[Footnote 192: This article was written in 1899, on the occasion of
Lorenzo Perosi's coming to Paris to direct his oratorio _La
Resurrection_.] He is simple-hearted and modest, and has a friendly
warmth of affection. When he is conducting the orchestra his striking
silhouette, his slow and awkward gestures in expressive passages, and
his naive movements of passion at dramatic moments, bring to mind one of
Fra Angelico's monks.
For the last eighteen months Don Perosi has been working at a cycle of
twelve oratorios descriptive of the life of Christ. In this short time
he has finished four: _The Passion_, _The Transfiguration_, _The
Resurrection of Lazarus_, _The Resurrection of Christ_. Now he is at
work on the fifth--_The Nativity_.
These compositions alone place him in the front rank of contemporary
musicians. They abound in faults; but their qualities are so rare, and
his soul shines so clearly through them, and such fine sincerity
breathes in them, that I have not the courage to dwell on their
weaknesses. So I shall content myself with remarking, in passing, that
the orchestration is inadequate and awkward, and that the young musician
should strive to make it fuller and more delicate; and though he shows
great ease in composition, he is often too impetuous, and should resist
this tendency; and that, lastly, there are sometimes traces of bad taste
in the music and reminiscences of the classics--all of which are the
sins of youth, which age will certainly cure.
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