Evening star., 1933-06-18

other countries have closed shop
so to speak, as regards serious mu'
sical undertakings, that there l!
a renewal of energy in music
throughout the length anc
breadth of the United States anc
plans are made with zest for
Summer season which, lacking
only the famous Soloists, prove!
fair to outrival the Winter. II
seems that with the official season
ended, the citizens take matters
into their own hands and have
music just about the way they like
it best. One may pause and pom
der over the way the genera.
public" resiSts the pleadings OF
managers who present famous
artists and orchestras yet flock
with evident enjoyment and will
ingness to equally serious pro-
grams given in the open air. The
ordinary counter attractions con-
tinue, in the majority of cases
throughout the Summer yet there
is no lessening of the crowds that
gather to hear the out door
concerts. 1t is true, fresh air and
lower prices are an inducement,
but the need of a reduction of en-
trance fees has already been gen.
orally recognized and, no doubt,
the deSirability of more fresh air
in our concert halls will also soon
come under consideration. Prac-
tically every one knows how much
heavier a heavy symphonic pro-
gram grows with the diminishing
of the oxygen supply in an audi
torium.
Those who are longing for con-
firmation that this country is
really musical and that serious
music is desired should feel re-
assured by the schedule planned
in every large city for the Sum-
mer music. The only regular
Summer season that the hard
times have affected is the Holly
wood Bowl concerts. The reasons
given for their discontinuance
are: Existing economic condi-
tions, lack of adequate individual,
corporate, or governmental sub
Sidy; inability to reach an agree
ment with the musicians as to a
salary scale adequate to meet the
needs of the present emergency"
To counteract this detection, an
other orchestra has been born in
Newark, N. j., to be known as the
Newark Symphony Orchestra and
concerts are planned in the city'S
stadium under the direction of a
young American, Robert Crawford.
In New York, rehearSalS of the
Goldman Band, whose concerts on
the Mall in Central Park and the
New York University campus draw
large crowds, are under way.
In Western Connecticut, a six
weeks series of three concerts a
week will be given under the di-
rection of Nikolai Sokoloff with
such soloists as Mario Chamlee,
Ruth Miller, Emily Roosevelt,
Jacques Gordon, Emma Otero,
Benno Rabinoff and Sascha
Jacobsen. Again, in Westport,
Conn, a series of eight out-of-
door concerts are planned by the
Manhattan Symphony Orchestra
with the avowed intention of fea-
turing an American composition
on each program.
1t is of great import that this
Summer the public mind, or the
minds of those planning for the
public, turn to thoughts of grand
opera. This country is opera
starved, there is no doubt about
it, and when there is a chance to
hear it without the ceremony and
adornmentS that the Winter sea-
son demands, the general public"
is glad to respond. Nothing in
music can entirely replace that
combination of inspiration, fam
tasy, romance and drama which
as grand opera. The Philadelphia
Summer concerts at Robin Hood
Dell, Fairmont Park, will intro
duce opera into the series and
give two performance a week on
each Monday and Tuesday eve
ming. The artists, Anne Roselle,
Leon Rothier, Frederick Jagel and
Katherine Meisle come from the
Metropolitan or Chicago operas
and will appear in the old IA
vorites, Aida" Faust" "Rigo-
aetto," Nine. Butterfly" and Car
men"
The Steel Pier Grand Opera
Co. will open in Atlantic City on
July 2 with repertory that will
include a mixture of light and
grand opera. The Chicago Opera
Co. is having crowded houses in
New York and the Empire State
Opera Co. is giving a few per-
formances at the Fifty-seventh
Street Playhouse. An al fresco
season is planned by the Com
monWealth Grand Opera Co. to
take place in the George Wash
ington Stadium beginning July 3
With such ideally beautiful sur
roundings as are furnished by the
Sylvan Theater it would be inter
eSting If Washington could have a
simplifcd and abbreviated form
OF grand opera during the Sum-
me-
THIS Spring some nervous citi
zenS Of San Francisco began
asking: Why in view of the eco
nomic crisis should not the San
Francisco Orchestra be discon-
tinued?" The leading San Fran
cisco journal, the Argonaut, made
a quick and vigorous reply: "As
soon tear down its parks and great
buildings as scrap the orchestra,
cries the Argonaut, and continues
bitterly, 1--WE should, in short
carefully convert civilized COM
munity into hard dollars anc
cents and sell for a price the
grandeur, the living beauty, The
wonder Of the cool, gray city o.
love To organize and establish
q great symphony orchestra i!
the work of many years with tht
reward of increased civic culture