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Show MUSIC IS MERELY GONSGLATIONFOR r RUSSIANS Hungry Actor. Perform for - Hungry Audience in Volga Cities OOKHHA, Juno I. Mualr. onca tho Joy of tho pooplo of Kuaala, la now tlrrlr connotation. They burner fur Vraad, and they long alao for mualc la nuiki ihelr unhappy day mora -tea rattle. In paaalni tho unllffhted atrcota of tho cllloa of tho lower Voltta, tho tranaer la often guided by piano mu-axo mu-axo buratlnf upun tho darknoaa. Walk-tii4T Walk-tii4T at early tnornlnff Ihroush tha atreeta of Aatrajthan, little buya and Itlrla, often refutceea, may bo aeon nt tho tnien wlndowa, at practice, thum-mint thum-mint on dilapidated planoa. At the dreary atallona, during the long wane, leophi king. Thla kindly, talented people peo-ple tnrn to muala fin comfort aa un-conacloualy un-conacloualy aa a dlatreaaed child tu lie mother. They have no poatwar mualc, no Jaxs nnd pep and buss-aaw compoettlone. Tbelra are the old, uld aonga of love loat. of tho bltter-aweat of hnpplneaa gone, of tho prlaoner In hla cell, uf the "ahadow o'er tho heart.' Hero In Odeaaa, by tha Black aoa, there la and baa been opera, good opera fur aevoral dreadful yeara. Tho fteide outaldo tho city are hare, the ram". tiiea are full, and new onoa gapo fur mora bodlee each day. No home, no city, no war, no battlefield known auch aadneaa. Tho alngera on tho atago are hungry, ao are the ooono ehlflere; the mualciuna are hungry and ao la tho audience. Yet earn evening, through tha darkening dark-ening atreeta, thouaanda take their aoula to tho doora of tho handanme -wpora houao, thuuaanda whoae bfMllea aro ragged with old clothea, wnoae atomacha aro aa empty aa the fleUla; but whoae toearta yet reapund to the maglo of mualo. The operea are aometlmee thnae of Italy 'Toaca" and "1 Travlnta," but more often Kuaalan. l'uahkln, the famoua puet, graced tha city with hla reejilence for many yeara, and ao operaa made from hla at or lea are liked, "Maaeppa," among othera. One favMito la "Iobrovaky," tho tragedy of a bandlf, libretto by l'uahkln, mualc by f-'jprovnikl. Thla opera haa a fine romance, a duet In the third act when lovers alng and promlae to ba "alwaya true, alwaya tho aame." Thla refrain especially tourhea tha audience. . One remarke It by a ket atlllneaa, rather than by tears. Tha opera over, tha alngera and the men back atago alip homewarda; the people) file out like ehadowa through lha gloom of the atreeta, the llghta of the building drop away, tha mlata roll In from the sea, and darkneae and alienee al-ienee and the unburled poeaeaa Odeaaa, again. |