Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-14
NJ u S &c
BY HELEN FETTER.

tor, the following:
1T is my design in this paper,
to deliver down to posterity q
faithful account of the Italian
opera, and Of the gradual prog
reSS which it has made upon the
English stage; for there is no
question but our great grandchil-
dren will be very curious to know
the reason why their forefathers
used to sit together like an au-
dience of foreigners in their own
country, and to hear whole plays
acted before them in a tongue
which they did not understand.
"ArSinoe" waSthe first opera that
gave us a taste Of Italian music.
The great success this opera met
with produced some attempts OF
forming pieces upon Italian plans,
which should give more natural
and reasonable entertainment
than what can be met with in
the elaborate trifeS of that ma
ton. This alarmed the poetaSters
and f1ddlerS of the town, who
were used to deal in a more or
binary kind of ware; and there
fore laid down an established rule,
which is received as such to this
day, "that nothing is capable Of
being well set to music that is not
nonsense"
This maxim was no sooner re-
ceived, but we Immediately fell to
translating the Italian operas:
and as there was no great danger
of hurting the sense of those
extraordinary pieces, our authors
often would make words Of their
own which were entirely foreign
to the meaning of the passages
they pretended to translate; their
chief care being to make the
numbers of the English verse an
swer to those of the Italian, that
both of them might go to the
same tune. Thus the famous
song in Camilla-'Barbara 81
lintendo, etc. BarbarouS woman,
yes, know your meaning), which
expresses the resentmentS of an
angry lover, was translated into
the English lamentation, 'Frail
are lovers hopes, ETC. And it
was pleasant enough to see re-
fined persons of the British ma
ton dying away and languiShing
to notes that were filled with
spirit of rage and indignation.
The next step to our re-
finement was the introducing Of
Italian actors into our opera who
sung their parts in their own
language, at the same time thai
our countrymen performed theirs
in our native tongue. The king,
or hero, of the play generally
spoke in italian and his slaves an
swered him in English; the lover
frequently made his court and
gained the heart Of his princess in
a language which she did not un-
derstand. At length the
audience grew tired of under
standing half the opera, and
therefore to ease themselves en-
tirely of the fatigue of thinking,
have so ordered it at present that
the whole opera is performed in
an unknown tongue. We no long
er understand the language of
our own stage; in so much that I
have often been afraid, when I
have seen our Italian performers
chattering in the vehemence of
action, that they have been CALL
ing us names and abusing us
among themselves; but I hope,
since we do put such an entire
confidence in them, they will not
talk against us before our faces,
though they may do 1t with the
same safety as If it were behind
our backs. In the meantime, I
cannot forbear thinking how ma
turally an historian who writes
two or three hundred years hence,
and does not know the taste of his
forefathers, will make the follow
ing reflection: In the beginning
of the eighteenth century, the
Italian tongue was so well under
stood in England; the operas were
acted on the public stage in that
language"
A LREADY 200 years have passed
IA since Mr.. Addison made the
above sage observations, and the
press report received yesterday
from the Metropolitan'S head
quarters in New York summing up
the season closed after twenty
fourth week, would indicate that
in this country, as in the Eng
land of two centuries ago, Italian
opera still holds sway in its native
tongue. More than twice as many
performances Of Italian operas
were given than of even it's near
est rival. The record shows 104
performances of italian operas
ga operas given) SIS performances
of IA German works, q perform
ances of 8 French operas, and 8
performances of the one opera in
English, 1.-The Kings Henchman,"
written by Deems Taylor.
Surely Mr.. Addison would sink
into complete despair and a state
of permanent melancholy over
this state Of affairs. Moreover,
during the entire season, including
Brooklyn, Philadelphia and the
present tour, Verdi's aida" holds
top record Of IL performances.
Viva popera Italia!