Three factors determine the existence of any given theatre and have to
be considered with reference to my proposed National Opera House,
namely, tradition, custom, and enterprise.
I have proved we possess an operatic tradition, and as regards custom no
one will dispute the prevalence of a taste for opera. Indeed, from
personal experience, extending over a number of years, I can vouch for a
feeling akin to yearning in the great masses of the music-loving public
after operatic music, even when stripped of theatrical paraphernalia,
such, for example, as one gets at purely orchestral concerts. It is
sufficient to follow the Queen's Hall Wagner concerts to be convinced
that the flattering patronage they command is as much a tribute to the
remarkably artistic performance of Mr Henry Wood, as it is due to the
economy of his programmes. Again, in the provinces, I have observed,
times out of number, crowded audiences listening with evident delight,
not only to popular operas excellently done by the Moody-Manners'
Company, but to performances of _Tristan_ and _Siegfried_, which, for
obvious reasons, could not give the listeners an adequate idea of the
real grandeur of these works. But the love of opera is there, and so
deeply rooted, that, rather than be without it, people are willing to
accept what they can get.
This much, then, for tradition and custom.
As regards enterprise in the operatic field, it can be twofold--either
the result of private initiative, working its own ends independently, or
else it is organised, guided, and helped, officially.
It is under the former aspect that we have known it, so far, in this
country, and as we are acquainted with it, especially in London, we find
it wanting, from the point of view of our special purpose. Not that it
should be so, for the Covent Garden management, as at present organised,
could prove an ideal combination for the furtherance of national art,
were its aims in accordance with universal, and, oft-expressed, desire.
What better can be imagined than a theatre conducted by a gathering
representative of, nobility, fashion, and wealth?
It is under such auspices that opera originated, and that native art
sprang to life and prospered everywhere; and it is to these one has the
right to turn, with hope and trust, in England. But when wealth and
fashion stoop from the pedestal assigned to them by tradition, and
barter the honoured part of Maecenas for that of a dealer, they lose the
right to be considered as factors in an art problem, and their
enterprise may be dismissed from our attention. For the aim of an opera
house, worthy of a great country like England, should not be to make
most money with any agglomeration of performers, and makeshift
_mise-en-scene_, but to uphold a high standard of Art.
But the elimination of private enterprise from my scheme is but one more
argument in favour of official intervention, and the experience of
others will stand us in good stead.
Of the three systems of State subsidised theatres, as set out in my
_expose_ of operatic systems in Italy, Germany, and France, the ideal
one is, of course, the German, where the Sovereign's Privy Purse
guarantees the working of Court theatres, and secures the future of
respective _personnels_. But the adoption of this plan, or the wholesale
appropriation of any one other, cannot be advocated, if only because the
inherent trait of all our institutions is that they are not imported,
but the natural outcome of historical, or social, circumstances. My
purpose will be served as well, if I select the salient features of each
system.
Thus, in the first instance, admitting the principle of State control in
operatic matters, I will make the furtherance of national art a
condition _sine qua non_ of the very existence of a subsidised theatre,
and performances in the English language obligatory.
Secondly, I will adopt the German system of _prevoyance_, in organising
old age pensions for theatrical _personnels_.
Thirdly, I will borrow from Italy the idea of municipal intervention,
all the more as the municipal element has become, of late, an
all-important factor in the economy of our civic life, and seems all but
indicated to take active part in a fresh phase of that life.
I do not see how any objection can be raised to the principle of these
three points, though I am fully aware of the difficulties in the way of
each; difficulties mostly born of the diffidence in comparing the status
of operatic art abroad, with its actual state in this country. It must
be borne in mind, however, that I am endeavouring to give help to the
creation of a national art, and not promoting a plan of competition with
the operatic inheritance of countries which have had such help for over
two centuries.
We are making a beginning, and we must perforce begin _ab ovo_, doing
everything that has been left undone, and undoing, at times, some things
that have been, and are being, done. Let me say, at once, to avoid
misapprehension, that I refer here to the majority of the Anglicised
versions of foreign _libretti_. They are unsatisfactory, to put it very
mildly, and, will have to be re-written again before, these operas can
be sung with artistic decency in English. The classes of our great
musical institutions will have to be reorganised entirely, from the
curriculum of education to examinations. This is a crude statement of
the case, the details can always be elaborated on the model of that fine
nursery of artists, the Paris Conservatoire. We must not be deterred by
the possible scarcity of native professors, able to impart the
indispensable knowledge. Do not let us forget that the initial
instructors of operatic art came from Italy to France, together with the
introduction of their new art; but, far from monopolising tuition, they
formed pupils of native elements, and these in turn became instructors,
interpreters, or creators. The same thing will happen again, if
necessary, let us by all means import ballet masters, professors of
deportment, singing teachers, and whoever can teach us what we do not
know, and cannot be taught by our own men. Pupils will be formed soon
enough, and the foreign element gradually eliminated. Do not let us
forget, either, that stalest of commonplaces that "Rome was not built in
a day."
We are not trying to improvise genii, or make a complete art, by wishing
for the thing, but we are laying foundations for a future architecture,
every detail of which will be due to native enterprise, and the whole a
national pride. To look for immediate results would be as idle as to
expect Wagners, and Verdis, or Jean de Reszkes, and Terninas, turned
out every year from our schools, simply because we have a subsidised
opera house, and reorganised musical classes.
We are bound to arrive at results, and no one can say how great they may
be, or how soon they may be arrived at. The unexpected so often happens.
Not so many years ago, for example, operatic creative genius seemed
extinct in the land of its birth, and the all-pervading wave of
Wagnerism threatened the very existence of musical Italy, when, lo!
there came the surprise of _Cavalleria Rusticana_, and the still greater
surprise of the enthusiasm with which the work was received in Germany,
and the no less astonishing rise of a new operatic school in Italy, and
its triumphant progress throughout the musical world. Who can say what
impulse native creative talent will receive in this country, when it is
cared for as it certainly deserves?
The question arises now of the most practical manner in which this care
can be exercised?
Plans have been put forward more than once,--discussed, and discarded.
This means little. Any child can pick a plan to pieces, and prove its
unworthiness. Goodwill means everything, and a firm conviction that in
the performance of certain acts the community does its duty for reasons
of public welfare. I put more trust in these than in the actual merit of
my scheme, but, such as it is, I submit it for consideration, which, I
hope, will be as seriously sincere, as the spirit in which it is
courted.
I would suggest that the interests of the National Opera House in
London, should be looked after by a Board under the supervision of the
Education Department, the members of the Board being selected from among
the County Councillors, the Department itself, and some musicians of
acknowledged authority.
The enlisting of the interest of the Educational Department would
sanction the theory of the educational mission of the venture; the
County Council comes into the scheme, for financial and administrative
purposes; the selection of musicians needs no explanation, but a proviso
should be made that the gentlemen chosen, have no personal interest at
stake.
As I said before, we have to begin at the beginning, and so the duties
of the Board would be:--