The talking machine world (Jan-Dec 1914)

THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD. GRAND OPERA AND THE TALKING MACHINE. The Importance of Their Relations and the Influence Exercised in the Matter of Public Taste Set Forth in Article Written for The Voice of the Victor by Albert Grau, Brother of the Famous Impresario — Interesting Reminiscences of Early Opera. It does not seem so very long ago that grand opera was regarded as the most precarious line of endeavor with which men of nerve and capital could tempt fate, and even so intrepid an impresario as Colonel Mapleson predicted that the ultimate destination of his kind was either the county jail or the poorhouse. But Colonel Mapleson and his colleagues, such as the Strakesches, Maretzek and the indefatigable Henry E. Abbey, all of whom died penniless, were unfortunate in that their period of activity antedated the advent of a scientific era in which, as a result of the amazing evolution of the talking machine, the scores of masters, and the world's greatest singers have been brought into our homes, and this has gradually created a nation of operagoers, so that the spectacle of three majestic opera houses opening simultaneously in New York ! City, which as recently as ten years ago would ; have meant sure disaster, may now be viewed with complacency by impresarios, artists and public. Even during the regime of Maurice Grau, ending in 1904, the Metropolitan Opera House had established the first operatic dividends known to American musical history, and this impresario was quick to observe that a new musical public was being created. Crowded balconies and galleries were solving grand opera's difficult problems, and the day when the works of Wagner. Verdi, Gounod, Puccini and their colleagues could attract only the social set was already passing. But the talking machine, up to the time of Mr. Grau's retirement from the operatic field, was yet regarded as a mere toy. From 1904 to the year of 1913 were nine years of persistent musical uplift, in which the Victor Co.'s extraordinary enterprise had caused the musical map to change from coast to coast. It mattered not whether it was Caruso, Tamagno or any of the famous singers who are paid thousands a night, they all capitulated to the inducements held out to them. But let no man doubt that this was greatly due to the astonishing development of the Victor, and not solely to the financial benefits. Moreover, there is no record of any protest in recent years on the part of the impresarious of grand opera, all of whom were brought to realize that the influence of the Victor was being felt in the box; offices. This is so true that although the world's greatest singers were now adding to their annual income prodigious sums of money, while their artistry was being perpetuated scientifically, their compensation has been constantly growing larger .in the opera houses, while a third source of income, also greatly due to the Victor, has resulted from the tremendous demand for their services for concert tours, song recitals and festivals galore all over the co: n'.rv. 1 can remember when there were not over thirty cities where a famous diva could attract a paying audience, and even ten years ago not more than five or six musical celebrities could procure sufficient bookings to justify a tour. To-day there are as many as sixty well-known vocal and instrumental soloists who can attract an audience representing anywhere between $1,500 and $6,000 at each appearance. It is a fact that the demand to hear and see the famous musical stars by a new and increasing public is so great that while the distinctly dramatic or theatrical business all over the country has had an awful slump, the prosperity in the musical field is everywhere conceded. Mme. Schumann-Heink has attracted audiences in cities of about 20,000 population representing from $2,500 to $4,000, while in the larger cities the larger sum is an ordinary achievement. Yet this same Schumann Heink came hither from Berlin under my brother's direction at a weekly honorarium of $250. If you would ask the great German contralto her opinion, she will tell you that the Victor has accomplished more to make the " nation musical than all other influences combined. When it was announced that opera in the language of the nation was to become a permanent attraction in the theater endowed by New York's multimillionaires, this writer ventured to prediA that the outcome would be successful from the outset, t and now when the pessimists are confronted with the spectacle of capacity audiences night after night and week after week, the fear is expressed that with the advent of the regular opera season at the Metropolitan Opera House and the inauguration of a third regime — that of Oscar Hammerstein — the gold-laden box office of the Century Opera House must show the effects instanter; but it will be found that New York with its 6,000,000 souls can, and will, provide a public for all three, provided that the artistic offerings are wholly worthy, and surely there is nothing to indicate a reaction in the near future in the neighborhood of Central Park West, where the advance subscriptions are already assuring prosperity for months to come. The Messrs. Aborn know from experience that popular-priced opera is a necessity in our larger cities, and they have publicly acknowledged that this is principally due to the thousands of new music lovers who, having heard in their own homes the voices of celebrated singers and the melodies over which they have raved, now flock to the opera house or theater where they are held fast, and this is a condition which explains why in the heat of summer, when the playhouses usually are closed, the Messrs. Aborn have prospered in' a half dozen cities simultaneously. But even now the influence of the Victor is in the infant stage. The Victor Co. is not resting on its laurels ; one may see evidences at every turn of expansion and productivity and an effort to embrace newer fields in which its conquest a few years ago would have been difficult to accomplish. To T.M. the King ana Queen of Spain To H.M the King of Sweden To H.H. the KhedHw of Egypt To H.M. the King of Italy — the trade-mark that is recognised throughout the world as the Hall-mark of Quality To H.M. the Shah Of Persia AUSTRIA: Oeiterr. Grammophon — Gesellschaft. m. b. H., 8, Krugerstrasse. Vienna. BELGIUM: Cic Franchise du Gramophone, 51. Avenue de la Porte de Hal, Brussels. DENMARK : Skandinavisk Grammophon-Aktietel skab, Fribavnen, Copenhagen. FRANCE: Cie. Francaise du Gramophone, 115 boulevard Richard Lenoir, Place de la Repub lique, Paris. GERMANY : Deutsche GrammophonAktiee gesellschaft, 35, Ritterstrasse. Berlin. S42. HOLLAND : American Import Co., 22a, Amsterd Veerkade, The Hague. . HUNGARY: The Gramophone Co., Ltd.. IV. Kossuth Lajos-Utcza 8. Budapest. SPA I N : Cia. Frances* del Gramophone. 56, Balme*. Barcelona. SWEDEN : Skandinaviska GrammophonAktiebolaget, 52, Appelbergtgalan, Stockho'm. RUSSIA : The Gramophone Co.. Ltd.. 45. No-iky Prospect. St. Petersburg; 9, Golovinsky Prospect, Tiflis ; 30, Novia Svit. Warsaw. EGYPT: The Gramophone Co.. Ltd.. 13, Rm Stamboul. Alexandria ; Rue Mousky, Cairo. EAST AFRICA: Bayley & Co.. 8 Beira. Lourenzo Marques. SOUTH AFRICA i Dartor & Sons. Adderley St. Cape Town ; Mackay Bros., Rissik Street, Johannesburg ; Mackay Bros 6t McMahon, 443. West Streot, Durban ; Ivan H. Haarburger, Maitland St., Bloemfontein. INDIA : The Gramophone Co.. Ltd J39.BalliaghatU Road. Calcutta ; 7, Bell Lane, Fort, Bombay. AUSTRALIA: The Gramophone Co. Ltd, Hoffnungs Chambers. Pitt Street, Sydney. GREAT BRITAIN : The Gramophone Co* Ltd. 21. City Road. London, E.C. By Appointment To H.M. Queen Alexandra Great Britain : The Gramophone Company Ltd 2 1 City Road London EC