The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-11-22
GHOST OF AN OLDI
 OPERA RETURNS|
Metropolitan Opens Up But Geraldine Farrar First
 Hears Old Friends

New York, Nov. 22--(UP) --The Metropolitan Opera opened the new season last night. There were enough diamonds and emeralds and gold around the golden horseshoe" to stock Tiffany,s and enough broeades and silks and satins to reach from here to St. Louis. Soci- ety and finance were resplendent in the boxes and the orchestra and the music lovers were crowded rather uncomfortably in the bal cony and the aisleS All in all, 1t was brilliant occasion.
 At about the time the dowagers and the debutantes were ladening themselves with necklaces, tiaras, rings, and bracelets, and the French maids were bringing in the ermine wraps and the chauffeurs were talk ing the limousines around to the front, the ghost of another opera and another Metropolitan-whose music had not been a local thing, but had penetrated to every corner of the country-was being waited unostentatiously over the city.
 Old Memories Come Back
 The managers of the little broad casting station, WQXR, had gotten hold of some very old photograph recording by Geraldine Farrar-the very mention of whose name brought back to their memory Caruso, Scotti, Melba, Journet, Chaliapin, who were familiar per- sonages even to the school boy of their day. They intended to broad cast them for novelty's sake and someone thought it would be nice to have Miss Farrar around to com- ment to the radio audience between records. So, without much thought that she would accept, they invited her.
 Miss Farrar, white haired now and 56 years old, was delighted. She intended to come down from her Connecticut home, where she has been in retirement for seven years, for the first night of the opera any, way, and on her way she dropped by to bring to life again for an hour the glories of her glorious career
 Recalls 36 Years Ago
 Witsfully, she recalled that back there 36 years ago when she made her debut with the German Imper- ial opera, her German was SO bad she had to sing an Italian opera, Il Trovatore. And from the wax, poured the silvery, girlish beauty of the voice that had been hers. When the kaiser had her sing for him pri- vately, he liked English ballads, she said, because his grandmother was Queen Victoria, and the Geraldine Farrar of 1904 sang an English bal lad.
 . She told her audience about Scotti-what man! What an ar- tist! and she and Scotti, young Farrar and young Scotti, sang from Mozart's Don Giovanni. With the assurance of an authority, she said that there were many Car mems, some too cold, some too hot.
 Now" she said, pride coming into voice that still was strong and musical, you may listen to my Carmen"
 And from the wax, poured the youthful lit of Farrar;s Carmen singing the Habanera, which doubtless recalled to those old enough, the Farrar of 1908, the most beautiful of the prima donnas.
 Listens To Dead Friends
 She didn't say what she thought as she listened to the voices of her dead friends Scotti, Caruso, Jour- net, Chaliapin-come strong and clear from the wax, blended beau- tifully with her own. But her voice was exultant when she said:
 "Caruso, Journet" and I stood hand in hand in front of the re- cording horns and sang"
 That was the prison scene trio of Gounod'S Faust, and when the needle had run its course and 1t was again a wax impression made in 1912, she said: Well, I'm of for the opera, goodnight"
 And, gathering her wrap around her shoulders, she hurried out of the studio.
 At the opera, she heard Verdi's Otello, the great opera of his final or third" period. She heard Maria Caniglia, the Metropolitan soprano, make her American debut as Des- demona, the role she used to sing, Martinelli as Otello, Tibbet as Iago. She also saw the most brilliant as- semblance of debutantes and their wealthy papas and mamas of the year.