Evening Star Newspaper, April 6, 1930, Page 105

wer e 11 Y TR, v o THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, APRIL 6, 1930. 15 nother Battle for the Star Baritones Rival Hollywood Talkie Magnates Have Stolen the Two Greatest of America’s Man Singers From Grand Opera, and Signor Frances Alda, who, after 22 seasons at the Metropolitan, has surrendered to the radio and the concert stage. BY GILBERT SWAN. HOSE aggressive Hollywood raiders, battling for possession of the public, ment of hostages and captives back have not only been taking an assort- with them from New York, but are now ready to pit opera star against opera star in major engagements directed against the box offices of the Nation. All of which has brought more than one sigh from Giulio Gatti-Casazza, who, as director the Metropolitan Opera House for 21 seasons, sees the mechanical era slowly destroying art. Genius, he feels, is in rapid decline. Meanwhile, it is no secret In the offices of Radio Pictures that in signing Everett Marshall, the handsome young Metropolitan baritone, a direct challenge was issued to Lawrence Tibbett, another good-looking Metropolitan star who went to the M-G-M camp and who has already captured favor with his first picture, “The Rogue Song.” Thus & rivalry for opera honors, which be=- gan upon the Metropolitan stage, is carried to the country at large, with both concerns ready to back their contenders with bulky bankrolls. Those who listen in on grand opera chat- ter have known for a couple of seasons that the two young American baritones were ar- tistic rivals. Several things made it inevitable. The roles in which they were cast paralleled. Each has appeared in “The Girl of the Golden West,” “Aida,” “Il Trovatore” and other favorites. Each was a young American “discovery”— the only young Americans in the Met. Each had arrived at his particular peak through struggle and hard work. Each Was interested in establishing a pre-eminent place in the musical world. Yet no personal animus was involved. Each has expressed great admiration for the other, IBBETT had a head start. He was already established when young Marshall came * along. The latter appeared some three sea= sons ago. He sang but once during the early days of the current season and then took to the radio and the concert stage. Tibbett made a number of appearances and then rushed off to Hollywood for his first picture. Now let's take a little close-up view of these superior-voiced young men of whom you are certain to hear a great deal during the next 12 months, Both came from medium-sized American town:. Marshall's native heath is Worcester, Mass. His father was a mechanic in the New England mill belt. There was no tradition of vacal Grand Mme, Schumann-Heinl:. is now the director of musical programs for & radio station. Casazza Decries Machine Music as Destroying Art and Genius. Lawrence Tibbett had a head start, with the first talkie success to be chalked up by a grand opera star. He is shown here as Ford in Falstaff, the role which made him a sensation at the Metropolitan. achievement in the family. They were hard- working, plain folk. Marshall is Scotch, but looks Irish. He has merry lines about the mouth and eyes which give this Irish impression. He carries with him a quick and easy sense of humor. He is quick at making friends, possessing a faculty for “mixing” and a boyish personality. He laughs and chats quite without any hint of being an artist. The matinee girls doubtless “adore him.” He began singing at the age of 7, but his family waited until he was 14 before putting him in charge of a vocal trainer.: A great future was predicted for him almost imme- diately. He sang in the home town choir. AND it so happens that Worcester holds an annual music festival. A symphony comes to town, and many important singers appear. The ambitious lad followed these yearly func- tions with rapt attention. One year he found an opportunity for trying his voice before one of the visiting artists. He was advised to go to New York. And did. But he was side- tracked. Instead of the stage, he took to athletics and became a gymnastic instructor at a Summer camp at Lake Placid. There he met vacationers who advised him to attend a conservatory in Cincinnati. He earned his tuition, and studied in the Ohio school for three years. Then he was off for Milan. L Y big cpportunity came as a complete surprise,” he told me. “It so happened that the Fascisti have a committee to give a certain number of opportunities each year to students. One day a member of the committee came around and asked if I should like a chance to have an audition before Serafin, 'the con- ductor of the Metropolitan, who was visiting there. I leaped at the opportunity. And Serafin brought me back with him. And so I came to the Met. “But the real kick in my life came when, after my appearances in grand opera, I was asked to sing at the home festival—and all my friends and family were there. It was the dream of my boyhood come true!” While in Milan, Marshall met a beautiful Spanish girl who was studying music there. After a brief romance, they were married. She is in Italy now, finishing her training, and, so he says, with fine prospects of being an im- portant singer. OW turn to Tibbett! Another boyish and likeable personality. A typical Westerner from Bakersfield Calif. His father was an early day sheriff in Kern County killed during a gun battle with bad men. His parents were descended from California Forty-niners. His mother possessed an un- usually good voice and all of the children, two sisters and two brothers, enjoyed its her- itage. “When I was attending school in Los An- geles,” he told me recently, “I went in for ama- teur dramatics, and the director happened to be a Miss Howell, who not long ago became George Arliss’ director. She gave me excellent training. I began to sing wherever money was' to be gained by doing so, One night, after .a few songs in a public concert, a distinguished- Amelita Galli-Curci, who has left grand opera, with one eye on the talkies. looking gentleman stopped me and asked me a few questions. He said I should go to Néw York. That man was that fine musician, Emilio de Gogorza. I had in my travels happened to become friendly with Rupert Hughes, the nove ~ elist, and he, too, advised me ¢» study in New York. But I had no money. A friend came to my rescue with a loan. “Well, suddenly I was in Manhattan, the stu- dent of Frank La Forge, who accompanied Mme. Alda at the plano. To make a little side money I went to New Rochelle and other towns in - Westchester County, singing in the church choirs on Sunday. It was quite a struggle. I * accepted any public engagement that came along.” Finally he found his way to that dusty . rear door of the Met, ONE night, five weeks before the performance of “Falstaff,” he was informed that he would be given the role of Ford. What hap- pened that night is one of the tales destined 3 to become a Metropolitan legend. When the, curtain fell he returned to his dressing room, -- - worried over how he had made out. Even from his back-stage point of vnntage he could hear the shouts and applause of the audience. He presumed this to be for Scotti, who had been singing the name role. Suddenly a stage boy appeared at his door. “They are calling for you. They want you on- the stage,” the page informed him. Tibbett was - stunned with surprise. He went to the foot- lights to find himself an overnight idol, Two typically American youths, climbing to great success in the face of many obstacles. And both of them greatly to be admired! But, returning to Tibbett—he is married and the father of two sturdy lads. In New York he lives quietly, generally at an apartment hotel, He maintains a handsome home outside of Los Angeles and prefers that his sons grow up in the California sunshine, though they are fre- quently brought to New York. His marriage resulted from a high school ro- mance. The girl who became Mrs. Tibbett was one of the amateur theatrical group at his high _school. When the war came Tibbett had joined ¥~ "« the Navy. When he was ‘discharged he had only - a couple of hundred dollars. But he took on _ family responsibilities just the same, and his wife struggled with him during those years when he was singing in quartets, performing in little theaters and otherwise picking up & few dollars, With his first “singing picture,” Tibbett be- came a film figure to be reckoned with. His contract calls for a number of other pictures. His film salary is fabulous. (Copyright, 1930.) W A rival for Tibbett in the talkies now, as on the stage formerly, the singing of Everett_Marshall for the “singies” here Ledl i = alds musical warfare on a new front.