Moscow Art

For the past month the famed showman, Morris Gest, has been endeavoring to convince Manhattanites that the Moscow Art Theatre Musical Studio of M. Vladimir Nemirovitch-Dantchenko (cofounder of the Moscow Art Theatre with Stanislavsky) represents the ultimate and perfect synthesis of the dramatic, lyric, pantomimic and scenic arts.

Upon close inspection of M. Dantchenko's synthesis of all the arts which can be crowded upon a stage and into an orchestra pit, it must be acknowledged that showman Gest's claim to have at length brought "singing actors" to the U. S. has been rather cruelly substantiated. So far the synthesized productions have been Lysistrata (TIME, Dec. 28, THE THEATRE), La Perichole and The Daughter of Madam Angot. On the basis of these sufficiently extensive samples, it may be definitely stated that, while the "singing actors" act with flawless and breath-taking ensemble perfection, they sing quite indifferently, despite the spirited and authoritative conducting of M, Vladimir Bakaleynikoff.

It must be recalled, however, that the Moscow Art Theatre Musical Studio came into being during the Russian Revolution; its first performance was given on May 16, 1920, after a prolonged and extensive period of experimentation. Thus the organization now assembled at the Al Jolson Theatre, Manhattan, is perhaps the youngest of the great theatrical and musical troupes of the world. Puffed to the limit and beloved by "Barnum" Gest, it has pardonably fallen just a trifle short of expectations. The production of La Perichole, with the Offenbach score and with what amounted to an entire re-writing of the Meilhac-Halevy libretto by Director Dantchenko himself, proved to be an unadulterated source of enjoyment to all except strict operatic purists. The setting, which depicted a market place in ancient Lima, Peru, was in the best Russian tradition of a colorful and decorative, essentially two-dimensioned background. And against it the elaborate perfection of the actors' costume and make-up-- created a Rembrandt effect of warmth and color.

Mme. Olga Baklanova, as the far from impeccable Perichole, was in better voice than when she sang the role of the still less irreproachable Lysistrata, and managed to interpret tellingly M. Dantchenko's conception of La Perichole as a child who grows up into a woman through the stress of passion, instead of clinging to the convention which would reduce her to the level of a cheerful strolling band which happened to attract the Viceroy from Madrid.

The Daughter of Madame Angot, on the other hand, was pitched in a wholly vivacious and amusing key. It was the first production attempted by the Musical Studio, and in consequence the original French libretto and the famed Lecocq score showed not a trace of M. Dantchenko's later, bolder and almost slashing adaptations in the name of synthesis. The complete versatility of his troupe was proved by the fact that all but one of the leading roles of the piece were played in Manhattan by "singing actors" who had had only minor parts in Lysistrata and La Perichole.

Tolstoy Opera

In Chicago, in the huge Auditorium, occasional playhouse of the Chicago Civic Opera troupe, a resplendent crowd ogled one another, visited back and forth, chatted and chattered. They were waiting for the curtain to rise on the world's premiere of Resurrection, the opera by Franco Alfano based on Tolstoy's pity-evoking novel, the opera personally selected last summer by Mary Garden shrewd in showmanship, for her next important vehicle. The performance was called a triumph.

Everyone knows Tolstoy's story of country-bred Catering's betrayal by swaggering Prince Dimitri, how she fell to the gloomy, filthy Russian depths, how Dimitri found her in a Petrograd prison, how she was redeemed. Truly a melodramatic story, long drawn out by Tolstoy in psychological analysis and pragmatical moralizing, but in this opera retold with truly theatrical effectiveness in only four episodes. Therein, to music that was "strong, eloquently melodious, entirely southern despite the artful use of Slavic folk themes to create and sustain Russian atmosphere," Miss Garden found as good a part as she has had for years. On the stage most of the time, she ranged from a joyous, playful girl to a hysterical, soul-tortured woman of the sewers. The Chicago Civic Opera Company plans three more performances of the piece this season.

The librettist of the opera is Cesar Hanau; the translator into French, Paul Ferrier.

While performing, Miss Garden possibly thought of poor Franco Alfano, composer of the piece, fumbling about his quarters in Turin, Italy; knew he was in heart-sick misery, was going blind; immediately after the performance cabled him in English and in Italian: Resurrection a great success. Congratulations and Happy New Year."

Jest

To Manhattan, The Jest means the Barrymores. Any operatic version of that play was doomed to hypercriticism. But when it was sung last week at the Metropolitan as La Cena delle Beffe, the audience arose to whack long, loud, red-palmed approval. It was a triumph. The play is remembered as four long acts of highly emotionalized mistaken identity. For the opera, Playwright Sem Benelli made a masterfully condensed libretto without a situation lost, a point unitalicized. By comparison, Composer Umberto Giordano's music was the trifling virtuosity of a clever parodist-- saved by Messrs. Gigli and Ruffo.

Respected Jazz

Paul Whiteman, expansive Lord High Conductor of U. S. jazz, last week repressed his exuberant instruments heroically. He calmed the mourning, muted trumpet, put brakes on the slide trombone, and made them all tell stories. One story was written by Deems Taylor, jazz-appreciating classicist -- the story of circus day in a one-cylinder town. The other story went deeper, or bravely tried to. It was by rhapsodic George Gershwin, to whom jazz comes as readily as a new suit to a chamelon. It was of a murder in a Harlem speakeasy: love, passion, hate and a dark gal gone wrong. Its dramatic hinges creaked; it was sung and nearly drowned out. For both scores one Ferdie Grofe did the instrumentation and was highly praised. Of rotund Paul Whiteman's third sortie into the precincts of "respectable" music (this concert was in Carnegie Hall), people said: "He's done it again."

*The Russian tendency to start with the actor's face as the foundation for a mask of make-up which transforms the visage completely, is well known. Though flatly violating the accepted U. S. tradition that a Barrymore can twitch his face into a suggestion of anything that can be achieved by makeup, the Russian school of disguise has its moments of genius.