Show A CRISIS REACHED IN INNE i NE NEW YORK OPERA I SHAT the whole land Including Salt Lake had hod gone frenzied on the building of theaters every ever everyone one knew but few Cew people ex expected expected that the earliest signs of dis distress tress Hess would come coma from the two great operatic rivals In Now New York What cut cutthroat throat competition can do In he amuse amusement amusement ment line however as well weB as In the tho purely commercial s well shown b by bythe the following from last weeks Musical America A crIsis has ben been reached In operatic affairs In Now York city owing to a number ot of cau causes s some of oC which have lJ uteri en foreseen for Cor somo time picot by those Intimately acq acquainted with the workings of operatic affairs In ew York While the subscription at athe athe he Metropolitan has broken all rec rIs and some of oC the performances nave nao been crowd crowded ell It Is i from Crom liable enable sources that the r c 1 will till fall all so 50 far below the expenditures have been enormous that h t it at the nd ml of oC the season the directors will be beace beace ace to face Cace with a deficit ot o nearly early a a sullen dollars or more than double he deficit of last season On the other hand Mr 11 Hammerstein as formally forma II admitted that so Car thIs atson he Is n a quarter of a 11 million out JC f pocket though he hopes to recoup one orne of oC this loss noW that the holidays Ire re over and theatrical and n musical generally will Improve During the past Cew das there have PIn all kinds of oC rumors afloat of po poe mergers between the two op louses One rumor stated that Mr had been offered ha hall a mu ion dollars by the directors oC the ll Iet to quit qua the field This was field chic was the denied on behalf of tan directors a aIt It has been pretty del definitely bo fished however that negotiations havo ha been pending between Arthur Hammer the Impresarios Impresario son and Otto H Kahn of the Metropolitan board look lok ng toward a 11 oC o Interests According to young Mr Hamm these negotiations were very velT fa Y received b by Mr Kahn who participated In several conferences on an the sUbject The general plan of these conferences was to establish n a under understanding understanding standing between the two houses whereby the extravagant nt Increase of oC salaries and the constant trouble caused b by artists In both companies threaten ng to join john the opposition forces unless unreasonable demands were granted could be obviated The causes of oC the deficit at the Metro letro Metropolitan poll politan tan are due as some state to the laudable efforts of oC the directors to give Ive opera such as had never been given before beCore In New York which resulted In and Dippel and the tho other gentleman Interested In the management or of the company getting carte blanche to make such engagements and expend such sums as would secure the desired results Another cause of oC the strain upon the tho management or of both our leading opera houses houes Is due to the competition be between between tween the two houses which has ro re resulted In boosting the tho salaries ot of singers about to and even 00 per cent of what the same singers re receive In Europe In the case of oC the tho Metropolitan It has 1138 also resulted ow owIng owing Ing t ts t the large plans of the manage management ma ae ment of more artists than could ho bo employed so that It has bas been calculated that the tho Metropolitan Opera House Is paying out each ench week about In the wa way of oC salaries over an and I I I Ia above what the artists Is to 10 say a that the they are arc not enabled to give gle the tho artists the thc contracted number or of performances yet et the they have to pay pa for Cor them In a season of weeks this alone would amount to nearl nearly of oC a million del deficit cit Quo factor In the situation which must not be neglected Is that the tors of oC the Metropolitan hall had virtually come to the conclusion last season or of building a now new opera house farther Carther up town which would be read ready for occupancy pancy the season after aCter next In which case the present Metropolitan Opera Opel House would Ie be It Is understood sold to Marshall FellI Feld Co o of Chicago who are arc understood to have made n a successful bid for the property some time ago At the time that these various re reports reports ports are being circulated Andras Dippel has I Issued a statement to the effect that In the tho near future the tho Metropolitan Opera House company contemplated extending their opera practically all over the United States and creating operatic centers with their own chorus orchestra etc but where the principal artists would be provided b by the Metropolitan Open Oper company compan so that the Metropolitan Opera company would vIrtually finance a comprehensive scheme of oC opera for tho entire United States A As a farewell shot Mr stein has hns declared that In the event of oC the Metropolitan company compan continuing the tho present ruinous competition he will accept th the offers of oC a number of oC weal thy men which have been made to hIm and will then undertake a war to the knife with the Metropolitan com company Il l pany a which h will extend tend from Crom the At lantic to the Pacific |