beauty, as a _maison de danse_ in Seville. The tango, too, in somewhat
modified form, continued to interest "ballroom dancers," danced to
music provided in many instances by Señor Valverde, an indefatigable
producer of popular tunes, some of which have a certain value as music
owing to their close allegiance to the folk-dances and songs of Spain.
In the art-world there was a noticeable revival of interest in Goya and
El Greco.
But if Mr. Gatti-Casazza, with the best intentions in the world,
should desire to take advantage of any of this _réclame_ by producing
a series of Spanish operas at the Metropolitan Opera House--say four
or five more--he would find himself in difficulty. Where are they?
Several of the operas of Isaac Albéniz have been performed in London,
and in Brussels at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, but would they be liked
here? There is Felipe Pedrell's monumental work, the trilogy, _Los
Pireneos_, called by Edouard Lopez-Chavarri "the most important work
for the theatre written in Spain"; and there is the aforementioned
_La Dolores_. For the rest, one would have to search about among the
zarzuelas; and would the Metropolitan Opera House be a suitable place
for the production of this form of opera? It is doubtful, indeed, if
the zarzuela could take root in any theatre in New York.
The truth is that in Spain Italian and German operas are much more
popular than Spanish, the zarzuela always excepted; and at Señor
Arbós's series of concerts at the Royal Opera in Madrid one hears
more Bach and Beethoven than Albéniz and Pedrell. There is a growing
interest in music in Spain and there are indications that some day
her composers may again take an important place with the musicians
of other nationalities, a place they proudly held in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. However, no longer ago than 1894, we
find Louis Lombard writing in his "Observations of a Musician" that
harmony was not taught at the Conservatory of Málaga, and that at
the closing exercises of the Conservatory of Barcelona he had heard
a four-hand arrangement of the _Tannhäuser_ march performed on ten
pianos by forty hands! Havelock Ellis ("The Soul of Spain," 1909)
affirms that a concert in Spain sets the audience to chattering. They
have a savage love of noise, the Spanish, he says, which incites them
to conversation. Albert Lavignac, in "Music and Musicians" (William
Marchant's translation), says, "We have left in the shade the Spanish
school, which to say truth does not exist." But if one reads what
Lavignac has to say about Moussorgsky, one is likely to give little
credence to such extravagant generalities as the one just quoted.
The Moussorgsky paragraph is a gem, and I am only too glad to insert
it here for the sake of those who have not seen it: "A charming and
fruitful melodist, who makes up for a lack of skill in harmonization
by a daring, which is sometimes of doubtful taste; has produced songs,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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