'MUSIC
THE COMING SP.ASON OF OPERA
Tim London Opera Syndicate have prepared a varied palette, ranging from Wagner and Strauss to Giordano, a quasi- modem Italian composer whose works have been little (if at all) heard in this country. His Andrea Chenier and Fedora arc both to be given during the Italian season of the second month, and the latter work will be graced by the presence (in the name part, I presume) of the famous soprano, Marie Jeritza, whose commanding appearance and tones will astonish Covent Garden audiences for the first time. It is a pity that this great singer and actress will not appear in some German work more worthy of her powers, but we cannot have every- thing, and those singers who delighted us last year in Der .Rosenkavalier, in Tristan, and in Die Walkiire, are to appear again in the same works.
New additions to the repertoire are Lohengrin, Tannhduser, Die Meistersinger, Der Fliegender Hollander, Donizetti's quaint Lucia di Lammermoor, and Strauss's Elektra. The latter opera was last heard in London (I believe) in 1910, and its revival this year is bound to cause much interest. Opinion will probably be divided among those who will condemn it as hopelessly " dated" and those who will recognize it as one of its composer's finest works ; for in this opera Strauss's genius for musical psychology is shown to its fullest extent.
It is very much to be hoped that the superb performance of Tristan, with Frida Leider as Isolde and the orchestra under the direction of Bruno Walter, will be repeated more than once. It was an experience that all musicians must remember for many a year. Everyone will be glad to hear Die Meistersinger performed by a German company, as also Der Fliegender Hollander, a work which has been unjustly neglected in England of late years.
It is known that every effort was made on the part of the syndicate to secure a suitable cast for the production of Mozart's Don Giovanni, and that those efforts were unsuccessful. It is to be hoped that the public will show its desire for the continuance and improvement of these International Seasons by a large attendance this year. Their zeal may make the performance of Don Giovanni possible next year, should suffi- cient money be returned to enable the syndicate to extend
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