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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
THE OLD SPINET.
It is slim and trim and spare
Like the slender Lady Claire
In the gowns they used to wear,
Long ago;
And it stands there in the gloom
Of the gabled attic room,
Like a ghost whose vacant tomb
None may know.
I can see the lady's hands,
White as lilies, as she stands
Strumming fragments of Durand's
On the keys;
And I hear the thin, sweet strain
Of the Plymouth hymns again,
Like the sob of windless rain
In the trees.
She would play the minuet
For the stately stepping set,
While the ardent dancers met,
Hands and hearts;
Did the old-time spinet care
If Dan Cupid unaware
Pricked the breast of brave and fair
With his darts ?
Now the spiders with their floss
.Up and down the keyboard cross.
And the strings are dull as dross,
Once so bright;
No one cares to touch the keys—
Stained old yellow ivories—
Save the ghosts some dreamer sees
In the night.
James Buchanan.
©
TORONTA ON OPERA IN AHERICA.
Mile. Toronta, one of the stars of the
Damrosch Opera Co. and who has been en-
gaged to act as Mme. Melba's understudy
as well as to take the part of Marguerite
and other leading roles, has some interest-
ing ideas about grand opera in America.
She said recently:
' 'It is not true that the people of America
are not profound admirers of good opera.
There is a strong impression among the
people of Europe that Americans are deter-
mined to spend 364 days every year to the
earning of money and perhaps begrudg-
ingly give the remaining day of the year
to grand opera, and they cite the failure of
grand opera in America as proof of their
statement that the people do not want it.
"The condition of things here is due to
the fact that the production of opera in
America is not handled as it ought to be
and as it is handled in European countries.
"Every one knows how easy it is for a
girl in France to secure a great musical
education if she possesses the natural quali-
fications, for the Government sets aside a
large sum annually to pay for the educa-
tion of just such people. In this way there
is always a good supply of material in
France for the production of grand opera.
The Government goes one step further and
subsidizes a number of opera houses, so
that the admission fee places patronage of
all the operatic productions within the
reach of every music-loving person, no
matter how poor he or she may be. I have
often heard in Paris for 25 cents a singer
that I could not hear anywhere in America
for less than $5.
" T h e conditions prevailing in France
are exactly similar to those in Italy and
Germany, so that it is a matter of no won-
der that grand opera has not succeeded in
America, where the Government has never
extended an assisting hand.
"Good music makes good souls and good
souls make good citizens, so that the
Government of the United States would be
doing itself only justice if it were to estab-
lish a national conservatory for the pro-
duction of grand opera at a cost to the
people of no more than a vaudeville per-
formance, which does the people infinitely
less good.
"There are entirely too many universi-
ties in America at the present time for the
turning out of useless lawyers and doctors.
These institutions are fully ten times more
numerous in proportion to the inhabitants
than they are in Germany or in France, so
that if our philanthropically disposed mil-
lionaires really desire to educate the peo-
ple they would do much better to endow
some large university of music, which is so
badly needed, than to throw away money
in swelling the number of the already too
numerous universities of law, medicine and
other liberal arts."
Mile. Toronta is a pupil of Marchesi, who
S1L0TI, THE RUSSIAN
PIANIST.
Alexander Siloti is
considered by his com-
patriots one of the
best of modern pian-
ists. He was born in
Charkow, and studied
under Seweroff, Nich-
olas, Rubinstein and
Tschaikowsky, a n d
from 1883 to 1886 was
Liszt's favorite pupil.
Beauty of tone, ele-
gance of style, and
poetic feeling are the
salient qualities which
place Siloti among the
first of his profession.
He has played at con-
certs of the Imperial
Musical Society of St.
Petersburg, Russia,
and achieved a great
success in England.
Siloti will arrive in
this country early in
January. He is under
the management of
Henry Wolfsohn, and
will play with the
large orchestral asso-
ciations. He will also
give a number of re-
citals.
predicts for her a phenomenal career. She
was born in Toronto and bears the name of
her city in a feminine form. She is the
daughter of a piano manufacturer, now de-
ceased, who atone time occupied a leading
position in the industry in Canada. Her
voice attracted the attention of a wealthy
woman in Toronto, who has spent over
thirty thousand dollars on her musical edu-
cation. During Mr. Damrosch's recent
visit to Paris he heard her sing, and at
once engaged her for his company. It is
quite an interesting coincidence that an-
other great American singer, Mme. Al-
bani, although bearing the name of an
American city, was nevertheless born of
Canadian parents and educated in a Cana-
dian town.
©
JAPANESE THEATRES.
A theatrical performance lasting more
than eight hours is now prohibited by the
Japanese laws. This is interesting if not
startling news. The plays in the first-
class theatres begin at ten or eleven, and
are not ended until after sunset. There
are intervals, of course, for refreshment,
and a recent innovation is a theatre-yard
for exercise, lined with eating-booths and
fancy stalls. Boxes are secured three or
four days beforehand from a neighboring
tea-house, where arrangements are made
for attendance and refreshments during
the day. Full dress is never worn.
The following articles, unless other-
wise ordered, are brought to each patron:
A program, a cushion, a tobacco fire-
(Continued on page 16).