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About The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 4, 1899)
THE COURIER. Grand Opera, Lincoln baa a reputation that Button h is spent a century listening to cIubsIc mi isic for tho Eako of acquiring. Lie coin Iiiib tho reputation of being niueical, hut when Mrr.e. Fannie Bloomfl-ld Zeis It r, Horr Rosenthal or Signora Currclio appear hero they play to tho fow real musicians and empty opera chairs which, at least, are not bo noisy as though the., were occupied by thoso who wish to be considered musical. Boston pretended to have sult'.vutcd a uiiipical taato a long time beforo she uc tually developed one. Thero are per haps a hundred or more real musicians in Lincoln. The others cannot conceal their delight in "There'll Be a Hot 'i iuio," and "Z zzy Zo Zum Zum." They will spend money to boar Frank Daniels, Francis Wilson and DeVVolf Hopper and they .fancy they are cultivating their musical taste, when it is only tho Amer ican tasto for buffoonery and parody - thoy are satisfying. The organizition ol' the Matinee Musicalo and its largo membership and the operation of two b hools of muelc in the city have doubt less contributed to the establishment of this reputatiou, on account of which great musicians stop off at Lincoln. There are fervid, talented musiciafcB in the Matinee Musicalo Club who are il( voted to niuiiu for itself and not for l lio name and lock of it. And there aro talented tfiichersof music in the Bihools. Tboir fervor, devotion and talont havo really ghen Lincoln a repu. tation which it does not actually de etrvo. These devotees of music have i ever claimed tho credit that Lincoln weaiBwith so much romplaccncy, but thoy UoEcrvo it. This week tho Lambardi Opera Com pany preeoLted "Carmen" and "Rigo lutto" to only moderate audiences. Sig iora Estafuni Collamarini hov liquid tho syllables has a mezzo-soprano of great power and pur.ty. She is a gifted ui'tress. In the days of Calve and Neth "7i'rsoloan actress who can present an oiigmaland entirely satisfactory "Car men" has no mean endowment, and Col lamarini does it. The other members of tho company have fine voices. The diorue is very ugly, but possesses good oi es and thai line Baop- of artistic effect w ith which romance people are eidjwed. Iho tenor, who was Jose in (. armon" and the Djko in "Rlgolotto," was given different names in each play "' the publisher of the program, so it iB il Moult to identify him more exactly, but as a singer and an actor he is ad mirable an adjective which only faintly exproEBes his performance Hignor Bugaraelli,asRigoletto,did bis vjico fail him-which Fortune forbid '"iht still continue on the stage, bo ki'on and truoare his dramatic instiuuts. S'tfnorina Soategni has a pure and ht'ong, if somewhat colorless, voice. 'o has the ingenue restlessness of 'inns and lmndB-continually and alter "itoly thrusting them toward ihe'andi ""e or pressing Lhoia upon her heart in J iiitclligiblo pantomime. She also "utors tho audionco by a recognition ot j -diViduals, which ip, of course, trying i tho rest of it. ''ho company in un excellent one. 'v-'ii tho press notices distributed by 11 1' advance agent do not exaggerate Kb '' "U From the loust importaut mem- 1 'r tho chorus to tho Btare, oach oue ' inspired by u muaical ideHl which ' render with Bpirit, harmony and '; ;uito finish. The loador or con ' l"r of tiio oroheBtra is a musician of 'h) una poBaoHBts in u high degree """ ,ol'co or tno oomnanv. Ilia w"ooooowfr)mmoMuj :the passing show: i WILLASATHFU w6mmmttt(()otocol "Dilling" fell into the habit of thinking of that woman when ho was exhausted or lonoly. "Ab tho weikB went on, trailing a'ong as slowly as wounded snak s, as tho wool lergthened on tho nllnnn nml iUn lt.il.. !..... I . i. un the Hast is East, and the West is West, shoulders of tho herdsmen'' -and that is and never the twain may meet." phrasing worth tho doing, by tho way Rudyard Kipling. and over) thing grew longer but money, Tho September "Atlantic'' contains a ,10 t,,rnd moro and moro to bis vision. 6toryof more than pissing interest, "Tho Rry femin'"o presence whijh haunted Man At the Edgo of Things," Ly MH tbo ,ldC3' Th,tt exaltation or fominin- Eha W. Poattie. It is crtainly the l,y ln tho deBert, that Bubtilo, tantaliz- best western story that I havo chanced inB 8UB-.'ostion of a wonnn's proEonco to read. By that I do not moan that it C(niuroJ "P y old glovo and a few has moro of thoWe.t in it than a good yardfl of wult0 muslin, it, ono of tho many othor western steriep, but I havo n,0rt skillful things in that skillful story, not happened to soo elsiwhero so exquis- Hd recalls tho manner in which Mau- ite a literary effort concerning itself l,18Blnt UBOtl achlovo tffecta of that with tho problems of life, in tho middle kin,l absolutely impalpable, yet bo close fit Ant- !.! T . a. m . . fl n1 fttlt KMtnul i L. .. i . I a a so., ouu i hiu noi lorgeiting some ro- hjoiuoi iuui mey ponoiraio ono ai markably brilliant by young Vu!co. Balestior. It is not by any moans tho flrstgood western story th t Mrs. Peat- ue naB written, but it ttands out nn every pore. Tho talo reachos its climax when "Brown" learnBthat this woman's brother, his immediate nredoceeBor at t ie "Edge of Things'' wont crazy aftor "" "" - tia'iub uut BO , " n -... -..v ..u. prominent'y above all hor previous work manner of Bheep hsrdora, and used tliot r,nn :..l.l i If! rlrnn rn Ikta lnnnn mM1 n.H. 4.1 iuoiuuuiui(iuninyi oenina anew era " -"f uu u'd n": u rui mo tibb with her. In the first place, it is good wi,h hi3 BneoP "Brown" himself is nn4!H ..!.. t ... QQliflfl fontn n 2wlln.. mA. 1... l.l 1 icuuiug lueru-y as a story, it hb& incident 'W1 1IU1" "" iu w ujr n uiu coi nmmirUn.. j il . .. Inffn ftllltm ti v rl n U 1. !.. --...1! tuUuBu iu unrucL mo moEt inuitrdrent eye, and that, of cour.o is tho prlmo es sential in a short story. In construct ing a story, as in building an air shipt the firet problem is to get something thct will lift it's own weight. But the abiding delightin "IheManat the Edgj of Thing," is tbo masterly manner in which tho incidents aro used, the light and shade, the perspective and bold fore ehorteuing which give the e-tiry its un- llattnl If i t?lrl tnn ,1 .! I -t 1 xi.k! ...iuucdo uuu uirec ness. urai- , ' DC" --. narily the most unattnetive Teaturo Bnoep kot'Perfl of the freo Kfaes country A & . In H ntnro ttt Irnnln t nlau tltnt nnn..MM .- J..U..W m. ..wu.v. mjj l'i"J mat aiuuuiilB to artistic cruelty, but art is generally cruel, and Mra Piattie'B almost alwa)B so. lego chum and a Shakepero-roading f reuenman who was overEoer at a neigh boring ranch. Tho Etory is ovonly worked up from every side, tbo texture is close and firm, not a point has been flighted and every play Ecores. The Frenchman contributes nicely to tbo color of tho thing, the grotorquo com piriEon bo'.weon tin idyl.ic shepherds of Arcadia, garland decked and pining un der soft nkies and bj peacpf ul streams, and these ncorcbet', shaggy, vacant eyed about western stories is their monoton- ous chcerlesBne6s, a feature eo indigen ous to the atmosphere of a prairie coun try that perhaps only people that have lived there can understand its inevitable noes. Thip. Mrs. Pdattio ha a rWHv A new translation of Maupaseant's FortCommela Moit" is made by a . I A k l : a it , i'uri vuuiiiio LrvTn .h r Vu , v , Rentleman with the exotic name, Teoti'o sto y the east 'J he etory begins Comba( and an UDUBUa BdfciBfac,ory uiuiu iho cu luiTB lesiivuies oi "UiWloa t i . . . . . n.nn.nv n ! j wiinnfc piece of wot k 8 transahtiooB go, w th Brown b Commencement day, and not a few of the commendb!o features jumps then to .'DillingV old home in a ot Mr. L,fcadio Ilohrd,B tIdrt8 n Xt quiet village in w York state where ut French HcloDt F fc fl , there are comfortable maiden re .tire. m.BqueradiBg ln angllA phraBOoIogy who ook after h,m, and nice girls who ,, rera!nd9 one of Q E J play tennis and dispense lemonade; and Bay hltg,lled but matJ0D, artl8r,.MrB all the quiet, easy friendships that Kendall, disporting herself aB "Frou- spnng fron long acquaintance and Frou"or"DoniBe"or "Manon Lescaut." norma! condit.oo8 of living. The close- There ie apt to be something a trills ness and intimacy of their quiet village heavy about it, a trirlo bruique, a trifle life, the friendly, shelter.ng atmosphere too direct, and the whole is apt to re- created by the old hone, the old box .emble an attempt to filagree in brocze. wood walks, the old china and old mem 0f all the French musters, with the ories, the devoted old women who Eerve possible exception of Gautitr, nono is him, is insisted upon just enough to m0rediffl.ult to render into English bring about the vigorous contrast the than Maupassant. The two mediums of author wanted, aid in the latter part of expression are bo es ettially different the story the arid airs, the scorching thQt it is almost like transalatiug the winds and hot horizons are hauutod by odor of violets into speech. The trace- vague suggestions of that sweet, ccol, iatorg choice is a happy one. It is a green spot on tho Atlantic coast and the question as to just how much of Mau- odor of box wood and mignonette. For passant is possible or desirable in Eng- ......H .uu WOD uul iwuhui wim ii6H but no one who is inclined to take the narrow horizons of buppiness, and he went to seek his fortune in the free grass country of California. The whole of tho ranch life is treated with virility and vigor and color. Brown took up his abode at tho edgo of things with literature seriously can have any valid objections to "Fort Comrue La Mort." In short, while thf ra is no neceesity t introduce it it. to the boarding school curriculum, it is not one of those novels which, as Mrs. Phelps-Ward once primly reaches il'ty and hia'creativo power bo gins to fail him somewhat, ho is m"r nocofearyjto her thun ho was in hie youth aud tho ilowor of his geniuB. in short, this affjclion had becomo domes ticated and tho first shadow of tho com ing infirmities of ago but Etronglhonrd it. At this juncturo tbo "Countess " daughter, who has spent hor childhood with hor grandmother, roturns to Parip, and her marvellous physical rcBombl anco to hor motbor is a matter of uni vorfal comment. Tho artist has pro served tbo taetoB and Bonaibilitics of 11 young man, or ho would not bo tin artist. In "Annette" ho findb tho youth ot tho mother roincarnatod, sho seems indeed but another phuso of tho motbor, having tho sumo lUsh and tho satim soul. She charniB and soothes tho man for whom the tragedy of ago in begin ning, she compensates fr the domoHtiu t ob which ho has missed in bis own lifn, in hor youth bo lives ngain tho romanco of his ovn, Un loves hor without con B.'ious infidelity to tho mother whom sho so marvellously re6omblo3, and it is tho helpless, despairing love of an old man, laying hold for tho last timo upon youth, and ho clung to it as tho old cling to youth, as tho dying cling to life. "I I j belongod toitaa a sinking ship bolonga to tbo billow, bb a burning building bo longs to the fUmes." Tho situation is u supremelydidiuult one, but Maupaseant Boldom did anything which was not difficult, and like all muctercraftsmen, ho bad a penchant for experiments in pure skill, and like all writers of modern feeling bo had a passion for psychologi cal studies the most intiicateand com plex. The struggle of tbo old paintar against their Indian summer of love, tho iluctuitionB ot tho two loves in his heart, his constancy and pity for tho mother and himselr, aro bandied with that delicacy and sublilenesB and poign ant vividness always at Maupassunt't) command, and chastened by that sen bo of HtnoEB and beauty which alwajs re strained him, But the chief ploasurj derivable from the book la an esoteric one, aud lies in tbo fimplo boauty of the writing, tbo rare felicity of tho phras ing, atd tho style baB that integral value, that individual and exulted grace which alone gives art a right to, be. , A book with such phrasing a i this needs uo apology or explanation bub itielf: "How many tim-s a woman's dresB hid flung to him in passing, .with tbo evaporated essence, a full recollection of forgotten incidents. At the bottom of old scent bottles he had also found again portioos of his exUtance; and all tho THE BEST SHOES EVER PUT ON THE MARKET For the money . , . Plump Vici Kid, Cuihion Cork Soles, Welt. ti. 1 1 n.i,. .:: "' , '," i"y. " i, , "jMiuuuu inspirou concentra- "pun inn performance id an expla ' "f tho unity and good team woik '" "", i! mi puny. ti1!'", iHt,'L yBuch monoy in poli 'laihorouBocitobo. '"Kt TouT Th poHUclunB have many hundred sheep and a few herdF- nut it tlvn mnm nain i,v hts, .iu fgj v v grmm mj WUVIk UUUII me& and a Chinese cook, living in an Cacy than their art gives pleasure." adobe house formerly inbnbited by a Technically, the book is one of Mac luckless theepman and his sieter who pasEant's best. However uncertain his had been overtaken by disaster and fled later work mfly have been, in "Notre the couxitry, leaving their shack fur- Coeur" and "Fort Commo La Mort" he nished and standing empty in tho painted wasinpoBseseioh of the full measure of desert. All about the room in which his power, and these two novols, at least, "Dilling Brown" Elept there were re- are constructive as flawless is the short minders ot that courageous women who atories which are usually codsidered his had lived there, and over tho tiro place masterpieces. Toe story is that of a she had writied on the waif: '-He, Parisian painter, very much in vogue, watching over Israel, slumbereth not, who has all bis lifo been the lover of nor sloops,'' and it occurrod to him that one woman who fortunately Tor his hap no nico, white mublin, tennis playing piness and hi art, has entertained for girl he had over known would havo him not a caprice but an affection, gen thought of writing that "in an adobe uine and constant which grew with houEO, in a euncureed desert." So tabit and association until when he $3,50 fHHii wHm MUM& sows yrm 230Srr. it j M '$jj.lt.latiu6nii iirtiYito"iiinririiiiiiiiiii