waltzes and mazurkas by
the great Polish composer. as the in
spiration of this b llet. A group of
pretty Washington girls gracefully
formed into artistic groupings during
the b llet.
In their filmy white costumes with
the quaint. simple hairdress o: the
middle eighteenth century, the girls
we're charm!ng. Elizabeth Gardiner,
as rpemiere danseuse,| with Tcherni-
koff himself, ga effective dance ,
duets. The girls in the ballet includ-
ed Misses Bowman, Hereford, Weig-
nell, Williams, Coles, Smith. Tinsman,
Johnson, Burriss and Gorman. Miss
Mar e Hansen was acccmpanist for
the ChOpiu n liet Dnn1harS