The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 7, 1905, Page 1

The Call Prints More News Than Any Other Paper Published in San Francisco Forecast A ) | thirty hours San — ALCAZAR—"0ld Heldeiberg." CALIFORNIA—"Zira." COLUMBIA—'"The Other Girl' CENTRAL—"“The CHUTES—Vaudeville. GRAND—Grand Opera. ORPHEUM—Vaudeville. TIVOLI—Comlo Opera. Contessions APRIL -~ 4y 1905—PAGES 1 TO 10. " which was chosen for the ly gowned women. opening bill, was heartily received. CONRIED'S GRIND OPERR STARS ARE WELCOMED BY GREAT AUDIENCE OF FASHIONABLE FOLK its long-anticipated engagement last night at the Grand Opera-house, and the large theater was filled with an tmmense audience that greeted the great singers ‘ Society was out in force, ond the foyer of the theater and Mission street were lined with crowds that awaited patiently the arrival l SUPERB PICTURE THE INITIAL NIGHT OF GRAND OPERA/ Whate Shoulders and Blazing Jewels Flash From Pit. Art and Atmosphere Make U p the Whole Great Story. BY SALL Y SHARP. tica Perhaps me air last night would hing—the ha rugged L es—were it he mazes of gleaming shoul- - zing jewels, the smart en big and brave, the pul- f ex and of thrill, for f we c f & hetter mame, atmosphere? v about so trifling a essed with both, from heaven moons Sar usly, belng hour— the cious request of rous pit, gallery after gal- colors faint as the nbow; and as ps glitter the morning, gleam glitter from d the hon- | n either—the men should any ome ne reason we women often find our West n men- folk t men of New York—and th be told nd it should be, € pers, our own dear men s found a little shy in the f externals, small matters to | e sure last night, well—they here's to them! e details of this famous | o say that it was a pale au- white and blue, with g the palm for supremacy. Yes, quite. And some as the altitude rose, so did the corsage, save where altitude didn’t seem to count. nother feature that was marked by eltitude was the show of enthusiasm. But, of course, 'tis indisputably bour- geolse to manifest deep emotion-—a pre- rogative left to the lowly. not amazing that the loudest plaudits came not from the patricians’ part of house, but from the plebs? And truth to tell, methinks the plebs &’v-\ed the opera most—because in ex- pressing their joy they thrilled to it Besides they knew their soore, these | people whose eyes gleamed with Joy and hose breath came not while Caruso ecaled a pinnacle of melody—these are people who get the most out of | nd opera, and their full money’'s Looking over that house last the the orth ight the thought came to me that here | the com- | the | was indubitable proof of mercial prosperity of our City by Has the California Pro- Committee noted it? Another ous tip. But lIsn’t it true? of the cash value of the gow gathered beneath that dor Why, the jewels would ran- en Pericardis. ien Gate. L Tush! They couldn’t have ' sberlies—perish the though ast ’tis a pleasant illusion and let er willfully destroy an fllusion— 1ds so few. - one in the foyer—foy-a, if you asked me if the house wasn’t when lights were shed whic ade ane thi . g it was in shadow when the cu e was a li breath- things Whistier loved as in truth a Whistler its subtlety, its sugges- ving, with its gray vagueness, with a gleam flashing from out the shadows. bere Fran- | in the proscenium boxes, | So it was | there, as women leaned forth drink the draughts of the melody gleam from out of the shadows - the Whistler touch. This was atmosphere the grand opera. BRILLIAD ARE to 50 per cent of T GOWNS NUMEROUS Large Audience Presents One of the Most Fashionable of Spectacles. The following' i€ a list of thé gowns by those named, composing a rram nent part, as they did, of the| orilliantly dressed audience: Mrs. John Wieland, heavy black silk, lace yoke, worn p Miss Wieland, cream net over silk. Mrs. J. K. Fitch, black lace gown. Mme. Tojetti, imported silk dotted lace, diamonds. Mrs. Joseph T°. Keenan, white silk | and duchesse lace. Mrs. Clarence Musto, white lace rcbe over chiffon. Mrs. «Guido Musto, white silk and lace, pea Mrs. D. Dorn, heavy white lace robe over chiffon. Mrs. Clarence Martin Mann, white silk ruffied chiffon, aigrette and dia- monds. Mr Edward Hamilton, black silk and gold lace. | Mrs. Sidney | chiffon. Mrs. ( | ed Liebes, Frederick Kohl, white import- lace over satin chiffon. | Mrs. Louis Sloss, black and lavender chiffon. | Mrs. Fremont Older, white spangled | Jace over pink embroidered yoke, | de chine. Mrs. Wallace Wheaton Briggs, im- ported white embroidered mull. Mrs. Frank Miller of Sacramento, imp.rted gown of embroidered crepe. Mrs. J. C. Sims, heavy white satin and diamonds. Mrs. Mortimer Fleishhacker, cafe au lait net over taffeta. | Mrs. Godey, black lace over white | =1k, diamonds. Miss Bessie Wilson, heavy white lace over chiffon, handsome lace opera coat. | Miss Sophie Borel, white chiffon and | 1ace. Miss Alyce Borel, pale blue | with insertion of Irish point, Mre. Bovet, black lace and taffeta. Miss Chonita Borel, white chiffon. Mrs. Ernest 8. Simpson, white tat- | teta and chiffon. J Colonel and Mrs. J. C. Kirkpatrick, | with a party, Mrs. Kirkpatrick wear- | ing black net embroidered. Miss Phyllis Partington, heavy cream lace over taffeta. Mrs. Willlam Deming, spangled black and gold Jace robe over pale | yellow chiffon. Mrs. Levingston Jenks, white ac- cordion pleated chiffon embossed with pink roses, Mrs. A. P. Hotaling, white and burnt orange chiffon satin. Mrs. M. J. Schmidt, | white mull over taffeta. Mrs. Fred McNear, pale blue tulle, crepe embroidered s | decollete. Mrs. Rudolph Spreckels, white satin | Bown, decollete, rare lace ruffles at | shoulders and corsage. Miss Fernando Pratt, over white silk. Mrs. Thomas Benton Darragh, black lace robe outlined with jet. Miss Grace Spreckels, white cniffon white lace and white silk with bands of iridescent | rimming. ! Mrs. Waiter Martin, accordion { pleated chiffon ®f pale blue. { Mrs. Edward Hirschler, pale pink chiffon, . Mrs. Maurice Metieu, pale green | crepe de chine and dlamonds. Mrs. Isaac Hecht, black lace over white silk, diamond: Conunned on Pue 3, Oolunm 5. white spangled | | Mrs. Thomas Magee, pear] gray crepe | | | | | LOUNGERS N THE LOBBIES INTERCHANGE VIEWS CONCERNING STARS ON STAGE | [ SCENE AT ENTRANGE TO THE GRAND OPERA- 1 s —— B e —— I | |} | CENE AT ENTRANCE TO THE GRAND OPERA-HOUSE LAST NIGHT WHEN THE CONRIED COMPANY BEGAN ITS SEASON [ B GRAND OPERA OPENS WITH Caruso Provokes Premature Disparagement From One Critic-and Sembrich Is Warmly D‘iscussefl. BY JAMES C. CRAWFORD. Femininity was consplcuously and disappointingly shy in the entr’acte flocking to the lobbies. Expansive and immacalate shirtbosoms outglittered bared shoulders in a ratio that dulled the picture, and the rustle of satins was inaudible amid the squeak of pa- tent leathers. For a first night, how- ever, the beauty parade was strong enough to inspire old opera-goers with hope for better things ere the season closes. These veterans recalled the opening of the first Grau series, about five years ago, when hardly a woman left her chair from beginning to end of the performance, yet a week had not lapsed when the fair ones were beating the opposite sex at every point of its own lounging game with the ex- ception of those involving thé con- sumption of tobacco or ardent liquids. Another thing was noticeable In the lobby—the ease with which almost every man wore his opera raiment. Harking back to that first Grau season one cannot forget the sartorial incon- gruities that promenaded the tiles. Spiketalls surmounted by wideawakes, and Tuxedos topped by collapsible stovepipes were no uncommon sight, and tradition has it that one gentle- man wore tan shoes with his broad- cloth and dazzled all beholders with the brilllance of a first-water :stone nestling in a pink shirtfront. No such agonizing spectacles enllvened the waits last evening. In no instance was the tuhlon-glate dictum violated, and if any gentleman felt uncomfortable in his attire he artfully dulembIEG the feeling. To find out who crowded the Iobbfes- Just take the Blue Book and read the names of all the gentlemen mentioned therein who were not out of town last night. The scene was good to gaze upon and still better to be a portion of, for by loitering in the lobbles one could overhear optnion so varied as to create wonder how such a thing as a common standard of criticism -ould ever be established and maintained. Caruso was the most talked-about ar- tist, because Sembrich and the other principal singers had been heard and commented on by those same people in that same lobby years ago, and in al- most every instance the new tenor was treated comparatively. “What do you think of that Caruso chap?” a fat man cautiously asked an acquaintance, whose habitual first- night attendance at the Tivoll has earned him repute as a music sharp. “I think little Russo has him skinned a mile in that same role,” was the an- swer. And the fat man prudently re- e e e e e ~ Continued on Page 4, Column 4, - * INCOMPARABLE "RIGOLETTO" Caruso Proves Fame as World's Greatest Tenor, Showing Triumph of Genius. BY BLANCHE PARTINGTON. “There is one voice left, one of the|able. GREAT volces.” So a trembling old singer thanked his God last /mght after hearing Caruso. He was right. It is the volce we have been walting for, a voice that flings clear from soul to soul without a conscifousness of the throat between. Caruso sings, but one forgets. That the Conried Metropoll- tan Grand Opera Company its season last night at the Grand Opera- house it is perhaps necessary to men- tion. All the dlamonds in town were there, gleaming upon a performance of “Rigoletto” in some points incompar- Of course, the house was crowd- ed; of course, It ‘was briillantly gowned; of course, all the gayety of crowding carriages and shouting po- licemen preluded the opera outside and, of course, every one was there and Lent forgotten. Not quite forgotten, per die. A little Lenten, or perhaps only lazy in its enthusiasm was the audience. Not until the fourth act. inv an extraordinary record for “Rigoletto™ in San Francisco, was there an encore sufficiently imperious to compel a re- peat. This was for the first verse of * Continued o-l'-._ 3, Column 3.