London Season

A chill London dawn broke on Covent Garden last week and disclosed a sight other than the wholesale display of artichokes, turnips, lettuce, peas. Outside the shabby old opera house which today stands in the centre of the market district, a queue of patient men and women had formed. Wise ones had brought camp stools, rolls, coffee, to wait as comfortably as possible to buy their seats for the opening of London's opera and social season. At 7 p. m. those fortunate enough to have gained admission were gawking excitedly at the entrance of three princesses into the Royal Box--Princess Mary and her cousins Princess Helena Victoria and Princess Marie Louise.* Conductor Bruno Walter arose and swept together the first vigorous strains of the Meistersinger overture. Then were displayed the tight-toned "Walther" of Tenor Rudolf Laubenthal; the homely, bourgeois "Sachs" of Baritone Friedrich Schoor; the heavy, smoothly sung "Eva" of Lotte Lehmann, important soprano of the Vienna Staatsoper. London's opera, although on the upgrade so far as quality is concerned, is still of shorter duration than that of most capital cities. This year its ten-week season will be distinguished by the performance of two complete Ring cycles, by the addition to the repertoire of Montemezzi's L'Amore del Tre Re and Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus. Among new singers will be Tenor Beniamino Gigli of the Metropolitan Opera, Soprano Edith Mason of the Chicago Civic Opera. Soprano Rosa Ponselle, sensation of last year, will return.

* Daughters of the late Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, King Edward's sister.

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