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WINNETKA TALK February 4, 1928 .S MINUTE STUDY EVOLVES NEW OPERA STRUCTURE Wacker Drive Building to Con- tain Best Features of World's Great Opera Houses Editor's note: Following is the third article appearing on the Music Page and relating to the proposed new Chicago Civic Opera structure to be located on Wacker Drive between Madison and Washington streets, Chicago. Intensive study of details which should be and could be incorporated in the new Civic Opera building was be- gun soon after the end of the 1926-27 opera season. A committee, so to speak, went abroad to study the latest in opera house and theater design and equipment over there as well as in the United States. The members of this committee were: Ernest R. Graham, of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White. Alfred Shaw, of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White. Herbert M. Johnson, business manager, Chicago Civic Opera company. Harry W. Beatty, technical director, Chicago Civic Opera company. Charles Moor, stage director, Chicago Civic Opera company. Edward H. Moore, chief electrician, Chicago Civic Opera company. They visited Paris, Stuttgart, Chem- nitz, Nuremberg, Bayreuth, Dresden, Berlin, Hamburg, Magdeburg, Frank- fort, Bordeaux, Milan, Vienna, Rome, Naples and London. Complete and Unique In consequence of this study, both the opera house and the small theater, which will be included in the Twenty Wacker Drive building, will be not only complete, but in many respects unique. The opera house will not be simply an auditorium in a large build- ing where operatic performances can be presented. It will be a complete Opera House, in harmony with the ac- cepted ideas of what a home for opera should be, although enclosed within and a part of a commercial building. There will be an impressive colon- nade along practically the entire 400 feet of the Wacker drive frontage. En- trance to the opera house will be through the south end of this colon- nade, entrance to the small theater through the north end, and entrance to the office building, foyer and eleva- tors through the center. Patrons of the Opera coming on foot, by street car or in motor cars, will arrive first under this great colonnade, which will be a protection from the weather--35 to. 40 automobiles can take on or discharge passengers there at one time--and from there they will enter the various lobbies and foyers connected with all floors of the Opera House. Ticket lobbies will be conveniently adjacent to the entrance, but so placed that buyers will be out of the way of persons coming in or going out. Convenient Access From the grand foyer at the level of the parquet a grand staircase will lead to the mezzanine lounge at the rear of the boxes. Separate stairs will rise from the main lounge to the bal- conies and there will be additional stairways for convenient and ample access from all parts of the auditorium. There will also be special elevator ser- vice to the balconies and galleries. The seating capacity of the Opera House will be a little more than the approximately 3,600 of the present home of opera in the Auditorium, but differently distributed. On the main floor, instead of some 900 seats as in the Auditorium, there will be approxi- mately 1,700. Instead of the 58 boxes Music News and Events iL Great Metropolitan Tenor Next on Music Club Program Giovanni Martinelli, famous tenor of the Metropolitan and Ravinia Opera companies, will give the next recital of the Winnetka Music club 1927-28 series. He appears at New Trier auditorium Wednesday evening, March 7. Gordon String Quartet Gives Concert Sunday Sunday afternoon, February 5, the first of a series of six chamber music concerts by the Gordon String quartet will be given in the James Simpson theatre of Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. The concert will be- gin at 3 p. m. The other five con- certs are scheduled for February 19, March 11 and 25, and April 8 and 15. These concerts are given under the auspices of the Chicago Chamber Music society, which will charge a small ad- mission fee. of the Auditorium, there will be 36 boxes. Side boxes will be dispensed with. Each box of the double tier will offer a perfect view of the stage and will in turn be easily seen from almost any part of the auditorium. A new feature will be an "omnibus box" for men pa- trons of opera who may attend unac- companied. Above the box floor there will be a balcony and a gallery, each with approximately 850 seats. ARTIST Great Muzio Is Accorded Ovation in Opening Performance of Civic Mat- inees at Aragon Ballroom IS SUPREME Civic advancement through civic en- tertainments was proved an unquali- fied success by 5,000 music lovers who attended the first of the Uptown Civic matinees Sunday, January 29, at 3 p.m., in the Aragon ballroom, Chica- go. They came by "L," bus, street car, auto and afoot--and to the sur- prise of the men and women sponsor- ing this movement, they came from all over Chicago and suburbs to hear one of the finest concerts ever pre- sented by Claudia Muzio, the world- famous grand opera soprano. Naturally a large crowd was expect- ed, for Claudia Muzio has always filled the hall in Uptown Chicago, and to this, her only concert appearance in Chicago this season, music patrons could be expected to flock. But that many should be turned away from the doors disappointed was quite beyond the dreams of the most optimistic of community boosters. Yet.that is ex- actly what happened--disappointed folks were turned away by the score, and the Aragon, the largest hall on the north side, was packed clear to the roof. Enthusiasm ran high. The au- dience applauded again and again the glorious melodies that poured forth from Muzio's golden throat. And Madam Muzio, catching their infec- tious enthusiasm, repaid their generous applause with great generosity of en- cores. The second matinee in the series, to be given Sunday, February 5, at 3 p.m. in the Aragon, will feature Vera Mirova, the well known Russian danc- er. She is bringing from Java and Burma certain oriental dances that never before were seen outside of temples and palaces, and dances that no other white woman has been taught. These are made gorgeously real by specially adapted oriental music and by being danced in exact oriental cos- tume. Mm