The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 9, 1905, Page 19

or Rossi. in whom. ' being la- ntably a baseo, there is lost a Fi- | | f Figaros, admitted us to Signor s rooms at the Palace. Four | | em there were, and -into .the | | rgest, high, green walled and airy, | e were shown. A grand plano, two l | xcellent chareoal sketches of the singer and a table laden with glasses ! H nd the convivial Apollinaris identified | | e apartment. We--Mr. C. H. Meltzer, | | ly to Anglicize the Caruso | | nd I, drew seats up to the} | nd Signor Figaro Ross! went amiably in search of the - gfeat | wn. He was still ulging in the nearest approach to macaroni the Pal- | | appeared wu affords, but soon L Hps for pardons” on his t's delay had placed an enticing blank zheet of paper on the table and a quite irresist- | ble There was, however, a lying there, and, besides, bocks of Colorado and other resque parts of America through the singer has been whirled on her ure e of another journal. There -Figaro, al I had with the sing es pleaded hones rang ble headed by rviewing r was co for Tele- on an- The hat the fon cheets the name of newspap ntinually assailed singer, great, broad-shouldered fi ol a=s he is, had dark rings round his ker eyes, that his first words after 1§ us were a childiike “I am very one coui? not wonder. Signor i chorvsed “Re is very tired.” But Meltzer cried incredulously, is, monsieur,” Caruso protested, ving an explanatory hand through 2 New York to here Petersburg to Milan. O I did not think there was such stance anywhere.” his was in French when it was not Italian. It was in a voice that made speech a song. It was in a sort of nectar—ereamy, glowing, that 4 have made the Orphean flute a erfiuity. Further, it was with what £u n & woman we label a pout—a distinct | pout. And Mr. Caruso’s chin, with its added comically to the effect ver, as I pleaded immediately then fc cimen of the Caruso pencil. In- his hand He pulled out a to his pocket ch of letters to look in vain for a 1 envelope. I pointed to the hing apparatus I had brought. cnor Caruso laughed outright then in admiration of one’s Ameri- cheek,” but I k rather be- use when he hasn’t a high C in his uth he prefers to bave a pencil in s fingers he nodded approval, gave an “all and drew the 12 his side of accustomed a Be appy, etc. ed ds and he would It ature a woman. He women he knew— , yes, he would rale stranger on his,” he bravely Englished ing over the fat sketchbook, ts leaves until he reached mpadoured and cross- that he said he had s he turned the her icature of Il Duca, « s himself with a ke vocal cigars shooting Moi, moi, moi, al- laughed. esutiful,” I bowed, ghed. But so it was. and he is facile and ac- vith the grotesque pencil, 1 spared himself. Nor had e of the company I rec- ] sketches. Scotti, Jour- Hertz, Goritz, all were there, ures upon this page will ck and ely sense of the absurd that is possessed by He settled down again to ricature of himself then, and I n which he preferred, to sing draw and know,” he replied, smiling, »ossibly if $1500 a night (approxi- were paid to caricaturists we Caruso illustrating Mr. sketches on , the pencil paper and between Meltzer and myself asked of Caruso’s life. He was, only in spots, monosyliabic in reply, h absorbed lips tightened under his le Japanese mustache, and his hand- went over fles Mr. e story the some black eyes bent to the drawing. | I thought of the pout I had seen and Gecided as I watched him that there was nothing else feminine in the sing- make-up. Colossally-shouldered, great-throated and with his five feet nine or ten, Signor Caruso towers among tenors. 1 did not ask him, for I knew that the singer is the son of a small me- chanic and that until he was 18 years old he himself had worked as such in nis father's shop. He sang as a boy soprano in church, and made his first important appearance in an opera by an amateur called “L'Amico Fran- cesco. er's Vergine only, he told me, has had the | teaching of him, and that only for three yvears. Two hours only a day he gave to study, and at first had but one les- son & week. Eight years ago he was soundly hissed off his own native stage -a fact that seemed only to amuse the'| singer—then on going back to the same theater in the same part, left open by the defection of his substitute, Caruso had his first victory. The singer's square jaw did a little square itself here, and his eyes tossed over a dis- tinct twinkle. Since then it has been pretty plain sailing. But it was only the season before last that Caruso made his big triumph in New York, in “Rigoletto,” in which he has eent San Francisco wild this week He shrugged his shoulders amiably as I In the meantime } Is had followed the repre- | through the hour | Liquid Italian ubic cleft in the cushioned center, | gave way to a smile, how- was a delicate | the | as Ed-| The | | | | | | S+ |asked him - the . inevitable | “Which role he preferred?” ““All of them,” he laughed; waving the pencil through the. air. Why there are so many more good voices to the square inch in Italy than in America, I asked him then—whether | he thought it was’climate, heredity or the influence of the more natural use | of the vocal chords in the open vowels of the Italian tongue. At this Caruso | put down his busy pencil. “It is,'1 think, largely the climate,” | he decided. “Every little village in Italy | 1s full of good voices. But it is again the language, in which the vocal chords”are used more easily, as they should* be, though there is no reason | why English should not be spoken as naturally as Italian. Only, it is not. | But there are not more good singers | there than elsewhere; there is only | more good material. Good singing is a matter’ of brains and cultivation every- where.” Signor Rossi here interrupted with a bow, such a bow! wasted villainous- ly on anything but the jovial barber of Sevillé. Signor Caruso was wanted, imperatively—desired by two of his countrymen for:just a moment. The signor ,would: go—he is amiable to a degree. “. Signor - Rossi, like a pink- tighted page. preceded him to the ad- joining‘room, then returned to depict in genial pantomime the scene. That I have not a_caricature of Signor Ca- ruso’s { guide, philosopher and friend, his face a mask. of Comus crowned by curis even that kink of laugh, is a serious mistake. | Caruso soon returned, after a p rotechpic flow of “I's” and ‘“r-r-'s’ from the next room, and again took up his pencil. ;His plump, taper fin- | gers were now at the humorous stub- | bing-in of the he laughed‘as he did it. A line, two lines, and he had dashed in the collar. query: | hair was in. Then followed the brave, ,bold signature, “Enrico Caruso, San { Francisco,” ' and- the portrait was { mine. ““Had he studied drawing?” I asked ! then. | “For a time, at school in the singer replied. “And you will really not caricature me? No,'no,” Caruso laughed. caricature Mr. Meltzer instead.” {®0 he did. in a swift ten minutes. | I must show you,” he preluded then, and showed me the two draw- ings of himself aforementioned. One by Jan Stvka is excellent, firm, bold, characteristic,” admirable particularly in the handling of flesh textures, but Caruso thinks it a little overlike Me- phistopheles. The second drawing is by Willlam Carey Brazington, also clever if not so characteristic as the first, and the singer particularly de- sires that they should be exhibited. The thought is charming. His own name he'knows needs no advertise- ment, but the artists are his friends, and to spread their fame he carries the pictures along with him and has them ‘exhibited in some prominent place in the city in which he is sing- Napoli,” “1 will And into a sort | litule double chin and | ! A soft, firm, quick scratching and the | e oA _oof TN ET - - - T VL -> w - - b i 4 | SKETCHES OF HIMSELF AND OF MEMBERS OF THE GRAND OPERA COM- PANY NOW PLAYING IN SAN FRANCISCO, MADE THE TENOR, ng. A bas-relief of himself in cop- | per, done by himself, and laughably | clever, he last exhibited. { The Signor Rossi had rollicked |from the room a little mysteriously | while this was going on, and afterward |2 waiter and a champagne cooler ap- | peared, evidently in the connection. I tried desperately to remembe: the French for muffins in order to ex- plain that tea and muffins was my limit at an interview. Caruso, how- ever, looked so hurt and astonished when I said “no” that I promptly spilled half a glass over my ironclad rule. Over the wine the singer ex- pressed an ardent admiration for the American musical public, then “pour ila bonheur” decorated the cork with “Caruso” and presented me with it. WHAT THE LOCAL ' THEATERS OFFER In piquant contrast to the opera is “The Other Girl,"” Augustus Thomas’ latest and best comedy, now at the Co- lumbia and to-morrew to begin its sec- ond and last week. Lionel Barrymore as the pugilist has achieved a solid and delightful enccess, and is handsomely supported by a company that includes . WHO HAS ALREADY CHARMED GREAT AUDIENCES HERE. * BY ENRICO CARUSO, Francis Byrne as a newspaper reporter that is as good as Mr. Barrymore's pu- | gilist. As Mr. Barrymore's pugilist could not be bettered. this is saying everything that need be said. el Miss Anglin brings a new comedy by Madeleine Lucette Riley to the dra- matic grist of the week. The play is entitled “The lady Paramount,” and said to offer Miss Anglin happy op- portunities for the display of her de- lightful high comedy capacities. Mr. ‘Worthing is also happily placed, and Hall McAllister will reappear as an optimistic land agent. Mrs. Whiffen as a 70-year-old flift will doubtless add largely to the joys of living. ot To-night the Tivoli will offer for the first time in stock the popular musical comedy “‘Florodora.” There will doubt- iess be many desirous of renewing ac- qnaintance with the comedy in the ex- cellent production that will be given to it by the Tivoli. . B The Alcazar will have this week a most persuasive attraction in a new Irish comedy by Andrew Mack, the famous Irish comedian. The comedy is written about the life of Tom Moore and has had, considerable success in R b S “I'cannon balls and Krupp shells instead i i and delicate feet that flit through a B the East. A feature will be the en- gagement of little Harold Forman, the boy soprano, whose sweet voice will be heard in appropriate Irish ballads. i “Paul Revere” will be the bill at the Central this week, and with Herschel Mayall in the title role should prove an attractive medium. . . Paul Conrchas, a juggler who uses of oranges, will make his debut at the | Orpheum this afternoon. He is said | to be theé latest and greatest sensation in the juggling world. Jack Mason's “‘Society Belles,” five pretty girls who sing and dance, will be a dainty nov- elty of the programme, and the liquid air demonstraiions will continue to astonish. & “The’ Whole Damm Family” is the title of the Chick comedians’ sketch for the!week at the Chutes. The sketch | is ‘said to iive up to it. D'ALBERT’S STRONG AND WEAK SPOTS And still D’Albert2 From lukewarm | likings and lazy championships this| small titan has certainly delivered us. The latest to hold a brief for the pian- ist is Dr. A. Wilhelmj in last Satur-| day’s Argonaut. It is a brief a I'ap- passionata. It is further a dignified and fairly complete exposition of the defense in the D'Albert argument. ‘Why, though, have forgotten the beau- ties ¢f the D’Albert tone, round, deep and succulent as Kreisler's own? Why | have forgotten the infinitudes of the| D'Albert touch? These, at least, none} will ‘'deny. To much of Dr. Wilhelmj's | plea for the pianist as “the greatest artist of the piano” of the age there is and must be strenuous denial. 1t all depends upon what you want from a pianist. Dr. Wilhelmj gets all he 'wants from D'Albert. 1 don't. A great many other fairly respectable ! musical folk do not. Take his Chopin. Of the earmarks of genius is eclecti- | cism. The wider the vision, the larger the sympathy with all of pain and| passion and sweetness that have wrung themselves out into the music of the| world, the greater the man. Some one has said that D’Albert's Chopin “al-!} ways wears trousers.” It does, when it wears anything. But may it be sug- gested that Chopin himself does not always wear trousers?—to keep the fig-| ure. What of the filmy laces and lin-| gerie that bend over the jeweled cradle in the “Berceuse?™ What of the proud minor mazurka? What of the woman's moment in the opus 53 Polonaise, when across satin floors, her slender and ra- diant body disdaining the jewels that caress it, the subject princess of Po- land moves to its glorious pageantry? ‘What, too, of the pale and passionate faces of women that gleam through the moonlight of the nocturnes? The inherent evidence here is all against trousers. Chopin, in good sooth, has painted the woman in music as she has never " SCO777 before nor since been painted. And one wants her when she is there. One no more wants the sexless, colorless quality of the D'Albert “Berceuse,” the obstinate masculinity. of his Ballade Op. 57, than one wants the epicene Pelleas of Sarah Bernhardt—which all nice people say she gives. No, D'Albert before the eternal feminine in music is as impotent as De Pachmann before the masculine need of the B minor so- nata of Mr. Chopin. “Gemuth,” Dr. ‘Wilhelmj owns, that he may lack “to some.” “Gemuth,” to me, and to all | that T have so far heard express any opinion, wholly. Twice in his letter to the Argonaut the critic ascribes to the pianist the “perfect” plastic sense. It is his lack of plasticity, the hard and rigid line, D’Albert here lacks almost | the angular quality, that to many of us is D'Albert’s chief offending. In the Schuinann “Carneval” for example. “Pierrot” and *“Columbine,” “Chopin” and “Chiarini” were all drawn with the same harsh pencil, hard blacks, hard whites, hard angles and posed in | most irreverent haste. The outline only, to which Dr. Wilhelmj expressly says D’Albert does not confine himself, | was not seldom the only impression conveyed. Nor were these outlines by any means always true. Dr. Wilhelmj speaksof D'Albert’s “compelling logie.” Apropos, he evolves Before this some- what mystifying dictum: “Even if he sometimes neglects the instrumental part or allows the bass to oredominate unduly ~— no matter; the power of his rendering shakes us to ous depths.” But what is logic in pilane playing? Is not the perfect balance of melody and ac- companiment of treble, alto, soprano, bass 2 large part of musical logic? Dr. ‘Wilhelmj himself owns that D'Albert’'s bass “sometimes” predominated un- duly. I should say “frequently.” The soprano melody—which the critic evi- dently means by the. “instrumental part”—was commonly neglected in fa- vor of any other melody, and as be- fore said frequently drowned out by the accompaniment. The effect, with the lack of commas in the phrasing, with the inflexible rhythms, was, again frequently, anything but “logical.” How after this the learned doctor can say that “D'Albert evolves everything from the music, that there is nothing in his conception that is artificial,” I do not understand. If Mr. Beethoven writes a theme for the soprano, and M. | d'Albert insists upon piling the bass and everything else on top of it, it seems toc me that there is a consider- able and highly undesirable obtrusion of the D’Albert personality. As I have before said, the haunting impression that D’Albert can but will not give you the very tremendously big thing is at the bottom of the irrita- tion his playing largely arouses. For that is what he does give you some- times. One is silent and adoring be- fore his colossally impassioned render- ing of the first movement of the “Ap- passionata” sonata. Here everything falls into magnificent proportion, in a music drama as classically lined and poised and passioned as an “Antigone.” His Brahms Variations were magni- ficent almost all through. The “big"” sonata, op. 111, was big in its biggest moments. And that is D'Albert. He is an Alexander, disdainful of his con- quests, hungry for new worlds to con- quer. Perhaps when a new Brahms comes, with a sonata that would take two men and a pianoia to play, D'Al- bert may consider it worthy of his powder and shot. OPERA PROGRAMME FOR PRESENT WEEK Following is the opera programme for the week, with its chief novelties in the produetion of “La Gloconda” and of “Die Fledermaus.” Our New York friends were greatly exercised over the production of the rollicking Strauss opera during a grand opera season. Dippel capering through the part of Von Eisensteln, Goritz betraying him- self as dangerously near the low com- edy line as Frank, the rest all in key, with Madame Sembrich herself setting them the frolicsome example, appealed | not at all to the grand opera dignita- ries of the press. Yet the last perform- ange of “Die Fledermaus” drew the record audience of the history of the house, with the converted eritics laugh- ing tears adown their solemn cheeks. The cast of “Gioconda” is llke the cast of “Les Huguenots''—draws by its own weight. It includes Nordica, Scotti and Caruso to begin with. ‘The appearance of the second Kun- dry in Miss Olive Fremstad in Tuesday evening’s “‘Parsifal” is another event of note. Philip Hale on Miss Fremstad's Kundry made the startling comment | line. GoX/7ZZ “that it was only the stage directions of Wagner that prevented Parsifal from succumbing to the seductions of Kun- dry as interpreted by Miss Olive Frem- stad.” Miss Fremstad's gown in the Circean scene, devised by herself, is said to be of extraordinary beauty. Goritz Beckmesser, again, is said to be alone worth going to hear In next Saturday’s “Die Meistersinger.” And now here is the programme: Monday evening, April 10, “Lucia,” | with Sembrich, Bauermeister, Caruso, Parvis, Journet, Conductor Vigna. Tuesday evening, ‘April 11, at 5 o'clock, “Parsifal,” with Mme. Fremstad as Kundry, and the rest of the cast as announced for the first performance. Bars and Giordani. i Wednesday evening, April 12, “La Gi- oconda,” with Nordica, Homer, ford, Caruso, Scotti, Journet, Dufriche and Giordani. Vigna. Thursday, April 13, at 11 a. m., only matinee performance of “Parsifal,” with Fremstad as Kundry. Thursday evening, April Fledermaus.” with Sembrich, Homer, Alten, Dippel. Reiss, Goritz, Greder, Bayer, Haensler and others. Conduc- tor, Nahan Franko. Friday evening, April 14, “,Cavalleria Rusticana™ and “Pagliacci,” with De Macchi, Jacoby, Bauermeister, Nuibo, Begue in the former and Alten, Caruso, Goritz, Reiss, Parvis in the latter. Conductor for both operas, Vigna. Saturday matinee, April 15, at 1:45 p. m., “Die Meistersinger,” with Alten, Homer, Mulford, Dippel, Van Rooy, Goritz, Blass, Muhlmann, Reiss, Wal- ter, Bayer, Rudoifi, Franke, Dufriche, Greder, Werner and Loetsch. Conduc- tor, Alfred Hertz. Saturday evening, April 15, “La Gio- conda,” with the same cast as an- nounced above. To-night there will be Rossini’s “Sta- bat Mater,” with Nordica, Homer, Dip- pel and Journet, and the mag- niticent chorus and orchestra of the Metropolitan Company. The audience promises to test the capacity of the house, this being the only concert given during the season. Here is the programme in its entire- ty, with a fascinating first part besides the “Stabat Mater”: Mul- Begue, Conductor, 13, “Die PART L Overture—"1l Barblere di Sivighia' .. Rossini Aria—"'La Perle du Bresil”. ¥. David Miss Bella Alten. (@) Prelude—"Le Deluge’ ........Saint-Saens Solo, violin, Nahan Franko. (b) “La Fileuse” - M (Orchestrats Aria- ‘Bel Raggio, Rossini's “‘Stabat Mater.” (a) Introduction—Stabat Mater - Dolorosa™ Mmes. Nordica and Homer, MM. Dip- pel and Journet. (b) Arfa—"Cujus Animam' Mr. Dippel. (c) Duet ™ to “Qui est Homo'... mes. Nordica and Home: (@) Arta—""Pro_Peccatif’_....... Mr. Journet. (&) Aria and chorus—“Bia Mater Mr. Journet and chorus. £) Quartet—‘Sancta Mater istud agas”.... e Nordica and Homer, MM. DiD- and Journet. (g) Cavatina— Fac ut Portem’ .... Mme. Homer. (h) Aria_and chorus—'‘Inflammatus’ Mme. Nordica and chorus. (i) Chorus—'In Sempiterna Saecula’ Conductor, Arturo Vigna. ——————— PARIS BANKER COLLECTS MANY HISTORIC DOORS Gathers Them From Castles, Abbeys and Prisons With Interesting Connections. LONDON, April .—To the mania for collecting there appears to be no limit, but a Paris banker has certainly struck a novel and interesting idea in that He goes in for doors obtained from old castles, abbeys and other houses of historic interest. The most prized of his collections is the door through which Queen Marie Antofnette, Charlotte Corday, Danton, Robespierre and other famous vicitms of the guillo- tine are alleged to have passed on their | way to execution. | “Another door Is said to have shut off Charles I from his Roundhead pur- suers and bears themark of a batter- ing ram. A third is that of the ceil of the Convent of the Carmelites. in the Rue St. Jacques. where Louise de ia Valliere spent the latter part of her life. —————————— Noted Walker Married. LONDON, April 3.—George M. Schill- ing, the American long distance walker, has been married at Newecastle-on- Tyne to Miss Matthews, the pretty young draper’s assistant with whom he fell in love at Hull. The bride wors black. but the bridegroom wore his usual walking costume, with “Walking Around the World” inscribed in largs letters on the jersey.