Evening star., 1933-02-26
Inaugural Concert to Be
important Musical Event
RProsram to Be Given Eve Of lnausurat'on Will
! Feature Washington Own National Symphony
+ asWell as Ponselle. Tibbett and Zimbalist
By Alice Eversman.

the unexplainable, soul touching
quality Of music, which can pene-
trate the thickest armor of indif-
ference, surely proves to us that
we were put into this world for
some other purpose than the
gaining of comfort and ease for
our bodies. The materially
minded are today as ship with
out a rudder, never realizing that
music, which needs but the oppor-
tunity, can act as guide, comforter
and replenisher of vacancies.
Just as jazz and dance rhythms
stimulate the body, so good music
stimulates the spiritual in us and
is there any among us who can
say he is not in need of It?
We have no right to curtail
this influence because money is
necessary to carry it on. Music,
less than any other art, requires
no great intellectual effort, no
long acquiring of knowledge on
the part of the listener to accom-
pliSh the end for which it was
destined-that of refreshment
and uplift. It requires only re-
laxing and giving up to its influ-
ence and then, oh, so gently and
unobtrusively, it will do its work.
Today, people are embarraSsingly
conscious of the amount Of leisure
on their hands. It can be util-
lied to find out what is this thing
called music and why has 1t the
magic power to smooth away the
lines of WEAKNESS from tired
faces and brings a light to the
eyes as though one had looked
on a vision.
In our midst Is music in its
finest form, symphony orches-
ira. Let us be proud and helpful
and everlastingly grateful that
through its agency we have
beauty in our midst.
THE season of Grand Opera,
which the Metropolitan will
give at the Lyric Theater in Balti-
more on March 13, IA and IS, will
be of interest to opera lovers in
this city who have been suffering
from opera deprivation. Not only
will it be possible to hear this
years sensation, Emperor Jones"
created by Lawrence Tibbett, but
the ever beloved "Rigoletto,"
"Pagliacci" (on the same evening
as emperor Jones") and Iris
tan and Isolde" Lily Pons, whom
Washington has awaited in vain
this season, will sing the role of
Gilda with Italy's finest, Lauri-
Volpi, in the part of the Duke, and
Americas Richard Bonelli as
Rigoletto. Media" in "Pagli-
acci" will be sung by Lucrezia Bori
and the Wagner Opera will have
the outstanding singers of the
German section of the Metropoli-
tan.
Sometimes, in a lifetime, one
finds a combination of graces in
one person. Lily Pons is that
person today. She has youth,
beauty, personality and a phe-
nomenal voice. In a sense, she
belongs more to this country than
to her native France, for it was
first in New York, at her Metro
politan debut, that she received
acclaim as a singer with voice
of unusual magnificence. She
carried no stamp of European ap-
proval when she stepped modestly
forth as Lucia" for the opera
houses of Paris had heard her not
at all, and only the smaller the
aters of the French watering
places knew that such a singer
existed. True, she had studied in
the Paris Conservatoire and car
ried off premier prix. Some also
may remember seeing her at the
Theater des Varieties, but the
great singer of today was left for
Mr.. Gatti CaSaZZa and the New
York public to discover.
Since then all the world turns
out to hear her, she is feted
everywhere. At her last perform
ance in Rio, after a triumphant
season in South America, white
doves were released in honor of
her farewell. This is Miss Pons'
third appearance in Baltimore
with the Metropolitan and in the
role OF "Gilda" she will measure
her strength against the shades
Of those dead and gone singers,
Nantier-Didiee, Bosio, Nolan
Carvalho and the great Patti,
who had the distinction of having
sung the same role at the old New
Orleans Opera on February 6, 1861,
the eve OF the Civil War.