Music Trade Review

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THE
7VYUSIO T R K D E
with the conditions. Then the circus com-
mences.
The manager has his troubles, like every-
one else; although, when one journeys to
the Metropolitan and notes a house filled
from floor to ceiling at big prices, the opin-
ARTISTS'
ion
is formed that Mr. Grau has things easy,
TELEPHONE NUMBER. 1745--EiaHTEENTH STREET
with money rolling in like from a gold mine.
The Artists' Department of The Review Is
published on the first Saturday of each month. But there is another side of the picture,
which, if followed up, would bring a cer-
OPERA A N D I T T M A N A G E M E N T .
TT is now time to resume the discussion of tain amount of sympathy for the man who
* the great compensation foreign opera has to finance and manage a great operatic
singers receive in this country. This is a organization.
topic that never fails to prove interesting to
H. WHITNEY TEW.
ordinary mortals, who can never quite under- U WHITNEY TEW, the renowned basso,
1
stand why a thousand dollars or more should
* who for the past seven years has made
be paid to a man or woman for the apparent his home in England, and who is scheduled
easy task of singing in an opera. They for- to appear at a number of important musical
get, of course, that the compensation in this
profession is regulated on the same business-
like basis that governs other occupations.
Operatic managers are not prone to pay
singers salaries out of proportion to the
amount they are expected to bring into the
theatre.
If we look over the list of notable artists
whom Mr. Gran has brought to our shores
this year, it will be found that the select few
whose compensation for the season may run
close to the hundred thousand dollar mark, re-
ceived this small fortune because the public
flocks to the opera house whenever their
names are announced. No one believes that
Mr. Grau would dream of paying anything
like the present salaries were he not compelled
to. The fact is, the names of certain artists
have a commercial value to him, hence the
investment, although it involves large sums,
rarely proves a losing one. Once in a while
weather conditions spoil the programs laid
out by Mr. Grau for his artists; then, of
course, loss is incurred ; but, in the main with
conditions normal, and notwithstanding the
enormous salaries paid, Mr. Grau comes out
of his season with a fair percentage of profit.
The plan adopted this year of taking the
grand opera company to the Pacific Coast
before opening in New York is an immense
undertaking. High-priced operatic singers—
the aristocrats of the theatrical profession—
do not accept without protest the material
annoyances that are inseparable from one
and two night stands—to write in the vernac-
II. WHITNEY TEW.
ular. It requires a good deal of patience events in this country during this and the
and tact to mollify an irate prima donna or following month, is an American, and not an
a recalcitrant tenor. Nothing suits these peo- Englishman, as generally supposed. He was
ple; they do not recognize that city com- born in New York State thirty-one years
forts are not to be obtained in provincial ago, and before he made singing his profes-
hotels or sleeping-cars. Then there is the sion was a banker, as well as a student of
constant danger that fragile voices and deli- painting. His great love of music, how-
cate throats may be affected by certain pri- ever, led him to cultivate that art, and after
vations, unavoidable exposure to variations several years of serious study here and
in temperature and so on.
abroad, he made his professional debut in a
In fact, there are innumerable anxieties song recital at Queen's Hall, London, at once
for the manager in the matter of transpor- establishing himself as a singer of great abil-
tation, and, more important still, in keeping ity and intelligence. He has been heard
prima donnas tractable. Leading sopranos throughout Great Britain in opera and orato-
are promised so many appearances weekly, rio, and has achieved considerable distinction
and oftentimes it is impossible to comply also as a composer. His concert and operatic
REVIEW
repertoire is an extensive one and covers
various languages. During his stay in this
country Mr. Tew will be heard with some of
the principal choral societies, including the
Handel and Haydn Society, of Boston; the
St. Louis Choral and Symphony Society;
the Brooklyn Oratorio Society; the Wash-
ington Choral Society; the Art Society of
Pittsburgh the Philadelphia Choral Society;
the Twentieth Century Club of Buffalo; the
St. Paul Choral Society and the Washington
Choral Society. He is also engaged to give
song recitals in Brooklyn with the Institute
of Arts and Sciences; in New York on Nov.
n t h ; Boston, Nov. 6th.
MUSIC AT THE ST. LOUIS EXPOSITION.
A LREADY the music to be given at the
' * coming world's fair at St. Louis is
causing considerable dis-
cussion, and local musi-
c i a n s are practically
agreed that something
exceptional in a musical
way must be arranged
to do credit to their city.
Some of the plans so far
outlined include the en-
gagement of the best
artists, both at home
and abroad, with a ser-
ies of choral concerts
with choruses from all
our principal cities, and
the best of orchestral
and band concerts. One
original thinker has sug-
gested the building of
an imitation Bayreuth
opera house in which,
with the consent of
Frau Cosima Wagner,
a production of "Par-
sifal" will be given, with
Siegfried Wagner as
director of the per-
formance. Meanwhile,
it is a long time between
now and the exposition
opening, and many al-
terations and amend-
ments will be made in
the plans now outlined.
The subject, however, cannot be taken up at
too early a date.
THE CURTAIN FALLING.
'THE news that W. S. Gilbert, the famous
librettist, is dying at his home near
London will bring regret to an army of ad-
mirers of the old Sullivan-Gilbert operas in
all parts of the world. The last days of the
man who made the world so merry are in sad
contrast to his life. Sir Arthur Sullivan's
death, followed so closely by the death of
the third of the trio, D'Oyley Carte, greatly
depressed him, and since then he has written
absolutely nothing. For more than a year
Mr. Gilbert has been an invalid and Nancy
Mclntosh is his devoted nurse.
HANNAH L KEENE
SOPRANO
Exclusive Management of
CHARLES L. YOUNG
1123 BROADWAY,
NEW YORK