singer draws bigger
audiences in America than the work to be performed. American people go
to hear some particular singer and not to hear the work of the composer.
In other countries this is not so invariably the rule. It is a condition
that may be overcome in time in America. It often happens that
remarkably good performances are missed by the public who are only drawn
to the opera house when some great operatic celebrity sings.

The intrinsic beauties of the opera itself should have much to do with
controlling its presentation. In all cases at present the Italian opera
seems in preponderance, but this cannot be said to be a result of the
engagement of casts composed exclusively of Italian singers. In our
American opera houses many singers of many different nationalities are
engaged in singing in Italian opera. Personally, I am opposed to operas
being sung in any tongue but that in which the opera was originally
written. If I am not mistaken, the Covent Garden Opera House and the
Metropolitan Opera House are the only two opera houses in the world
where this system is followed. No one can realize what I mean until he
has heard a Wagner opera presented in French, a tongue that seems
absolutely unfitted for the music of Wagner.

THE POSSIBLE INFLUENCE OF STRAUSS AND DEBUSSY

I do not feel that either Strauss or Debussy will have an influence upon
the music of the coming Italian composers similar to that which the
music of Wagner had upon Verdi and his followers. Personally, I admire
them very much, but they seem unvocal, and Italy is nothing if not
vocal. To me _Pelleas and Melisande_ would be quite as interesting if it
were acted in pantomime with the orchestral accompaniment. The voice
parts, to my way of thinking, could almost be dispensed with. The piece
is a beautiful dream, and the story so evident that it could almost be
played as an "opera without words." But vocal it certainly is not, and
the opportunities of the singer are decidedly limited. Strauss, also,
does not even treat the voice with the scant consideration bestowed upon
it in some of the extreme passages of the Wagner operas. Occasionally
the singer has an opportunity, but it cannot be denied that to the actor
and the orchestra falls the lion's share of the work.

OPERATIC CENTERS IN ITALY

Americans seem to think that the only really great operatic center of
Italy is Milan. This is doubtless due to the celebrity of the famous
opera house, La S