41
MUSICAL COURIER
1, 1922
J u Í
LOISA PATTERSON
SOPRANO
Sings
“Love Sends a Little Gift of Roses”
By Openshaw
A Song that is its Own Encore
Published by
T. B. HARMS, Inc.	NEW YORK
not know of any transplanted musical genius coming to a fruitful bloom.
Americans Welcome.
“I want to emphasize that in no way do I want to appear as if I were preaching chauvinistic ideas. I only maintain that the duty of discovering its own geniuses devolves upon each country, and no genius so discovered goes a-begging on the world’s market. American opera as constituted today is of a tremendous advantage to the individual singers from the financial point of view. The operatic directors can but pray that America have its own opera, for then our best artists would not be speeding across the ocean in search of dollars, but would be giving their services to the great cause of uplifting the music of their native heath. I do not blame the artists, nor do I point an accusing finger at America. I simply express a wish.
“I willingly throw open the doors of the Opera to foreign singers, but they are to become members of the company, they must sing in flawless French. Americans very likely have had the experience of listening to garbled operatic English. If anything, French is worse sounding when garbled. Few foreigners can master the properFrench accent, that is why there are so very few of them in our company. As to guest performances, I have so very few works which can be given in another language, ‘Aida, ’ ‘Rigoletto,’ and perhaps, ‘Boris Godounoff.’ These are all. Still it is seldom that a great artist had not been welcomed when wil-
The stage manager rushed in for directions as to the lighting in Paul Dukas’ ballet, “Peri,” closely followed by the ballet master, who was tearing his hair because the Polonaise arranged by him for “Boris Godounoff” was declared impossible by the conductor, Serge Koussewitsky.
It was nearly six in the afternoon. There was still a crowd of people waiting to see the director.
So the interview came to an end. Theodore Bauer.
Josephine Houston’s Washington Debut
Josephine Houston, coloratura soprano, made her professional debut before Washington audiences on Friday evening, May S, at the Lafayette Hotel. The recital was a pronounced success, critics and audience alike giving the singer unstinted praise for her clean-cut and artistic work. Miss Houston was presented by August King-Smith, of whom she is a pupil. Jessie MacBride, of the Washington Times, wrote as follows regarding the recital:
“The debut of a young artist is always full of interest, and when August King-Smith introduced a little coloratura soprano in her first public recital at the Lafayette Hotel last evening, and when this singer still in her ’teens gave the florid arias of ‘Caro nome’ (‘Rigoletto’) and the “Charmant Oiseau” (“Perle du Brésil”) in the perfect articulation and fine, free abandon of the professional singer, the occasion became highly important for its promise for the future.
“Miss Houston gave an exacting program, showing a certain very lovely tenderness in her tones, with feeling and a beautiful legato. ‘She Never Told Her Love’ (Haydn), in a group of Shakespeare songs, was mellow with pathos; and in Bishop’s setting of ‘Lo, Here the Gentle Lark,’ with flute obligato, she disclosed those little bursts of bird songs that included a lovely ‘nocturne’ of Deis ; Scott’s ‘Wind’s in the South,’ ‘A Little • Song of Life,’ by King-Smith, which she had to repeat, combined meaning with tone color. Nor was the voice at any time strained. .	.	. Horseman’s ‘Bird of the Wilder-
ness’ is too big a song for this little lady, but again she came into her own in the delectable encore, ‘Cuckoo,’ that showed both whimsical humor as well as clearest intonation and utter charm.”
MAX GEGNA *Cellist
Management: CHAS. N. DRAKE, 507 Fifth Ave., N. Y.
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JACQUES ROUCHE,
director of the Paris Opéra.
ling to appear on the stage of the Opéra, and I know quite a few American singers whom I would receive with open arms whenever they were ready to come as guests.”
Just then one of the conductors came in with a score of Verdi’s “Falstaff” for a consultation in regard to a cut in the score. “I do not agree with you about this cut,” said M. Rouché to him, “but let us try it out at the next rehearsal. One must be very careful about cuts, for they are likely to destroy the musical line intended by the composer, and .	.	.”	_________
PER NIELSEN
New Wilmington, Pa.
Baritone and Director
WESTMINSTER COLLEGE OF MUSIC
Reengaged Fourth Year
AMERICAN OPERAS AND ARTISTS WELCOMED AT THE PARIS OPERA
(Continued from page 5)
to re-educate an unwilling mass of workers, inherited and imposed, for the Opéra is a Government institution and the director has in many respects much less power than a man in a similar position in America.
One cannot begin to describe the difficulties which confront a Paris Opéra head. He receives a subsidy of 800,000 francs a year ; but any director would have willingly dispensed with this princely sum—about $80,000 in exchange today—for the freedom from routine, red tape and official tyranny which hamper, annoy and often ruin the best projects and the most brilliant ideas.
Still M. Rouché carries on.
He never produces a new work without giving it his utmost care. He never shirks, he never complains, for he believes in his mission and he is hopeful.
An Ungrateful Task.
“After all, the mission of an operatic director is rather ungrateful,” says M. Rouché. “The musicians_ who class themselves among the ‘real ones’ disdain operatic music as something belonging almost to the same class as ‘jazz; the writer looks upon opera as a bad drama burdened, or enhanced, as it may be, with a musical accompaniment; the public is merely indifferent as long as it is pleased. But how can one please the public when one never knows the kind of public he has to cater to? Shall one spend all his energy in revivifying old works, or should one devote himself to keeping pace, in the realms of realization, with the advance made by musical composition?
“I, for one, hold that the wisest thing to do in regard to old works is to let them stand on their own merit, and that the duty of an operatic director is to keep alive to the demands of the younger generation. I confess that it is a hard task, especially since once embarked upon a venture of this kind, one must patiently wait until the public awakens to an appreciation of new art formulas ; but it is a task worth while one’s mettle.
“There are many other difficulties in a state owned theater which are annoying, harmful to one’s plans, and which form frequently a serious impediment to any kind of progress ; but they must be all considered as in a day’s work. What is most difficult is to be clear in one’s own mind as to the actual results achieved. What is most encouraging is to see the ever-increasing public support. As to criticisms, one must be able to separate the chaff from the wheat— the constructive and, consequently, helpful criticism from the merely fault-finding harpings of those who would build castles without laying a foundation for them.
“Before assuming the direction of the Grand Opéra I visited all the principal cities of Europe, I went to all the theaters known for their innovations and brought back with me a large number of ideas which were to be applied at once to the theater of which I was to become the head. I quickly learned that, if these ideas were to be planted, the soil had to ■be carefully prepared, and I am still busily engaged in preparing that soil.
The Principal Duty.
“The repertory at the Opéra is really international. We give the French classics; we give Wagner in quite liberal doses; we do not neglect the Russians, nor do we forget Verdi; but our chief endeavor lies in giving an opportunity to the French composer of the newer school to be heard. After all, the Opéra is a national institution; it is understood that the works presented must be given, with rare exceptions, in the vernacular, and if the Opéra should neglect the native composer, where could he bring his works?
“It is all very well to talk about art being international, but the first duty of a country’s operatic house is to echo the music of its own land. When a genius like Wagner, or like Moussorgsky arises, we throw open our doors to him, but we do not go in search of mediocre works in preference to the works of our own musicians. Nor does any other opera house having the country’s music at heart act differently. As to America, I do not know sufficiently of the conditions there to utter an opinion. This much I can say. We also have our Italian and Russian seasons, and they are very helpful in aiding the development of our composers. We have learned a great deal from the Russians, and we welcome with joy the mellow Italian voices, but our own opera houses must give opera in French, and should they abandon this, they will sound their immediate doom. But then opera with us is quite a necessity, and it may be only a luxury with the Americans.
“Would I give an opera by an American composer? Of course I would; but I would wait for America to discover him. I rather admire your composers, for it requires a great deal of courage to undertake any hopeless task. I also do insist that the American composer who lives and works in France, for instance, would be really a French
composer, for his mentality must be Gallic if he loves to dwell in Gallic conditions. I must add, however, that I do
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