Evening star., 1941-01-19
Opera Sung
ByGrowing
Native Group
Gallo Contribution
To American Side
Is Impressive
BY Alice EuerSm0u.

EdWar0 Johnson manager or the
Metropolitan Opera, said in an ar
ticle in the little magazine Opera
News: "A new need for opera is
manifest. new desire for that es-
cape which is also an eXaltation. a
new confirmation from businessmen
and educators, schools and colleges,
vomens clubs and the vast radio
audience that opera is not merely
social luxury but a spiritual neces-
sitY." This was said at the begin
ming of the present season. when
the Metropolitan had tested well
the reaction of the public to opera
during its drive for funds
It is encouraging to know that
there is spreading a general appre-
citation of the value OF opera in the
musical life 1t is so different from
any other kind of music, combining,
as it does, the pictorial, historical
and histrionlc with music that.
from both an educational and Spir-
itual standpoint, 1t has great deal
to offer 1t requires also a differ
ent training, demanding a keen
mental alertness to Synchronize the
various component parts.
The detailed study for grand opera
comes easily to Europeans, since
most of the opera stories are set in
localities familiar to the natives and
with action and psychology which
they have known all their lives. Il
is much more difficult for an Amer
ican singer to prepare himself for
career in this specialized field. since
nothing to do with opera is familiar
to him. He must first know several
languages enough to appreciate
their idiomatic sense and then try
to get the angle of thought which
is the groundwork for the drama of
the story. Finally, the action must
be appropriate for whatever ma
tionallty is represented. for it is we'll
known that the Anglo-SaXon is
more reserved in emotional express
sion than any other people.
We can be doubly grateful at the
present time that there are so many
fine artists who are Americans, who
have passed the ordeal of foreign
criticism and are now on an equal
footing with European stars. With
the growing feeling among different
sections of civic life that opera is
a spiritual necessity, as Mr.. johnson
says and with American artists con-
Centrating more completely on per-
feCting themselves in this art, the
prospects for an improvement in
the status of opera in this country
are bright.
That opera is wanted by the
American people has been proved by
Fortune Gallo, whose San Carlo
Opera Co. comes to the National
Theater this week, during the 30
years that he has annually gone
forth with his company to tour the
country. He has taken his singers
where opera companies such as the
Metropolitan and San Francisco
could never go, for the expense of
moving them is too great, and year
after year he has educated the peo-
pie to understand and to love grand
opera. Were it not for his cease
less endeaVorS, it is possible that
attention to the Metropolitan Opera
nroadcasts and the generous response
to its plea for money might not
have been so great.
When Mr. Gallo organized the San
Carlo Co. his singers were Euro
peanS American opera singers were
practically unknown at that time.
and the few that existed were booked
by the Metropolitan. AS soon as
there were any native singers in
terested in opera he took them into
his company, giving them a chance
to learn the business of singing
under directors skilled in all the
traditions. Many of these young
singers have stepped from the ranks
of his company into the Metro
politan, the most recent being
Norma Greco, who sang the title
role of Aida" here last season and
who is now making a career for
herself at the Met.
It is a source of pride that so many
Americans are now part of the
Metropolitan casts, but the work
which Mr. Gallo is doing to train
the new singers or to present those
who are already well experienced is
without equal. When the history
of opera development in this country
is written in its entirety, Mr.. Gallo'S
contribution to it will far outdis-
tance that of any other impresario.