"Ha! Do you talk of Sons and Wars? All that I had have given their Lives. I had a Lover, and he was called away to the Wars. I waited and waited, but he never came back. I said I would hurl myself off the Rocks into the Sea, but I went on living after all. Ah, I married Another. There was no War, and I married, and we had Little Ones. Then there was a War, and he left me. I never saw him again. He was mowed down with a Thousand. My Sons grew up and went likewise. Their Manhood was attained just when their Country called them out. All went, but None returned. I had one Daughter, who grew to loveliest Womanhood. There was a Lull. Peace held our Land in its gentle Embrace. Life smiled, and they were wedded. But on the Morrow a new Storm of War came down on us. He went, and will never return. My Daughter is dying, and there are Babies left to me. Do you wonder I rock and T moan in the Street? Wherewith shall they be fed? How can I nurture them to Manhood so that they, in their turn, may be called forth?" I said: "And yet you do not weep like the others." And she replied: "Why should I weep? For the Tears are spent in vain. They talk of Heroes and they march away. War claims them, and it is the End. Life begets Life, yet wherefore?" "Nay," I replied, "I know not." "Behold me here," she simply answered. I turned to go away, but paused, asking: "Why do you not hurl yourself from the Rocks into the boiling Surf? Why do you endure so much Misery, and seek no Panacea ?" "There Her cracked old Voice came faintly THE WOMEN'S COMMITTEE OF ONE HUNDRED are very title. You have but to mention. it to any man, woman, or child old enough to reason, to have their hearty support. Secretary Woman's Committee, World's Court League, Inc. HE officers of The World's Court League, Inc., which is composed of the greatest and best men of our nation, deemed it advisable to have the women associated with them for the An official invitation was extended moral support they could render. On for the League by John Hays HamApril 13th Miss Mabel Boardman, mond, the president, to the various Mrs. John Hays Hammond, Mrs. Wil- women's clubs and organizations of liam Howard Taft, Mrs. Thomas J. Greater New York to participate in Preston (formerly Mrs. Grover Cleve- the preparation for the forthcoming land), Mrs. Lindley M. Garrison, Mrs. Congress at Carnegie Hall on May 2, James Speyer, Mrs. Henry Clews, Mrs. 3, and 4. It is hoped that every Alice Fischer Harcourt, and others, woman's club, every woman's society were invited to organize the Woman's of every church and organization in Committee of One Hundred. In Greater New York will send delegates, twenty-four hours acceptances were re- that we may heartily coöperate with. ceived from all of these women. the men in bringing about the only soCommittee of One Hundred is now be- lution to the problem of how to preing formed. Letters are being pre- vent future wars. pared, and will be sent to the women who will comprise this committee. A World Court to settle international disputes carries conviction in the As secretary of the Woman's Committee I shall be happy to acquaint any one who wishes to know more of this great work. Music and Musicians MARIA BARRIENTOS AND OTHER WORTHY ARTISTS APPEAR IN A CONCERT WHOSE PROCEEDS LAUNCH THE ITALIAN THEATRE FUND M R. EDWARD PERRIS, of Rome, is inspired with the determination to establish in New York a permanent Italian Theatre, where plays may be presented by the highest talent available, in the native tongue of Goldoni, of Giacometti, of Lopez, and D'Annunzio. A fund is, of course, essential, and the ball was set rolling one blustery night near the close of March at the Waldorf when a concert was presented, the proceeds of which constituted the fund's beginning. A number of interesting artists appeared. The program, which was very generous, brought each participant on twice, irrespect ive of encores. coloratura, María Barrientos, new to America, but well known and very popular abroad. This charming lady, who has appeared upon a number of occasions during the season at the Metropolitan, sang the Aira delle Campanelle from Delibes' "Lakme," and Gounod's Mirella "Walt MARIA BARRIENTOS The warmest enthusiasm was zer." Her voice was displayed to good advantage in the comparatively small auditoriumsmall, at least. if compared with the Metropolitan spaces. She was recalled again and again, especially after her second number, in which she had delighted her hearers with one most utterly and ravishingly thrilling high note, sustained and shaded to the point of a aroused by the work of the Spanish rich and vibrant perfection. The interesting though ridiculously was conducted by Joseph Knecht, Vispoiled young pianiste, Miss Paquita tale, C. P. Peroni, and C. SodernoMadriguera, played a Waltz by Cho- who alternated, exchanging baton and pin and "La Campanelle" by Paga- thus adding diversity to a program nini-Liszt. She is extremely talented, which should be set down as very possesses a powerful touch and well- pleasantly diverse all through. developed technique, and will no doubt be one of the established artists of tomorrow. It is, however, urgently to be hoped that she will lose some of her egregious assurance. Mr. Wassily Besekirsky contributed violin numbers; Mr. Giovanni Martino sang, as did also Mr. Luca Botta, Mme. Gina Ciaparelli-Viafora, and Mme. Luisa Villani. A large orchestra The dancers, Miss Rosina Galli and Mr. Giuseppe Bonfiglio, appeared in a series of dances. A fifth director, Alessandro Scuri, conducted the orchestra. NOTE An interview with Mr. Perris, outlining the plan of establishing an Italian Theatre in America, has been secured and will appear in the June number of the WORLD COURT. REVIEWS OF LATE SPRING MUSIC BY EDWARD ZIMMER, JR. KREISLER AND CASALS of color from the palettes of the two Richards, was the clear, classical out Tchestra, in its second special lines of the Brahms concerto. The concert at Carnegie Hall, presented a very interesting programme. It was divided into two parts, the first consisting of the Bacchanale from Tannhäuser (Paris version), and Richard Strauss' tone poem, Death and Transfiguration; the second of Brahms' double concerto for violin and violoncello. Kreisler and Casals were the soloists in the latter. The work of the orchestra was on the whole, excellent. The bacchanale was acceptably played but not any better than it should be. Much more distinction, however, was achieved in the tone poem, Death and Transfiguration, which was a real triumph for Damrosch and his men. It is not an easy work, by any means, and the clarity and perfect balance of the ensemble were very commendable. In admirable contrast to the maze noteworthy feature in the latter was, of course, the marvelous coöperation of the two soloists, Kreisler and Casals; Kreisler with his vigor and cleancut delineation, Casals with his. eloquent bowing and mellow tone. The styles of the two artists are strongly differentiated, yet seldom has such an admirable result been achieved. Tribute should also be accorded to Damrosch for the way in which his orchestra accompanied. Altogether, it was a most enjoyable afternoon. that this artist played Beethoven's "Emperor" concerto. It is a work drawn in a bold, vigorous spirit, and while it is not one of Beethoven's most emotional compositions, it is by no means devoid of a certain rugged, mas WALTER DAMROSCH culine sentiment. And certainly Hofmann's worst enemy would never accuse him of sentimentality; hence in a work of this character, Hofmann is at his best and his thoughtful and intelligent rendering of it was an unmixed delight. is not always so successful. This was evident in Chopin's Nocturne in F sharp major, which demands a wealth of soul and subjectivity. Into this nocturne, Chopin poured all the poetic coloring and delicate tracery that he alone was capable of, and it must be confessed, Hofmann's interpretation of it left one rather cold. In Beethoven's "Fury Over a Penny" and the Schubert-Liszt "Der Erlkönig," he displayed his powers to a better advantage. The furious brilliancy of the one and the grandiloquent tragedy of the other are more congenial to his style of playing. There was only one number for orchestra alone, Tschaikowski's 5th Symphony. Damrosch's reading of it was stirring and brilliant. Tschaikowski's orchestration while modern, is extremely clean-cut in comparison to the broad, massive impressionism of Wagner and Strauss. Clarity, perfection of detail, and the most minute gradation of shading is essential or else the work of the orchestra becomes a blur. Damrosch's efforts in this direction resulted in engraving-like clarity and a delicate shading which could hardly fail to satisfy the most critical. OPERA SEASON CLOSES WITH I SIEGFRIED T seems rather strange perhaps that the Metropolitan Opera House un der an Italian manager, should close its season with a German opera, but evidently Gatti-Casazza is strictly neutral in all things operatic. Certainly no one was displeased with his choice-in fact, it is a great pity that Siegfried is not given more often. The cast was as follows: Siegfried, Urlus; Mime, Reiss; the Wanderer, Braun; Alberich, Goritz; Fafner, Ruysdael; the voice of the bird, Sparkes; and Brunhilde, Gadski; Erda, Homer. It is useless to comment upon Reiss' In compositions of another kind, he Mime which is always inimitable and upon Goritz as Alberich. The latter is always a rugged and sinister figure. Braun showed throughout that although Wotan was disguised as the Wanderer, he was always the kingly Wotan, commanding and majestic. A surprising feature of the performance was Fafner's singing-in fact he sang remarkably well for a dragon. We have heard Gadski in much better voice and while her acting was acceptable, she gave out entirely on several of the high notes. Siegfried is perhaps Urlus' best role and he gave the part that boyish and fearless spirit that it demands. He could, He could, however, have shown more animation in his battle with Fafner and possibly if the latter had not been rather more sluggish than usual, he might have swallowed up our hero and the opera would have come to a sudden close. Urlus was in splendid voice and the same may be said of Louise Homer whose delineation of Erda had all the majesty that the role demands. Bodanskyi's stirring reading of the score, coupled with the excellent precision of the orchestra under his baton, did much to make the perform ance a brilliant conclusion of a very successful season. "ALL WAGNER" PROGRAMME BY THE PHILHARMONIC T HE Philharmonic Society gave their "all Wagner" programme on the evening of March 23rd. To be sure, this was not the only "all Wagner" programme of the seasonin fact the thing has become quite a habit-but it was an extremely interesting selection and the perfect Wagnerite will have no fault to find with the following:-the overture to the "Flying Dutchman," the introduction to Acts I and III of "Lohengrin," the entrance of the gods into Valhalla; the Siegfried Idyll, the prelude and Liebestod of "Tristan und Isolde," the Good Friday Spell from "Parsifal," the Bacchanale from "Tannhäuser," the Waldweben from "Siegfried," and the prelude to "Die Meistersinger." Certainly no program could be more complete, and Stransky and his men simply reveled in it. I THE TOLLEFSEN TRIO Na season gorged with concertos, symphonies, opera, and orchestral works of all descriptions, it is delightful to experience, for a change, the more modest joys of chamber music. And the Tollefsen Trio proved just such a delight on Sunday afternoon, March 26th, at the Harris Theatre. No one could say that their programme was not strictly neutral, for it consisted of a trio by the American, Rubin Goldmark, the sonata in F major for violin and piano by the Austrian, Haydn, and finally a trio by the Bohemian, Smetana. The Goldmark trio while not a remarkable work is a most acceptable composition, and the charming humor and naïveté of the Haydn sonata afforded an agreeable contrast. The programme ended with the more vigorous and pretentious trio of Smetana. While the playing of the Tollefsen Trio was sometimes uneven in rapid passages, their work in the slower and more sustained passages was extremely lovely. Special praise must be accorded to Mrs. Tollefsen, whose work at the piano was admirable. On the whole, the rendering of the programme was intelligent and earnest, and the fact that only one performance in New York was given is to be regretted. The last of Julia Culp's New York recitals featured Hugo Wolf, according to his compositions a prominent place in a program which proved entirely and unforgettably delightful. Julia Culp's popularity appears to be quite assured and secure. |