Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-20
Nj i S &c
BY HELEN FETTER.

~ TRING the last few days
\ Spring has been tempting
j eve, woody to come ana play
49, outdoors, and concert ana
roera halls do not have the lure WIN
their artificially lighted interiors
However, it is probable that there
will be the usual biting March WinoS
and the tears of April to uphoia IN
feres. in indoor entertainment loI d
while vet. There is but one profes-
sional concert this week-that 70 DC
given by the eminent musician serge
Rachmaninoff.
The Chicago Opera Co, as cunoer-
some almost as a huge circus 10
move on tour. and much more cXpeh-
sive. had short, but very attractiy ',
season in Wa <hington the middie
ri last week. The two operas pre-
sented-and excellently done, too
were vivid contrasts both IN dramatic
and musical style. Nerdi nc
Masked Bali was mclio" ltailaii
oDera of hest traditional MODE. Al
fano's operate version OF kesurrec-
ton" based upon Tolstoi's story OF
,he same name, was a remarkable
setting for the acting OF Mary Gar
den. one of the few prlma donilas
who is consistently mentioned as a
diva" She is all OF this and more
She is a dramatic genius II ever there
was one, with canny Scotch busi-
ness head on hc~ we'll groomed Shout,
sers and the lithesome grace ana
reduced figure Of young girl,
It is no wonder that Samuel In
sull. president OF the Chicago CIVIC
Grand Opera Co.. has announced
plane for a great downtown opera
house, grazing spacious square
readily accessible TO transportation
lines and with an income from com
merciaI purposes sufficient ultimately
10 cancel any seasons dehcit. 1t IS
10 be a skvscrapcr opera house and
commercial building. costing Slo0oo,,,-
600. According to Charles Marshall
leading tenor Of the company, 1t IS
possible that plan will be worked
out whereby the Chicago forces will
also have a laboratory tor young
singers. III addition TO the more pro-
fessional aspects OF the company.
4 X 4
IN New York. too, under the gen
i cral direction Of Otto H. Kahn.
fnanc!er and head OF the board OF
,lirec+crs OF the Metropolitan Opera
Co, q bigger and better opera house
is beirg planned. Incidentally, it will
be inte Getting to local music lovers
10 knew .hat the Metropolitan forces
are ,ct eduled to stop over in Wash
ingtor Easter week when going
SOU + cor the annual performance in
Atlanta and will give several pro-
auctions here This has been a
plan d,-russed for Washington for
many years but has not seemed to
work yus practically. The evident
interest 10 opc,a reused in Washing
ton the Il ST few seasons i'll incrcaS-
ing degree both by the efforts of the
local oGsrs company and by the re-
spouse OF Ike public to the perform
ances gi.xE, sere by the Chicago
company tot to mention smaller
local groups who are doing fine
pioneer work in training young sing
ers her.. asd the explara:or! recitals
and otter operate backgro'r q work
done ia ne radio /. hatc con-
tributed TO sri.c.Eq p TIE opera
pubic o. more AZ 5start!st proper
ton thas, previously in Washington.
Last weeh OF .or.sc, the Chicago
people kat tonsidfi able opposition
in the dr. wing powers of that unique
personality Aimee MACPHERSON. 1t
is probable that nothing SO dynamic
will distul', the chances for the
Washington Opera Co. when it pre-
sents Verdi's "Rigoletto' on March
5: there is not even an inauguration
this year.
A T time when the periodic craze
"A for censorship OF one thing or
another has broken out afresh it is
OF interest to have brought to our
attention the fact that in former
times even music has been subject
10 the tracks of noteworthy critics
who wished to see the art placed
under the control of guardian OF
public morals.
In 1895 Jeremy Collier, in his View
of the Ei.e ish Stage probably the
most celebrated and influential at.