THE BOOKFELLOW.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13739, 21 May 1910, Page 7

THE BOOKFELLOW.

By A. G. Ste-'iiens

(Wr.iTiEN tor. "The Pi.es>.")

THE OPERA SIOASON

This month's opera in .Sydney has given a rare pleasure to many people. The company cqmos vow to Now Zealand, and is sure to please many people hero. It docs not matter that the company contains no singer of -the first rank, and that the performances have Ik-cu full of trivial r'aults lor weansome fault-finders to gloat over. \Vii._t ni.'-ttors is tbe large effect, tho totality ol" ».rofit and loss : and the balanco has boon distinctly in favour oi tho local audi'-nce. Groat populations air a magnet of merit; and in Australia and New Zoaland. at this day and distance, the expectation of operatic perfection is uiiioasonablo. If Melra's plan for next year is carried out. it 11 ill be an act oi _ir:»ce. not a stroke of business; for tho cost of grand oivra on a yraud 50:...-* cannot ho repaid here. The- Williamson Company represents grand opera on a petty scale, otten udir.irabK'. "Grand" opera, by tho way. means merely an opera in which tho whole of the libretto.;_. sst to music, and has nothing to do with tiie size or ; ir.-portance of tbe work. "Opera" is i merely a work—a work which, not be- • ing constructed according to the ancient

rules of the stage had no name, was neither tragedy or comedy, but just a work—usually a musical work —opera musicale. When in Italy, the home of opera, the musical character of the work was thoroughly established in the i popular mind, the adjective was drop- j ped, and the species became a genus. THE OPERATIC TRINITY. Many people think of an opera chiefly as a musical performance. But opera is a trinity; it is spectacular musical drama, aud if it fails with one leg in its three-legged race it does not reach its goal. In the moderu aspect the HiiLsic may be regarded as the principal tiling but it is not the most essential thing: the most essential thing is the drama, including the. .libretto. Upon the.stage the acting is quite as iicc'cssary ik> the operatic whole as the sinking if. The singing may indeed gve pleasure enough by itself: but, unaccompanied by acting, that is not a pleasure of opera, but a pleasure of concert. So really dramatic operas, such ns "Faust" and Cannon." keep their vogue, while merely musical oporas mo. apt to recede farther and i'aHher from "favour. "Madnm Butterfly 7 ' is another dramatic opera ; but, like "La Boheme," it is comparatively deficient in spectacular effect. Summarising the Sydney peason, tlio three notable novelists havo been tho "Butterfly" music, Haaon's orchestra, and Bel Sorel. "Carmen" was well staged, and essentially is just as pood as ever it was; but after "Butterfly" Bizet's orchestration seemed quite thin; the accompaniment to the familiar "Toreador ,, song seemed even a trifle cheap and rowdy, though tho overtures were as beautiful as ever. And the voices of the Williamson Company, often making a good effect, aro not quite good enough for "Carmen" or "Boheme." For "Butterfly" the orchestra is good enough; iSore'rs acting is good enough; and the voices matter less. THREE PBIME DONNE. With a saving clause, and relying on memories of better performances of "La Bonemc," 1 expressed the opinion that tho music of "Butterfly" might be found less rich and ardent. That was after hearing "Butterfly" twice. Now, after hearing it ten times, and without resigning allegiance- to "Boherao" under better auspices, J am a.devotee of "Butterfly." The music is au increasing delight: it lingers, it captures, and it abides. Bel Sored seems just as admirable at the end of the season as at the beginning; in "Cannon" she was frequently delightful. There is one word for tier: she is adequate. To the extent of her powers she is admirable, and she knows her limitations, Mid keeps them; she is as nearly a nockctful of perfection as can bu compassed. Amy Castles has a bettor voioo, employed with less discretion. Miss Castles is a victim of enthusiasm, who got bouquets and sovereigns when she needed a hard taskmaster and a symbolical stick. Maria Paanpari has sung unevenly; when she has been good she has been full of virtue; and when she has not "been good, as in Micliaela, she has been shrill, hard, and—applauded. Audiences persist in regarding vocal music as an acrobatic accomplishment. Bel Sqrel Jias a feu- good notes in her middle* voice, and uses them charmingly. Sho sings and acts ■with brains, and more than a trifle j.i temperament, and worms as hard as ever she can. The ample remainder of criticism New Zealand will make for itself. WORDS AND SONGS OF THE OPERA. The operatic quarrel is portion of tho grand quarrel of Art and the Man; and, as long as the ideal flies above the real, the possible exceeds the practicable, there need be no pretence of composing the quarrel. Yet certain tentative conclusions may be indicated as emerging from the strifei. r. There are two things an opera should achieve; it should maintain its interest, it should preserve its illusion. 'And then, to tho interest and illusion, what importance has the libretto? has the language of tho libretto? Libretto makes all tlie difference to tho composer, who fits his music to the words and emotions, and nowadays to the words aud ideas. But to the audience? Admit that a solo can bo sung so that every word is audible, and a duet, perhaps a trio, even a quartet— what about a fast-timo chorus, or a chorus singing 2-4 and 6-8 together, as the soldiers and students in "Faust?" There is a legend that at th« Paris Opern the opening chorus in "Robert le Diablo" used always to be sung to the words. ''Cabbage soup is limdo in the pot; 4n the pot we make ! cabbage- soup." La scupc aiix choux se fait dans la raarmitn; Dans la mairaito on fait la- soupe aux choux. Given the iinintelligibility of the chorus, are not these words as good as any others? ' r And, given the unintollig'tbility of the chorus, are not Italian words better \ than English ? There arc English words that do not hiss and choke and stumble among consonants, yet we get them rarely on the concert platforni, hardly ever in onera. The most important operatic word of all, ''lovo," cannot be suns ii English with the quality of toiio that a singer can put. iittn the Italian "amore," or with the delicate breathina; of the French "amour," or [ even with the deep sonority of the Ger- ! man "licbe." Why, then, lose musical virtue for the sake of a meaning which is usually unattainable? If the nlot is kuowii. and the actfny is good* the music is its own language. ENGLISH VERSUS ITALIAN. The Williamson opera company is sinuini; Einrlish. to the distress oi the Italian members of the company, who !in some, cases have to by heart the I English words while barely comprehending their meaning. This worse confounds confusion: and the point is that oven the English words are seldom heard. It is true that the audience is* supposed to hear., and it does hear a little, sometimes more than a little, I usually enough to help understanding jof the scene. But at what a cost! Every Italian is singing under a double J dist-mv. —tho original distress of the i English and the .secondary distress of j his partial comprehension of the English. Musically, therefore, tho performances are not nearly us good as they might be. witli the same material. The debate is as old as Addison, who pleasantly satirised the mixed.opera of his day, when the Italian singers sang Italian and the Phirrlish singers sang English. While we depend on Italy for opera, and Australasia for audiences, the debate is likely to be endless. But ! musical directors mijjht be asked to reform either their law or our nature: i either to make their English libretti [ sonorous with a cunniny choice of words, or else to .make us capable of understanding an Italian libretto by ; reinforcement' of the actors' intelligence. Operatic yesture ran ho at le.iftt as expressive as the affectionate \ of "Punch in the fare of Judy.