Is It Sealed?

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 45, 23 May 1930, Page 9

Is It Sealed?

---- The Fate of , Grand Opera WIRELESS and ‘sound pictures particularly have come upon Us SO rapidly that it is difficult to’ realise just what the outcome will be as far as the musical and operatic world is concerned. Already there has been a rapid decline in the number of "shows" that formerly were almost a weekly feature in every large New Zealand city. Already most of the opera houses and the theatressdesigned for’ the legitimate stage have installed talkie plants. A wave of depression has swept the ranks of the play-producers, and literally hundreds in this part of the world are seeking new avenues to sell their talent, Out here the only chance appears to be the proadecasting stations, which alone tend to benefit from the change. In sound picture producing countries a new demand has been created, and in time if the present’ trend is maintained the only outlet for dramatic talent will be here and in the newlycreated radio drama. Music talent will, of course, gravitate to the recording

studio-for it. seems that it will require more than radio and talkie to displace this. If anything, these strengthen the position of the gramophone recorder. | APROPOS of this, an interesting article appeared in the London "Times." It appeared in the form of! a leader, and was the outcome of an article elsewhere in the same editior headed "Economic and Artistic Diffculties of Opera in’ Italy." "It ap pears," comments Mr. Herman Klein in the "Gramophone," "that the well: known journal, the ‘Corriere delle Sera,’ had sent round a questionnaire to the composers, conductors, critics singers, impresarios, and music pub (Concluded on next page.)

Fate of Grand Opera

. (Concluded from previous page.) lishers, asking what they thought about operatic affairs. generally; and the answers had in the main afforded rather unpleasant reading.. The three great opera houses of Milan, Rome, and Naples were in the same boat as the 24 other first-class opera houses in Italy; for ‘all these theatres, although in the past they have never made great profits, are now run at a loss.’ "The causes of this common deficit were said to be various; yet the explanation was practically the same in every case. Expenses were largely in excess of income, thanks to the high fees that had nowadays to be paid to artists, the heavy cost of mounting new operas which did not attract the public, the costliness of the mise en scene generally, and the Governmeut taxes on entertainments, -and the counter-attractions like the kinema, the wireless, etc. "The remedies proposed were, like the grievances, ‘various.’ But as ‘The Times’ leader pointed out, ‘Genius is not to be commanded,’ and composers like Verdi and Puccini, who can fulfil their own artistic aspirations while proving that they merit the big expenditure, are not forthcoming very often either in Italy or in any other country. "The composers of to-day have ‘little or no sense of responsibility toward their audiences’; yet they claim their right of a hearing where there is really no right in the matter." The remainder of this sensible article was devoted to an appeal for further subscribers in support of Sir Thomas Beecham’s Imperial League of Opera; nor is it to be denied that the two branches of: the subject-opera abroad and at home-have enough in ‘common, despite their different conditions, for us to be able to profit by the mistakes of others. Financial difficulties are being encountered’ at the great operatic establishments of Berlin, Vienna, and even Paris. The only -eountry that escapes entirely, because it ean afford to spend what it pleases, is wealthy America. suienisiiotetieaien