Evening star., 1927-11-13

National Capital have fea-
stured two extremes of the subject oi
music. They have either been
lectures-cducationalIy cnlightcnine
and very entertaining. withal--or else
they have been examples of that
most colorful of all the musical arts
opera. The two productions which
have had sold-out houses here 10
date have been productions OF what
was formerly considered high
brow" entertainment. both of them
being grand operas. The first, to be
sure. was quaint and light form
of this art, being the earliest opera
in English. The Beggar's Opera
which is 200 years old. Oddly enough
the only other grand opera given
here SO far this season was perhaps
the very newest opera i'll English.
though the ancient jargon employ cd
in the score was older than that OF
John Gays more aged work; this
was The Kings Henchman." by
Deems Taylor, American composer
and editor.
The English language seems to be
really coming into its own at last
for operate production in the United
States. There have been spasmodic
attempts at frequent intervals COW
cring a space of years along this line
However, not until now has any
marked progress seemed apparent
or any success real and lasting. The
American Opera Co. which proved
its point in giving intimate. modern
lied productions of standard operas
in English. under the auspices of the
Guild 3Theater of New York, last
Winter and pushed the success even
further when rehearsing and giving
Summer productions during the
warm months under the elmS in
Massachusetts. will give Washing
tonians opportunity to see and Judge
for themselves of the success of this
project in three performances to be
given here about the middle of De-
cember.
IN the meantime, down at the Presi-
a dent Theater. with their sleeves
rolled up and their scorebooks be-
coming bethumbed from ardent and
frequent rehearsals. the members OF
the President Light Opera Co, T.
Arthur, Smith, ma jor -domo, are
charging down upon the dusty por-
tails of light operas formerly ex-
tremely popular, now hardly known
by music lover of today, and re-
vitalizing them with the spontaneous
acting, fresh voices. real talent and
true comedy that are possible only
to the most ambitious and youthful
of American singers. Here again
the English language is the medium
of vocal expression. and these young
singers i'll Mr.. Smiths company de-
serve cooperation and a warm hand
for their efforts. In the majority of
cases these young people are singing
the old roles for their ''hrst times"
and are not old enough TO have had
the opportunity of seeing and hear
ing those who in "the COS" made
such marked individual successes in
these works that those in their au-
diences focked backstage and stood
in the streets waiting till the sing
ers came out. to give special greet
ing and praise. Such singer was
Jeannie Winston. Queen of Comic
Operas" who was present in person
looking plump and enjoying the good
humors of life's many jokes as she
sat with a party of friends in one
of the stage boxes Monday night.
In a way, it is difficult for the per-
formers and audience alike that
these productions should be of works
too old to be familiar except i'll GER
tain airs that come to us as shadows
of nights when father logged US on
the parental knee and sang oh.
Read 1t in the Stars" (Which we had
no idea at that time was a hit" of
The Black Hussar") or "A Bicycle
Built for Two" or whistled the air
we grew up to know as "Rock-a-by,
Baby" which was the lovely waltz
song in The Black Hussar."
The question is are the musical
values. and, more especially the en-
tertainment values. of these works
strong enough to hold the present
day audience? In the romantic "80s"
and "o0s," when the girls wore
bustles behind and mutton sleeves
with huge top puffs, folks were not so
sophisticated or entertainments weary
as they are today. The jokes which
were fresh then show the moth
holes a little today, and we are not
liable to give them credit for being
in their original settings. Perhaps
a century from now audiences would
find them much more valuable in
these same settings. as an audience
at Twelfth Night last week crowed
and gurgled with the joys OF discov-
cry when they found some men are
born great. some achieve greatness
and some have greatness thrust upon
them" and many other much quoted
Shakespearean lines in their original
setting. But the trouble with these
light operas in their exact books and
sets is that they are not old enough
to be quaint nor familiar enough to
be thoroughly replete with reminis-
cences that make green the other
wise arid stretches between melo-
dies.
1t might seem wise to inject be-
tween these ''unknowns." even
though golden intrinsic values are
within their scores. other works of
equal value, YET more familiar to
singers and audience alike. robin
Hood" for which Anne Yago would
make a stunning an-a-Dale and
Harry Pfeil dasling romantic
hero; The Chocolate Soldier" with
its waltz song that Hazel Hunting
would sing so charmingly; The For
tune Teller" with its gypsy air and
overture that provide so many au-
,dlerces with humming and whistling
possibilities 10 accompany their ablu-
tons; any or all Of these would
make the rehearsals OF the lesser
known works, perhaps scattered in
hetNeen eaAier inr LIZ. ..rour. Ill. L