Evening star., 1952-04-27
News of Music
VIEWS OF MUSIC
Districts Opera Season
Benefits by Modernism
Refurbished Scenes, New Costumes Differ
From 1906 at the Old Columbia
By EIeno de Soyn

When the curtain rises in th'
Capitol Theater tomorrow night
the long anticipated. but short
lived operate season of the Metro
politan Opera here will have
begun.
The "grandest" of operas,
"Aida," will be given followed py
"Madama Butterfly" and Car
men," These three have never
been surpassed in popularity, al
though Carmen" and Butter
fly" were considered failures ct
their premieres. They are respon-
sible for the galaxy of great per-
sonalities, each of whom left an
imprint, revered to this day.
Even minus the costly imita-
tions of ancient Memphis alld
Thebes. used 81 years ago at its
premiere and still on view in
Cairo, Aida" is a great pageant.
The operas grandioSe concept
and musical Splendor seem suf-
f1cient in themselves and may be
responsible for the attempt made
by Rolf Gerard and Margaret
Webster to give an impression of
Egypt rather than to suggest its
actual looks in their newly devised
scenery. There will be no painted
temples or pyramids, only soft
. lighting effects and colorful cos
tuning.
Butterfly Played in 1906
Puccini:s famous tale Of "love
and heart break in a Japanese
setting" should be of special in
terest to Washingtonians since
the American premiere of mad
ANA Butterfly" took place two
blocks away from the Capitol
Theater, on October Is. 1906, at
the Columbia. 1t was presented by
Henry w. Savage with the Hun
garian prima donna, Eliza SZa-
mosy in the title role. Joseph F.
Sheehan was the Pinkerton;
Thomas D. Richards, the Sharp
less and the American Harriet
Behnee the ZuZuki. According to-
a review in The Evening Star.
SzamoSy may not have ranked
among the greatest vocalists." 1t
found fault with her high notes.
For the weeks engagement
Savage advertised three conduc-
tors to alternate nightly. He also
had three complete sets of prin-
'cipals, five being American girls.
Reviews show that many Of those
advertised did not appear and
were substituted at the last
minute. Thus Adelaide Norwood
Brandt of Baltimore, who was to
IimperSonate Cio-Cio- San the next
night twas not permitted'' to|
appear and Immediately instituted
q law suit against Savage.
Her place was taken by another
American girl. Rena Viviennel
from Duluth. Minn;, a student of
Victor Maurel, who won her
audience by her fresh young voice
and pleasing personality" It was
said that Miss Vivienne had sung
the complete opera for Puccini
and his publisher, Tito Ricordi, at
the Milan La Scala during a try
out rehearsal and met with his
entire approval. The final &C
count of the company'S engage
ment mentioned that Miss Vivi-
, enne'S success at the Columbia
must have caused some jealousy
back-stage. since Frau Szamosy's
husband missed" the girl from
the upper part of the theater."
Puccini Had Faith
Puccini's faith in "Butter1y's"
future was unshakable in spite of
the pandemonium its premiere
evoked at La Scala in Milan and
the humiliations he suffered there
in 1904 and later. He was con-
.vinced that he will win at the
end" Statistics prove that he
did. Eleven years after its pre-
miere with Geraldine Farrar at
the Met" in 1907, Butterfly"
equalled in popularity the two older
operas Aida" and Carmen"
The types of Cio-Cio- San, for
eign to the Western world, and
of Carmen, the least standardized
of the three roles. are the most
difficult to portray. But to i'm
personate Carmen has been the
goal of every singer for decades,
whether she has a low or high
voice. Even Adelina Patti. a.
coloratura, essayed it at the Met
ropolitan Opera in 1887.
After the operas fiasco in Paris
with Galli-Marie in the title role,
whose lack of esthetics in the i'm
personation offended the French
taste, half a dozen others tried
to modify the portrayal of a char
acter, the coarSeneSs of which is
fully described in Prosper Meri-
mee's book. Patti was among
these. Of her acting William
James Henderson wrote: Every
one knows that Carmen is a cat,
but Patti made her a kitten"
The Missing Poees
Two years later, in 1889. Car
men" was sung in German with
spoken dialogue, featuring LilliI
Lehman, the great Wagnerian
soprano. Emma Calve. considered
the greatest of them all. gave
the Metropolitan Opera premiere
in French IN 1898.
The recovery of Al unpublished
pages belonging to the third act