Evening star., 1933-08-27

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son fiocked to the out-of- door the
enjoyment that expressed itself il
The program included such numbers
as Night Club" by John w. Green;
"Chant of the Weed" Don Redmond;
Land of Superstition" William Grant
Still; Jazz Bolero," John Jacob Loeb;
Grand Canyon Suite" Ferde Grofe
Mood Indigo" Duke Ellington, and
two numbers by Gershwin. Mr.. Stills
Land of Superstition" which is the
third movement in his Darkest Africa
suite, was the most interesting by
reason of combination of deep feeling
and vivid imagination that colored this
composition with a warm glow. The
Grand Canyon Suite" and the Night
Club were attempts to portray in
musical terms riot of impressions and
sensations.
The 10-Week season at the Hippo
drome has destroyed completely, and it
is to be hoped for all time. the sacred
tradition that opera must be produced
with large outlay OF money and Sus-
talned by exorbitant entrance fees. We
have had opera at top-notch prices and
at high theatrical prices, but this is the
first attempt to bring it down to the
level that has become popular-namely
movie prices The successful result has
With nothing more to say.
Grand opera has always been placed
In an exclusive niche and only the
super-trained have been permitted to
handle its production. Seldom has it
been allowed to any native of this
hemisphere to have a governing word
regarding it. And so deeply has this
idea of debarring ownership taken root
that whenever the subject of opera
for the maSsts" is under discussion it
haS to do entirely with the opera of
foreign origin, of subjects not approach
ing the understanding, the daily life
or habits of thought Of "the masses"
The uncommon spectacle of vast
crowds clamoring for opera seats or
applauding with natural impulse pro-
gram such as Mr.. Whiteman presented
was distinctly cheering for all those
who have bemoaned our unresponSive
ness to opera and the harsh treatment
accorded the national composer. 1t is
a definite sign that the process of
change is working among the music
public and what has been longed for
and preached about by an earnest few
is gradually becoming possible. 1t re-
mains only for some one olseize this
pregnant moment and assume leader
ship. With the public interest held
stimulated by the novelty, the Ameri-
can composer interested in writing
opera and the opera manager inter-
eSted in producing American opera,
both the question of opera and COM
poser could be utilized to unified
musical benefit
Most of us are apt to forget, if We
really ever knew, what an excellent
repertoire of American opera We al
ready possess The peculiar intrigues
that seem native to the theater have
prevented many worthwhile compost
tions from being heard after they have
received the sanction of the special
judges to whom they were submitted.
The past five years has seen the pro-
Cuctlon of more music dramas by
American composers than at any other
period under the pressure of changing
conditions and consequent need OF
change of policy. When Howard Han
sons Merry Mount" will be given this
Winter at the Metropolitan it will raise
the number to 18 for that institution
alone. The defunct Chicago Civic
Opera Co. has also been generous in
its American productions during the
same years.
However, these later day accomplish
mentS are not the only ones that could
be used, provided some one would have
the courage to feature a season OF
American opera. Placed one after the
other, the long list of the productions
already vouched for and others wait
ing a hearing would afford an oppor-
tunity to discover just how talented our
composers are in the realm of music
drama. There is, for instance. Freder-
ick S. Converse's THE Pipes of Desire"
the first American opera to be produced
at the Metropolitan. in 1910, and his
The Sacrifice" produced by the Bos-
ton Opera Co. in 1911. This same year
saw the staging of Victor Herberts
'Natoma' by the Philadelphia Chicago
company at the Metropolitan Opera
House in Philadelphia, with Mary Gar
den in the title role. In 1912 Horatio
Parker's Mona won the Metropolitan
Opera $4,000 prize for the best opera
with text and music by Americans. In
1913 DR.. Parker again won a $4,000
prize offered by the National Federation
of Music Clubs with his opera Fairy
land" produced in Los Angeles in 1915.
In 1913 Walter Damroschs "Cyrano de
Bergerac" was heard three times at the
Metropolitan and once in Atlanta given
by the same company. A second opera
by Herbert. Madeleine" was produced
in 1914, this time at the Metropolitan,
and Simon Bucharoff's Lovers Knot"
was heard for the first time that year
in Chicago. A one-act opera by Jane
Van Etten was included in the roper |
toire of the Century Opera Co. playing |
in Chicago in 1914 The Metropolitan |
gave a gorgeous setting to De Koven's |
Canterbury Pilgrims" in 1917. while the |
Chicago opera produced Henry Hadley's |
'Azora." Another opera of Eadley's, !
Blanca" which won the Hinshaw prize |
of $1,000 for an American opera to be |
produced by the Society of American
Singers, was given in 1918, the same
year that Cadman's ''Shanewis" was ac-
claimed at the Metropolitan.
The year 1919 saw two American
operas in the Metropolitan repertoire.
The Temple Dancer" by John Adam
Hugo, and The Legend" by Joseph
Carl Breil. The third opera by Mr.
Hadley, "Cleopatra's Night" was pro-
duced at the Metropolitan in 1920. while
Rip Van Wrinkle" In 1923 Theodore
Stearns' "Snowbird" and in 1925 w.
FRANKIE Harling's "A Light From St.
Agnes" were given by the Chicago COM
pany. The Western Opera also pro-
duced 'Cadman's witch of Salem in
1926, while in 1927 Deems Taylor's ro-
mantle drama was first heard at the
Metropolitan in New YORK.
Besides these well known works, there
are several that this country has re-
fused to produce and which won sue
cess abroad. The first American opera
to be performed in Europe was Bruno
Oscar Klein's "Ivanhoe," produced in
Hamburg in 1895 In 1905 "Zenobia,"
by Louis Adolphe Coerne, was given at
the Stadttheater. in Bremen, under the
direction of Egon Pollak. While occu-
pying the position of conductor at the
Stadttheater in Ma2iz in 19O8-the first
American to hold such a position in
Germany - Henry Hadley's one act
opera, Safe" was given several per-
fornfances. In 1910 Arthur Nevin's In
dian theme opera, 'Poia," was passed