"ALIEN'S" LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2929, 4 May 1910, Page 75

"ALIEN'S" LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

March 18. The short opera season which has preceded, the _ grand opera season this year at Covent' Garden came to an end last Saturday night with the performance of "Elektra," at the close of which the composer, Df Richard Strauss, received an enthusiastic ovation, the audience standing up and cheering and waving handkerchiefs, to the delight of composer and artistes, who were surprised at the warmth of expression from an English audience. The Opera House was crowded, and people who had not secured seats were turned 'away. The Queen and Princess Victoria were among the audience. The Russian Ambassador was also present among many other interesting people. After the opera Mr Frank Rendle and Mr Thomas Beecham gave a supper party in honour of Dr Strauss, at which eighty guests were present. Sir Herbert Beeribohm Tree was on the right of Dr Strauss and Lady Cunard on his left. * Lord Claud Hamilton, Mrs Alfred Mond, Sir Henry Cook, Miss Viola Tree, Mrs Charles Hunter, Mr Bourchier, Mr H. B. Irving, Miss Edyth Walker, Herr Paul Bender, Mr Willy Levin —to whom Dr Strauss dedicated the score of "Elektra," —and many well-known people of the musical world were also present. The composer made a short speech in German, paying a high compliment to Mr Beecham and) -lis orchestra, which he described as unsurpassable. The opera has been of more than usual interest, for it not only has proved that the British public can appreciate such a work as " Elektra," but can support grand opera in English with an All-British cast. And it was at the close of the performance that the public voiced its appreciation. In answer to such a burst of enthusiasm that even Covent Garden rarely knows, Dr Strauss appeared before the curtain, a tall, pale, quiet man with a clever head, who modestly bowed—first to the Queen, and then to the audience, and then to the musicians. At the tenth " curtain" the audience were satisfied. Afterwards the Queen honoured the composer by receiving him in her box, and asked the composer and the chief artistes (who obeyed the command still in their Greek costumes and make up) to write their names in her Majesty's autograph book. A romance in connection with the "Elektra" Company has occured in the quiet marriage of Miss Frances Rose, who sang the part of Elektra's sister, Chrysothemis. She managed to keep her secret even from the company, and at the close of the British opera season in London the other day was married at the Covent Garden Registry Office to Mr Theodore Kourad, of Cologne, who was formerly on the musical stage. Only Elektra — Miss Edyth Walker —was in the secret. After a quiet breakfast the newly-married pair left for the Continent. Miss Rose's marriage is between two engagements, the one she has just completed at Covent Garden and another in Berlin which she has gone to fulfil. His Majesty the King has been unfortunate this- year in his holiday weather at Biarritz, for it has rained almost since his arrival, and having caught cold on the journey, he has been confined chiefly to the hotel and his private apartments. The forty-seventh anniversary of the King and Queen's wedding day was on the 10th, and this year it was spent apart, the King being absent from his consort at Biarritz. Queen Alexandra made quite a festive day in London, visiting the Dowager Queen of Sweden in the morning, and the Prince and Princess of Wales lunched with her and drank the health of their parents at Buckingham Palace. In the evening her Majesty attended the banquet given in her honour by Lord and Lady Farquhar at Grosvenor square. The small dance to meet the Queen was a very brilliant affair, and the jewels worn were magnificent. The gathering was, of course, strictly limited, and the ladies wore their prettiest and most elegant toilets. The Queen looked radiantly beautiful in a black and white gown, with bright carnations in her bodice, and lovely jewels. The Princess of Wales wore pale grey with beautiful jewels, and Princess Victoria turquoise hlue tulle. The Prince of Wales and all the men wore frock dress. Among the jewels for headdresses were unusually precious gems, and tiaras more than all-round crowns were worn. The Duchess of Portland wore black with diamond and pearl ornaments. Lady Salisbury was in pale blue, with a diamond tiara low on her hair. The Duchess of Roxburghe was much admired in creamy white, with diamond embroidered tulle. Among the girls some charming white frocks were worn. Included among the dinner guests was one Ambassador, but several were present at the dance. The Queen arrived quite early, and everyone felt the magnetism of her presence, for she is particularly happy at a private party unweighted by the royal duties of £Kate. At the Royal Commission on Divorce, which has been sitting during the past few weeks in London, with the object of amending the English divorce laws, and cheapening divorce for the masses, some extremely interesting evidence has been o-iven by two famous judges during the sittings. Despite differences of opinion, the main trend of the commission is the recognition of the need for making less cruelly rigid the conventional chains that bind people to one another, when common sense and morality. demand that they shall not be bound at all. In reading the evidence from day to day one cannot but be struck with the great change that has taken place in the thought of thinking men m «n who have had the study of unhaippy marriages before them half their Jives Separation, in the judgment of these judges, is cruelty, depriving the husband or wife of, say, a lunatic of the

(Specially Written for the Witness Ladies' Page.)

THE LAST WEEK OF LENT.

moral and social rights of union and the delights of a married home. When two persons find it impossible to live together for grave and abiding reasons, divorce is the moral and social remedy—not bondage in separation, which too often leads to desperate measures, and frequently, _to gain the release which is denied, to immorality. One comment on the attitude of to-day to make divorce in England easier is: "When the acknowledged authorities proclaim the need for .a change, when the opinion of the world cries for it, and when the is silent and utters none of the usual arguments for safeguarding of outward respectability at the expense of real decency—then the machinery is fast in movement; nothing can keep the old immortality, masquerading as respectability, any longer in its place." The Archbishop of York, Sir John Bingham (whose valuable services of judge have lately been honoured by a peerage), Mr Gorell Barnes (president of the Divorce Court), and Mi Justice Bargrave Deane (also' of Divorce Court fame) are members of the Royal Commission, and watching the inquiry for the women are Lady Balfour and Mrs Tennant. Sir George Lewis, the eminent solicitor, gave the commission the benefit of his vast and valuable experience. Absolute equality for the sexes is what he advocates. For 30 years he had agitated that divorce should be given equally to husband and wife for mu-sconduct, desertion, cruelty, lunacy, and imprisonment for five years. Sir George told of the "life torture" described to him by his clients tied without hope of relief to unfaithful consorts. "It is an outrage," he said, "that a woman cannot free herself from such husbands as easily as a man van free himself from an unfaithful wife." In regard to desertion, Sir Lewis Dibdin held that if there was evidence that a man did not intend to' return to and support his wife she ought to be able to obtain a release from a bondage which was not a fulfilment of the marriage contract. In such a case the wife, especially if she be a young wife, should be entitled to divorce. According to some witnesses separation orders were frequently followed by open immorality on the part of the husband; wives had a strong inducement to remain virtuous lest they lost the custody of their children. Divorce was impossible for the poor, and immorality was the result. Thus cheaper divorce is advocated, bringing it within the reach of all who are legally entitled to freedom. Among the very poor the evidence showed the social penalty was so slight, according to Mr J. G. Hallkell, that he had known Wives sold for a pint of beer. Sir George Lewis, after his 54 years of experience, can see so reason why a single "'act of unfaithfulness should not entitle the wife to freedom as it "entitles the man. Many men would hesitate at unfaithfulness "if it might mean the loss of wife and children and the breaking up of the home. Sir John Bingham has said his farewell to the Law Courts and the Divorce Court, of which latter he has been president for one year out of 13 years as judge. On the occasion of his retirement the Divorce Court was crowded by members of the Bar and judges. On the bench were King's Bench and Chancery judges, among them Lord Gorell. Sir John, as well as a number of his associates, had a difficulty in restraining emotion as he spoke of days gone by. Referring to his retirement, Sir John said : "At 70 years I am tired —not so tired that I feel unfit for any more work, but tired enough to make me feel that, in justice to myself, I ought to relax the strain of daily work on the bench. I hope to do useful work elsewhere in spite of the ominous warning of my friends that I grow younger every dav . . I have loved my profession and my circuit, and chall -ontinue to love them." Sir Samuel Evans is Sir John Bingham's successor. As I write a heavv fall of sleet has chased awiav the spring-like softness of the past week, and the birds, which have been very busy building their nests, are silent once more.