Music and Drama.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLV, Issue 16, 19 October 1910, Page 13

Music and Drama.

By

BAYREUTH.

BOOKINGS. (Dates Subject tn AJte’- K tloa.> AUCKLAND—HIS MAJESTY’S. October 20 to November 4 —Fred Graham. November 17 to 10—Mr. Potter. November 21 to 26—Auckland Competitions Society. November 28 to December 3—MaeMahou Bros. December 5 to 17—Meynell and Gunn (George Willoughby). December 19 to 24—Mac-Mahon Bros. December 26 (three weeks’ season) —Allan 'Hamilton. THE OPERA HOUSE, In Season—Fuller’s P.ctures. TIVOLI. Vaudeville (permanent). WELLINGTON.—OPERA HOUSE. Oct. 6 to 26—Nellie Stewart. Oct. 27 to Nov. s—“ Lover's5 —“Lover's Lane’’ Campany. Nov. 12 to Nov. 24.—Macmabon’s Pictures. December 24, six weeks’ season.— 3. C. Williamson. THEATRE ROYAL. Vaudeville (permanent). Opening of the London Season—An Avalanche of Flays. THE dramatic season of 1910-11 has opened its gates in London Town, and the tide of new production is at the flood. Dozens of new plays and musical pieces are now in course of staging in Central London, and thousands of actors, actresses, and theatre employees are busily engaged in the work of rehearsal and production. It is an anxious time. Few people have any idea of the numbers affected, financially and artistically, by the success or failure of a play in London. An average stage production employs more than a hundred workers — actors, actresses, supers, stage hands, electricians, mechanics, musicians, attendants, and so on—and the score or so of pieces which are due in the present season will, therefore, enlist the services of several thousand persons. It will be impossible to deal with all the new productions in this week’s issue. Subjoined are a few details of the principal productions. “Henry VIII. Sir Herbert Tree’s production of Shakespeare’s historical play has been done in three acts and thirteen scenes. A spectacular episode is the coronation of Anne Boleyn. Extraordinary care has been taken to make the scene historically correct, and all the characters represent contemporary portraits and pictures. The cast is one of the strongest that has been seen at His Majesty’s in recent years. Mr Arthur Bourchier has grown a beard for the part of "Bluff King Hal.” Miss Violet Vanbrugh, who played Anne Boleyn in Sir Henry Irving's Lyceum revival, is Queen Katharine, and Sir Herbert Tree Cardinal Wolsey. Other wellknown artists are Mr A. E. George (Duke of Norfolk), Air Henry Ainley (Buckingham), Air Reginald Owen (Cromwell), Air Edmund Gurney (Porter), and Mrs Charles Calvert (an old lady). “ Nobody's Daughter.” Wyndham’s re-opened under the joint management of Mr. Frank Curzon and Mr. Gerald Du Maurier with a four-act comedy by “George Paston” (Aliss E. AL Symonds). The feminine interest is strong, as in all Miss Symonds’ work. The mounting of certain interior scenes, notably a quaint old room, is said to be exceptionally artistic. Mr. Gerald Du Maurier’s part is that of the manager of a pottery works. Misses Mary Rorke, Lilian Braithwaite, and Henrietta Watson, and Messrs. Sydney Valentine. Leon Quartermaine, and H. Marsh Allen are in the cast. A Queen Anne play, largely concerned with the Duke of Marlborough, will follow “Nobody’s Daughter.” “A Bolt from the Blue.” “A Bolt from the Blue” is an adaptation by Mr. Cosmo Hamilton of “Lc Rostand des Espinettes,” by Tristan

Bernard and Alfred Athis. It was produced by Mr. Frohman at the Duke of York’s on September 6. The principal scene is a fancy dress ball in a smart Parisian restaurant. Mr. Dennis Eadie plays an “Apache,” and Miss Irene Vanbrugh a pretty Parisienne. The action is concerned with an attempt by the “Apache” to obtain a packet of compromising letters from the Parisienne. Mr. Leslie Faber, Mr. Edmund Gwenn, and Mr. Arthur Wontner are also in the cast. “ The Man from Mexico.” Mr. Stanley Cooke, who has long been popular in “Charley’s Aunt,” began the season at the Strand Theatre, formerly the Waldorf, with the three-act farce entitled "The Man from Mexico,” known to Australasians through Mr. Hugh J. Ward. Mr. Cooke played the title part some time ago at the Coronet Theatre, w'here the piece had a very favourable reception. A novel scene shows the inside of an American gaol, with gangs of convicts at work. Mr. George Giddens, Miss Ola Humphrey, and Miss Gladys Archbutt support Mr. Cooke. “ The Chocolate Soldier.” A musical comedy parodying Mr. Bernard Shaw’s “Arms and the Alan,” avowedly without Air. Shaw's permission, has opened out an alluring prospect. “The Chocolate Soldier” is written by Stanislaus Strange, and composed by Oscar Strauss. The cast includes Air. C. H. Workman, Air. Roland Cunningham, Mr. Lempriere Pringle, Miss Constance Drever, and Miss Elsie .Spain. “ A Woman's Way.” Air. Charles Frohman’s production of “A Woman’s Way” at the Comedy Theatre provides one of the most promising of younger actresses in Britain, Aliss Alarie Lohr, with an opportunity to distinguish herself as a comedienne pure and simple. The piece has already enjoyed considerable popularity in America, where the leading role was delightedly played by Aliss Grace George. “The Man from the Sea.” The title of “The Alan from the Sea” is appropriate, seeing that the Alan from the Sea is being played* by the aviatoractor, Mr. Robert Loraine, who has been making a speciality of ocean flights. The piece is a romantic modern play by Mr. AV. J. Locke, the scenes of all four acts being laid in England. The leading feminine roles are allotted to Aliss Nina Boueieault and Aliss Beryl Faber. The Little Theatre. Aliss Gertrude Kingston’s Little Theatre, on the site of the old bank of Alessrs. Coutts and Co.’was to be opened early this month. This tiny house, which some people believe will revolutionise the thetre in the future, accommodates only 400 people. There is no pit, or gallery,’only stalls and boxes, and the floor space is confined to stalls at half a guinea and five shillings each. Hall Caine's Re-hash of " The Eternal City.” One of the productions that has been receiving a lot of attention is Air. Hall Caine’s “ The Eternal Question,” produced at the Garrick Theatre, London, after being heralded by all the various arts of “booming” and “self-advertise-ment ” which the author is conspicuous for. “ The Eternal Question ” seems to be frankly indecent, according to the ban laid by .the Censor on that class of production which hitherto has attempted to deal with serious social evils. By the very delightful process in which stupidity is held to be superior to brains in deal’ old England, Mr. Hall Caine is allowed to discuss a social evil for all ho is worth, with heaps of pawky sentiment and melodrama tie molasses worked in to give colour to the subject. The initial performance, which lasted from 8 p.m. till 11.30 p.m., has excited the ire of some of the papers, who decline to take the author seriously. One critic summarises the play thus:—

8.15 p.lll. —Baron Bonelli (Prime Minister of Italy) and David Rossi (Socialist agitator and deputy) are discussing Socialism. The Baron is eynieal, brutal, and norribly logical. Rossi is vehement, defiant, magnificently foolish. Tne Baron is talking. Rossi is shouting. How long have they been talking! Hours. Will they ever stop! Who knows! Why should they ever stop? Because there are three more acts and five more scenes and the Lord Chamberlain. They stop. Rossi (ho has been arrested for making a harangue outside the Baron’s windows, and insulting the Baron and his mistress, Donna Roma) is liberated. Donna Roma swears to be revenged. 9.0 p.m.—Rossi is talking. Donna Roma is listening, haggard and wihl-eyed. She has come to his lodging to catch him in her toils. But he is her long-lost fosterbrother—how strange a thing is life! — and she already loves him. She tells the audience that this is so. But that is an " aside,” so he pays no attention. He shows her a photograph. She whispers hoarsely but audibly, “Ale father!” He takes no more notice than if she had exclaimed "Aly aunt!” Still Talking. He is still talking—about Socialism. Will he ever stop! Oh, yes, he will stop, because there are two more acts and four more scenes. He stops. She is going now. She is in the dooiway. She is looking at him and whispering occasional words. He is holding up the lamp. The limelight is flooding her face. Her face is convulsed. There is slow musie. She is now half-way through the door —and still whispering, laughing and crying. Will she ever go! Yes, because She is gone. 9.30 p.m.—Rossi is talking. Donna Roma is talking. Her studio —his bust—the story of his life and hers. An interminable story. They stop. They are in one another’s arms. He goes away. A Socialist row in the Coliseum. She throws roses at him and laughs. Why does she laugh? Because it’s a melodrama. The Baron has come. What a wicked Baron! The police are on the track of Rossi. Down with the police! Donna Roma is talking. So is the Baron. They are talking about the things that happen to a woman who, after being the mistress of one man, wants to become the wife of another. They are arguing. She is very wild. He is cynical, brutal, and horribly logical. This is the Eternal Question. She weeps. She is tearing her hair. She is very frantic. But there is no escape. The. Baron is so logical. How long have they been talking? Hours and hours. They are arguing in circles. Is there any reason why they should ever stop? None whatever. Will they ever stop? Yes, because there are still two acts and four scenes. Still Talking. 10.10 p.m.—They are all talking. A sort of Italian court-martial. They are all talking. About what? Socialism. But Bruno Rocco, the prisoner, outtalks the rest. He has a louder voice. He is talking about Socialism. Will he ever stop? Yes, he will stop very soon, because a knife has carefully been left on the table, and his fetters have been carefully removed. . . . Ah! as we feared — Bruno has killed himself. Such a good actor, too, though loud-voiced! 10.35 p.m.—The Baron is talking, so is the Pope. These are the Vatican gardens, and the Baron wants the Pope to entrap Donna Roma and Rossi. But the Pope hates the Baron. The good Pope! The wicked Baron! But the Pope is very gullible, so good but so gullible, and the Baron very plausible, so bad but so plausible. 10.45 p.m.—Donna Roma is talking. The Pope is talking. What about? About Socialism. Will they ever stop ? Perhaps. The others have stopped, and they said just the same things. But the Pope—what a strange thing is life!—is Rossi’s long-lost father. Poor Pope! Poor Rossi! For the Baron is treacherous. He has deceived the Pope. He will capture Rossi now that Roma has given away the secret. Down with the Baron! 11 p.m. —Donna Roma is talking. She is shouting. She is raving. The Baron is smiling—a cruel smile. Now she is gnashing her teeth and he is talking. They are talking about women who have sinned and the inexorable laws of life. Will they ever stop! It is getting very late . . . they are still talking. . . . Soon it will be mignight. . . . Ah! here is Rossi. There is slow musie. Bang! He has shot the Baron. The police come in as he goes out. What stupid police! Donna Roma says she did it.

Still Talking. 11.19 p.m.—Donna Roma is talking. Rossi is talking. In her cell. He has come disguised (very badly) as a Friar. They are talking about Socialism They are still talking. They are talking about love and women who have sinned. Most mellifluous talk. But so long. Ah! They have stopped. The police come again. So does the limelight, so does the slow musie. They go out together. Poor Rossi I Poor Roma! Poor audience!” Exploiting Sex Question* foi Money. Like most plays, “The Eternal Question” is a work of no account, but it is quite likely that it will make a lot of money (writes another critic). There is more money in Hall Caine than in any other dramatist. But 1 doubt very much whether there is as much money in "The Eternal Question” as there was in, say, "The Bondsman” or “The Prodigal Son,” for it is not nearly such good entertainment—for those who find entertainment in Hall Caine plays—as either of those masterpieces. The canvas upon which the artist has sketched is not nearly so large, the action being confined entirely to Rome, and the result lacks that picturesque quality that has been so conspicuous in this author's previous efforts. The story, too, is of little interest, and although the play is advertised as a “sensational success,” I am afraid the description is a little exaggerated. Air. Caine, of course, has long been recognised as an expert boomster, and everyone must admire tiningenious ways in which the present production has been advertised. The author has lately been booming himself as an authority on marriage and divorce, and I gather that we are intended to accept "The Eternal Question” as a con tribution to that always interesting topic, but what he has to say in the play is either —as a gentleman in the gallery suggested—incorrect, or very stale. It would be as well to mention, perhaps, that "The Eternal Question” is a revised version of “The' Eternal City,” a play made from the novel of the same name and produced at His Majesty’s Theatre some few years ago. , Tittell Brune. Aliss Tittell Brune has suddenly risen to eminence in London by being given the leading role to play. A special article by Hall Caine himself on her work will be found in this issue on page 2. The critic of “The Daily Telegraph” speaks of her as follows: —"Miss Tittell Brune, as Roma Valonna, captured the goodwill of the house. The part is one of a particularly arduous nature, and Aliss Tittell Brune may justly be praised for the forceful quality of her work. That her acting is either distinguished or conspicuous for finesse, cannot, however, be said. Breaking Up the British Operatic Monopoly. The most remarkable feature of the operatic season in England, which drew to a close last month, lias been the achievements of Air. Thomas Beecham The now popular conductor first came to prominent notice in connection with the new Symphony Orchestra several years ago. Backed up by the funds of his father (the man who made a fortune out of pills), Thomas Beecham has produced many operas and made com posers and singers who would otherwise have remained unknown to the British public. Prior to his ascendancy, opera was controlled by the Covent Garden Syndicate—a wealthy private corpora tion composed of members of aristocracy and supported by the Court. Covent Garden Syndicate has yearly been clearing fabulous dividends out of the musical British public, and refusing at the same time to give any thing like adequate encouragement to new composers —British composers es specially. For years the publie have been dissatisfied, hut powerless, to •! anything against the monopoly of the Covent Garden Syndicate, protected as it is by Royal patronage, and therefore secure in its support, from the h ading London papers. “A Summer Night.” By his enterprise, his careful .itten tion to detail, and the variety of Unworks he has produced, Mr. Beecham has earned for himself a title to be considered a serious rival to the Royal Opera Syndicate. Indeed, ho first carried on his attacks in the enemy’s quar-

ters, for during the dose season he embarked on a series .of grand opera m English at Covent Garden itself. There he produced some striking novelties, including as his trump card.Strauss’ much-talked-of “Elektra, which, despite the carping critics, demonstrated its possession of a priceless feature—the power to attract. Other works artistically successful were “Carmen,” “Hansel and Gretel,” “L'Enfant Prodigue,” “Tristan nnd Isolde,” Ethel Smyth’s “Wreckers,” and Sullivan's “Ivanhoe,” rescued from its nineteen years oblivion. The principal artists were Madame Edyth Walker, Fraulein von Mildenburg, Mesdames Frances Rose and Ruth Vincent, and Messrs. Walter Hyde, Harry Dearth, end Robert Maitland, though there were many others who performed small roles with great credit. When Covent Garden was required for the opera season proper, Mr. Reeeham took His Majesty's, and produced a long series of interesting operas comiques, the chief being Offenbach’s “Tales of Hoffman,” Richard Strauss’ “Feuersnot,” Johann Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus,” a good series of Mozart’s works, and Mr. George Clutsam's “A Summer Night.” Speaking to an interviewer recently, Mr. Beecham remarked: “I consider that the late season at His Majesty’s Theatre was in a way quite a remarkable one, and that it should prove, an objectlesson to the British public—indeed, to the music-loving publie the world over.” An All-English Season. “ ‘Object-lesson’ may not be precisely the right phrase to use in this connection, but it is the only one I can think of at the moment that conveys my thought. By- it I mean to say that the public and the Press may realise that it is no light matter to take a theatre that has none, or that has, at any rate, only very few, of the facilities of a regular opera house, and to produce in it a large number of works in a really modern way, especially with so many artists, who, until they had appeared at His Majesty's, had not had any experience to speak of in operatic work, which is so different from concert work and from ordinary acting. But in spite of that, I am going ’to take rather a high hand by stating at once that I have no intention of apologising for any of the shortcomings that have been noticeable in some, or possibly in all, of my productions. For the things that were at times lacking are to be found wanting from time to time in any opera house in any country, and this is unavoidable when one is endeavouring to get through an enormous amount of new work that is unfamiliar alike to artists and to the public. A point I want to emphasise is that the summer season was throughout an English season, with all-English artists and an all English chorus, with the exception, 1 think, of two members. Of this, I really was I am still —a little proud. For I received many communications with regard to our performances from the most celebrated musicians on the Continent, and from many among the oldest and meet critical of operatic habitues. Thc.se communications were all couched in terms of very great praise. French people who had seen ‘ll Seraglio,’ for instance, revived at Hie Grand Opera in Paris, declared with considerable emphasis that they preferred our version. In addition, I have received letters from musicians who came over from Munich and from Vienna to see our operas, and they write in the same strain concerning our other Mozart performances. Vindication of British-born Artists. “Mme. Carre, for instance, who came over from Paris in order to be present at the first performance of ‘Muguette,’ was enthusiastic about it, and declared to me that it had never been done so well before; and exactly the same has been said to me many times with regard to our production of ‘The Tales of Hoffmann.’ One still hears a great deal said in praise of foreign artists in a tone that is meant to imply that an artist, to be in the front rank, must necessarily •be of foreign birth, or, if not that-, then at least of foreign extraction. I do not agree with that at ail. 1 have maintained from the beginning, and 1 maintain still, that the day has long gone by for talking of British artists in. a semiapologetic tone because they happen to be Briti-h-born. Apart from the personnel of my company, which is very capable, 1 contend that there are in the United Kingdom a great number of men

•nd women who possess remarkable talent, and I use the word ‘talent’ here in its broadest sense. Of course, I must say, a special word or two about my orchestra, which was in a sense my bodyguard, and we frequently rode to victory •iin.spite of. many obstacles. This I think we shall do again. For, apart from any consideration of business, they are very keen about their work, and I believe, they do not find me very difficult to get on with. Naturally, they vary to some extent in accordance with whoever is directing them, but all who have occasion to direct them are unanimous in their- opinion that the orchestra read with the greatest facility the most difficult music, and that they can be depended upon to get up any work, however big, in a remarkably short time. Training of Vonng Singers. “Concerning the future of British artists as a whole, the great trouble is that there are no opera institutions in this country besides Covent Garden, and now my own opera schemes. In none of the provincial cities, even the biggest among them, is there an opera. How different this is from other countries’ Take Italy, for example. Rarely indeed in Italy do young singers make their debut at the Scala, Milan, or San Carlo, Naples, theatres, or in other of the famous houses. No, they make their debut in one of the smaller towns—say Modena, Bologna, or Parma—and then gradually work their way up until finally they appear in one of the great houses. And the same system applies to Germany. But now, where in Great- Britain will you find any house out of London at-which it is of advantage for a would-be operatie artist to make his or her debut, or where he or she can obtain real experience in operatic work and be afforded a chance of becoming in a few years' time really well equipped’ It has long been my hope to see established in some of the more important of our provincial cities small opera houses—exactly similar to those in Italy, Germany, and elsewhere on the Continent—at which those among our young singers who possess true talent would be able to gain practical experience in operatic work. To talk about giving young singers operatic training in Great Britain under the conditions that prevail here a t present, is not sensible. All we can do here as’yet is to instruct students up to a certain point- Musical comedy may be good training in a way—up to a certain point it undoubtedly is—but when the best is said of it that can be said, its ‘training facilities,’ if 1 may express myself so, still fall far short of the training that is afforded by the opera houses of Italy and of Germany. Before ending, 1 should like to say that -the encouragement I have received from the Press and the public alike helped me to decide upon the development of certain schemes for the future which, until recently, were still in embryo. So far as I can foresee at present, there undoubtedly' is a great future in store, for English opera, provided that sueh operas are thoroughly well done—another way of saying ‘without sparing pains.’ ” Another Drama of Passion. Mr. Rudolf Besier, whose delectable comedy “ Don ” was given at length in these pages a fe.w weeks ago, has come to light in London with an excellent adaptation of M. Pieire Berton's play, “ La Rencontre,” described as “ a drama of passion,” and translated under the name of “ The Crisis.” “La Rencontre ” served to open the doors of the Comedie Francaise to M. Pierre Berton. Although the event took (dace in the height, or depths, of the dead season: yet it must not be forgotten that the Comedie Fnaneaise is the Comedie Franchise, and to have a piece presented there is the ambition of every French dramatist. According to the critics, the play, in its original form had no pretentions to rank as a masterpiece; the version produced at the New Theatre, London, has still fewer claims to be so described. Not that the adapter, Mr. Rudolf Besier, has done his work carelessly or incompetently: his reputation stands far too high to allow of such a supposition. The mistake he has committed is in yielding himself to the belief that an essentially French theme can be rendered palatable to English tastes. “ La. Rencontre ” (according to - the “Daily Telegraph”) is the kind of play which cannot be whitewashed. It is to be taken or left, as it emerged front the crucible of the author’s imagination. The intrigue reveals few traces of novelty; it is the old, old story of a wife who deceives her husband and of that husband’s passion for another woman.

The Plot. .... Camille de Lancay is the lifelong friend of Renee Serval, the latter the wife* of * successful lawyer and ambitious deputy, whom she has married merel.y..for position and money. The .two women have been strangers for some years; their meeting is the result .of Carpilfe i ’s..arri*ial *n Faris, with the object of obtaining Serval’s assistance in a lawsuit instituted to upset the will of her deceased husband, a profligate and a scapegrace, who, after causing Camille infinite unhappiness by his treachery and depravity, sought by a last act of cruelty to leave her practically penniless. Serval, sceptical at first on the subject of his new client’s virtue, quickly falls a victim to her charms, and before long the smouldering cinders of his love have burst into flames. But Camille is an honest woman, and although she, too, is unable to control her feelings, her sense of loyalty to her friend helps her to retain her mastery over them. It is Renee who contrives her own undoing. Serval is called to Paris —the second act passes in hrs country house at Villa d’Ayray—on political business, and late though the hour be, announces his intention of hastening thither by motor. The opportunity is too good to Ire lost. Renee makes an assignation with her lover, Brevannes, instructing him to return half an hour after her husband's departure, when, the servants having been dismissed, he will find the drawing-room windows open to admit him. So things fall out. Camille, meanwhile, too restless to sleep after a passionate scene with Serval, returns to the room in search of a book just in time to witness the meeting of Renee and Brevannes. Hastily concealing herself behind a screen, she watches the two disappear into the adjoining chamber, A few minutes elapse, and through the still open window, enters Serval, who by some mysterious means, has made the journey to and from Paris, to discover that he has been betrayed by his party, that all his dreams are scattered, that his political career is ruined. All that is best and noblest in the woman’s nature goes out to the suffering man; between the two there is no longer any question of love, nothing but a pure and holy friendship.. Thus they will part. Suddenly Camille remembers what Serval must find if he goes to his wife's room. Anything rather than that! His wounds ehall not be set bleeding anew by the hand of the woman whom, much as he has doubted her affection, he still regards as the safe custodian of his honour. Out of the dilemma there is, it appears to Camille, but one way: to save Serval from the knowledge of his wife's perfidy she must keep him by her side, and to accomplish that she can conceive no device but to throw herself into his arms and confess her love. “Stay with me for an hour at least," and Serval. overjoyed, consents. Finale. The conclusion comes in a really fine verbal duel between the two women—in an appeal for silence from Renee and in Camille's determination not t-o betray her friend. The final curtain is reached-with Camille’s departure out of the lives of both "Serval and his wife. The production was marked by the reappearance of Miss Evelyn Millard, whose return to the stage, after all too long an absence, was signalised by demonstrative enthusiasm. Miss Millard was said to have never played with greater force, a finer restraint, or a- profounder sense of feeling. She won the complete sympathy of he* audience in a part, that, had it been handled less sincerely. less earnestly, must inevitably have failed to create any impression for good. ; Delivered from the Censor—“ Queen of Sheba ” Reaches England. At last the stupid bann placed by the English Censor on Carl Goldmark's beautiful opera, “The Queen of Sheba.” has been broken down by the clamour of a multitude of intellects, and' the first performance in London has taken place. The name of the composer will be familiar to all Aucklanders who attended the last concert of the Orchestral Society and heard the performance of the overture to ‘‘Sakuntala.” The Carl Rosa Opera Company produced the opera, and met yith a very enthusiastic - reception. That the appearance in England of “The Queen of Sheba” has been so long delayed is due to the superstition that scriptural subjects should not be allowed to serve as themes for opera or drama. It should, however, be pointed out that the opera is Biblical only as regards its title and

some ..of .its. characters. -In it are introKing Solomon and the ■ Queea of Sheba, but the only incident .derived from Scripture is the Queen's visit..,to ■ Solomon, upon which, however, is built up a romance that is wholly imaginative. “The Queen of Sheba,” which;is in four acts, was produced at the Hofoper, Vienna, in 1875. It was the composer’s first opera, and he took .immense pains over his task, to which he devoted nearly ten years, many portions undergoing . revision, while the third act was entirely re-written. -. At the commencement of the opera we are shown the hall in Solomon’s palace, where the Queen of Sheba is to.be treoeived by the King. His favourite courtier, Assad, comes to: tell Solomon of her near approach. Noting his disturbed looks, the King inquires the cause, whereupon Assad replies that in a cedar grove by Lebanon he encountered an extremely. beautiful woman, who exercised her fascinations upon him so effectively that the charms of his (betrothed, Sulamith, the daughter of ■the High Priest, had been eclipsed,. The wise King advises him to marry Sulamith at once. Then the Queen of Sheba and her retinue enter and are received by Solomon. She lifts her veil, and Assad perceives that she is the lovely creature who had made such, a potent impression upon him in the forest. The Queen denies any acquaintance with him, but when she learns that he is about to wed Sulamith, love

for him springs up in her breast, and •he determines to separate him from his" betrothed. How she lures him io her side and again stimulates hi him a' trohsuming devotion' is shown in the next scene, where the gardens of the Palace are disclosed bathed in moonlight. So completely does she establish her influence over him that, when in the course of the wedding ceremonial in the Temple she conies to present her gift to the bride, Assad is so carried away by his longing for her that, with frenzied utterance, he publicly proclaims that she is his divinity. Such a profanation of the sanctuary necessarily entails the sentence of death, and to this fate Assad is (condemned. The third aet takes place in the Banqueting Hall of the Palace, where the Queen makes a powerful appeal that Assad’s life shall be spared, and his sentence commuted to exile, her supplications being followed by those of Sulamith. At length the King gives his consent. In the final act .Assad has found his way to the' desert. Thither the Queen follows him, and attempts once more to exercise.her fascinations upon him. This time, however, her efforts come to naught, for Assad’s infatuation for her has passed, and when the Queen has departed and Sulamith appears, he turns to her, and begs forgiveness. Finally, in true operatic fashion, the lovers die in each other’s arms. The Qualities of the Opera. The opera is distinguished for its strong dramatic situations and opportunities for spectacular effect. There are a succession of highly-picturesque scenes illustrated by music which is notable for varied and effective dramatic expression, and manages to sustain a satisfactory degree of interest, thus keeping attention up to the mark of pleasure. Many portions of the opera show power of no common order. For the vocalists, Goldmark adopts the declamatory style, so following the example of Wagner, whose influence is often to be noted in the course of the work. The choruses form an important feature, and the ensembles are constructed with ample breadth and skill. The most beautiful is that in ■which Sulamith and her friends implore the King to show mercy to Assad. Here we have a successful effort higher in kind than the rest. The melodic interest is almost entirely developed in the orchestra, which the composer handles in masterly fashion, often producing very striking effects. A Play Much Too Good to Miss. "The Passing of the Third Floor Back,” the play that hypnotised London and created a furore in the States with Forbes Robertson as “The Stranger,” has reached New Zealand at last. We have to thank neither J. C. Williamson nor Meynell and Clarke for the enterprise, but a wholly new, untried organisation, which has risked everything in the production of two very fine dramas in Clyde Fitch’s “Lover’s Lane” and Jerome’s mystery play. The enterprise, indeed, contains so much of •the spirit and ambition’every true votary of dramatic art would wish to see in New Zealand that to offer- criticism seems almost a sin. Time and again must it be trumpeted across the Tasman Sea from these shores that New Zealanders want something more than farcical comedies and melodrama with their morbid maudlin appeal to sex. The need, instead, is for plays of the class that •the Plimmer-Denniston combination have been ambitious enough to bring to these shores in the hope New Zealand will rise to the realisation of their worth. Unfortunately, what might do for a melodrama or romantic rubbish like "When Knighthood was in Flower” in the way of acting, does not square at all with modern drama. A play like Jerome’s "Passing of the Third Floor Baek” must be supported by qualified actors and actresses in every character if it is to realise to the full the dramatist’s intention and carry overwhelming conviction to the audience. Whilst the Plimmer-Denniston combination is too unequal in its talent to be capable of any such interpretation, it must be said that their rendering of "The Passing of the Third Floor Back” was altogether a better performance than that given to the previous piece. Mr. Plimmer himself exceeded the anticipation of even hi? friends as ‘The Stranger.” There are actors on the Australasian stage to-day who, with such a part, would not scruple to -have made niore use of the limelight and attitudinise ostentatiously for the benefit of the gallery. Mr Plimmer showed his sense of the fitness of things by refusing any such

vulgarisation, and instead acted the part with more restraint and insight than one would, on past performances, have been inclined to- place to his "credit. Apart from-the monotony of iiis diction and altogether obscure moments in the interpretation; the character was sufficiently well impersonated to indicate the purpose of the author. It is, in other words, a part with artistic possibilities much beyond Mr. Plimmer—a part worthy only of the sublime and spiritual art of Forbes Robertson himself, not that one for a moment would wish the actor-manager to feel he was being made the victim of an impossible comparison. "The Stranger” ean only be but one person in all the history of Christianity, although all his attributes are equally those of Boudha, and other Asiatic avatars, who preceded the Christian Saviour. Into all the horrors of a cheap Bloomsbury boardinghouse, ■where various worldly types and failings are assembled. “The Stranger” comes and slowly, silently transforms a household of petty greeds and failings into a paradise of goodwill and human kindnesses. The moral of the play is that which has been preached by all sages, all the divine men in the history of the world, the moral which flourished’ in the East long before it took voice and soul in Palestine—“Do unto others, etc.” It is a glamour of the golden rule which permeates every utterance of “The Stranger”—the golden rule which everybody is anxious enough to follow nowadays, eo long as it is not a question of money—whether it be in the form of rent, wages, fees, salaries, interest, or taxes. The play tends rather to sermonise at the expense of dramatic construction, but it is a fine effort of characterisation. Every individual part is human—a vivid sketch of men and women of to-day—although the interpretation of “the boarders” (with the exception of Mr. S. A. Fitzgerald’s excellent rendering of the retired bookmaker) by the members of the Company completely failed to materialise. Mr. Reynolds Denniston as Major Tompkins seemed to have no conception at all of the old army officer, who, despite his decrepit respectability and impecunious failings, will still “an officer and a gentleman.” Mrs. Robert Brough made a very convincing landlady all through, whilst Miss Parkes, apart from certain limitations and defects of dialect, acted the part of the “Slavey” with a good deal of vitality and enthusiasm. The only other performances of conspicuous merit were those of Miss Myra Wall as Vivian, and Mr. Charles Throsby as Samuels. Stray Notes. This month’s “Triad” contains the following:—“Mr. Montague writes from Auckland:—‘Dear Mr. Baeyertz (excuse me, is that how you spell it?),- —It was very sweet of you to refer in such a kind way to the circular I issued regarding our reading of “A Doll’s House” (by Isben, not Shakespeare), but I hasten to say that I was not responsible for the composition of this interesting circular. It was part of an article written at my suggestion by my good friend C. C. Reade, of Auckland, and he very kindly allowed me to use this portion in my circular. It was so terse and so much to the point, and, altogether, so much better than anything I could have written myself, that I seized it eagerly with both hands and used it up for my own purpose (is you saw —of course, with the permission of friend Reade, whom I now desire to thank most cordi-ally.—-Yours very truly, J. F. Montague.’ ” The article referred to was that appearing in the issue of “The Weekly Graphic” in these columns on 27th July last. The New Gisborne Shakespeare Club is to make its initial effort on Thursday night with a reading of “As You Like It.” The president is Mr. A. F. Kennedy, who is down on the programme for some remarks. The secretary is Mr. L. T. Burnard, and the stage manager Mr. Andrew. Mr If. B. Irving is due to open with his company in Melbourne next June. Mrs Irving will be one of the company. The pieces to be produced will inelude “Hamlet,” “Faust,” “Charles 1.,” “The Bells,” “The Lyon’s Mail,” and other well-known plays associated with his gifted father’s name, and with memories of the old Lyceum. Miss Gertrude Alger, a talented young violinist who has recently completed four years’ study in London under Professor

Johann Kruse, gave a very successful recital at Melbourne on the 29th ult. Miss Alger is a native of Melbourne, and was accorded an enthusiastic home-com-ing. Mdlle. Antonio Dolores has given the second of a series of recitals at the Melbourne Town Hall with huge success. The Zealandia Musical and Literary Society-, which has been formed amongst girls employed in the boot factories in Christehureii, has made an auspicious beginning, and now has a representative membership. The Society was established by Mr F. C. Airs, who has had some experience of a similar society amongst the girl employees of boot factories in Leicester, England, and who has noted the success achieved. The object is to bring the girls together, to give them means of improving themselves, and to enable them to spend their leisure hours with pleasure and profit. For some time the members of the Christchurch Society have been undergoing training in elocution, music and other branches of art by Mr Sidney Williamson. Carreno has repeated her former experience in Melbourne. That is, she has played to houses barely half-full, and doing that is not likely to pay Australasia a visit again in a hurry unless music-lovers are ready to promise they will behave themselves better. Madame Mary Conly and Mr Walter Kirby have decided not to continue their joint concert venture in Melbourne any further. They are understood to be dissatisfied with the lack of support given them by the public. After giving a few concerts in Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide, quite “on his own,” Mr Kirby intends to return to Europe.