The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 15, 1904, Page 19

I'HE SAN FRANCISCO CALL & comical and the scribe to this small the ased the re- So I fear when I come here. And then sings not so well. And people— they are cruel! They remember so t bod things and remem- s £0 v one sings once out of he k » note that breaks.” It as the artist, shudderingly sensitive, nterrupted the uncomfortable with this: “They tell me, t you were the only singer er disappointed the audience & the last grand opera season.” . true,” madame smiled, as she ively on the rosewood desk, then, with exquisite graciousness lded, T thank you.” s ‘W “. me has sung sixty-four times jam e noe, LDiS season,” her manager added. 8 roscagronighiagss Which do vou prefer, the concert r ope tic work?"” I asked. er,” the singer began. . You , She has only one or two - big arias little recitative in ) Mr. Edmunds continued. s one mu stand so,”"—the inger primly clasped her hands, stif- fened herself and pursed her lips as she spoke—"in concert. When one is cting one can throw off the restraint. It is easier to Alh g so. How do you mbra is for sound?” I witnessed. “Does it th, agreeable,” the singer said. times it feels to me as though I ing at a wall"—she put up efore her face to illustrate no. It feels very free for the And your audiences here”—it after her first concerts—"“are so How well they know the lieder! surprised. It charming to . You must have many ry is her, “but the Schu- ¥ a i Brahms }ieder are seas to most of the con- cert-ge f We We Strauss ers. are not wholly ignorant and Loewy, either,” ed in conclusion. know that 1Is exceptional,” - said, gravely, complimentary. in many places almost peratic repertoire. And I i with your Strauss exclaimed. are beautiful—n'est ce pas cried, her glinting golden eyes When madame, by the way, i8 not exquisitely pretty and glish she runs off into fluent And she lives in Dresden, the certai used to speak S b not » charming as s Italian opera is her But - of these are to her at fiery Polish is, in which she us in the Lubomirski ma- last Tuesday night. For a howev she takes the owsky “Lullaby” in its native is a great man,” she went ‘Caecilie’ T think a beautiful many there are!” » hoped you would sing some Hugo Wolf songs,” I suggested. nn-Heink gave us the ‘Heim- 1 d Denis O'Sullivan the ‘Anac- reon’s Grab. I would also like to sing something v S 2 £ his said, clasping her - = in delicate enthusiasm. ‘“The s she e, i s chenbotschaft,’ " she cried. “ ‘“The k waist and gray skirt Wca ity a ness of a small q\l~v ested. mme is already made 3. “Still I will change at b “ it. 1 will sing lieder Instead of the her hands, I have never , Mr. Edmunds. Here they e or. ™in i They understand.” . W0 Sheme COIG WE- pae an lieder—" I suggested. the photographer "1 Will sing a lullaby of Tschatkow- s g * she decided; “a Polish song, too.” o e exnression had as. And that is how Madame Sembrich I ot e o e was Came to pay us the pretty compliment " . of g five wholly new songs on her e last programme in place of her aceus- espn on’t you please .,.q grig. k what” a charming place . jeoan then to talk of the Rus- & sco is to s 1 want you group of composers, and Mme. brich owned to an enthusiasm for t 1 will photograph 4 rencky's, Tschaikowsky's and other d instant- p,, ) lieder. She ended by saying: 2 o then the <1 pave tried to persuade Herr Conrled t er % to produce ‘Yevgenijie Onegin’—one of been she said, Tschaikowsky's seven operas—at the the stiffness of posing, “for Metropolitan. in ar “When are you going to bring Mr. Conried out here?” I asked, “‘next sea- 2 No! Not really!” for madamg A Mr. Edmunds had both nodded a sort of affirmative, It is not settled,” madame tem- = pered 3ut there was quite a little talk utiful out there ,¢ §t at the end of the season,” the 5 sighed. “1 did g affirmed. : Mr. Conried we pay very n forget the w1l I suggested. i some very it vou make the singers work g s to-day,” her grand hard,” Mr. Edmunds laughed, night in the week. In New C « madam is only four, you know, the Wednesday, Friday and I a th for ) tist, concerts,” he explained. n 2 face “But there is every week one night in v Jooked delphia.” madame added. Ph does the Metropolitan rep “When should you come here, if you do come?" 1 asked ovember, and m as last time? . 4 ave me to g0 home t o the manager nodded " r is $3, and one fear: - hu.ud ‘spoken of the latter end ze, you know. My mother-in- of the season, March,” madame con- " she smiled here, “and she tributed. kes me so much. We like each other. “Then you will sing for us ‘The Opera Company go, by the way?” “Only to Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Bo! 1 and Chicago,” the nager - + ¥ { | | | | | | | | i | | | | | | | | F 5 | {MOUS PRIMA DONNA DISCUSSES HER ART. L Daughter of the Regiment, ‘L'Elsir peared the shadow of a hand, beckon- | D'Amore,’ ‘Magic Flute' and all those ing, beckoning. things you have kept for New York,” I looked and smiled at madame. She 1 prophesied, fervently. Icoked and smiled back. Then the | Madame, laughed. “‘Perhaps.” great prima donna said, drawing up | Wonderful what a vogue the old her chair to whist and with her fin- ! Ttalian ope have had t t sea- ger on her lip: “She thinks she is my son,” Mr. Edmunds exclaimed. “Time husband! ‘You must not do this,’ ‘You was when vou could hardly get a cor- must not do that,’ she tells me. And poral's guard for anything but Wag- ‘You must put on this shawl,’ and ‘You 1 mer. But ‘Lucia, ‘Puritani’ all of must take this milk,’ she says, and | them, were sure of full hou madame actually pouted. “She will | “What operas do yow like_ best, come and take me away if 1 do nof Lo | madame—for yourself,” T asked her. go, I think!"” U “Of cou Mozart,” madame re- And so we said good-day. Tt isn’t all £3 plied, “but there are Verdi, Donizetti, beer and skittles to own a “throat of = & - - 20ssini, oh, many others. I like ‘Die gold—" unless it is a castiron one like . Fledermaus'- g the part of Schumann-Helnk's. In that case you ‘the standards of excellence in acting, = b £ may get frankfurters, too. scenery, costumes, historical detail and Rosalinda this se i : st sy seotoitn “Did vou like the ‘Manru’ of Pader- e ensembles are founc NEW PLAYS AND OLD FAVORITES ARE TO ewski—I saw that you had created the soprano role.” returned, de- “I Uke it,”” madame BE SEEN THIS WEEK cidedly, “a beautiful tenor part.” o A “And the Richard S{rauss ODPErR ;1 agy a gpeclal train of eleven cars euersnoth,” how is tha is bringing Richard Mansfield and his “Ah, that I have not heard.. But my enormous company of artists over the husband s it is very good,” and Dr. Stergel, who rapped poor little mountains. They will arrive to-mor- Marcella Kohansky's tired knuckles for row morning and to-morrow evening her when he taught her to play plano the great actor will be seen at the Co- —all-unknowing that the child Was ,,m;pis Theater, and for twe. weeks. playing dance music almost all night and practicing all day—this same Dr, Stengel is evidently still the same au- thority to Marcella Sembrich. “Will Herr Conried produce Pucci- ni's dame Butterfl this season-— you are to sing it, T know?” “Not yet; I know,” Sembrich an- swered. “It is difficult to produce the 55| the aspects of his art, of almost new things. One is rather afrajd.” ¥ “And ‘Madame Butterfiy’ did not go U7limited possibility. He has raised so well- at its premiere—in Milan, J- himBelf to eminence by such matchless think,” I said. “‘Still, ‘Carmen’ failed, creations as the Baron Chevrial in “A and who knows how many more op- Parlsian Romance,” Beau Brummel, These will be his only appearances in California. Mr, Mansfield’s return marks his first appearance in San Francisco in nine years. At that time he was recognized as one of the foremost players in Am- erica, an artist of marked genius for eras at their debuts. za,’ too. You King Richard III, Shylock, Prince Karl, know we have had ‘Zaza' here?" Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Napoleon, “You have had all things here,” Nero and others. madame laughed. * ‘Andre Chenier, Since his last appearance here, how- La Tosca,’” ‘Zaza'—how you like 1t?" “Quite well,” T averred. “The part is good,” I think,” madame said. “I like very well the modern ITtalians, but mostly they are too dra- matic for my voice. “But you have sung Wagner, mad- ame—"" “Only Elsa and Eva,” she returned. Then, on the shining redwood of the little hall leading to her bedroom ap- ever, Mansfield seems to have nailed the penant of the American stage to his masthead and challenged the world. The past nine years has seen America take a position of international emin- ence in manufactures, shipping, yacht- ing, contemporary literature, states- manship and drama. Richard Mans- field’s energy, example and achieve- ments are responsible for the fact that now, as contrasted with former years, fcan stage. Mansfield’s productions of “King Henry “old Terrible” V,"” “Beaucaire,” Heidelberg” and made this chapter tory, and this great artist returns to San Francisco the most eminent actor and manager of his generation. It is characteristic of Mansfleldian prodigality that, though he might well carry his fortnight here triumphantly with a single play, one of those involv- ing a small cast, that he has arranged an elaborate repertoire, embracing sev- eral of his most massive productions and requiring an organization of 106 people. He comes with one handicap, however. It will be difficult for Mans- field to take his audiences by surprise. Much is anticipated, which is always a formidable burden for an artist. To-morrow night Mr. Mansfield pre- sents his great production and charac- ter of “Ivan the Terrible,” written by Count Alexis Tolstoy and first pro- duced in English by Mr. Mansfield at the New Amsterdam Theater on March 1 last, with the most pronounced tri- umph of any event of many seasons. A critic cabling his London paper went so far as to say, “There have been only two things on the New York stage this winter, ‘Parsifal’ and ‘Ivan the Terri- ble.’” Other opinions were in accord and the impression has connected itself that this is one of the greatest per- formances of the modern stage. On Tuesday evening Mr. Mansfield will make a radical change in his char- acterization, disclosing one of those emphatic and startling contrasts for which he is celebrated, and for the first the of dramatic his- by hull B « breaker. time here will be seen as Prince Karl Heinrich, in’ Wilhelm Meyer-Forster's universally successful play of German university life, “Old Heldelberg.” In both “Ivan the Terrible” and “Old Heidelberg” will be revealed produc- tions of unusual magnitude and mas- siveness. There are seven splendid set- tings of Imperial Russian life in the Tolstoy play, and the pictures in the “Old Heidelberg” disclose German court and student life In its most amusing and impressive phases. Nearly 200 people will appear in the bread riots in the third act of “Ivan the Ter- rible.” Mr. Mansfield brings a male chorus of fifty-two for the student songs in “Old Heidelber; A revival of “A Parisian Romance™ will be the feature of Wednesday night, when Mr. Mansfield will be seen in his celebrated characterization of the paralytic old French roue, the Baron Chevrial, a role which first lifted him to eminence, and in his hands it re- tains its singular fascination as one of the great roles of the acted drama. The bill will again change on Thurs- day evening, when a revival of “Beau Brummel” will be put upon the stage, the same which was such a pleasurable sensation during the recent Mansfield season at the New Amsterdam Theater, New York. Friday night will see tha second night of “Old Heidelberg,” Saturday afternoon will be devoted to the only matinee of “Beau Brummel,” and the first week will be brought to a cloge on Saturday night with the sec- ond performance of “Ivan the Terrible.” The order of plays for the second and last week'is: Monday, “Old Heidel berg’”; Tuesday, the last performance of “Ivan the Terrible’ Wednesday, the last time of Beau Brummel”; Thursday, “Old Heidelberg”; Friday night, Mr. Mansfield's only appearance in his celebrated and original charac- terization, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" Saturday, last matinee, last time and enly matinee of “Old Hedelberg,” and Saturday (farewell night), Mr. Mans- field will appear in a scene from each of the five plays of his repertoire. One word in regard to the question of seats. The Mansfield seat sale during the last three days has been a record- Many thoughtless gossips are carrying abroad tales of difficulty in securing seats, The management de- sires to announce that there ‘are seats for all performarices at any price, and no one should abandon the idea of seeing Mansfleld without applying at the box office of the Columbia. Many people imagine that to get good seats they must reach ahead toward the end of this week, or into next week. Obvi- ously a concerted belief of this sort would leave an opening for those wise enough to ask for seats for the earlier performances. . s e The California an excellent at- traction. in “Our New Minister,” whose rurr has been extended to two weeks. Ernest Hastings in the title role wins new affection from the matinee con- tingent and sincere admiration on all hands for his splendid characterization. The company throughout is admirable. . “A Runaway Girl” at the Tivoll is attracting much complimentary atten- tion. The comedy is of the very pret- tiest things of its genre. Cire . Things have been humming of late at the Alcazar, and to-morrow the company turns tobin @ production of “Colinette,”” a comedy drama by Henry Guy Carleton, in which Julia Marlowe found success. A good pro- duction may safely be prophesied. e e The new bill at the Grand Opera- house will be “Empress Theodora,” the third of the highly successful series of Sardou dramas that Melbourne Mac- Dowell is presenting. The new bill be- gins with this afternoon’s matinee per- formance. AT “Down by the Sea,” a new maritime drama, will be put on at the Central this week. The drama is new here and demands elaborate setting, that the Central will handsomely provide. PR T The Marcel living statuary,most beau- tiful of the living pictures ever seen here, will be the star turn of the week at the Orpheum. Yung Ju Kim and Chi Suke Oke, whose land the Russians and Japanese are fighting over, will con- tribute the first Korean wizardry ever seen In America. L The Matsuda royal Japanese troupe of jugglers is headlined at the Chutes, along with a $15,000 pneumatic sym- phony orchestra that will make its first appearance this week. — pg b ilan HAPPENINGS AMONG ) THE PLAYER FOLK ON . AND OFF THE STAGE Clyde Fitch is to write a society play for Blanche Walsh, to be completed oh the first of January. Mr. Fitch will have four plays in operation next sea- son. T Charles Frohman will star Mrs, Gil- bert in a new play by Clyde Fitch called “Grandmother” next season. E. ‘Willard has been meeting with so much success in the English prov- inces that he has’ decided to aban- don his fall tour in this country, and a second tour of England is booked. now “The Man From China,” by Paul evening * Well, “la commedia e finita 3 cade. The season's all the las note sounded, and that last Ma, ceila Sembrich's Truth to tell, and T should ant my self an 11l friend of Sembric otherwise, her n sqymething of a first concert the singer was obviously out of trim; her second 1 her with recovered poise, but wit upper notes; the third ugh again more satisfying, ated the fact that the voice needs rest lieve that Sembr volce.” Sixty-five aran with the incidental to I do not be is appe season, travel, an gan like the lyric so; an easily co ehen: to this the singer’s curio founded superstition as to in San Franecisco—fear dir the breath, and the b exqu is the life of the volce, with her a ¥ concern- ing a possibly dying mother 5000 miles away In Dresden, and one need look no further for cause i there were notes at the end of the third pro- gramme getting on to that superb ring- ing mellowness that we know as the Sembrich voice. But, distinctly, she needs the rest. » were notes pain- ful in their evic f strain at all the concerts. And least of a n we af ford to lose Marcella Sembrich. It was, I think, rathe r any c reason, the magnificent suffici £ Schumann-Heink's v that has led to the many absurd com about As well comy with an eagle! When it c floating htingale to the matter of « ained from one est autre chog t be com- pared. They work with fums entirely different. .S s is the jewelry of song, the point the light sigh oung laug f angels chumann-H of the oak, the sto rie mirth, child’s one pinges upon the The amatic passion brich’s Lub mirski “Mazurks native Polish— with which the 1 her concert, was, I ng to warmest admirer. The last gether was of larger significance. The singer's choice in >mitting such numbers as the $ s valse and the Arditi “Parla” i - ence to our tastes and in a g with her own desires, was a inct compli But left with ma £ th ann “Nu , the rare comedy “Storchenbotschaft,” the light fire of the mazurka aforesaid, her de- licious Mozart, the “Mon P Soupire,” with its last five notes sent floating like morning rs. Then Strauss ‘“Caecilie, the “Auftraege,” the Brahms “W dien Zieht es mir,” the Bizet “Pas- torale”—let us ever be grateful. No other song, perhaps, has the absolute perfection of mec t Sem- brich’s. The phra: else builds with quite the quisite accuraey rounds, co and ends it a lembrich The relation of the sentences, the plan of the just as exquisitely maintain- ed. Technically, singing can go mno further, and the scales, trills, turns, arpeggi, are perfect, the attack like no other in its absolute sureness. The vo- cal quality is purely luseious, but with the fatigued strain as before said. Still the experience has been profoundly de- lightful. One can only wish for her speedy return—after her rest. [t ey Here is what Richard Aldrich, the erudite musical critic of tk ew York Post, has to say of Elgar's “Dream of Gerontius,” that will be given here for the first time this week by the San Francisco Music Club, under Dr. H. J. Stewart's direction. Mr. Aldrich speaks of a New York performance of the work The performance of Edward Elgar's cantata, “The Dream of Gerontius,” by the Oratorio Society has shown that there is in England at least one com- poser of original and highly imagin- ative powers, who is able to go outside of the conventional ruts in which Eng- lish music has so long traveled. “The Dream of Gerontius” is perhaps the one product of English musicianship for a period measurable only in gener- ations that is not founded upon the sacred models of Handel and Men- delssohn, and that may, at the same time, be considered entirely English in its sources and in its inspiration. It is by a thorough-going Englishman who has gained all his training in his native land, acquiring knowledge and experi- ence by hard work in minor positions in English bands and choir lofts and by his own study of scores; and, so far as the record tells us, has never had the time or the means even to listen to the music of Germany, France, or Italy on its native soil. It is a sétting of a poem by one of the foremost of English writers (Car- dinal Newman) and was composed, as dozens of other English cantatas and oratorios have DBeen before it, for ot the Englislf provincial music festi- vals, that of Birmingham in And it is the only English composition in the serious walks of art that has made the leagt impressioh that ikely to be lasting cutside of England since the last of the great Englishmen, Henry Purcell. The only man who can contest with Elgar for this distinction is Sir Arthur Sullivan, whose finest one seems work was at the very opposite pole from Elgar’s. e - = West and John W. Bratton, was pro- duced at the Majestic Theater, New York, last week, with great success. Miss Ethel Hornick., an Oakland girl, has replaced Klsie de Wolf in “The Other ¢ Miss de Wolf sailed for Paris last Saturday. Mr. Kemper has arranged for the American rights to the new play written for Mme. Bernhardt by Jean Richepin and Henri Caim.