Evening Star Newspaper, March 5, 1933, Page 41

Toscanini Is Heroic Character in Music World Last of Great Conductors to Come to Washington This Year Is Known for His Prodigious Memory lnd perfection Of Musicnl Balance. By Alicc Eversmln. N the person of Arturo Tos- canini, the last and greatest of this season’s visiting con- ductors, this musical genera- tion is privileged to know a man of rare musical force and genius. In him, creative ability, strength of ideas and gift of psychological penetration are combined in such proportions as to form that rarity of all times and all professions, a born leader. Musical history is replete with genius, but confined for the most part to the urge for individual and exclusive expres- sion which has found vent in composition and has been a per- sonal notation of personal reac- tion to an inner inspiration. The musical veil with which the composers have shrouded their thoughts and feelings is not easily genetrated and the images move ehind it with provocative allure. The power to discern the clear forms, to understand their sym- bolism and to revisualize their message requires the gift of a highly sensitive and clairvoyant nature. In this Toscanini stands alone on a mountain peak, seeing into a land that is closed to the lesser gifted and repainting the beauty that stretches befcre him. No other conductor of the pres- ent day has at his command such range of color or sense of per- fection of balance. He is an idealist, with his craving for per- fection never satisfied, and a hard worke', driving himself to delve ever deeper into the sublimities he seems to have already mas- tered. He has the ability of seeing where others are blind and to fuse himself into the very soul of the music he interprets. It is a spiritual alliance between him- ‘'self and the composer, and through this communion he is able to take on the characteris- tics of the great mind and serve as a medium of exact transmis- sion. 8 The talent of Toscanini has made him a hero not only to his own people, but to the world. His prodigious feats of memory have appealed to the dramatic sense and many stories are told of this accomplishment. It has been claimed that his extreme nearsightedness is the reason of his conducting without score, but from his earliest youth he showed proof of his musical memory. To convince a doubting teacher, he once sat down and wrote the en- tire overture from ‘“Lohengrin” from memory. Another time, when the quartet of which he was a member wished to play an “‘Adagio” that had been written for them a year earlier, the music of which was missing, Toscanini immediately wrote eut the several parts. During one week at the Metro- politan he conducted the vocal score of 338 pages of “The Girl of the Golden West” on Monday, the 1,025 closely printed pages of “Tristan” on Wednesday, 196 pages of “Orfeo ed Euridice” on Thursday, “La_Donna Curiosa,” 217 pages, on Friday, while con- ducting “Ariane et Barbe Bleue,” with its score of 572 pages, every morning at rehearsal. This meant remembering the value of every note, every pause, every change of tempo and every mark of inter- Ppretation. Before Toscanini directs a sym- Ehony or great orchestral work, e spends days in communion with it. The life of the composer is studied, his joys and sorrows relived and his particular style dissected. Then he says to his or- chestra men: “You play everything as it is written. But these are not only notes; they are notes written with blcod, notes written with feeling. Music is noise when played without feeling.” Again he explains to them: “This is a man broken by misfortune, fleeing for refuge in a wilderness. He sees the jeweled stars prick the sky on his last night. He forgets him- self; he stops dreaming of repair- ing the irreparable. The serenity of night distils a subtle sweet- ness and his arms, no longer ca- pable of lifting his broken body, strain toward the beauty infusing the whole universe. Softer, sweeter, more mysterious—see, shadows drift hy. We must make them unearthly.” Sometimes to illustrate his idea he drops his baton, distorts his body and prances around in his effort to picture more clearly or lifts his arms in supplication to envisualize the characteristics to be expressed. Once when his men were incapable of grasping the idea, he dropped on his knees be- fore them and pleaded with them to try again and feel what they were playing. He is not always tender or poetical at rehearsal. His rages are common knowledge and many a player has trembled when Toscanini has picked him out from the volume of sound, pointed his baton at him and shrieked: “Play A sharp in place of A natural,” or “You, there, why aren’t you playing this note flat?” His ever favorite exclamation of “Shame, shame” can range through the entire octave of sound and contain every variety of imprecation. Second to his love for Verdi is Toscanini’s reverence for Beetho- ven, whose symphony, “Eroica,” he will direct on Tuesday. Through his efforts, Beethoven became bet- ter known and better loved in Italy and the heavy program of the master’s works he gave at the Beethoven centennial, which he planned and directed, aroused wildest enthusiasm in an audi- ence accustomed to giving its pllegiance exclusively to grand opera. When beginning the re- hearsal of a Beethoven symphony, he explains his own ideas and re- actions to the music and then ex- lains what Berlioz or Wagner hought of it, thus providing his men with every angle from which to gain inspiration. He considers Beethoven an epic poet singing of imgersoml grief, “not that he is unhappy, but that happiness is impossible.” * X * X 'AFTER a quarter of a century— lacking but one year—the - New York Philharmonic will dis- continue its services to this city. Service it truly was, for during this long period, when Washing- ton was often without dependable orchestra music of its own, oppor- tunity for hearing the monu- mental symphonic works was furnished by this group of musi- cians. Its record of 90 years of unbroken performances places it as the world’s second oldest or- chestra, the dean being the fa- mous Gewandhaus Orchestra of Lerlgzlg. During that time no con- cert was ever canceled and only two moved from their announced date when the deaths of President Cleveland and of its conductor, Anton Seidl, caused them to be temporarily postponed. Its unique organization is partly responsible for its longevity for its policy is to take care of its members during their years of activity and provide for their care when old age has stiffened their fingers or shortened their breath. Its professional musi- cians form an ideal communistic corporation divided into three classes of members—actual, hon- orary and honorary associate. The first honorary member elected by unanimous vote was Vieuxtemps in 1843. Since then Spohr, Mendelssohn, Jenny Lind, Liszt, Wagner, Rubenstein and Dvorak are some of the famous musicians upon whom this dis- tinction has been confered. The idea of guest conductors brought many men of fame to this country for the first time. Eduard Colonne, instigator of the famous Colonne concerts of Paris, the conductorship of which, until recently, was in the hands of the beloved Gabriel Pierne; Sir Henry Wood of the London Symphony concerts, Felix Weingartner of Munich, Richard Strauss of Berlin and played a cello concerto dedi- cated to the Philharmonic, are some of these. It is with regret and recogni- tion that this last concert will be attended, regret that this perfect ensemble with its distinguished | conductors will be heard here no more and recognition for the love | of orchestral music it created, which has culminated in the for- | mation of our own National Sym- phony. May we hold high and carry on the ideal it has taught | us. | * ok x o ‘HE Metropolitan Opera Com- | pany’s performance of “Tris- | tan und Isolde” on Wednesday, March 15, at the Lyric Theater in Baltimore, will have a cast par excellence. Perhaps never before | has so many famous Wagnerian | singers appeared together in this | supreme music-drama. “Isolde” will be sung by Frida Leider, who, | after unqualified success at the State Opera in her native Berlin, was acclaimed the ideal Wag- nerian soprano at Covent Garden and solidified her fame this sea- son &t the Metropolitan. The Danish tenor, Lauritz Melchior, who belongs to the great ones of | Bayreuth and is a general fa- vorite in European opera houses, will be the Tristan. The Bran- gaene of Maria Olszewska has | won her renown at the operas of Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Hamburg, Leipzig and at Covent Garden, London, and Friedrich Schorr, | singing “Kurvenal,” is a promi- nent figure in Wagnerian opera | wherever it has had its finest pro- | duction. No finer vehicle for these splen- did artists could be found than this passionate drama by the man whose death anniversary has been so universally commemo- rated. ~ All the desire, grief, sor- row, despair and ecstasy that was familiar to the Titan of Bayreuth, and which he immortalized in | this opera, will have the pick of the operatic world as interpreters. S Violin Recital Today. 'DWARD S. MACDONALD, director of The Ten O'clock Club, 1603 K street northwest, will present Eugenie Limberg, violinist, in recital today at| 4:30 o'clock. Miss Limberg received her | bachelors degree in music from the Bush Conservatory in Chicago and in the Summer of 1932 her masters degree from the Cincinnati Conservatory. Apart from her gifts as a violinist, Miss Limberg has devoted herself to the study of composition. The “String Quartet” she wrote last Winter was fea- tured in a concert at the Cincinnati Conservatory. Last year she also won recognition by receiving the first prize in the violin contest conducted by the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs. This afternoon Miss Limberg will play the Max Bruch “Concerto in G-minor,” which concerto she is to play with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, March and Victor Herbert, who wrote | | on the New York stage and now she re- Left to right: Lily Pons, noted French coloratura soprano, who will sing with the Metropolitan Opera Co. in Baltimore next week, and Arturo Toscanini, who is conducting the New York Philharmonic’s farewell concert here on Tuesday at Constitution Hall. RTURO TOSCANINI will lead the New York Philharmonic- Symphony Orchestra in its farewell concert at Constitu- tion Hall Tuesday at 4:45 pm., when it appears under the manage- ment of the T. Arthur Smith Concert Bureau. . Signor Toscanini just returned to lead a brief season beginning March 1. He is to conduct “Die Meistersinger” and “Parisfal” at Bayreuth this Sum- | mer. He has chosen a program for the finale in the National Capital, which will include: Beethoven. .Symphony No. 3 (Eroica) ‘Wagner, Overture and Bacchanale, “Tannhauser” Wagner, Prelude and Love-Death, “Tristan und Isolde.” | The chief reason for the New York orchestra’s decision to not return next season is lack of funds to finance the | ennual tour. It is estimated that about $9,000 is needed for one such concert on tour, as this group gives them both in Baltimore and Washington. Also, the long rot -trip from New York for 115 men is inconvenient and the or- ences in New York. Tickets for this concert are on sale at T. Arthur Smith’s Concert Bureau in Kitt's Music Store, 1330 G street northwest. Renaissance of Players. OLLYWOOD is undergoing a Spring cleaning as well as a renaissance of players these days with old-time fa- vorites turning up in every production and reclaiming their lost followings, and established actors disappearing into the Hollywood limbo. Bessie Barriscale, who was a land- mark when Vitagraph and Biograph were household institutions, will be seen in Fox's “Bondage,” with Dorothy | Jordan, Alexander Kirkland and Merle | Tottenham. Miss Barriscale is best remembered in her productions of a decade ago that included “Trick of Fate.” “Her Pur- chase Price,” “Luck of Geraldine Laird” and “Two-Gun Betty.” She once headed her own company at the old Brunton studios and has been off the | screen for seven years. | Another well remembered actress is Betty Blythe, svelte screen n of the | silents, who made ‘“‘vampir word to | conjure with. She has been mlklnfli films in England as well as appearing in | turns to her first love, the films, | “Pilgrimage,”_in which Marion .Nixon and Norman Foster are to be starred. In the same “Pilgrimage” the daily set looks like a reunion of veterans for William Collier, ; Charley Grapewin and Henrietta Crosman all congregate there. Forty years ago Mr. Collier as- sisted his father, an actor, during re- hearsal of a play in which Miss Cros- man had the leading role. And Ernest Truex, who has the male lead opposite Elissa Landi in “The War- rior Husband,” made his debut in films 20 years ago in Mary Pickford’s “The Good Little Devil,” her first feature- length film, Not to forget Robert Warwick, the hero of scores of films during the silent 19 of this year. She will also play two groups of short numbers. days, who will also be seen in “Pil- grimage.” HE two compositions leading in the National Symphony Orches- tra’s poll for its “request pro- gram,” which will be presented next Sunday, are as different as any two music compositions could be. ‘They are Ravel's modernistic and syn- copated “Bolero” and Schubert’s “Un- finished Symphony.” Both are assured of a place on the program, which will begin at 4 p.m. in Constitution Hall. Schubert’s symphony received just a few more votes than the “Pathetique” symphony of Tschaikowski, which Dr. Kindler conducted here earlier this year. One of the great violin concertos also is sure to be played on this program, namely, Bruch’s G Minor. The soloist will be Frank Gittelson, concertmaster of the orchestra. Although still a young man, Mr. Git- telson has an enviable record of con- cert and recital successes behind him. He began early, making his debut when he was 17 years old in Berlin with Conductor-Pianist Ossip Gabrilowitsch, leading the Berlin Philharmonic. Since ofm he has p‘x:mde .:v“t:lg notlb:e u:::: Europe, playing in great m centers and with the great symphonic organizations. He returned to Philadelphis, his na- tive city, at the outbreak of the World War and enlisted in the United States Army. At the close of the war he be- came a member of the staff of Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and later joined the servatory faculty of the#Aeabody Con- of Music in Baltimore, of which he is still & member. Symphony News. During the last decade, in addition to his teaching, Mr. Gittelson has ap- peared with all the great American symphonies, including the Chicago, New York and Philadelphia organizations. Needless to say, in consideration of the amount of preparation needed, the choice of the Bruch concerto was made without reference to the votes from the orchestra patrons, more than a thou- sand of which have been receivedi at the offices in the Woodward Building. “The hearty response on the part of our audience in taking the trouble to mail us their selections indicates one very encouraging thing,” said Manager C. C. Cappel in announcing the Ravel and Schubert choices. “It shows that an ever-increasing number of Wash- ingtonians are taking a lively interest in their orchestra. They are realizing that it is really their orchestra and that it was their wish for fine music at low cost for themselves and their chil- Farewell Concert E [ | Music Club, Mlchh 14, at their studios, | chestra can draw more lucrative audi- | | Fort Myer, Va., and official bugler to| Local EARL WAUGH will give her last ilustrated talk of the sea- son tomorrow morning, at 11| o'clock, at the Y. W. C. A. The Rubenstein Club will hold a| the Willard Hotel, at 7:45 o'clock. ‘The Friday Morning Music Ciub will present an opera pageant, “From the Troubadours Songs,” arranged by Mir- iam Hilton, next Friday morning, 11 o'clock, at the Y. W. C. A. Barker Hall. Marcel Ancher, cellist of the Na- tional Symphony Orchestra, will pre sent the first of a series of informative | recitals before the Tuesday Evening | 1729 G street. talk on the sorata and concerto forms of piano music will be given by Elma Dott , president of the club, and Mr. Anc! will play the Brahms sonata and __Handel con- certo. Marjerie Davis will be his ac- compaenist. Other artists appearing in these informative recitals will be Grete von Bayer in a program of romantic music of Germany, and Miriam Hilton | in a program of Faure songs. A program of special music will be | presented at the opening service of the | Spiritual Science Church of Christ. this | evening, at the new address, 1901 R | street northwest. Myra Marshall, so- | prano, will be guest soloist; also, Staff | Sergt. Frank A. Witchey, chief trum- peter, United States 3d Cavalry Band, | the Unknown Soldier, and Cruze Ams- | den, trumpeter soloist, United States 3d | Cavalry Band, Fort Myer, will be heard | in solos. Elizabeth Gardner Coombs, director of music, will be heard in her 15-minute piano recital, at 7:45 pm., | featuring Chopin. The public is cor- | dially invited. | Greta von Bayer and Helen Grimes, | pianists, and Richard Lorleberg, ce.list, | will give a concert March 8, at 10 am., | at the home of Mrs. Eugene Bond, 7222 | Blair road, Takoma Park. The concert will be played before members and | guests of the music section of the Ta- koma Park Woman’s Club. Alice Neal, contralto, sang a group | of modern songs at the Veterans'| Bureau luncheon held at the Shoreham | Hotel recently. The District of Columbia deen'.lon‘ of Music Clubs will present the sixth | broadcast cver WRC Wednesday at 7 o'clock. ‘Two-piano_compositions will be featured by the Felicia Rybier Music Club. Eleanor Hulbert and Helen Spa- soff, the planists, will play a Spanish folk-dance by Mary Carlisle Howe and “The Dance of the Gnomes” by ‘Whelply. Katherine Seelye Wallace, pianist, and Florence Mackay, violinist, were the artists presented in joint recital by the Woodridge Music Club last Thursday evening at the residence of Mrs, William J. Seelye. Mrs. Wallace accompanied. Flora McGill Keefer, mezzo-soprano, | Ph will assist Lewis Corning Atwater, organist, in & program of Bach music this afternoon at All Souls’ Church. ‘The Esmu Club held its meeting February 25, at the Sears Roebuck Art Galleries. Alice Neuman, 10-year-old pil of Mrs. Wells, piayed Bach’ “Musette in G,” which she later pre- sented at the junior concert of the Federation of Music Clubs. Those pres- ent at this meeting were: Betty Evans, Martha Brawner, Margaret and Frances Osborn, Sylvia Joseph, Jo, jr., and Jane Wells, Jean Hartig, Mary Jeanne Cole- man, M. Morrison Smith, Mary Sterling, D. Pelzman, Flora and Eleanor Blumen- thal, Rita Wheatley and Gerson Nord- linger. C. Wilfred Smith, Welsh-American tenor, was the leading soloist at the banquet and musical festival of the St. David’s Society of Welsh Americans held at the Mayflower last Wednesday. The A Capella Choir of the First 4 soloist in Oley Speaks. ‘The music at the 11 o'clock service this morning at the Church of Trans- figuration will be of & patriotic nature. Savona Griest, voice and piano teach- er, mmtedlmu of her pupils in recital recently. participating Notes Washington b Alumnae Club of the ! national honorary music sorority, Mu| Phi Epsilon, was hostess to Mrs. Eugene Allensworth, National Alumnae officer, | ot Atlanta, Ga., on Friday, at the home | of Helen Le Fevre Lyon, Poplar lane. Ross Henbest, Greta Von Bayer and Dorothy Todd, pianists; Hazel Gibson Wood and Vera Neely Ross, vocalists; Ruth Bronson Logan and Helen Le Fevre Lyon, violinists. Quinta Frey and Olive Pratt were the accompanists. Richard Tuttle Bell, organist and choirmaster of Christ Church, George- town, will give an organ recital this evening at 7:30, at the church. program will include numbers by Bach, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Tschaikowski and Mr. Bell will be assisted by Rehearsals of the Washington Ora- torio Soclety are being held each Mon- day evening at 8 o'clock. at _the Insti- tute of Musical Art. 831 Eighteenth street northwest. “The Creation,” by Haydn, is in preparation for rendition about ‘May 1. Singers interested in having part in such an organization are invited to communicate with the director at the above address, or come to rehearsals. Admittance to member- ship will be limiied to March 20. ‘The hour of music program at the Y. W. C. A, Seventeenth and K streets, this afternoon at 5 o'clock, will be given by James D. Nash, violinist, ac- companied by Sarah Feltwell, and Alicegene Carver, 50prano, accompanied by Margaret Bower. The public is cor- dially invited. The Sunday music hour program this afternoon at 4 o'clock, at the Y. W. C. A, 614 E street, will be under the direction of Dr. Samuel Domer’s class, with Mrs. William Hamilton Bayly pre- siding. Othets taking part in the pro- gram are Mrs. H. Homer, Dr. Harry T. Domer, William Bernhart and Mrs. George Waltz. The public is cordially invited. The Washington College of Music an- nounces that Helen Fetter Cook will lege tomorrow night at 8 o'clock. **Ama- teur vs. Professional Programs” will be the topic of the evening. ‘The Foundry Junior Choir, Esther Linkins, director, with Karl Holer, ac- companist, will sing at the formal open- ing of the new Foundry Playground next Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. Miss Sybil Baker, director of playgrounds, and Mr. Thomas Settle, secretary to Col. Grant, 3d. director of Public Buildings and Public Parks, will speak. At the last meeting of the Felicia Rybier Music Club on Tuesday in_the Sears, Roebuck & Co. Art Galleries Miss Rybier played Liszt's “Spanish Rhap- sody.” Helen Spasoff gave a reading on Liszt’s life and Eleasnor Hulbert played “The Sigh” and the “Rigoletto” “Para- rase.” Myra K. Meyers, 80prano, sang several songs. A concert by the combined Glee Clubs of George Washington University will be given Wednesday evening, March 8, at 8:15 p.m,, in Pierce Hall, Fifteenth and Harvard streets, under the auspices of the Women's Alliance of All Souls’ (Unitarian) Church. On Friday at 12 o'clock noon at the meeting of the Women's Alliance, Dr. Julia E. Shcelling will give an illus- trated lecture on “Wagner and His ‘Works.” ‘The District of Columbia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists will hold its regular monthly business meet- ing at 8:15 tomorrow evening in the choir room of the Church of ‘the Epip- hany, preceded by the meeting of the Executive Committee at 7:45. Follaw- ing the business session the program feature of the evening will be an organ recital by Gene Stewart, organist and director of Waugh Methodist Episcopal Church, ‘The National Capital Cholr, under the direction of Dr. Albert W. Harned, will Memorial will be the ard, the Universalist National Church. Irene Koehl, soprano, the soloist. Dr. Harned will play organ selections “Andante,” by God: and “Jerusalem,” by Clarke. A musical, “An Evi me&l.bmenlnl High School. A feature of this con- | Mary Warner cert will be a demonstration of the instruments of the orchestra, in which the drums, the bane of many & fond parent’s existence, will play a| Vi One of the numbers prominent part. X titled to be played by the orchestra is “The Worried Drummer.” Kine dler says Bteele Kettler. Mrs. Athey’s studios are cated at 1316 Euclid st Jeanette Bittner, soprano, will be the soloist at the Church of the Brethren in the 11 o'clock service. His | ‘ THE WASHINGTON STRING QUAR- Harlan P. Stone, Frank Frost, Mrs. Frederick C. Hicks, Hans Kindler and | Mrs. Edwin B Parker, will be heard| | in the last program of its concert series next Priday at the residence of Prank | combined rehearsal Tuesday evening at | A musical program was given by Fannie | Prost, at 4 o'clock. | “The quartet, comprised of Milton| | when that little slavic translation was ‘TET, under the patronage of Mrs. | Producers Concentrating On Better Screen Plays But Some of Their Antics Draw Laughs—The Difficulty in Obtaining Russian “Atmosphere,” and the Unusual Cost of the Same. By Mollie OLLYWOOD, Calif., March 4.— The play becomes the thing in Hollywood when sudden dismal waves of retrenchment begin sweeping the colony and pro- ducers haggle with stars over prices. Then, and then only, does one leara that “Berkeley Square” is of value to producers as “Berkeley Square” and not just as a story which Leslie Howard would do inimitably. Producers feel that the rose of Berkeley Square will have to smell as sweet without its stage star if budget difficulties do not permit of their having him in it. Yes- terday things were quite different. Yesterday producers said, “We will make such-and-such if we can get so- and-so to play it.” Today producers spend far more money on the stories they make and pay far higher salaries for the writing of those stories than they did before. Of course there is no such repetitious thing as buying another “Broadway” at the phenomenai price paid for this legitimate hit and with the ridiculous conditions which hampered it. Nowadays a stage hit is bought and the wise producer sets about making as good a picture of that story as he possibly can. He casts about to get & good leading man and a lovely and capable leading wom: He secures the services of an Elizabeth Patterson | or a Roland Young for one of the character roles, knowing they will hold up the quality of the work if the beau- ties and popllar exponents fail 10 do s0. He tries one or another established star and backs out neatly if they de- ;nlnd old-time prices for their serv- ces. Of course in their zeal to make the play the thing some of the Hollywood | producers do quaint things. There is, for instance, the Russian story on onc of our better lots—and we have classes in lots in Hollywood, I'd have you know —whose expense score for writing has reached $240,000. Sounds odd, doesn't it? It has been odd from the word go. The studio, in the first place, bought a Russian story. Found it was written | in Russian and couldn’t see where it had any cause for complaint, since it wanted the product to be Muscovite plus. Then it had to import a Russian to trangiste the opus. First they paid the young Soviet author who created the tale fifty times what he would have been glad to get—but that was in the good old days when forty meant forty thousand to Hollywood and $40 to the Test of this sorry old world. Then | complete, it was found to be singularly incomplete. So Isaac Don Levinne was Merrick. thing quite unususl. And s famous scenarist was rushed off to Russis to get atmosphere when the author of “Lenin” didn't get sufficient atmos- phere into it to satisfy the studio. It your sides aren’t sore from laugh- ing, understand this was only the be- ginning of & series of “treatments” which have gone on and on, with the score mounting to the hideous propor- tions above quoted. The picture has been hailed as about to begin a dozen times—as a super-super something for one of our he-men actors. Yes, the play's the thing. Twelve authors did “treatments” on “The Man of the Nile,” Ramon Novarro's next picture. This brought the writing bill way up where it shouldn't be. And this, mind you, is no sign that the product will be any better than the picture authored and scenarized by one man. Jesse Lasky, in fact. points to “The Power and the Glory,” by Preston Sturges, as the finest example of a pic- ture ready for shooting that he's seen. Sturges authored it. gave it the “treat- ment” which, with 10 or 12 au- thors, generally succeeds in killing the patient, and scenarized and dialogued it himself. A dozen of the famous turned out “The Woman Accused” and a dozen old men from the old soldiers’ home would possibly have done better. “If I had a Million,” authored by 16 fa- mous ones and directed by as many. turned out more succasstul because there was no attempt at a continuous plot running through bevond the fact that each sequence had the same origin—the sudden bestowal of a_certi- fied check for a million given by an erratic old philanthropist. The moment a Broadway hit is bought at a price that would stagger the rest of the world—accustomed to normaley in prices in spending and in earning capacity—Hollywood sets about to put the great stage hit into a con- dition “to get the best box-office re- suits.” This often consists in turning | it into the hands of a relative of the company and an ex-stenographer of some sort to plaster up with local com- edy and what passes for scintillant wit in_cinemaland. Then when local librarians tell you they have great call for the play, but that 75 per cent of their reading clien- tele will frankly state that they “don’t care to watch what happens to it in movie form.,” you'll realize that Abra- ham Lincoln’s great gag about not be- ing able to fool all of the people all of the time was one of the epigrams we'll never be able to get away from, let Hollywood try as it will. (Copyright. 1923, by North American News- paper e. Inc.) given the task of making it into some- | League Music Evening. LEAGUE OF AMERICAN PEN WOMEN will give its second annusd | Sherlock Holmes' Cast. P the 12 principals cast in World Wide's “Study in Scarlet,” bases Schwartz, first violin; Paul Brighten-| music evening next Thursday at 8:30| on the famous Sherlock Holmes story burg, | viola, and Sidney Hamer. play. in the first half of the program, | the four movements of Ravel's “Quar- | tette.” The second half of tha program | will be devoted to the “Piano Quin- | tette” of Schumann, also in four move- ments. Emerson Meyers, pianist, will | be the assisting artist by will comprise compositions for cello, | violin, male quartet, a trio and songs. | Mrs. Emery will be assisted by Evelyn | and Harlan Randall, Elena de Sayn,| Louise Berheimer and the American University Glee Club Male Quartet. PTER a two years A of their careers, “King Kong.” and weighing 20 tons, who is turned geance on his captors. Mammoth pre- historic monstors fill the cast, with such distinguished old names as the | brontossaurus, the triceraptops and the ravenous pterodactyl, giant vulture with a wing spread of 25 feet. The late Edgar Wallace, who was tastic scenario of “King Kong” when he died, envisioned the story with all the great imagination at his command— but it is certain that he never could have foreseen some of the miracles of production to completion. Many of these cinema-miracles are still a guarded secret. Merian Cooper to lessen the thrill of his weird story for picture audiences. the R-K-O Radio Pictures studio during | to be censored. One is the case of | Murray Spivak, sound effects expert, | who was faced with the odd task of | making “talking picture actors” of | monsters re-created after 7,000,000 yea of silence! | Mrs. Spivak is, paradoxically, a man | who enjoys working himself out of a| One of the pioneers of sound ef- | | job. | fects, whose services weie suddenly com- | mandeered with the advent of sound | ilms and made him one of the most | important men in the industry, he ex- | presses delight in the prediction that | | s00n the making of cinema sound effects | will be a lost art. “Less than 25 per cent of the effects invented for sound films at the R-K-O Radio Pictures studios are now in use.” says Mr. Spivak. “Perfection of record- ing has thrown the others into the dis- card and the actual noises are now taken down on the film, realistically. This must naturally be the aim of directors—to reproduce the real rather than the imitation. “In ‘King Kong,’ however, we had a special case. Here the imagination had to be tempered with scientific research, to reproduce as exactly as possible sounds never heard by the human ear.” Consulting authorities, in his search for data to help him give voice to the mammoth “actors” of the Cooper- Schoedsack thriller, Mr. Spivak at firs met the rebuffs of exact science. In vain he pleaded that if modern audi- ences were to see animated dinosadria on the screen, the reproduction should be as scientifically accurate as possible. Dr. O. A. Peterson, curator of mam- malian paleontology at the Carnegie Museum, first consulted, called attention i it Making Monsters Talk. silence, , figuring in the film. With what success stories are beginning to escape | he met this trying problem previewers from the R-K-O Radio Pictures’ | of “King Kong” have already told; its | lot, where Ernest B. Schoedsack | effect has been unanimously to strike and Merian C. Cooper have been | terror into the hearts of onlookers. making the most mysterious production | | & recording sound-track, the R-K-O They tell of a giant ape, 50 feet tally Radio expert set about “speaking” for | | the creatures of Mr. Cooper's fancy. loose in civilization and wreaks ven-| | tyranosaurus were judged at first too| | effeminate. Forcing air through vari- | | ous apertures in organ pipes finally| working with Mr. Cooper on the fan-| | the required volume, but was too easily technical skill which would bring its | recognizable. But one of two of the problems facing | | the past two years are too interesting | With this equipment about him, and | The hisses attempted for . the| produced a sound of sufficient menace, which was then re-recorded at a sub- normal speed, lowering the saurial bari- tone by an octave. The simplest tricks often resulting in perfect sound effects, Mr. Spivak tried an old one of the arsinotherium, which had also caused something of a problem. A vox humana pipe gave Spivak then reversed the sound track—and the result was a most satisfactory mammoth groan, like | nothing known to the human ear, yet | conceived the story, because, after years | perfectly in character for the appara- of exploration and seeking thrills, he | tion appearing on the screen. believed the greatest thrill could come | 2 only through allowing the imagination | of “King Kong” has presented & sound | free play. And he wants no “expose” | problem to others than Mr. Spivak, | | whose activities do not extend outside | The hero—or villain, as you choose— | the R-K-O Radio studios. Sound | engineers found, when running off | “King Kong” for previews, that the | exultant 10ar of the giant ape himself— | a triumph of terror on Mr. Spivak's| part—threatened to shake the masonry of the theaters, so vibrant was its| mighty volume. True, an actual ape | of the -size, if he existed, would give | | vent to a bullish roar that could be heard for miles. But in the interests | of the patrons’ ear drums, it was found | essential to tone the instruments down | at this point in the picture when the | monster “leading man” plays his big | scene—rescuing Miss Fay Wray, as he | thinks, from her human enemies. ‘ The secret process by which these monsters of another era are animated | for the camera has absorbed most of | the two years' time period of the pic- | ture, according to Mr. Cooper, who wrote as well as directed the pmduc-‘ | tion. Twenty-five feet of flim was | often considered a good day's output, as against the 1,500 or more daily of the | average program picture. Broadcast t.o Ccu;nue. 1 'RANCES GUTELIUS, who has been | appesring weekly on station WMAL | since October, will continue her| Thursday night broadcast under the | new management of the National| Broadcasting Company. Miss Gutelius 200 has had s Saturday morning radio program since October at which she | h::uprumted pupils in 15-minute xe-‘ citals. The following puplls have given these | programs: Betty Marshall, Charlton | Meyer, Karlian Meyer, Janice Smith,| ‘Walter Swank and Margaret Yanagita.' second violin: George Wargo, | o'clock, at Stoneleigh Court, Which| by Sir Arthur Conan Cello, will | will be devoted to compositions i = ol sinis Aty | Dorothy Raddle Emery. The program | of foreign birth, the majority boasting an English birthplace. “For purposes of realism,” says Producer Samuel Bis- choff, “this is undoubtedly as it should be, for representatives of Scotland Yard without an authentic English accent would make a Sherlock Holmes story s translation, rather than a faithful re- production.” Reginald Owen, who essays the role of Sherlock, was born in the small village the long name of ‘Wheathampstead, Hertz, England; Alan Mowbray, Wyndham Standing and Cecil Reynolds claim the cosmopolitan Lon- don for their birthplace; Halliwell Hobbes enjoys the distinction of hav- ing been born at Stratford-on-Avon, Shakespeare's place of birth. Both ‘Warburton Gamble and J. M. Kerrigan first saw the light of day in Ireland; Billy Bevan in Orange. New South Wales, Australia, and Titsu Komai in Kumamoto, Japan. Anna May Wong, whose Oriental beauty is inherited from her Chinese family, didn't learn the use of chop- sticks in China, but in the heart of Los Angeles where she was born. June Clyde and Allan Dinehart, both of whom are also featured in “Study of Scarlet,” come from the typically Amer- ican towns of St. Joseph, Mo., and St. Paul, Minn., respectivel ~ INSTITUTE of MUSICAL AR FRANK GEBEST. Pres. KARL HOLER 2 All Br; 831 18th Met. 2511 Mrs. l'.lAamllto'i{-W[:lfe' —pupil of Xaver Scharwenka. Berlin. Gers T (L. o Fiano lessons reasonable 'tin ome if desired). Graded course: beginners or aduits = 3210 17th St. N.E.. Phone Decatur 2400-W " BESSIEN.WILD Veice _Ci Pia PHONE_GEORGIA 3233. Weldon Carter Pianoforte Instruction Washington Musical Institute 1201 Clifton St. N.W. Telephone A 1891 . "C.E. CHRISTIANI Fk‘llci'len v lal‘llnerlnslmfllo- Studio: Institute of Musi 831 _18th _St. N.W ___ Met. 2511, INSTITUTE OF MU 831 _18th _St. N.W. SICAL Mer w1, Edgar T.Paul Vocal Trainin, Interviews Cheerfully Givem by Appointment ‘Washington Musical Institute 1201 Clifton St.—A 7891 B. (PIANO) The Washington College of Music, Inc. and Preparatory School | 29th Year Paculty members nclus Bathier. Binny amsuie ‘Whitney, Robert years; Prances Gi staff of assistant Julie E. . ! Ruckman. pupil in New N utelius, Helen Petter Cook and a carefully chosen ‘teachers. Emanuel Zetlin. Lewls Awal Roberts. Slegtried Scharbsu. My; fldred Coe Gavin. J, Al York of Edwin Hughe W. cxel, for four of New York, will conduct & March 11th, Julis K. Schelling closes hor series of lectures on Wagmer's Trilosy with “GOTTERDAMMERUNG.” with musical interprefation by Fanny Amstutz Reberts, in CYNGHAN HALL, teday, at 4 P.M. Admission Fee, 75¢ Dormitories 2107 8 St. N.W. Year tlon Witheut Obligation