1
h 1 r7rT W c PT- I I 4 t S I I i h f r I c TRESUN SUNDAYJTJN28 190S rt f 1 ABATCHOF PARISIAN PLAYS KEAU I rf Till STACK OF THE COM EDI K FRAXCAISEI- tlolx Smnshrd In Octave Mlrbrni Por trait of a Sivlndllnc Sinn of AITal- rIa iinboulllciiio of Totally IJItlcr ent Kind Anttole Frances KnMB lug tltlle Episode at the HenaUsancr If Mollcre could revisit the Rllintmes of the CoinSdla Francalse would he lx shocked or not at Ootnve Mlrlxans U1 Affaires fiont les Affaires The pay is Htnrtllngly realistic for a houso which lion so faithfully conserved thoclatwle tradition of tho French Ktago A fow iwwons itjo Mlrbenus Les- MauvaU Borfiera created a mild seneatioit- bccaueeof the doctrines it set forth Tolstoy Ism Hwenlsru and hoveral other latterday Isms ran rampant through the flvo acts He has also written three of one Hot each two of them comedies LKpldemio- Vleux Manages Le Portofeullle It is nQt necessary now to allude to this wri- ters short etorlos Some of them powerful have an odor which is said to all China Le Journal dune de Chambro has had a vogue being in tho In the original edition It has I am sorry to Hay been translated Le Jardin lee Sttppliees betrays an ex- traordinary Imagination but a maleficent one is read to better advantage In Sebastian Roch and In plays tLea Affaires Soot leu Affaires Business Js Business is In the repertory of the for good M Clfiretle has shown considerable elasticity in of judg- ment before this yet I ho ever risked such a piece on tho venerable boards- of tils official theatre It Is not alone Its modern note but smashing of Idols clerical aristocratic socialistic and com- mercial wherein this comedy offends Seldom a performance without hissing cheering in the lob- bies The night I witnessed the piny tho third act set rival parties hissing each other After all our beloved French cousins take the art of the theatre seriously Is moro than a digestive diversion and little less than n religion fobbeau is not the first dramatist to put a swindling man of before the foot- lights Lo Sages is a mere name today for most students of the drama yet it was considered a dangerously portrait a century ago And Balzacs that play which he built so many hopes gavo his contemporaries a terrible picture of a financier But in Bal sioinoyels may bo found a regular gallery- of bankers with shady reputations queer stockbrokers usurers The figure of is an Imperishable one Octave Feufflets a reproduction of a Balzac character brought down to the times of the Second Empire while Zola In expanded hU epical gifts of description In imagining a scoundrel speculator Nor must Daudets Nabob bo forgotten Mlrbfcau naturally Is nearer to us for the present than his predecessors has gone to tha Bourse as did Zola and studied hU men on the spot Some persons here hint that Isidore Lechat Is a fulllength drawing of the late Lebaudy father of Max Lebaudy known on the Boulevard as Le Petit Seeder But others Insist that the tame Isidore has It racial significance- that Lechnt might have been Katzensteln before the tamlly moved from Alsace No matter Isidore Lechat Is today the vital figure on the stage and as De is superb And he might have stepped out of a rao book for he is the very incarnation of energy Twice arrested for twice an inmate of prisons this Napoleon of finance manages to escape the law by technicalities which moans In as does elsewhere that justice hoodwinked Leehat has repudiated his debts twice ho Is owner of a newspaper behind the types of which he manages to manipulate the stock market to float all sorts and conditions of shaky companies- to swindle at his glorious leisure Not that he is a man of Joisure No dra- matic character was over so active as is Isidore Ltchat A dynamic energy ex- haustless terrifically noisy he stirs all about him by his torrential flow of oonver- Mlion his ceaseless unrest He has that mock air of hail fellow well met which de- ceives the average man and woman and a niggard life he throws money away in public to the blaring of brass bands and proletarian shoutings Ltchil Is never lovable though he in terestn A bigger blackguard never trod shoe leather It is his supreme scamphood which piques and startles the spectator who follows his fortunes with almost the regard bestowed upon a great tragic figure For this Mirbeaus realistic art is the cause a century ago when tho wellmade the endall of French dramatists wicha BJtce of real life Business Is Bust wptild havfi been publicly and criti- cally hooted It is pitchforked on the ftaRi thlawquldb the cry In reality us a pice of dramatic construction comedy is nbtailmirablo It runs to lengths In of pn ches It no begin- ning no end It might he taIled A Div in of a Swindler just as Mirbeau called a nasty hook of his Twentyone Days of n Neurasthenic I have not explained the breadth and the financiers politics He is a with leanings toward conserva- tisrn that JB bo mints with the hounds end runs with the His mngnificent- claeAU ftdjojrei Impoverished es- tate of Porcellet TIre Margvie already owep frahci He has a son Ltchct has n daughter To see aristocracy and finance united is his own pelted one of gaudy house a Mend of dukes a 10000 is a of the most approved and modish kind The daugh tor Gcrmainc j cfint Is a study only see and in intwpst tn her father After read- Ing the play and seeing it twice ncted I thintr a stronger or rather a morn xultable actress than Mils Lara ther6lo would gain enormously This young lady has studied her scales assiduously after the ntethods of the She has distinction dignity and plenty of tem rwr fenrlmt those attributes are canal wed in the classic Mylei and we miss the freedom the touch of tho vulgar necessary for exact delineation of Germainc Le thai She l her fathers daughter In her Imperious will and stubbornness in the face of cttsarter and she has something of her mothers bourgeois love of comfort and hatred of display A course of socialistic reading and a study of womans have stt her against her father When these two wills collide in war Of the fnolhcr to be said except that tho skilled and sympathetic investiture of the part by Madamo Blanche Iierson lends it a reasonableness and vitality Tho poor woman her brain fuddled by the constant boiling of the pot in which ehe is immersed watches her hus- band in a scared furtive way She know j r p i i aB they emma hit mater the t i I aral i t I I d f F f He- r t S t mOt 1 F raudy f Bal- I volt nal Franc t I I l In private Hal p I t l I hare him J th his Is his I and I th li the Il II 3 thEre i a 4 p 100000th I I I political f J true- r o I I r t f c 1 s J 4 I t i I cia ness N has the LdIe depth of a I dream sun I htId auto- mobile J Fran alse l t A t rigs 1 4 1 ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ > ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ lllt la a thief but feebly defends him when her daughter by hU elf Isljness and him would be the best of men w re It not for business but an soon as he begins business I admit his con- science takes leave of him A fair though not sweeping enltaph for a mans headstone The first scene discovers the gardens of the CliAteau dn Vauperdu now Leehaf Madame Ltchat sits wondering why O r maine who is at hand can read ho many hours without conversing These books are the bane of tho old ladys life They have rendered Gcrmame unapproachable taciturn She seldom mingles In the gay- eties of the chateau for the reason that she bitterly resents the troops of people her father brings home with him every night people whoso names he has never memorized It Is all business and Ocr mains loathes tha word She hates the vain bustle and display of the establish- ment and with household affaIrs she will have no commerce For all these short- comings hor mother reproaches her re her also for tholack of respect she evinces In the of her father After all he Is her father Germaine turns away in disgust A young gardener comes In and we catch on unpleasant perspective of LcchaVs a the man and his family have been turned away without money without a future Oermaine in terests u now for her heart overflows at the misfortunes of the gardener It U a pretty bit and It Is prettily played by Lara and Ravel Its relevance to the story is not very great At last the hero comes a conquering horn who enters his halls to accom- paniment of cheers the wily cheers of his socialistic constituents To them the great man throws money and sends then away As ho has two guests with him It may be reasonably suspected that this little demonstration has been organlzoc nt Ltchat headquarters As by tho man Is a study In ex has a nose the pre- daceous of a bird he frames It In side whiskers shaves tho chin a protrud- ing boldly modelled though not a prog nathlo chin Short potbellied curly haired oye half closed but ever reetlees nnd brilliant Feraudy dresses In a cut- away business suit a showy waistcoat flaring cravat anti spats He wears his hat on tho side and he continually fingers the brim A type and an individual nt the same time He chatters madly the outpourings of a headstrong self willed human of temperament sanguine Apoplexy you foresee will bo his end but time shall arrive the world must hoar much of Isidore Locket Can a scoundrel be sympathetic That question is forever asked after it has been answered As Lethal fidgets about In- troducing his friends whose names he always forgets boasting of his estate bullying his overseer a decayed nobleman which fact he mentions you feel a sort of inverted admiration for the monster He Is a reversion to the typical male savage who goes forth every morning to slay and reaches home at evening spent but content for he has his booty with him What ho carry he eats like the true canni is Leehat well named because of his tricky feline traits is a bandit an assassin but ho goes to his home and family every night with the spoils of his days victories What happens further in this scene More guests drop in and the motley crew enter the It may not be academic in structure but it exposes the people of the play satisfactorily One more fact an Important one wo learn that Oermaine is In love has for a lover Lucien Oarraud a young chemist of genius employed on the estate They go oft into the woods as the curtain falls Little doubt that the father has a surprise in store for him In act II Oermaine has rather an affect- ing interview with her mother who begs her to go to church She refuses and tho Irritated woman almost cries as she de- fines hor position No one loves her is never home oxeopt asking for money from his Indulgnnt parent Her daughter Is immersed in her books Her husband seldom notices her except with a pacifying little pat on tho there tIters old woman you mean well but you dont know all this wealth this show has it brought happiness Germaine pets her but wo see the rift in the family lute plainly enough The young lovers meet later and there Oermaine exposes her soul She ititecdn to run away If Lucien wIll go nil the better If not she will go alone Her sur- roundings are poisoning her She knows her father for what he is recognizes the nailed brutal fist and vile heart concealed as It is to some by his perpetual bonhomie She has heard from a widows lips how her father swindled a partner in an enterprise Gabriel Dauphin Is his name who driven to the precipice commits suicide es the tasted way out of terrible misery But ho leaven a widow and children behind him It is infamous this thief this assassin father whoso blood circulates in her veins It is horrible to hear a daughter curse a parent though it seems logical enough at the time Pacified by her lovers prccii that an elopement is tho only hope of happiness she consents to remain for a M1 longer Tim twomen Phinc and Orugglc who accompanied Ltchat home the previous evening are a previous pair They are present for tha purpose of securing Lechats interest In a wildcat scheme Great scoun- drels they nevertheless underrate their hosts acuity A threecornered game of desperate ttcamotagc begins Lechat swears that he always plays with the cards on the table His superior penetration enables him to pierce the operation of his guests They to pUt him down to figures he rings for port old port gen- tlemen priceless port vintage of I they badger him He smilingly then his portrait painted by Bonnat which he at a bargain for 35000 francs the re- treat with n promise to The act closes lifter a visit to his fath r from Xavier Ltchat This young hope- ful roundshouldered aniemlc drawling fatigued has automoblled front Ostend where ho lost a lot of money gambling with a Duke The proud parent signs a check giving conventional advice and Unions with unfeigned delight to his sons tories of the aristocracy of n mysterious mistress of Here we see- the weak pot In th armor of a formidable brigand But It Is Act III that Is worth all tItle preamble undramatlc loquacious and sometimes futile Tho last acts of many famous plays are failures The last act of Business Is Business Is not only the bet hut It is the only act that may be truthfully dramatic Despite the long parley what and the Jargui In which tho new and the old social are cleverly contrasted despite not because of It the scene In intensity to a climax so now Peel like standing up with all the excited Frenchmen and crying Bravo Mirbeau he outrage pleads many I I I I F rudy baked cannot ch teau ot- a HI E- nrage cure conspirator tall omeN mount Yojrfathershe Her- on cite 4 i ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ > I It U very simple In the analysis th the marriage between his son and Locke daughter Every objection has been over- ruled Honor has been made to assume a fantastic appearance wealth U lauded blood religion even the church j by tho wily Isidore M a sort of spiritual accomplice in mundane matters I Determined to strike while the Iron Is hot Leehat rings for his daughter antf wife Thoy arrive Formally and with the i accents of a tortured man the Alarquia demands the hand of illle Lechat of her confused mother Plaittl she mumbles I The victorious father ls soon toppled from his pround eminence I decline the honor declares tho girl arising Why She is craZY Jfanuts unexpected honorl How decline fochat draws nearer his fists clenched his big neck purple- I have a lover Insists the now furious girl A horrible scene ensues The dis- tracted man rushes from his wife to his daughter bullying cursing threatening but to no avail The Marquis withdraws In his most frozen manner Canaille the halfmad Locket after him He to his daughter The mother prevents physical violence The girl calls for Lucien and on his appearance there Is another explosion The man of business begins to realize that there are certain combinations he cannot under- stand lie the man away swears that he his daughter and leaves the apartment This gives the playwright a chance to set the women weeping Mother and daughter part and- I did not regret the departure of At base she Is selfish Inconsiderate for her place is with her wretched mother This sounds quite antiIbsen I know but Mlrbeaii is to blame Oermaine Levhat never strikes an altogether sympathetic chord there is too much of her father in her makeup She is an exaggeration of the Ibsen girl Lechat rushes fumingly in reproaches his wife for tho education of the ungrateful daughter and blackguard that he abuse upon the poor bewildered creature She turns on him though briefly It in you your accursed wealth He shrugs his shoulders a deep breath and grinds his be It if his house hold Is against him he will still fight on But a trump card of sorrow up her sleeve and throws it on the table at this juncture Lcchatt man of affairs rushes In announcing In terrified tones the death of Yorier who has been killed by an accident Thrown from his racing machine he was smashed against a Even now they are bringing the body in This is an awful stroke Locket reels tears at his neck gasps for air and falls on a couch Apoplexy nearly claims him as he is reviving enter the two vultures true funeral buzxards hastening to a possible feast Phinck and Gruggle have seized the opportunity when the great man Is over- come sorrow to force their scheme upon himThen the animal grandeur of Lechat is seen at its top notch Calling the pair brigands ho in a harsh voice commands Write All the financial details of the transaction are to in the hands of Isidore- Lechat All all Not a move is to bo made without him the stupe- fied men do colossal will power of Isidore fachat has overcome them his cunning brain has outwitted their plans Again the word is brought that the remains of Yarier Lechat have reached hi house Sign Sign bellows Lechat They sign He rushes out of tho room leaving them dejected annihilated Business Is business No need to dwell further upon De Fer- raudys Interpretation It is the delight of Paris and rightfully so This actor share with Grimier of the OMan the his- trionic honors of the town His rapidity of soeech clearness of enunciation lithe vigorous nervous movements and his per- fect elfcontrol fit him for the role Oc- tavo Mirbeau is lucky In possessing such an able collaborator Leloir excels in tho delineation of musty aristocrats His old Marquis is an elaborate portrait not a detail is missing He held in the fccne A faire Of particular interest were the two speculators impersonated by and Garry The former Is ns usual hurly the latter Is fine an a solicitor He really suggested glacial gulfs of villainy Mirbeau knows Balrac thoroughly The lover is Raphael Duflos comparatively a new acquisition the He leaves one cold IH It not a commentary on this piece that tho people in it are scoundrels and selfish the good are lull or mediocre Mlrbenus literary ability is manifest in the brilliant polished re- strained style He makes rapier thrusts nt church state and society and being a radical at all ho does not care whom he wounds Of a totally different genre is La Ra- bouilleuse at tho Odeon Made over into- a drama by M Fabre from the little known novel of Balzac too little known I am afraid the piece unless enacted by might easily laps into melodrama All the material is at hand especially as the adapter has altered tho finale of the novel- to meet dramatic requirements It Is effective enough this ending though it gives a violent Basics tale magnificent acting redeems some quarter hours Grimier as a Colonel an old Napoleonic campaigner is really re- markable His picture in the Salon is always surrounded by admirers Your true Parisian dearly loves an actor Balzao will recall at once the story of Flare Brazier who wheedled her way into the household of old in the little town of Issou dun She had been as a girl a raboull i e a digger after crayfish To ribouillor In the parlance of Berry is to agitate a stick in the muddy where may ho found the edible Flora is a good looking girl and soon sat In tho parlor completely a mistress of the situation to threaten departure and the feeble dotard falls at her His sister ac companied by her younger sort Joseph a painter comes to beg a largo amount of money It save tim honor of the name for her older BOH Col Brideav has gambled nml pz zled and finally become a political conspirator Tho old man would have loosened his purse strings If Flore had not Interfered The sister Roe away with an empty hand Flare has a lover Max Oilet- In tho novel ho is an Important porHoiiiiRo a jolly mi cMef loving fellow In the play ho serves as a buffer for Col Brideau and a peg upon which to hang n dtfnouo ment The first act is labored and full of talk But from tho moment Brideau enters all changes A bully rapiii cutpurse of thin Empire rogue swaggerer ho Intimidates all about him by sheer physical pluck Ho Is a picturesque figure long tailed shaped curling brimmed hat his heavy knobbed cane fierce mustachlos and rake icIly gait He has acquainted himself with the situation in his uncles house and determines to worst Flora He U success I to o a abe j I I I yell drive IH heaps take b b Supplant care of point twist to Alain reader P re wate- rhole c dow ParA his 4 Marquis pushed extremities assents I 5 Lan- ier Fran ais interesting artists cusp ijdesktrted coffee colored coat bcli ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ tub H proyes her unfaithful Ha routs Max and whenever ffore speaks of re- prisals he threatens a duel in which as ahe knows Aax fall He would b no match for of fortune With insolence and an effrontery breath catching Brideau topsyturvies the house- hold and makes the enamored uncle see that ho has ben deceived Finally a duel is forced upon him by Max Then occurs the best episode of the play Having a presentiment that her beloved Mtt will be slain Flore tries her seductions upon tIe Colonel But he Is too seasoned Ho shows to her her folly and proposes an audacious scheme marry hIs uncle and after his easily anticipated death marry Col Brideau In Paris they can live at ease on their illgotten wealth She Is fascinated by the picture Nothing comes of It Max is killed In the duel and later the Colonel Is murdered by a faithful old soldier a servitor of Max The climax Is thrilling but more In the stylo of Eugene Sue than Balzac The acting alone saves this cumbersome drama There are some good things tn metIng of tho old soldiers at the house This demands Infallible ensomblo work and it was not missing at tho performance Is an actor of Imagination and his diction is perfect The little more and what a difference The little less and Col Bridfau would have been a con- ventional lay figure of melodrama As It Is every ono In the cost Js happily disposed Mmo Mdjard Is an intense Pore and tho Koigct of Jnnvler worth a second across tho Slene Dorlval was ns real a liar as the dramatist gave him tho chance while Mine Bonnet paints the small part of a domestic with all the fidelity of a Miens or an Ostndo How- ever tho chief Impression garnered Is the picture of diabolic energy of Vautrin like will exampled in the astonishing acting of Gentler The announcement that the Renaissance would close Its doors for the summer pent many to that house for Anatolo Frances engaging little episode Cralnquebllle was nightly played as an afterpiece to La- Prlncesse revival of an antique Dumasfllial comedy I wished to judge- If the praise given with generous hands- to the France tableaux was just and I also desired to see again that impossibly charm- ing young actress Mart he Brandos in her surroundings for sIte U a recent secede from the Comedic Franchise household- No need of introducing that spirituelle writer Anatole Tliihault known as Anatole France America lies long appreciated his Thais his manycolored short stories his delicate Irony Crainquebillo Is not- a play but a transcript from low life by a titan of singularly sensitive temperament Alphonse Daudet was fond of the phrase Russian pity in writing about Tolstoy or M France has this pity in abundance only It evokes the manes of Charles Dickens rather than the MuKcovitish masters of fiction Crainqtiebilte is one of those street venders peculiar to Paris a wretchedlooking old grizzled mustaches and weather beatei face who pushes his old slowly before ilm through steep aCid Montmartre is often well named Cab- bage carrots peas potatoes onions he sells and Is beloved In the Quarter for his kindly ways As if to show the unexpected tricks fate can play the old Oman while waiting for 14 cents owed by a woman to whom he has sold some vegetables into an altercation with a policeman Inter- feres with traffic is arrested is unjustly accused and imprisoned When he returns to lila beloved Montmartro after fifteen absence ho finds things will have anything to do he is insulted jeered at and finally starv- ing is forced to take refuge with a street Arab in an old building- To achieve his portrait the dramatist resorts lo miniature painting With small sly strokes ho shows Grain lucbillea good heart Croinyttbilkf honesty Crsin ie blues faith in the gqodness of men Craiit- qucbillcs disillusionment his utter despair and eventual submission lo fates decree All this is simply accomplished Lucien Gtiitry is a gifted IlltisiotiUt He sug- gests more with n shoulder shrug than Home actors do with a torrent of rhetoric HU- Crcinyvtbille is hoarsethroated laconic an dog whose eyes ant more slits filled rheum of age whose movements are creaky M an unoilcd door But he is full of humor ns tho court score show Humor sentiment never are traits of this little transcript from life All the players were capital the effect produced being one of lifelike candor and Dickens was suggestive In every scene particularly in of the French In comparison with this Invertebrate- yet norm real quivering life Ia- Princesse Georges seemed as old as Nonhs ark It have been written before th flood tiresome thesis that women nnifit forglvo marital that second net with its mechanical weav- ing of events its fashionable dn mes who gos- sip In the mode Time nouement Is lugged In by tho hairand posi- tively the was unendurable after first If it had not been for Mart he Brands You wonder M JulesClaro tie ever allowed title delicious erratum to leave time protecting old theatre addition to being adorably lovely lots temperamental of n projects upon it as If it wero a disk Illumined all the tenderness tragic terror animal anti genuine passion Dumas demanded when he wrote role for Desclee She was adequately sup- ported as tho an asinine character Bertha Corny Noizeaux Nerny and the Invaluable Samary JAMES HrNEKEK HIS PLATf Mil A Suggestion a Mn Vtio l vc Luxury ns Well M Country The news that a Is soon to bo built on the site of a historic home overlooking Long Island Sound has led some New York- ers to wonder whether thnt Is the hotel of which they have sometimes dreamed The number that has discussod this subject i largo enough to it te m that Hiccesn such on enterprise- I haw thought for FOIIIO years ono in his tho other that such n hotel n I In mind might to be a great min- ces I know a to many persons like mo who frequently want to out of town for a or two hut nro too selfish to stand the restraint of a pri- vate house hotel most he within an hour of York raid in service food anti equip- ment mutt he a of bust establishment Tim It would bo a sort of Tuxedo limit available to all who were and could the and not only to the members It be open all around no the ex- cuse for deficiencies in hotels out of town that tho season Is so short could not hold Such a place would he equally attractive in summer winter furnish the only resort of the kind near New York or matter In the United States- a hotel in the country as as tho best in town- I believe theres a fortune in store for tIme man courageous enough to make tho not to give him tills tip for nothing but to supply with the names of at least people who would Profuse to visit him in season he lust Itthe Od on G rnler a Kky kIlo v with car et8 Cay change ole th must Gultr 101FI rom tit Ilk nien who were cub he da New the cOlin goo 1 Georgea hinge sent the chritn t S ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ° ARTHUR XlKtSCU RUNS AFOV OF METRONOME TIle Value of Tradition In of Ileelhoveni Symphonic Impoi lance of Kcblnrtltri Discredited Ttftl Musical Sims In Score Is musical criticism the most inexac science in the world There be who declare that such It is and who d sneer and snicker at tho proclamations o the scribes These sneerers and snick are for tho most part not professor more or less divine art When the professor desires to sneer he retires into i darkened corner of his private abode an exercises much care that the man wit tho power of writing notices does detect hlmn the act But after all tb criticism of is of a truth and Mr Gilbert remarks In Tho Gondoliers Bless you it al depends- If critics know their business and some- times do they will seldom fall inU disagreement OH to the merits and demerit It is in matter of interpretation that they are to perhaps this is but another way of al1- mubio Is Tho word subjective has a pretty metaphysical makes an essay assume u learned look but It Is not formidable Is all musld subjective Does Its inter- pretation on conception of tho performer Or should certain facts about each composition to which performer respect When are impossible to avoid a single answer a piece of cannot bo to whims of all its assailants To be sure thru IK the ominent example of Shakespeare s Han Mr what cnn be done with that drama Which re- calls the practical observation of John tragedian He said Hamlet is the one any good actor can make a he will just let Metaphysics alone and attend to stage There Is a substratum of sound common- sense in this and tho principle well be by when a to experimenting with a composition his first with Oh those tempi critical remrirkH about seem to puzzle time art Tempo dear ren cabalistic It Is just- a Italian word meaning time when applied to a it signifies the rate through a movement of proper rate Is of the gravest Importance person at once himself familiar pathetic air and or It as fast as you have habitually heard ll and you will at ones its entire nature U chin od Conversely perform a lively piece much too slowly or solemn Now of all compositions In the world Beethovens ought to bo well known fl ought by this time to lw established no two conductors to about it Theodore Thoma certainly did not direct as did and neither of them as Walter reading diTerad wholly from of and treated tin work as Arthur Mkisch did not while Anton Seidl altor plating the movement ns If it wero Danube waltz took the ncberzo so fast tho tiara players could not play the trio Mr NikLsch not long ago conducted tho- Eroioa in Berlin where is the director of the Philharmonic concsrtP and some of the upon tempi tooth and nail Thero waunl most us a disturbance- of the restlunic atmosphere OH there was in this town when be hi conception- of the work at the admired medium of tIlt Boston phony Orohestia in tine halcyon days of never when respectable prsone of oomfortabla wero disturbed Mr Nikisch failed to bow to tra- dition Men of excellent information and conservative judgment declared that he had no right to The Eroica had always en In a certain way rind it was eciiitrlc yea even coOs to play it in other way old way right way of course because va old vine the in which Beethoven himself would have liked- to her his symphony conducted No t hose who have with MMvllssohn had thy been at tin eiTOrmanct of cymphony about wliisli Kchard Wagner cimts so in hi admirable On Conduct Ho iy Now tIn late of Dresden rmco conducted this symphony there nnd I happened to lie at with Mendelssohn We talked about the dilemma de- scribed time of making certain passages intelligible when at the customary tempo its solution I told Mendelssohn I believed I hail convinced tad promised thnt he would take the tempo Mendelssohn perfectly agreed with me We listened and I was terrified oh hearing precisely old lAidler tempo but before vent to my annoy- ance Mendelssohn smiled and nodded his head if lo say Now Its all Bravo So terror changed to astonishment Reitwi or for reasons I shall discuss presently may not have lyn old but indifference with regard to this artistic oontre doubts my mind whether ho saw distinction difference in the case at 1 standing of superficiality Of course tine root of difference of between arid Mendelssohn wns n difference as to Beethovens designs A similar disagreement gave rise tor the confusion of reading of tho ErnlcS Every living soul the warring assent to time proposition that which violated of Beethoven was In- defensible The question to be decided in these davis Is were the wishes of Beethoven There c n bo no dispute that the funda- mental element in n proper interpretation is a correct temod of Beet hovens symphonies are established too largely by It Is true that metron- ome are to be found on score that Beethoven placed nil of them there l een disputed an author to whom entirely too credence is ThU is Schindler whose biographical sketch of the composer miv The Life of edited Ignace Moschelos timid published in this country l Ditflons After quoting MathesonVt dictum that a movement must be taken a noire slowly by a large ohnru or orchestra thah a one Schindler that this fact Is too frequently forgotten by con- ductors nt expanse of intelligibility I have hid frequent to this neslect sats occasioned by performance of n cises tho effect vcns works anti WHK of course n offspring of the cause nnd exhibited a of tine Holrlt of the To perform Beethovens compositions without to meaning is hunting to loath the of thn r it appears according to tide au- thority heard of his own works In which the were taken In spite of time admitted correctness of the metronome narks In ono case ths master seriously thought of altering title metro was too fast Hi admitted Schlndlor that the con- ductor had obeyed the metronome sign but that ho not intended that his sym- phonies should be uch Schindler further deposes and A RAOIOF J TiE men Abut err Dot bled let pat note e dabbler c The tan rate sad r ii Emi Pam frt that tIPI 1IMnl I doubt preen I thaI Iwl t much to for pfi t In In time any ant nil I for t lr wo hut b Cite re A I co- mp ow r ronl nomo mark the of f t d h TEERICA tie Tnt erpretatt S the both exa mus an Iannroseh does Sot Itt tits the was Is thiflieuit time a tO very queer lie the trIte total ormances its of allegretto the seventh ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ > > ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ < She PIANOLAi- ts Importance in Summer Home is the one at which can be upon never to growmonotonous Of all the music probably the most popu- lar is It is therefore natural that in the four and onehalf years of its existence the Pianola should have sprung into a pop- ularity no countries of the world Furnishirg a ready means for If I any one even those devoid of II any musical knowledge the piano that instrument to assume a new position in its relation to home life From its place simply as a furnishing necessity piano with the aid has come one of the most objects in the source of infinite enjoyment Especially is true the country where the house hold is largely dependent on its own resources for amusement and where without some fascinating pastime every heavy and moves slowly There are 9707 different selections prepared for the Pianol and these are available to every owner an instrument Therefore whether for a dance accompaniment for a or instrumental selection this vast library furnishes music suitable for the occasion The Metrostyle is a new invention for controlling expression In to ones every one should see the Metrostyle whether interested or PltnoU 250 n noJ with M tro MIX PurcbiiibU b monthly plymtnU tf deilrttf Aeolian Company aSrSTirtlk FREDERICK LOCSER CO Brooklyn 1 CO 1 n I MUSIC l i people but universal with both and the I I to play the Pianola has important J J J i1 I I self f The e k 4 t 6 11 laymen in all feeling caused t I I I I ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ > HIs own ob ttons cou ledrwith accounts received from various the ineffective performance of the symphonies in consequence Beetho- ven in time winter of 182528 to invent cause of the errors This he in presence and ho ascertained the metronome signs in tho printed scores wore faulty the and be declared that of these metronomic were not authorized him I may mention symphonies from to No6 inclusive were before the invention of Maclzcls metronome and it Is to the seventh nod ninth symphonies that the metronomic signs can cer- tainty be sam to have been given by Beethoven Whether or not metro nomed the eighth symphony tho which was positively determine scorn of I cannot It was a rather curious fact that Schind ler who was o intimately acquainted with Beethovens to met ronomic of his symphonies did not know whether he had the little eighth His trustworthiness hiss been called In question in recent In fact time great biographer of Beethoven Alexander that the master did metronome his own and Clint he knew what he wished Thayers knowledge Is altogether indisputable for queer he should have been ignorant of edit Ion of the symphony a small quarto lithographed by of Vienna ns a companion to symphony The edition to by the second published by Haslineer of Vienna in 1827 Considering the fact them the Steiner of seventh gave the composer much trouble because of errors altogether unlikely that he would have over it as he did and neg lected the little one Asa matter of fact prints a letter from Beetheven to the In it he The of this symphony the sev- enth to me since it is unfortunately the case that neither the nor scorn is correct In the which are already prepared the mistakes must he corrected ink which his do and a list of all without exception must also be and as engraved have been the most it is an inaccurate defective affair such as has never appeared of any of my workp This Is of your inattention to the correc- tions and riot sent It to TOO for my revision or not having reminded me about It You have treated the public with neglect and tIne innocent author suffers In reputation Beethoven his symphony a we well know limit It Improbable that its score so Incor- rect would have corrected it and no attention to the eightb for which ho had also a certain amount of affection The truth undoubtedly is thai too conductors la tIme metronome marks and lint Incorrect tempi are heard too ronnvy audiences Vet a adherence to signs seems not to have been the desire of Beethoven The signs are given In order to indicate time general of movement amid it would be t flrfd fault with a conductor who went a few beats out of his way to secure a beautiful and effect not out of keeping with the character of a movem nt TIters Is no question that Mr performed the scherzo faster anti the second part last movement more local audiences used to be accustomed to hear thorn In the consulate Thomas The scherzo is marked and without doubt some conductors take It a llttlo In order to was highly Interesting or It had a stir was disclosed here In Chickening Hall ago andante the last movement thIs conductor certainly played more slowly than says to b the die b her that the d onl those of hth mater I a nno mistakE sore might vo only the seventh conse- quence S C S met ronomic rat prepare for time troublesome passage trio It is certaimi that Mr ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ > played but tradition is after all in matters musical The was its results Never before did 1U eloquence seem so over- whelming its breadth BO Two from little book on conducting are singularly applicable to matter The con ductorbe is comprised In ability always to indicate tempo tempo will show whether under stands piece or not With the good correct phrasing and expression Induce the of trie true ten p Again he I remember my young to have heard older remarks about the Eroica Dionys Weber at Prague simply treated as a nonentity man was IB- hia way to recognize nothing but tempo peculiar to that allegro he taught the Rrbica Time result was such that one could not agreeing with him These latter a bearing- on the shading ofthe reading cussion to nuance which were introduced it would be difficult for any one to sustain objections to them on ground of most effective argument against a general adop tion of accel erandi and unfamiliar accentuations i the serenity of the classic atmosphere which U to surround works But it Is somewhat of an anomaly hold that the tremendous of these symphonies must be McrifloH to of style i to be sure has formulaed a prop osition but it is offered any ono who combats the employment of ro mantle methods which seem lo clamor for them It would ha absurd for any one to assort that Beet hovan this deeply dranntio third symphony lo classic profile of the M Mr Niklsclfs discovery of the expres ivn of passages by him was a credit to j l We have no satisfactory record f Beethovens desires tp these ma- tter The best evidence in favor of the n w departures U the splendor of their nrxlau- vtwn i TVMUI C muni on the admirable Hector Berlins that whatever a good as that whatever a had one bad and that the authority of a Hundred old men even if were a hundred and twenty years of nee cannot innvc beautiful riot that which U ugly It was a long time ammo that Mr Nil oh conducted Krolivi nt ChlckerluK Hall be that he has altered his iZ since then butt comments on hU reont wecm to show that he has not has conducted thn symphony many tIm in Germany and no one so loudly a II the across the Atlantto till this time Doubtless hs will conduct work tunes more and In the end the critics will come to regard his ns true tempi Possibly In the course of v ill nil over the Continent and then busy old tradition will proceed to esoor down thin vale of yours as the rii will be and nrar H ml and countless generations of music critic yet unborn dig up the wise words of In support of the comforting that did not rnetrom the symphony and that therefore to a to take It at any tempo tit suits hint But will some diff- iculty In convincing thinking that a to itnt tempi that suit it Mr Nikisch modifications were by no means radical they were enough to make a noticeable But other con I upon him In going faster Certainly then lamented Seldl did But Mr Bedlls metier WM certainly not Beel- hoven I broadening of the niorement of the poco his players the true and con vetsely phrasing and expression wtU at play thatthtv disturb iLq V one and aileiro other miii back dictum of good 1 It tim lie time is open do not doctors will strive to ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ > ¬ ¬

I c S 190S I TEERICA I J She PIANOLAi- Till ts in · modern note but smashing of Idols clerical aristocratic socialistic and com-mercial wherein this comedy offends Seldom a performance

  • Upload
    others

  • View
    0

  • Download
    0

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: I c S 190S I TEERICA I J She PIANOLAi- Till ts in · modern note but smashing of Idols clerical aristocratic socialistic and com-mercial wherein this comedy offends Seldom a performance

h1

r7rT Wc

PT-

I I 4 t S

I Ii h f r

Ic TRESUN SUNDAYJTJN28 190S rt f 1

ABATCHOF PARISIAN PLAYS

KEAU I rf Till STACK OF THECOM EDI K FRAXCAISEI-

tlolx Smnshrd In Octave Mlrbrni Portrait of a Sivlndllnc Sinn of AITal-

rIa iinboulllciiio of Totally IJItlcrent Kind Anttole Frances KnMBlug tltlle Episode at the HenaUsancr

If Mollcre could revisit the Rllintmes of

the CoinSdla Francalse would he lx shocked

or not at Ootnve Mlrlxans U1 Affaires

fiont les Affaires The pay is Htnrtllngly

realistic for a houso which lion so faithfullyconserved thoclatwle tradition of tho French

Ktago A fow iwwons itjo Mlrbenus Les-

MauvaU Borfiera created a mild seneatioit-

bccaueeof the doctrines it set forth Tolstoy

Ism Hwenlsru and hoveral other latterdayIsms ran rampant through the flvo acts

He has also written three of one Hot

each two of them comedies LKpldemio-

Vleux Manages Le Portofeullle Itis nQt necessary now to allude to this wri-

ters short etorlos Some of them powerfulhave an odor which is said to

all China Le Journal dunede Chambro has had a vogue being

in tho In the original edition Ithas I am sorry to Hay been translated

Le Jardin lee Sttppliees betrays an ex-

traordinary Imagination but a maleficent

one is read to better advantageIn Sebastian Roch and In plays

tLea Affaires Soot leu Affaires Business

Js Business is In the repertory of thefor good M Clfiretle has shown

considerable elasticity in of judg-

ment before this yet I ho ever

risked such a piece on tho venerable boards-

of tils official theatre It Is not alone Its

modern note but smashing of Idolsclerical aristocratic socialistic and com-

mercial wherein this comedy offendsSeldom a performance without hissingcheering in the lob-

bies The night I witnessed the piny tho

third act set rival parties hissing

each other After all our beloved Frenchcousins take the art of the theatre seriously

Is moro than a digestive diversion andlittle less than n religion

fobbeau is not the first dramatist to puta swindling man of before the foot-

lights Lo Sages is a merename today for most students of the dramayet it was considered a dangerouslyportrait a century ago And Balzacs

that play which he builtso many hopes gavo his contemporaries aterrible picture of a financier But in Bal

sioinoyels may bo found a regular gallery-of bankers with shady reputations queerstockbrokers usurers Thefigure of is an Imperishable oneOctave Feufflets areproduction of a Balzac character broughtdown to the times of the Second Empirewhile Zola In expanded hUepical gifts of description In imagining ascoundrel speculator Nor must Daudets

Nabob bo forgottenMlrbfcau naturally Is nearer to us for

the present than his predecessorshas gone to tha Bourse as did Zola andstudied hU men on the spot Some personshere hint that Isidore Lechat Is a fulllengthdrawing of the late Lebaudy father of MaxLebaudy known on the Boulevard as LePetit Seeder But others Insist that thetame Isidore has It racial significance-that Lechnt might have been Katzenstelnbefore the tamlly moved from Alsace No

matter Isidore Lechat Is today thevital figure on the stage and asDe is superb

And he might have stepped out of arao book for he is the very incarnation of

energy Twice arrested fortwice an inmate of prisons this

Napoleon of finance manages to escape thelaw by technicalities which moans In

as does elsewhere that justicehoodwinked

Leehat has repudiated his debts twiceho Is owner of a newspaper behindthe types of which he manages tomanipulate the stock market to float allsorts and conditions of shaky companies-to swindle at his glorious leisure Notthat he is a man of Joisure No dra-

matic character was over so active as isIsidore Ltchat A dynamic energy ex-

haustless terrifically noisy he stirs allabout him by his torrential flow of oonver-Mlion his ceaseless unrest He has thatmock air of hail fellow well met which de-

ceives the average man and woman and aniggard life he throws moneyaway in public to the blaring of brass bandsand proletarian shoutings

Ltchil Is never lovable though he interestn A bigger blackguard never trodshoe leather It is his supreme scamphoodwhich piques and startles the spectatorwho follows his fortunes with almost theregard bestowed upon a great tragic figureFor this Mirbeaus realistic art is the cause

a century ago when tho wellmadethe endall of French dramatists

wicha BJtce of real life Business Is Bustwptild havfi been publicly and criti-

cally hooted It is pitchforked on theftaRi thlawquldb the cry In realityus a pice of dramatic constructioncomedy is nbtailmirablo It runs to lengthsIn of pn ches It no begin-ning no end It might he taIled A Div in

of a Swindler just as Mirbeaucalled a nasty hook of his TwentyoneDays of n Neurasthenic

I have not explained the breadth andthe financiers politics He is awith leanings toward conserva-

tisrn that JB bo mints with the houndsend runs with the His mngnificent-claeAU ftdjojrei Impoverished es-

tate of Porcellet TIre Margvie alreadyowep frahci He has a sonLtchct has n daughter To see aristocracyand finance united is his own

pelted one of gaudy housea Mend of dukes a 10000

is a of the mostapproved and modish kind The daughtor Gcrmainc jcfint Is a study only seeand in intwpst tn her father After read-Ing the play and seeing it twice ncted Ithintr a stronger or rather a mornxultable actress than Mils Lara ther6lowould gain enormously This young ladyhas studied her scales assiduously afterthe ntethods of the Shehas distinction dignity and plenty of temrwr fenrlmt those attributes are canalwed in the classic Mylei and we miss thefreedom the touch of tho vulgar necessaryfor exact delineation of Germainc Lethai She l her fathers daughter In herImperious will and stubbornness in the faceof cttsarter and she has something of hermothers bourgeois love of comfort andhatred of display A course of socialisticreading and a study of womanshave stt her against her father Whenthese two wills collide in war

Of the fnolhcr to be saidexcept that tho skilled and sympatheticinvestiture of the part by Madamo BlancheIierson lends it a reasonableness andvitality Tho poor woman her brainfuddled by the constant boiling of the potin which ehe is immersed watches her hus-band in a scared furtive way She know

j

r

p

ii

aB theyemma

hit

mater

the

t

i

I

arali

t

I

I

d

fFf

He-

r

tS

t

mOt

1 F raudyf

Bal-

I volt nal

Franc t

I

I

l In private

Hal

p

It

l

I

hare

him J

th hisIs his

Iand

Ith

li the

IlII

3

thEre

i

a

4

p

100000th

I

I

I

political

f

Jtrue-

ro

I

I

r

t

f c1

sJ 4

It

i

I

cia

ness

N

has

the LdIe

depth ofa

I

dreamsun

I htId auto-mobile

J

Fran alse

l

t

At

rigs

1

41

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

> ¬

¬

¬

¬

lllt la a thief but feebly defends himwhen her daughter by hU elfIsljness and him

would be thebest of men w re It not for business but an

soon as he begins business I admit his con-

science takes leave of him A fair thoughnot sweeping enltaph for a mansheadstone

The first scene discovers the gardensof the CliAteau dn Vauperdu now LeehafMadame Ltchat sits wondering why O rmaine who is at hand can read ho manyhours without conversing These booksare the bane of tho old ladys life Theyhave rendered Gcrmame unapproachabletaciturn She seldom mingles In the gay-

eties of the chateau for the reason thatshe bitterly resents the troops of peopleher father brings home with him everynight people whoso names he has nevermemorized It Is all business and Ocrmains loathes tha word She hates thevain bustle and display of the establish-ment and with household affaIrs she willhave no commerce For all these short-

comings hor mother reproaches her reher also for tholack of respect

she evinces In the of her fatherAfter all he Is her father Germaine turnsaway in disgust

A young gardener comes In and we catchon unpleasant perspective of LcchaVs

a the man andhis family have been turned away withoutmoney without a future Oermaine interests u now for her heart overflowsat the misfortunes of the gardener It U

a pretty bit and It Is prettily played by

Lara and Ravel Its relevance to thestory is not very great

At last the hero comes a conqueringhorn who enters his halls to accom-

paniment of cheers the wily cheers ofhis socialistic constituents To them thegreat man throws money and sends thenaway As ho has two guests with himIt may be reasonably suspected that thislittle demonstration has been organlzocnt Ltchat headquarters Asby tho man Is a study In ex

has a nose the pre-

daceous of a bird he frames It In

side whiskers shaves tho chin a protrud-ing boldly modelled though not a prognathlo chin Short potbellied curlyhaired oye half closed but ever reetleesnnd brilliant Feraudy dresses In a cut-

away business suit a showy waistcoatflaring cravat anti spats He wears hishat on tho side and he continually fingersthe brim A type and an individualnt the same time He chatters madlythe outpourings of a headstrong selfwilled human of temperament sanguineApoplexy you foresee will bo his end but

time shall arrive the worldmust hoar much of Isidore Locket

Can a scoundrel be sympathetic Thatquestion is forever asked after it has beenanswered As Lethal fidgets about In-

troducing his friends whose names healways forgets boasting of his estatebullying his overseer a decayed noblemanwhich fact he mentions you feel a sort ofinverted admiration for the monster HeIs a reversion to the typical male savagewho goes forth every morning to slay andreaches home at evening spent but contentfor he has his booty with him What ho

carry he eats like the true canniis Leehat well named because

of his tricky feline traits is a bandit anassassin but ho goes to his home and familyevery night with the spoils of his daysvictories

What happens further in this sceneMore guests drop in and the motley crewenter the It may not be academicin structure but it exposes the peopleof the play satisfactorily One more factan Important one wo learn that Oermaineis In love has for a lover Lucien Oarrauda young chemist of genius employed onthe estate They go oft into the woodsas the curtain falls Little doubt that thefather has a surprise in store for him

In act II Oermaine has rather an affect-ing interview with her mother who begsher to go to church She refuses and thoIrritated woman almost cries as she de-

fines hor position No one loves heris never home oxeopt asking for money

from his Indulgnnt parent Her daughterIs immersed in her books Her husbandseldom notices her except with a pacifyinglittle pat on tho there tItersold woman you mean well but you dontknow all this wealth this show has itbrought happiness Germaine pets herbut wo see the rift in the family lute plainlyenough

The young lovers meet later and thereOermaine exposes her soul She ititecdnto run away If Lucien wIll go nil thebetter If not she will go alone Her sur-roundings are poisoning her She knowsher father for what he is recognizes thenailed brutal fist and vile heart concealedas It is to some by his perpetual bonhomie

She has heard from a widows lips how herfather swindled a partner in an enterpriseGabriel Dauphin Is his name who drivento the precipice commits suicide es thetasted way out of terrible misery Butho leaven a widow and children behind himIt is infamous this thief this assassin

father whoso blood circulates in herveins It is horrible to hear a daughtercurse a parent though it seems logicalenough at the time Pacified by herlovers prccii that an elopement is thoonly hope of happiness she consents toremain for a M1 longer

Tim twomen Phinc and Orugglc whoaccompanied Ltchat home the previousevening are a previous pair They arepresent for tha purpose of securing Lechatsinterest In a wildcat scheme Great scoun-drels they nevertheless underrate theirhosts acuity A threecornered game ofdesperate ttcamotagc begins Lechatswears that he always plays with the cardson the table His superior penetrationenables him to pierce the operation of hisguests They to pUt him downto figures he rings for port old port gen-

tlemen priceless port vintage of I

they badger him He smilinglythen his portrait painted by Bonnat

which he at a bargain for 35000francs the re-

treat with n promise toThe act closes lifter a visit to his fath r

from Xavier Ltchat This young hope-

ful roundshouldered aniemlc drawlingfatigued has automoblled front Ostendwhere ho lost a lot of money gamblingwith a Duke The proud parent signs acheck giving conventional advice andUnions with unfeigned delight to his sonstories of the aristocracy of n mysteriousmistress of Here we see-

the weak pot In th armor of a formidablebrigand

But It Is Act III that Is worth all tItlepreamble undramatlc loquacious andsometimes futile Tho last acts of manyfamous plays are failures The last act ofBusiness Is Business Is not only the bet

hut It is the only act that may be truthfullydramatic Despite the long parley

what and the JarguiIn which tho new and the old social

are cleverly contrasted despitenot because of It the scene

In intensity to a climax so nowPeel like standing up with all the excitedFrenchmen and crying Bravo Mirbeau

heoutrage

pleads

many

I

I

I

I

F rudybaked

cannot

ch teau

ot-

a

HI E-

nrage

cureconspirator

tallomeN

mount

Yojrfathershe

Her-

on

cite

4 i

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

>

I It U very simple In the analysis th

the marriage between his son and Lockedaughter Every objection has been over-

ruled Honor has been made to assumea fantastic appearance wealth U lauded

blood religion even the churchj by tho wily Isidore M a sort of

spiritual accomplice in mundane mattersI Determined to strike while the Iron Is hot

Leehat rings for his daughter antf wifeThoy arrive Formally and with the

i accents of a tortured man the Alarquiademands the hand of illle Lechat of herconfused mother Plaittl she mumbles

I The victorious father ls soon toppled fromhis pround eminence

I decline the honor declares tho girl

arising Why She is craZY Jfanutsunexpected honorl How decline

fochat draws nearer his fists clenchedhis big neck purple-

I have a lover Insists the now furiousgirl A horrible scene ensues The dis-

tracted man rushes from his wife to hisdaughter bullying cursing threateningbut to no avail The Marquis withdrawsIn his most frozen manner Canaille

the halfmad Locket after him Heto his daughter The mother

prevents physical violence The girl callsfor Lucien and on his appearance there Is

another explosion The manof business begins to realize that thereare certain combinations he cannot under-stand lie the man away swearsthat he his daughter andleaves the apartment This gives theplaywright a chance to set the womenweeping Mother and daughter part and-

I did not regret the departure ofAt base she Is selfish Inconsiderate forher place is with her wretched motherThis sounds quite antiIbsen I know butMlrbeaii is to blame Oermaine Levhatnever strikes an altogether sympatheticchord there is too much of her father inher makeup She is an exaggeration ofthe Ibsen girl

Lechat rushes fumingly in reproacheshis wife for tho education of the ungratefuldaughter and blackguard that heabuse upon the poor bewildered creatureShe turns on him though briefly It in

you your accursed wealth He shrugshis shoulders a deep breath andgrinds his be It if his household Is against him he will still fight onBut a trump card of sorrow upher sleeve and throws it on the table atthis juncture Lcchatt man of affairsrushes In announcing In terrified tonesthe death of Yorier who has been killedby an accident Thrown from his racingmachine he was smashed against aEven now they are bringing the body inThis is an awful stroke Locket reels tearsat his neck gasps for air and falls on acouch Apoplexy nearly claims him ashe is reviving enter the two vultures truefuneral buzxards hastening to a possiblefeast Phinck and Gruggle have seized theopportunity when the great man Is over-

come sorrow to force their scheme upon

himThen the animal grandeur of Lechatis seen at its top notch Calling the pairbrigands ho in a harsh voice commandsWrite All the financial details of the

transaction are to in the hands of Isidore-Lechat All all Not a move is to bo madewithout him the stupe-fied men do colossalwill power of Isidore fachat has overcomethem his cunning brain has outwittedtheir plans Again the word is broughtthat the remains of Yarier Lechat havereached hi house Sign Sign bellowsLechat They sign He rushes out of thoroom leaving them dejected annihilatedBusiness Is business

No need to dwell further upon De Fer-

raudys Interpretation It is the delightof Paris and rightfully so This actorshare with Grimier of the OMan the his-

trionic honors of the town His rapidityof soeech clearness of enunciation lithevigorous nervous movements and his per-

fect elfcontrol fit him for the role Oc-

tavo Mirbeau is lucky In possessing suchan able collaborator Leloir excels in thodelineation of musty aristocrats His oldMarquis is an elaborate portrait not adetail is missing He held in thefccne A faire Of particular interest werethe two speculators impersonated by

and Garry The former Is ns usualhurly the latter Is fine an a solicitor Hereally suggested glacial gulfs of villainyMirbeau knows Balrac thoroughly Thelover is Raphael Duflos comparativelya new acquisition the Heleaves one cold IH It not a commentaryon this piece that tho peoplein it are scoundrels and selfish the good arelull or mediocre Mlrbenus literary abilityis manifest in the brilliant polished re-

strained style He makes rapier thrustsnt church state and society and being aradical at all ho does not care whomhe wounds

Of a totally different genre is La Ra-

bouilleuse at tho Odeon Made over into-

a drama by M Fabre from the little knownnovel of Balzac too little known I amafraid the piece unless enacted bymight easily laps into melodrama All

the material is at hand especially as theadapter has altered tho finale of the novel-

to meet dramatic requirements It Is

effective enough this ending though itgives a violent Basics talemagnificent acting redeems somequarter hours Grimier as a Colonel anold Napoleonic campaigner is really re-

markable His picture in the Salon isalways surrounded by admirers Yourtrue Parisian dearly loves an actor

Balzao will recall at once thestory of Flare Brazier whowheedled her way into the household ofold in the little town of Issoudun She had been as a girl a raboull

i e a digger after crayfish Toribouillor In the parlance of Berry is

to agitate a stick in the muddywhere may ho found the edible

Flora is a good looking girland soon sat In tho parlor completely amistress of the situationto threaten departure and the feeble dotardfalls at her His sister accompanied by her younger sort Joseph

a painter comesto beg a largo amount of money Itsave tim honor of the name for her olderBOH Col Brideav has gambled nml pzzled and finally become a politicalconspirator Tho old man would haveloosened his purse strings If Flore had notInterfered The sister Roe away with anempty hand Flare has a lover Max Oilet-

In tho novel ho is an Important porHoiiiiRoa jolly mi cMef loving fellow In the playho serves as a buffer for Col Brideauand a peg upon which to hang n dtfnouoment

The first act is labored and full of talkBut from tho moment Brideau enters allchanges A bully rapiii cutpurse of thinEmpire rogue swaggerer ho Intimidatesall about him by sheer physical pluck HoIs a picturesque figure long tailed

shaped curling brimmed hat his heavyknobbed cane fierce mustachlos and rakeicIly gait He has acquainted himselfwith the situation in his uncles house anddetermines to worst Flora He U success

I

to oa

abe

j

I

I

I

yell

drive

IH heaps

take

b

b

Supplant care

of

point

twist to Alain

reader

P re

wate-rhole

c

dow ParA

his

4

Marquis pushed extremities assents

I

5

Lan-

ier

Fran ais

interesting

artists

cusp

ijdesktrted coffee colored coat bcli

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

tub H proyes her unfaithful Ha routsMax and whenever ffore speaks of re-

prisals he threatens a duel in which as aheknows Aax fall He would b nomatch for of fortune

With insolence and an effrontery breathcatching Brideau topsyturvies the house-

hold and makes the enamored uncle seethat ho has ben deceived Finally a duelis forced upon him by Max Then occursthe best episode of the play Having apresentiment that her beloved Mtt willbe slain Flore tries her seductions upon

tIe Colonel But he Is too seasoned Hoshows to her her folly and proposesan audacious scheme marry hIs uncleand after his easily anticipated deathmarry Col Brideau In Paris they canlive at ease on their illgotten wealthShe Is fascinated by the picture Nothingcomes of It Max is killed In the duel andlater the Colonel Is murdered by a faithfulold soldier a servitor of Max The climaxIs thrilling but more In the stylo of EugeneSue than Balzac

The acting alone saves this cumbersomedrama There are some good things tn

metIng of tho old soldiers at thehouse This demands Infallibleensomblo work and it was not missing attho performance

Is an actor of Imagination andhis diction is perfect The little more andwhat a difference The little less andCol Bridfau would have been a con-ventional lay figure of melodrama AsIt Is every ono In the cost Js happilydisposed Mmo Mdjard Is an intensePore and tho Koigct of Jnnvler worth asecond across tho Slene Dorlval was nsreal a liar as the dramatist gave him thochance while Mine Bonnet paintsthe small part of a domestic with all thefidelity of a Miens or an Ostndo How-ever tho chief Impression garnered Is

the picture of diabolic energy of Vautrinlike will exampled in the astonishing actingof Gentler

The announcement that the Renaissancewould close Its doors for the summer pentmany to that house for Anatolo Francesengaging little episode Cralnquebllle wasnightly played as an afterpiece to La-

Prlncesse revival of an antiqueDumasfllial comedy I wished to judge-If the praise given with generous hands-to the France tableaux was just and I alsodesired to see again that impossibly charm-ing young actress Mart he Brandos in hersurroundings for sIte U a recent secedefrom the Comedic Franchise household-

No need of introducing that spirituellewriter Anatole Tliihault known as AnatoleFrance America lies long appreciatedhis Thais his manycolored short storieshis delicate Irony Crainquebillo Is not-a play but a transcript from low life by atitan of singularly sensitive temperamentAlphonse Daudet was fond of the phrase

Russian pity in writing about Tolstoyor M France has thispity in abundance only It evokes

the manes of Charles Dickens ratherthan the MuKcovitish masters of fiction

Crainqtiebilte is one of those street venderspeculiar to Paris a wretchedlooking old

grizzled mustaches and weatherbeatei face who pushes his old slowlybefore ilm through steep aCid

Montmartre is often well named Cab-

bage carrots peas potatoes onions hesells and Is beloved In the Quarter for hiskindly ways As if to show the unexpectedtricks fate can play the old Oman whilewaiting for 14 cents owed by a womanto whom he has sold some vegetablesinto an altercation with a policeman Inter-

feres with traffic is arrested is unjustlyaccused and imprisoned When he returnsto lila beloved Montmartro after fifteen

absence ho finds thingswill have anything to do

he is insulted jeered at and finally starv-ing is forced to take refuge with a streetArab in an old building-

To achieve his portrait the dramatistresorts lo miniature painting With smallsly strokes ho shows Grain lucbillea goodheart Croinyttbilkf honesty Crsin ieblues faith in the gqodness of men Craiit-qucbillcs disillusionment his utter despairand eventual submission lo fates decreeAll this is simply accomplished LucienGtiitry is a gifted IlltisiotiUt He sug-gests more with n shoulder shrug than Homeactors do with a torrent of rhetoric HU-

Crcinyvtbille is hoarsethroated laconican dog whose eyes ant more slits filled

rheum of age whose movementsare creaky M an unoilcd door Buthe is full of humor ns tho court score showHumor sentiment neverare traits of this little transcript fromlife All the players were capital the effectproduced being one of lifelike candor andDickens was suggestive In every sceneparticularly in of the French

In comparison with this Invertebrate-yet norm real quivering life Ia-Princesse Georges seemed as old as Nonhsark It have been written before thflood tiresome thesis that womennnifit forglvo maritalthat second net with its mechanical weav-ing of events its fashionable dn mes who gos-sip In the mode Timenouement Is lugged In by tho hairand posi-tively the was unendurableafter first If it had not been for Mart heBrands You wonder M JulesClarotie ever allowed title delicious erratumto leave time protectingold theatre addition to beingadorably lovely lots temperamental of n

projects upon it as If it wero a disk Illuminedall the tenderness tragic

terror animal anti genuine passionDumas demanded when he wrote rolefor Desclee She was adequately sup-ported as tho

an asinine character Bertha CornyNoizeaux Nerny and the InvaluableSamary JAMES HrNEKEK

HIS PLATf Mil A

Suggestion a Mn Vtio l vc Luxuryns Well M Country

The news that a Is soon to bo builton the site of a historic home overlookingLong Island Sound has led some New York-ers to wonder whether thnt Is the hotelof which they have sometimes dreamedThe number that has discussod this subjecti largo enough to it te m thatHiccesn such on enterprise-

I haw thought for FOIIIO years ono

in his tho other that such n hoteln I In mind might to be a great min-ces I know a tomany persons like mo who frequently wantto out of town for a or two hut nrotoo selfish to stand the restraint of a pri-vate house

hotel most he within an hour ofYork raid in service food anti equip-

ment mutt he a ofbust establishment Tim It would bo asort of Tuxedo limit available to all whowere and could theand not only to the members It beopen all around no the ex-cuse for deficiencies in hotels out of town

that tho season Is so short could nothold Such a place would he equallyattractive in summer winterfurnish the only resort of the kind near NewYork or matter In the United States-a hotel in the country as as tho bestin town-

I believe theres a fortune in store fortIme man courageous enough to make tho

not to givehim tills tip for nothing but to supplywith the names of at leastpeople who would Profuse to visit him in

season he

lust

Itthe

Od onG rnler

a

Kky

kIlo v with

car

et8

Cay change

ole

th

must

Gultr

101FIrom

tit

Ilk

nien who werecub

he

da

Newthe

cOlin

goo

1

Georgea

hinge

sent

the chritn

t

S

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

°

ARTHUR XlKtSCU RUNS AFOVOF METRONOME

TIle Value of Tradition In

of Ileelhoveni Symphonic Impoilance of Kcblnrtltri Discredited Ttftl

Musical Sims In Score

Is musical criticism the most inexacscience in the world There bewho declare that such It is and who dsneer and snicker at tho proclamations o

the scribes These sneerers and snickare for tho most part not professor

more or less divine art When theprofessor desires to sneer he retires into i

darkened corner of his private abode anexercises much care that the man wittho power of writing notices doesdetect hlmn the act But after all tbcriticism of is of a truthand Mr Gilbert remarksIn Tho Gondoliers Bless you it aldepends-

If critics know their business and some-times do they will seldom fall inUdisagreement OH to the merits and demerit

It is in matterof interpretation that they are to

perhaps thisis but another way of al1-

mubio Is Tho word subjectivehas a pretty metaphysicalmakes an essay assume u learned lookbut It Is not formidable

Is all musld subjective Does Its inter-pretation on conception of thoperformer Or should certain

facts about each compositionto which performerrespect When are

impossible to avoid a singleanswer a piece ofcannot bo to whims ofall its assailants To be sure thru IK theominent example of Shakespeare s Han

Mr whatcnn be done with that drama Which re-calls the practical observation of John

tragedian He saidHamlet is the one any good

actor can make a he will just letMetaphysics alone and attend to stage

There Is a substratum of sound common-sense in this and tho principlewell be by when a

to experimenting with acomposition his first with

Oh those tempicritical remrirkH about seem to puzzletime art Tempo dearren cabalistic It Is just-a Italian word meaning timewhen applied to a it signifiesthe rate through a movement

of proper rate Isof the gravest Importance person

at once himselffamiliar pathetic air and or It

as fast as you have habitually heardll and you will at ones itsentire nature U chin od Converselyperform a lively piece much too slowly

or solemnNow of all compositions In the world

Beethovens ought tobo well known fl ought bythis time to lw establishedno two conductors to aboutit Theodore Thoma certainly did notdirect as did andneither of them as Walter

reading diTerad wholly fromof and

treated tin work as Arthur Mkisch did notwhile Anton Seidl altor plating themovement ns If it weroDanube waltz took the ncberzo so fast

tho tiara players could not play thetrio

Mr NikLsch not long ago conducted tho-Eroioa in Berlin where is the director

of the Philharmonic concsrtP and some ofthe upon tempi tooth and nailThero waunl most us a disturbance-of the restlunic atmosphere OH there was inthis town when be hi conception-of the work atthe admired medium of tIlt Bostonphony Orohestia in tine halcyon days ofnever when

respectable prsone of oomfortablawero disturbed

Mr Nikisch failed to bow to tra-dition Men of excellent information andconservative judgment declared that hehad no right to The Eroicahad always en In a certain wayrind it was eciiitrlc yea evencoOs to play it in other way

old way right way of coursebecause va old vine the inwhich Beethoven himself would have liked-to her his symphony conducted Not hose who havewith MMvllssohn had thy beenat tin eiTOrmanct ofcymphony about wliisli Kchard Wagnercimts so in hi admirable

On Conduct Ho iyNow tIn late of

Dresden rmco conducted this symphonythere nnd I happened to lie at

with MendelssohnWe talked about the dilemma de-

scribed time of making certainpassages intelligible when at thecustomary tempo its solution

I told MendelssohnI believed I hail convincedtad promised thnt he would take the tempo

Mendelssohn perfectlyagreed with me We listened

and I was terrified ohhearing precisely old lAidler tempobut before vent to my annoy-ance Mendelssohn smiled andnodded his head if lo say Now Its all

Bravo So terror changed toastonishment Reitwi or for reasonsI shall discuss presently may not have lynold but indifferencewith regard to this artistic oontre

doubts my mind whetherho saw distinction difference inthe case at 1 standing

of superficialityOf course tine root of difference of

between arid Mendelssohnwns n difference as to Beethovens designsA similar disagreement gave rise tor theconfusion ofreading of tho ErnlcS Every livingsoul the warring assentto time proposition that whichviolated of Beethoven was In-

defensible The question to be decidedin these davis Is were the wishes ofBeethoven

There c n bo no dispute that the funda-mental element in n proper interpretationis a correct temod of Beethovens symphonies are established toolargely by It Is true that metron-ome are to be found on score

that Beethoven placed nil of them therel een disputed an author to whom

entirely too credence is ThUis Schindler whose biographical

sketch of the composer mivThe Life of edited Ignace

Moschelos timid published in this countryl Ditflons

After quoting MathesonVt dictum that amovement must be taken a noireslowly by a large ohnru or orchestra thah

a one Schindler that thisfact Is too frequently forgotten by con-ductors nt expanse of intelligibility

I have hid frequent tothis neslect sats occasioned by

performance ofn cises tho effectvcns works anti

WHK of course n offspring of the causennd exhibited a of tineHolrlt of the To performBeethovens compositions withoutto meaning is hunting toloath the of thn

rit appears according to tide au-

thority heardof his own works In which the

were taken In spite of timeadmitted correctness of the metronomenarks In ono case ths master seriouslythought of altering title metro

was too fastHi admitted Schlndlor that the con-ductor had obeyed the metronome signbut that ho not intended that his sym-phonies should be uch

Schindler further deposes and

A RAOIOFJ

TiE

men Abut

err

Dot

bled

let

pat

notee

dabbler

cThe

tan rate

sad

r

ii

Emi Pam

frtthat

tIPI 1IMnl

I

doubtpreen

I

thaIIwl

t

much to for pfi t In In time

any antnil

I fort

lrwo

hut

b

Cite

reA

I co-mp ow

r

ronl

nomo mark the of

ft

d h

TEERICA

tie Tnt erpretatt

S

the

both exa

mus

an

Iannroseh does

Sot

Itt tits thewas

Is

thiflieuit

time

a

tO very

queer

lie

the

trItetotal

ormances

itsof allegretto the seventh

¬

¬

¬

¬

>

>

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

<

She PIANOLAi-ts Importance in

Summer Home

is the one atwhich can be

upon neverto growmonotonous

Of all themusic probably the most popu-lar is

It is therefore natural thatin the four and onehalf yearsof its existence the Pianolashould have sprung into a pop-ularity no

countries of the worldFurnishirg a ready means for If I

any one even those devoid of IIany musical knowledgethe piano

that instrument to assume a newposition in its relation to homelife

From its place simply as afurnishing necessity pianowith the aid hascome one of the mostobjects in thesource of infinite enjoyment

Especially is true thecountry where the household is largely dependent on itsown resources for amusement

and where without somefascinating pastime every

heavy and moves slowly

There are 9707 different selections prepared for the Pianoland these are available to every owner an instrument

Therefore whether for a dance accompaniment for aor instrumental selection this vast library furnishes music suitablefor the occasion

The Metrostyle is a new invention for controlling expressionIn to ones every one should see the Metrostylewhether interested or

PltnoU 250 n noJ with M tro MIXPurcbiiibU b monthly plymtnU tf deilrttf

Aeolian Company aSrSTirtlkFREDERICK LOCSER CO Brooklyn

1 CO

1 n

I

MUSIC l i

people but universal with bothand the I

I

to play

the Pianola has

important

J

JJ

i1

I

I

self f

Thee k

4

t

6

11

laymen in all

feeling caused

t

I

I

I I

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

>

HIs own ob ttons cou ledrwithaccounts received from various

the ineffective performance ofthe symphonies in consequence

Beetho-ven in time winter of 182528 to inventcause of the errors This he inpresence and ho ascertained themetronome signs in tho printed scoreswore faulty theand be declared that of thesemetronomic were not authorized

him I may mentionsymphonies from to No6 inclusivewere before the invention ofMaclzcls metronome and it Is to theseventh nod ninth symphonies that themetronomic signs can cer-tainty be sam to have been given byBeethoven Whether or not metronomed the eighth symphony thowhich waspositively determine

scorn ofI cannot

It was a rather curious fact that Schindler who was o intimately acquainted withBeethovens to metronomic of his symphonies did notknow whether he hadthe little eighth His trustworthinesshiss been called In question in recentIn fact time great biographer of BeethovenAlexander that themaster did metronome his ownand Clint he knew what he wished Thayersknowledge Is altogether indisputablefor queer heshould have been ignorant of edit Ionof the symphony a small quartolithographed by

of Vienna ns a companion tosymphony The edition to by

the second published byHaslineer of Vienna in 1827

Considering the fact them the Steinerof seventh gave the composer

much trouble because of errorsaltogether unlikely that he would have

over it as he did and neglected the little one Asa matter of fact

prints a letter from Beethevento the In it he

The of this symphony the sev-enth to me since it is

unfortunately the case that neither thenor scorn is correct In the

which are already prepared the mistakesmust he corrected ink which

his do and a listof all without exception mustalso be andas engraved have beenthe most it is an inaccuratedefective affair such as has never appearedof any of my workp This Is

of your inattention to the correc-tions and riot sent It to TOO

for my revision or not having remindedme about It You have treated thepublic with neglect and tIne innocent authorsuffers In reputation

Beethoven his symphonya we well know limit It

Improbable that its score so Incor-rect would have corrected it andno attention to the eightb for which hohad also a certain amount of affectionThe truth undoubtedly is thai tooconductors la tIme metronomemarks and lint Incorrect tempi are heard

too ronnvy audiencesVet a adherence to

signs seems not to have been the desire ofBeethoven The signs are given In orderto indicate time general of movementamid it would be t flrfd faultwith a conductor who went a few beats outof his way to secure a beautiful andeffect not out of keeping with the characterof a movem nt

TIters Is no question that Mrperformed the scherzo faster anti the secondpart last movement more

local audiences used to be accustomedto hear thorn In the consulate ThomasThe scherzo is marked andwithout doubt some conductors take It allttlo In order to

was highly Interesting or It had a stirwas disclosed here In

Chickening Hall agoandante the last movement

thIs conductor certainly played moreslowly than says to b

thedie

b her that the

d

onl

those of

hth

materI a nno

mistakEsore

might

vo

only

the seventh

conse-quence

S C S

met ronomic

rat

prepare fortime troublesome passage trioIt is certaimi that Mr

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

¬

>

played but tradition is after allin matters musical The

was its results Neverbefore did 1U eloquence seem so over-whelming its breadth BO

Two from little bookon conducting are singularly applicable to

matter The conductorbe is comprised In abilityalways to indicate tempo

tempo will show whether understands piece or not With the good

correct phrasing and expression

Induce the of trie true ten pAgain he I remember my young

to have heard olderremarks about the Eroica

Dionys Weber at Prague simply treatedas a nonentity man was IB-

hia way to recognize nothingbuttempo peculiar to that allegro he taught

the Rrbica Time result was such that onecould not agreeing with him

These latter a bearing-on the shading ofthe readingcussion to nuancewhich were introduced it would be difficultfor any one to sustain objections to themon ground of mosteffective argument against a general adoption of accelerandi and unfamiliar accentuations i

the serenity of the classicatmosphere which U to surround

worksBut it Is somewhat of an anomaly hold

that the tremendousof these symphonies must be McrifloHto of style i

to be sure has formulaed a proposition but it is offered anyono who combats the employment of romantle methodswhich seem lo clamor for them It wouldha absurd for any one to assort that Beethovan this deeply dranntiothird symphony lo

classic profile of the M

Mr Niklsclfs discovery of the expres ivnof passages

by him was a credit to j l

We have no satisfactory record fBeethovens desires tp these ma-tter The best evidence in favor of the n wdepartures U the splendor of their nrxlau-

vtwn i TVMUI C munion the admirable Hector Berlinsthat whatever agood as that whatever a had one

bad and that the authority of a Hundredold men even if were a hundredand twenty years of nee cannot innvc

beautiful riotthat which U ugly

It was a long time ammo that Mr Nil ohconducted Krolivi nt ChlckerluK Hall

be that he has altered his i Z

since then butt comments on hU reontwecm to show that he has not

has conducted thn symphony many tIm inGermany and no one so loudly

a II the across the Atlanttotill this time Doubtless hs will conduct

work tunes more and In the endthe critics will come to regard his nstrue tempi

Possibly In the course of v illnil over the Continent and then

busy old tradition will proceed to esoordown thin vale of yours as the rii

will be and nrar H mland countless generations of music criticyet unborn dig up the wise words of

In support of the comfortingthat did not rnetrom

the symphony and that thereforeto a to take It at any tempo titsuits hint But will some diff-iculty In convincing thinking that

a to itnt tempi thatsuit it

Mr Nikisch modifications were by nomeans radical they were enough tomake a noticeable But other con

I upon him In going faster Certainly thenlamented Seldl did But

Mr Bedlls metier WM certainly not Beel-hoven

I

broadening of the niorement of the poco

his

players the trueand con

vetselyphrasing and expression wtU

at play

thatthtv disturb

iLqV

one

andaileiro

other miii backdictum of

good

1

Ittim

lie

time

is open

do not

doctors will strive to

¬

¬

¬

¬

>

¬

¬