Vol. XIX. No. 3 NEW YORK EDITED ~ ~ ....N.O.V.E.M_B_E_R_2_2 ,_19_1_3__ T.en.~! .~Ot.~:_:r.rl_::.: ... "GIOCONDA" RINGS "DON QUICHOTTE"HAS UP- THE CURTAIN AMERICANPREMIERE AT METROPOLITAN Well Performed by Chicago Com­ pany in Philadelphia- Music A Spirited Performance with Ca­ in Massenet's Familiar Vein ruso in Good 'Form at Head B ureau of Musical A m erica, of the Cas t~Amato, Destinn Sixt ee nth and Chestn ut Sts., Philadel phia, Novem ber 17. 1913.. and Toscanini at Their Best­ T HE first real novelty of the local opera Audience Plays Its Own Brilliant season was offered at the Metropolitan Part Brilliantly-Geraldine Far­ last Saturday afternoon, when Mas­ senet's "Don Quichotte" had its American rar's Cold Gives Ponchielli a premiere, under the direction of Cleofonte Distinction That Belonged to Campanini, with Vanni Marcoux in the Massenet title role, which he had sung many times in Europe; Hector Dufranne as Sancho W ITH a spirited performance of "Gio- Panza, and Mary Garden as La Belle Dul­ conda" the Metropolitan Opera cinea. The performance was a genuine Company began its season last M'o;day success. The score is in Massenet's fa­ night. The occasion was as brilliant as miliar vein: It offers a continuous flow of others that have gone before, and if it is melody, light, sometimes almost inconse­ quential, and not often of dramatic signifi­ not difficult to recall premieres of greater cance, but at all times pleasing, of an ele­ artistic pith and moment it behooves the gance that appeals to the aesthetic sense, chronicler of the august event to record and in all its phases appropriate to the the generally diffused glamor as a matter story, sketched rather briefly by Henri Cain from the voluminous romance of Miguel de of necessary convention, As us~al there Cervantes. were as many crowded into the house as In the beautifully spectacular production could conveniently or otherwise be fitted that was disclosed at the local Metropolitan into it and, as usual, m'any were ~urned on Saturday is shown first a street in a away for lack of accommodations, There Spanish town, before the house of Dulcinea, then a stretch of country landscape, with was the usual tenseness of expectancy as the revolving windmills, which Don the opera began and the usual superheated Q~~ichotte valorously attacks; the lair of enthusiasm once it had gotten under way, the brigands, which the Don seeks in his There were noisy ovations after every im­ determination to win Dulcinea's favor by recovering for her the stolen pearl neck­ portant musical moment during the prog­ lace; the courtyard of Dulcinea's house, ress of the acts and there were more of during a fete, and the forest, where, broken them, heightened by horticultural tributes of heart, alone with his faithful Sancho, as each curtain fell. ' Don Quichotte yields up his still uncom­ The audience also played its part we'll. plaining spirit. All of these scenes are Parquet and boxes were sartorially re­ beautifully staged, particularly that of the splendent and admiration was mutual and windmills, and the final tableau, showing protracted, Even the hou e itself looked through the forest trees the dim blue, snow­ be,tter for some ~ I ight refurbishing, Cur­ peaked Sierras in the distance. Iam and decoratIOns gave the impression In his impersonation of Don Quichotte of havmg undergone a needed cleaning and Mr. Marcoux, who had previously appeared in the promenade was a brand new carpet here only as Scarpia in "Tosca," gave new pleasing to walk upon, and convincing evidence of his dramatic Although it is widely assumed that the ability by offering a characterization quite first Metropolitan audience cares little as effective as, but in all respects in direct which opera is set before it so long as contrast to, that of the villainous Chief of plenty of vocal opportunities are provided Police in the Puccini opera. His Don fo r Mr, Caruso and three or four other GIOVANNI MARTINEJ-LI Quichotte is essentially a comedy portrayal, favorites, it is not unlikely that some re­ Who Gives P romise of Being by Far the Most Important Acquisition Am on g but presents a keen analysis of character gretted the withdrawal of Massenet's and is imbued with an underlying vein of "Manon," which had originally been sched­ Italian Tenors That the Metropolitan Opera Company Has Made in Years. tenderness and pathos that obviates the uled for the occasion, owing to Geraldine He Made H is Debut There Thursday Evening as " Rodolfo" in " Boheme." comic effect of the poor old knight-errant's Farrar's cold, And yet Caruso's most ar­ (See Page 37) unconscious grotesqueness. Marcoux's dent admirers realize in their heart of make-up might be called . a cross between hearts that his distinctive style is better Mephistopheles and Svengali. Of a slender adapted to Ponchiell i's melodrama, fourth­ j-igure, which he accentuates, he looks tall, rate music as it is, than to the subtler ex­ Safer to Mind and Morals To Study gaunt and ungainly; peaked of countenance, actions of Massenet's Dresden china opera. with parrot-like nose, and sunken of cheek; Moreover, it provides opportunities not Music in America, Says Mr. Freund clad in a semblance of armor and carrying only ,for the first tenor and soprano, but an exaggerated spear nearly twice as long permIts two contraltos, a baritone and a as himself, the Don is not a person to win bass to shine forth luminously. It is there­ " Conditions Surrounding Music Study Abroad, Especially as They Affect admiration, and yet, so skilfully does Mar­ fore useful, though for the greater part American Girls, Are of Nature That Makes White Slave Stories coux suggest the man's innate gentleness detestable musical drivel. and nobility of soul, that one bestows ad­ Monday's "Gioconda" was excellent, all Sound Like Pretty Fairy Tales," Declares "Musical America's" miration, and forgets to ridicule, Even !old, as c0!lcernsthe musiCal aspects of its the Don's hopeless adoration of the fair mterpretatIOn. To be sure, we have heard Editor in Address at Peabody Institute in Baltimore-Not Dulcinea, who laughs him to scorn, inspires many equally good in the past, but given a pitying smile, and in the end, realizing under any other than first night auspices Necessary to Go Abroad for "Atmosphere" the futility of his hope, having been thrust they ~ave produced distinctly less of a [By telegra" 0 MUSICAL AMERICA] prominent factors in Baltimore musical life aside even after he had fulfilled the lady's sensatIon. No features of novelty dis­ and the frequent outbursts of applause in­ wi'sh and recovered the stolen jewels, think­ tingu ished the cast. Caruso was the Enzo ALTIMORE, MD., Nov. IS.-That dicated that he had struck a popular chord. ing that her hand was to be his reward, his ;\mato the Barnaba, Destinn the GiocondiJ: B American music ' schools and Ameri­ "The conditions surrounding music study death in the lonely forest, accomplished Matzenauer the Laura, Duchene La Cieca can music teachers afford opportunities sec­ abroad, especially as they affect American with realism and accompanied by music written in Massenet's most sympathetic and Segurola Alvise. Toscanini conducted ond to those offered in no 9ther country in girls, are of a nature that makes the white and Toscanini can inform even Ponchielli's slave stories sound like pretty fairy tales," style, is tearfully impressive, tawdry score with red blood and dramatic the. world and that the musical schools in declared Mr. Freund. "To illustrate this, Marcoux's costume and make-up have life that might to some extent command . this country provide a safer and cleaner let me quote exactly the words of a former the authority of the illustrations of Cer­ critical respect for the work if respect life for our young girls .and young men director of the Metropolitan Opera House, vantes's book in its early editions, and the scenes of the opera also in several instances could be commanded by any mortal means, who are studying music was the opinion who after a search for American singers in Europe said: 'T hey came to me hollow­ suggest a reproduction of the sketches in H ubbub Over Ca r u so set forth convincingly this afternoon by the book. While one catinot give to , the ] ohn Freund, editor of MUSICAL AMER­ eyed, these American girls who had .been Each of the principals was received with C. studying in Europe; they had been stripped French baritone the same degree of pr'aise a volley of applause as he or she appeared ICA, before an audience of nearly a thou­ for his singing that is freely granted his sand persons at the Peabody Institute of of their money, stripped of their health, on the stage for the first time, and Caruso their jewels; stripped of their virtue, even impersonation, as a character delineation, made his entrance to an extraordinary hub- Music. Mr. Freund's address, made by in­ it may be said that vocally he ably fills the vitation of Harold Randolph, director of of their belief in a GO,d.''' . [ Conti n ued on page 3] the institution, was listened to by the most [Continued on page 37] [Conti n ued on page 2] Entered at the Post Office at New York. N. Y., as mall matter of the Second Class .