The Washington times., 1927-02-18

come Maslowa. in name. the soul Of
/ Katucha sleeps. She has passed
| from observation-disclosures Dmitri, her
lover. il unaware of her fate, of the
birth of his illegitimate son and his
death. Of the later life that made
katucha a woman Of the streets
she no longer feels. she lives but
to drink and to obtain.
Ftnesse Is the browning art of
Mary Garden in all of this role.
What hands she has. Beneath her
madly disordered hair, we find a
face that Is vacant, or that leers In
evil thought over past glories of
adulation that have been hers. Yet
Miss Garden does not destroy her
personality beneath realistic
makeup such as the Russians would
/ use.
The voice of Mary Garden-the
emphasis OF the individual is again
inevitable, for this Is one.woTnan
OPERAS the dramas self as well.
NO one holds more forceful "par.
iando," in that spoken-singing voice.
than she uses to depict subtle mood.
There is an introspection in the
value of her voice that quite stands
alone in opera. 80
Opera for outpouring of lyric
song, there is none. Opera, in the
form of Wagrer's it is: For All.
fano wrote it 20 years ago with the
influence of Wagner at its height.
There are no arias, as such. Yet
to me the voice Of Mary Garden
rises 10 rare heights of operate
meaning and beauty. She uses Il
Tor the drama: She may use the
drama to meet her limitations. But
OF these, it matters not.
Her chief support should have
been the Dmitri Of Theodore Ritch,
the Prince who caused her down.
fan. but who followed her through
all her life with love. who would
nave wed the Maslowa--and here
her keen sensibility of her down.
ran were potent. But Mr.. Ritch
did not meet her at a single dra.
matte moment. Nor did his voice
suffice, though it was dramatic
at times. He seemed unacquainted
with the role and sang distressingly
off-pitch.
In stagecraft the high point was
the railroad station scene. Snow
was falling. The still young Ka-
tucha, we are reverting to act two,
awaits one glimpse Of Dimitri to tell
him OF her plight. Russian silence
OF scene, realism, contrast of occa.
sional groups of waiting travellers,
the chorus, within the station chiefly.
with bits Of local color in their song.
The music holds emotion. Again
IN isolated dramatic intensity Mary
Garden dominates the scene. Her
prayer Is very lovely music, while
beneath the orchestra-foretelling
the story-is dark and ominous, Al.
fano bringing certain Vastness into
its loneliness that is true drama in
tone.
Like Carmen" scene, the Snug.
glers den is the finale, with the sad
passengers OF fate sleeping on the
hillside on their weary march to
slavery. There is some real melody
here that is almost banal The one
real singing voice of the entire
opera was the rich bass baritone of
Simonson-sung by Cesare Formichi
whose single aria brought him
great applause. whose voice was
beautiful ard vibrant and filled with
profound feeling.
i The lesser parts brought into
prominence the old aunt, sung by
Lorna Doone jackson, the friend
Anna, by Maria CIaessens, contral-
to, la Rouge" in the prison
scene, in which Clara Shear again
was prominent in a small bit. and
Jose Mojlca. that delightful tenor.
who was almost lost in a small
part.
Roberto. Moranzoni conducted the
opera with compelling power. max.
ing the score always a lovely
i thing, in Italian flow and yet as a
dramatic background to the Tolstoy
story.
To those who love drama as well
as to those who love music drama
Resurrection" is a fascinating
work.
But to Mary Garden it Is a su.
preme dramatic achievement of
that artist for whom we find no
comparison even in the world Of
the play, in her characterization Of
Tolstoy's "Katucha."
The opera was presented a. the
last OF our brief season Of two. BY
Ara, Wilson Greene,