ALS 1K KAN: NOTES: REV1EWS


NOTES
WHAT is known as the interpre-
         tation or impersonation of an
         operatic role is, as we all know,
a development of modern opera. The
Pattis and Jenny Linds of Donizetti,
Bellini and early Verdi days were not
concerned with such questions, neither
are the Lucias, Lucretias and Gildas of
those operas characters susceptible of any
logical interpretation. The most that the
singer with dramatic training can bring
to bear upon such intermittent personal-
ities is the delicate perfumed suggestion
of an emotion.   The Wagnerian roles,
however, and those of some later operas
constructed according to Wagner's ideals,
have a more or less consistent characteri-
zation. Yet, even in the greatest of these
roles, Briinhilde and Isolde, there have
been few examples of the interpretation
that creates illusion, for the simple rea-
son that the possession of a voice is not
necessarily accompanied by a dramatic
sense.
  The opera-going public here has still
but a limited understanding of operatic
interpretation in its entirety, involving as
it does the drama of music and of action.
Singers like Melba, Sembrich and Caruso
have many appreciators. Admirers of the
acting of Bressler-Gianoli, Calv6 and
Lina Cavalieri-unconscious of the vocal
shortcomings of these ladies-are many,
but adequate appreciation of the inter-
pretive -possibilities of Briinhilde and
Isolde is confined to a comparatively
small class. A proof of this lies in the
fact that admirers of Mme. Nordica will
seriously discuss her Wagnerian "inter-


pretations." Mme. Nordica is a respect-
ed artist. It is pleasant to have had an
American achieve success in the great
Wagnerian roles, but in this singer's phil-
osophy a stamp of the foot, an upward
gesture of the arm, a twirl of the train
and a vigorous declamatory style of sing-
ing are the requisites of interpretation.
  It is probable that the first really great
dramatic interpreter of these roles was
Milka Ternina. Yet the drama of opera
is principally conveyed through the ve-
hicle of musical expression and is, there-
fore, like all other arts, dependent upon
its specific technique; and in the purely
musical phase of her art Mme. Ternina
was somewhat defective, so that her per-
formances, in spite of their fine dramatic
quality, were vocally uneven and unde-
pendable.   Lili Lehman, on the other
hand, with her beautiful voice and vocal
art, her majestic presence and serious
sense of the significance of her roles, was
conventional on the histrionic side of her
interpretation.
  Mine. Johanna Gadski, the most recent
of the Isoldes, has revealed in her first
performances an interpretation of great
beauty and truth. And as she learned
the part in four weeks with most insuf-
ficient rehearsal, it is a truly remarkable
achievement.
  Mme. Gadski brings to her task a voice
of great range and tonal warmth, a beau-
tiful vocal art and, through that art and
a naturally sympathetic personality, un-
usual power of emotional expression. It
is a voice that might be said to run the
gamut of color from the pale cool blues
and greens of her piano head tones to the
warm red and violet of the lowest tones.
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