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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 1916)
1 SECTION SIX Pages 1 to 8 MAGAZINE SECTION w mmm. 4 wmmwmu. 5N 1 it mi -Ml ' How a Knockdown and a Black ; Eye (Exchanged Between Two Gentlemen Ad mirers of the Lady) Brought Reco- nition and An Engagement to a Florodora Beauty. I WAS eartjr mora. T I ! tS daf of th Joot. J aai ti tut fci brr n ci-ari. Not Ifiat lh cl'r lac tw"n ( !! diTrnlt. Ttuo Inf r tr:-tl-rtoorrj o4 lr.srbl a4 trr a"l cUra llot up a 1 doa (a Ioi-i ma4 brJth of thrra th :Ttor tarfr. Tt ILU h t ba ctr4. Tfc Jotui r wr rjrt la eurtul o.l frock rotr4 frb. th tai tw!sr fct tarjr'd av ora ajy. Bil iter Cr la a-I J: Cr aai Iut of sore. For r tar ool to (a to dradtjr combat for a woa4-rftal. fra'.. rftc-ji trophy? AbJ tai womlrrfiit. frijlf. prlcrla trophy ht i It? War a vomaa'a trofJool rrpotatioa do !! It a ta rpa'asioa of ta txaatlful Aon FltiliotVFlnla. vomrtim of th lord r itxt. Vt::t Tliomrr. taca cr of voter. on mot coacrol. ih ochr Aa lrra d PiroU. tiMo. $-art bai d.nl aT ti amtlrat tio li:tl i.iltiof th djutat vr J mm m in (r- -'.? J. echo of Mt'n'Mtlt'i matla recital at Andrea and tn terrible 'WUUe met up la the Ilt. being olhervU the corridor outside )lt'm'MtI'i dreaslng-rootn door. "She can't sine'" shouted V.'Ulle. thus thro Ins blmtelf to the first headlong chance. -She caa !nj" Andrea charged back. -Can't! - -Canf Aftcr ablch jas all confusion. As a A PORTLAND, OREGON, FEBRU-VUY C, 1916. Htm vlr V WF- vv isssu mssu jm: I IV w M aw . aVJ I Y a- a E n M . A I . I 1 K 1 111 .. C V. O-.- V 1 ' magnet drawt ateel, ao the two flew to gether and blows fell mightily pommel, pommel, thud: Blows fell mightily. A round, red pro tuberance arose upon the brow of Andrea. A shadow, saucer-ehaped and plum-bued, began to clrcla the right eye of Willie. Andrea's nose suddenly Teered to an angle and doubled back toward bis ear. Willie's lips took unto themselves the general appearance of a pair of steaks, very rare. When their arms were shoved down each other's throats In attempts to tear out and scatter round each other's hearts, the elevator starter, previously mentioned, called time, and they limped away, battered but unvanqulsbed. As a boxing match the proceeding was negligible, conforming to no rules of sportsmanship and operating along no definite line. But as a garniture of the career of Ma'm'selle Anna It was lovely. It took her out from the vague, unex plored regions of nonrecognltlon and put her In the front-page class. It estab- C jrtsat. 1US. Is r? Hbbed her as a person worth an argu ment. It stamped the seal of individu ality upon ber beginning. It brought her to the attention of M. Gatti-Casazza, who . gave her the role of Rosina in "Goyescas" In which she will appear on the Metropolitan stage shortly. In other words the row between Andrea de Segu rola and Willie Thorner, though rather unsatisfactory to the contestants, was a climax and a starting point for the ob ject of their battle. In the beginning, however, ;what was the cause of spilled blood and smashed noses? Lovers' . rivalry? Or did each aspire to fame as the teacher of one soon to become famous enough for the exal tation of two? No. ' At least there cometh one who says no. The one is Arthur Lawrason, himself teacher of vflice, with a 6tudio somewhere on W. 67 th st.. New York. "The fight was aimed at me," declared Mr. Lawrason. "There have been other attacks upon me. But now I must come into the open and defend myself! "Who, you may rsk, is the real teach er of Anna Fitziu? He Is talking! It is i-1 I! For proof see!" And he produced a liberally inscribed photograph of Mademoiselle, liberally inscribed In her own clear hand, acknowledging Arthur Lawrason's responsibility for her voice. "Eleven years ago she came 'to me," Lawrason spoke on. "She then was un- derstudying Lotta Faust in the 'Wizard of Oz.' Voice? Ah, she had no voice! Not even the song, about "Sammy, Oh, Oh, Oh Sammy!" could she sing! I de veloped the voice. ' I built ;up the voice where none ' had been " before. Today Anna Fitziu is wonderful. "Willie JThorner? Ah, he came into Ma'm'selle's life three years ago. He went abroad with her as her manager. He introduced her in Italy. A year later they parted. They are now how shall I say it? not good friends. .Thorner has been saying it was he and not I who de veloped Ma'm'selle's voice! "And the fight? Ah, I will tell you! After her American, debut at the Bilt more Willie went to her dressing-room and criticized her singing. But he was etriking at me, for had she not coached . . -i r - V.. ... : in for her debut in my studio? De Sega-" rola resented and they fought" . As for Ma'm'selle, she has little to say. From "Florodora" to the Metropolitan Opera is a dizzy climb and it's possible that her head reels a bit with altitude. After her "Florodora" and her "Wiz ard of Oz" days, Ma'm'selle Anna played a leading part in "Baron Fiddlesticks" at the Casino. While she was In "Lower Berth 13," in Chicago, in 1910, Willie Thorner persuaded her to leave the musical comedy field and study for grand opera under his instruction. After four years with Thorner she went abroad, studying with Jean de Reszke, whom she left to appear in opera in Italy and Spain. As "Goyescas" is to be sung in Span ish the choice for the heroine naturally fell to Lucrezia Bori. The Spanish prima donna, however, felt indisposed. She Just wouldn't sing, and 'tis an ill wind that blows no operatic aspirant any good. Therefore the opportunity given Ma'm' selle Anna to appear in the supreme role of the new opera by . JEariquaGranados.. to be produced-for the first time on any stage at the Metropolitan Opera House soon. Most prominent exponent of Spanish music, is Enrique Granados. More of a genius than Debussy he has been called;' better balanced than Richard Strauss, full of vigor as Giordano and Leoni and re plete with sentiment as the Russians, Moussorgsky and Borodine. He was born in Lerida and at the age of eleven entered the Paris Conservatory, where he 6tudied with Diemer, Faure and Mar montel. "Goyescas" is a series of incidents . based upon the life of Goya, the Spanish painter. It was composed by Granado3 for the French Societe Nationale, to be produced at the Grand Opera House in Paris, at the beginning of the season of 1914. The war came along, however, and upset all plans. It happened that Glulio Gatti-Casazza, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera Company, was in Paris when the march of the German armies crushed out for the time being the artistic life of the French capital, and he arranged a conference with Granados. As a result the world premiere, wit nessed in New York, was not only a novelty of novelties a Spanish opera sung in Spanish but it was attended by the composer himself. In crossing the ocean to see his work performed, he fol lowed the example of Humperdinck, Saint-Saens, Wolf-Ferrari, and Puccini, who also attended first performances of their works before New York audiences. .An interesting side-light is thrown upon the character of the Spanish com poser by the story of a concert in Barce lona at which he appeared almost at the outset of his career. He entered the hall, timid, hesitant, yet dignified and serious. Thunders of applause greeted him. "Play something! Play something of your own!" the audience shouted.' He hesitated. There were other great ar tists on the program. But at last ha walked timidly to the piano and played what he modestly called a "sketch for a symphonic poem." The sketch was what is since known as his famous symphonic poem "Dante," a masterpiece of con trapuntal vigor, admirably executed. And to supplement . the knowledge ' gained for her new role while singing at the Royal Opera of Madrid and elsewhere In Spain, Andrea de Segurola has under- ' taken to complete the initiation of Ma' m'selle into the intricacies of Spanish impersonation.. ' ' Ma'm'selle is proud of a medal pre sented her by. the Queen of Spain, and of another-.' from the infanta. And she is more proud she affirms with all the soft French and Spanish idioms which' years ' abroad have put into her language of the role she is going to play in "Goyescas." And yet well, isn't there" always some sort of defunct fly in the ointment? Back in other days, it seems, was a weddng. The natural result of a wed ding, is a husband, and such continues to linger along Ma'm'selle's way of life. "Did he encourage your singing?" she was asked. "Never, never! He thought I had no voice." The inquisitive one hesitated and plunged boldly in . "Is he er pleased? Have you seen him recently?" ' "He is In Canada," replied -Ma'm'selle, "but we took tea together about tso months ago." Ua Uardaad Goauwaj-1 f