Evening star., 1927-12-09
4THA|S" |MPRESSES
CAPITAL AUDIENCE
Mary Lewis, Thomas, Capt.
taine and Others Give
Fine Presentation.

The WASHINGTON Opera Co. Offered
the drest oi the productions OF this
festival week 10 date when il present
ed Massenet's ''Thais last night before
a large audience truly representative
OF society in the National Capital al
the height of the season Three re
markabie operate personalities domi
mated the production.
Mary Lewis was a looking
Thais, acting with restrained dramatic
ferVor that won her showers OF ad-
Tniring comments. Her sweet, high
voice suits the role voCallv as we'll as
her beauty suits the chara cteriZation
of That's, the gorgeous courtesan. Miss
Lewis Is a Young artist OF unusual
polse. She sings easily. with the most
effectiveness. Miss Lewis beauty and
acting swept her audience emotionaily
as a whole.
Thomas Also Scores.
Artistically, the leading star Of the
evening from every point of view was
John Charles Thomas. He is baritone
of whom America may well be proud.
He has a superb vocal organ and
seems to have thorough, wise contro)
of it, with ease OF production and au-
thority Of style in his singing. Ora
matically, too, he is excellent, and his
French diction shows the effect of the
year he sang in Europe following his
Oreratic debut with the Washington
company in aida" two season ago.
Last night he repeated the outstand
ing triumph that he made the end of
last season when he sang the title role
of "Rigoletto" here with the Washing
ton Opera Co. 1t will be very inter
est.ng to hear him again as Amonasto
tomorrow night. He portrayed the
earnest relentlessness OF the Cenobite
monk convincingly and was equally
effective in the portrayal of the dawn.
ing of the great passion for That's,
which swept him off his feet after he
had successfully turned her from wor.
ship of the pagan goddess, Venus. and
then found that the converted That's
was about to die.
Due to the length of the opera and
the lateness of the hour, the middle
scene of the last act, in which Atha
nael confesses to his fellow monks
his passion for That's and has vision
that foretells her death, was elimi
mated. The duet to the Meditation"
music in the last scene Just before
That's dies in Athanael's arms was
one of the finest moments Of the opera.
vocally.
The orchestra won hearty applause
for the playing of the famous 'Medi-
tation," which is supposed to suggest
the conversion Of That's from her
pagan thoughtlessness to a state of
Christian humility. The first violin
lists name was not given. but his play
ing was excellent. and he well de-
served the ovation he received per-
sonally, as well as the orchestra as a
whole. Elsewhere the orchestral music
Of this score is more or less negligible,
and there Is not much choral work.
What there Is, however, was well done
last night, and the ballet, too, was
thoroughly adequate.
Still again Enrica Clay Dillon, di-
rector of the stage. showed fine taste
and not little originality in the set
tings and the grouping, especially of
the very large choral and dance
groups in the third act. Mr.. Bimboni,
the conductor, also guided orchestra.
chorus and principals through their
blending roles with the ease and sure
ness of experience. He received ap-
plause when he appeared on the stage
with the singers at the end OF the
opera. Elizabeth Gardiner, premiere
danseuse, also won a personal hand
for the grace of her ballet solo.
Washington Singers I'm Cast.
In the comparatively smaller role of
Nicias, the tenor part, for uniquely
this opera gives the heroic role to the
baritone instead, the delightful, poised
artist that came as Frances Lyric |
ambassador" for this festival week of |
opera was admirable and increased the |
favorable impression that he had made |
in the opening production, "Mignon."
M. Maurice Capitaine will have fuller |
opportunities as Faust in the Gounod |
opera tonight, and there is no doubt |
that all who have heard him in the |
earlier works will give him a warm |
welcome.
Aside from the three leading roles, |
all the remainder were taken. and well |
done. too, by Washington singers. An |
other interesting fact lies in the sing |
ing Of every role in the opera except |
that Of Nicias by American singers.
Charles Trowbridge Tittman, well |
known bass of this city, was an eff |
fective leader Of the monks in the role |
of Palemon. His makeup and gestures |
were excellent and did much in the |
first scene to establish the atmosphere |
Of reality Of the operate story. Char |
1otte Hartman. q young contralto. did |
very well with her opportunity as AL
bine, an abbess, and showed good
stage presence and great vocal posi-. |
bilities. Dorothy Tyler and Doris Nor
row did the tinkling music Of their
duet In the second scene and merged
1t into the quartet with Nicias and
Athanael very artistically. Adolph
Turner did the small part Of the servi-
tor well.
An impression has prevailed that the
houses for the remainder of the week
are completely sold out. Mrs. Albion
has requested that 1t be stated that
there still are some good seats avail
able for the performance tonight of
Faust" the matinee tomorrow of
'Hansel and Gretel' and the final
opera, "Aida," to be sung tomorrow
night.
In tonight's opera. which will be
sung in French, as have the three pre-
ceding works, the leading roles will be
sung by NJ. Capitaine in the title role,
Georges Baklanoff, Russian basso, as
Mephistopheles; Dorothy Spears, the
young novelist-singer, as Marguerite;
Ivan Ivantzoff as Valentine-a role he
sang especially we'll in the production
in l925--Grace Leslie as Martha and
Rose Polio. young Washington con-
tralto, as Siebel. Miss Polio also sang
this role in the earlier production in
which Mr.. Ivantzoff sang Valentine.
Fl. r.