Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
"Manru" is not the only opera we should
like to see on the Metropolitan stage, nei-
ther is Paderewski the only composer who
can interest the musical world. I have in
mind the opera "Azara," by one of the most
notable composers of the present day, John
Knowles Paine, whose labor in Harvard Col-
lege represents history by itself.
No one who has heard the masterful works
which stand as great classic marble columns
and rich Oriental colorings, heavy with the
fumes of sandal wood and languorous as the
veiled beauties of the harem, can doubt that
JEAN DE RESZKE, our $2,500 John— the music is of the most fascinating type, at
had good reasons for not coming to the same time coming from the man who
America this season. What could be a better wrote the "(Edipus Tyrranus," it must be
one than the fact that he is going to sing the great in the highest acceptation of the term.
role of Siegfried in Paris in January ? Speak- The vocal score will be out in about a week
ing of Wagner in Paris, it is announced that and is to be offered to subscribers only. It
a series, beginning April 15th, 1902, will be contains 372 pages and is published by Breit-
given under organization of Willy Schiitz, kopf & Hartfel. The full score has over
brother-in-law of Mme. Lelia Litvinne, who 800 pages and the orchestration is intensely
who, with Gulbranson, Brema, Van Dyck, modern. "Azara" will probably be presented
Schemedes and Edouard de Reszke, will be in Germany at no very distant date. Mean-
seen in "Tristan und Isolde," as also in "Die while, we may thank the Boston Symphony
Gotterdammerung." The latter has never as also the orchestras of New York and Chi-
been given in Paris. Mottl, Richter and cago for glimpses into the works of an
Cortot are the conductors named. The operas American composer who is great among the
will be sung in German and in French al- greatest.
ternately. Wagner in the French language!
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Ha! ha!! It seems like a combination of
And have you heard of Sauer and the trials
sauerkraut, dampf-noodles and champagne.
and tribulations of Vienna, where, .evidently,
Yet, what is the difference with diction as the green-eyed monster reigns .as,fiercely as
it is, who can decipher the hieroglyphics that did Tafner of Wagnerian lore? Just because
most of our singers sing? This does not Sauer made a reputation for himself in Amer-
mean Plancjon, than whom no greater artist ica and seemed to be a most fit person to
in that particular line lives. Plangon is an draw patronage, and incidentally give instruc-
admirable example to every singer that as- tion at the Vienna Conservatory, the entire
pires to opera. What a joy—what a comfort faculty must needs resign.
it would be if all roles were set forth ungar-
No—they are not women; they are men
bled. Away with libretti, and especially that who, in paroxysms of ecstasy, would tell you
beautiful new fad of carrying a pocket lan- how devoted they are to the cause of music
tern to the opera, because the lights are out and what they would do to advance the art.
and it is too dark to read the libretto.
And this brings us face to face with the very
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disagreeable truth, that much as people talk
By the way, why don't the people who take about working in the cause of music, it is,
the trouble and expense upon themselves of after all, only to glorify themselves or the
attending opera try to get their money's faction of which they form a part, or an
worth? In other words, why don't they individual whom they wish to foist along—
study the libretto, and the music for that but the art! Nonsense; what folly!
matter, at home, so that when they come to
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the opera they need occupy themselves with
And so she has risked it once more, and is
nothing but their gowns and the tenor?
it astonishing? Certainly not. For what
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do years count when a woman is so supreme-
Manru ! Manru ! Manru! What a trem- ly fascinating and so deliriously beautiful
olo senza rallentando of excitement for the as Teresa Carreno? No wonder that she
fair adorers of Paderewski! What a bright had innumerable offers—'but the wonder is
particular spot of interest in the social realm. that she should again take the name under
It will be a subject of conversation con molto which she knew so much pain and suffering,
anima ma con moltissimo sentimento. In the and a former brother-in-law at that.
musical world, too, it will receive more in-
After all, is it not pain that gives to the
terest than any opera that will be presented artist the wonderful palette of colors, of
this season. In many cases the virtues will which each shade came into being through
be extolled con bravura e con molto spirito; a tear? Let us hope that for each day that
in others, of^course, they will be sung pianis- this great artist and beautiful woman has
simo e senza forza—a sort of damnation with suffered in her former matrimonial ventures
faint praise, as it were. But whatever they she will gain months of peaceful contentment,
do, and whatever they say, they will all be and may she know the full meaning of the
there, and "Manru," good, bad, or indiffer- word "home" when once again she is Teresa
ent, will be the sensation of the year. It has Tagliapietra—but Carreno forever.
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been asked whether Paderewski will be pres-
It is said that Fannie Edgar Thomas, the
ent on this occasion, and although it is an-
nounced that he will be here, the only way of brilliant writer, is in New York on her way
answering truthfully is to state that if he West after having spent several years in
comes he will be here; if otherwise, it is Europe. She has severed old connections
it is rumored that she will make some.
Iea^red, $ b
ll
L
very important ones, which will be announced
shortly.
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Mme. Etta Edwards, the Boston vocal
teacher, has returned from Paris, where she
spent the summer, and the way she spent it
should be an example to all those in a like
profession. It also proves the intense seri-
ousness and the thorough understanding that
she has of the relation of teacher and pupil.
Every day through the entire summer she
took a lesson from Delle Sedie, her old mas-
ter; the rest of the time she spent in going
over songs with the composers themselves
and in the selection of a large repertory of
music for her pupils.
Her circle of musical friends abroad is a
distinct honor to the young American woman
whose success in Boston is far beyond ordin-
ary. Her class this year is very large and it
has representatives from all over the coun-
try, as she is known to be one of the most
skillful and most conscientious teachers in
America.
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The last number of The Etude was given
over to the fair sex—what they have done,
what they will do, and what they represent
in music. It was a creditable enterprise on
the part of the editors and proved a very inter-
esting number. Whatever women are or are
not, as composers, teachers or executants, it
is certain that the success of every musical
enterprise lies in their hands. They not only
have the creation of musical atmosphere in
their homes, but without them the concert
room would be a most desolate looking place,
where the men have little interest outside of
paying for the tickets and sub rosa be it said
that a few of them do that.
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And so has Cecile Chaminade, known on
every corner of the globe where music is
known, joined the rank of Benedictesses.
She has become Mme. Carbonel. One can
not help thinking of all that has been said
and written about the possibility of happiness
in marriage for artists, and we think—well,
what's the difference what we think ?
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So is Gertrude May Stein married. If
she is half as happy over it as the contralti
are, her bliss will be beyond measurement.
But wouldn't it be amusing to all those who
are waiting for some of her plums to fall
into their baskets if she remained in the con-
cert field, after all. As for us who do the
listening, we can only hope that she will
not withdraw, for she is a capable and sat-
isfying singer, always acceptable—nay, more ;
always enjoyable. She is Mrs. Bailey and
she lives at the Majestic Hotel.
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That very interesting Paris musical paper,
Le Monde Musical, had this to say editor-
ially of the Virgil method: "The Virgil
School of Technic, known for several years
in England and America, is beginning to
be much appreciated here. Its aim is to give
to pupils, by the aid of a clavier invented
by the American, Mr. Virgil, a thorough
technic which is acquired in a much shorter
period of time than is possible without it.
This clavier gives no sound, but it possesses
a mechanism which admits of a much more
precise control of technic than does the piano
itself. The most important musicians, are in-: