Evening star., 1936-10-07
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
BY MARGARET GERMOND.
OF LENA GEYER. BY Marcia Daven-
port. New York: Charles Scribner's

ROtb. ANCW 4VhAs Su0AiCo 0CkAUAlCA y
Sons.
The daughter of a great singer as
sembies her knowledge of the operate
stage and its stars of q generation ago
in a novel that turns out to be somewhat
more of study In personality than the
life story Of q famous artist. Mrs. Daven-
port is the daughter of Alma Gluck. Her
acquaintance with the stage and with
that remarkable group of individuals,
who through the magnificence Of their
voices inaugurated that glorious era In
the history of music in which the opera
rose to unequaled heights of perfection,
Is intimate. Lilli Lehman, Sembrich,
Nordica. Melba, EameS, Plancon, Bis
pham, the De Reszkes. Van Rooy, Calve
and others of that extraordinary age of
great singers are the men and women
who were making operate history when
Lena Geyer, the subject of Mrs. Daven-
ports novel, blazed into stardom after
years of diligent and determined study.
The story opens with funeral scene
In st. Patrick's Cathedral, where q null
titude of admirers have assembled for
the last rites Of the famous singer. In
the crowded church there are barely half
who had for a long time served as COM
panion, secretary and friend; Dora, her
Bohemian maid: Henry Loefiler, her
husband, and David David Freeman,
whose grief is assuaged only by the
knowledge that now he will be at liberty
to write the story Of the singers life.
1t had been the command of Lena Geyer
that the story must not be published
until after her death. Her wish also
was that the biography must contain
the whole truth.
In creating the character Of Lena
Geyer the author has undoubtedly piled
up into one dynamic personality the
experiences of many artists to whom
the road to fame has been over hazard
GUS roads. Lenzka Gyruzkova was born
in the squalor Of poverty In Prague,
the daughter of charwoman who loved
to hear her child sing. AS q shy. self
conscious child of thirteen years, she was
brought to the studio of Guilio Pizzetti.
who promised her mother that he would
hear her sing. The master was amazed
by the performance of the child and
gave her some sound advice, which she
followed to the letter.
1t Is through q series Of revelations
by the few intimate friends and asso-
ciates of the woman that the story of
her life is unfolded. Part OF the sordid
and obscure beginnings in Prague and
as q poverty-stricken and unfortunate
immigrant in New York is told by David
as it was related to him by the great
singer during the course Of their long
friendship. Another part Is told by Elsa
de Haven. whose intimate association
made possible the observation of traits
and characteristics not discovered by
others. The romantic episode of her life
with the Duke de Chartres Is revealed
by the wealthy aristocrat himself in q
chapter from his memoirs for which
Lena Geyer had paid his family
fabulous sum.
Berlin, Paris, London, New York,
Vienna acclaim the mysterious woman
whose physique and talents were Of
Wagnerian proportions, the woman who
remained aloof from the host Of ad-
mirers who sought her favors and about
whom no one could learn anything
except that she was pupil of the
great Lilli Lehman.
1t is a warm and human story. though
it Is the portrayal of the life of an ex-
traordinary woman rather than the un-
folding of the struggle which all singers
must make over the stony roads of hard
work and encouragement to reach their
destination. A glamorous and fascinat-
Ing picture Of multiplied successes is
presented. But beyond the first years of
hardship, before the beginnings of
career were made. there seems to have
been no task too great no role too diff
cult for this versatile artist to conquer
overnight. A magnificent woman Is Lena
Eeyer possessed of q glorious voice that
merely in description captures the imagi-
nation, dynamic and compelling in per-
sonality and yet apparently devoid of
any genuine emotion save the desire to
sing.
After long decline In this country
opera is again on the up grade. Mrs.
Davenport has not overlooked the OPP
portunity to cirect attention to those
years Of decline, but in so doing she
has managed to inspire the reader with
the hope that present indications of
revival Of cultural entertainment in
America will again bring legitimate opera
Into the foreground.
WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA. Edited by
Albert Nelson Marquis. Chicago: The
A. NJ Marquis Co.
Volume 10, covering the years 1861,
Of this invaluable book of life sketches
of individuals whose achievements have
made them noteworthy in some branch
Of human endeavor has arrived, and
again 1t Is bigger and better book
than it has ever been. Since the 1884
IS edition. with it's 2,749 pages and ST.
081 sketches, this biographical dictionary
Of notable living men and women of
the United States has grown to 2,878
pages, with 81 ,434 sketches, and of these
there are 2,786 which have not appeared
in any earlier edition.
When in 1899 Albert Nelson Marquis
established the publication and the first
edition made its appearance it must
have created something of q sensation
among those who, making use of it
for the first time, realized what an
enormous gap it filled in the field of
reference books, for in view of the
Invaluable information which it con-
tainS and the universal use to which 1t
iS subjected today one wonders Just
how the people of this country managed
to get along without it. Until then no
compilation of a comparative nature
had attempted to include outline sketches
ON so comprehensive q scale, and few
since then have successfully main
Itained checking system for later
achievements and for accuracy as to
80. q -