, 1861-04-05

/ t{Alls contemporaries ~ tA9 NJ : lE10u1E.l
All the world in Paris. excepting the one
| million six hundred thousand Of its inhabi,
| tants Who ore not aware Of, the zexistenCe Of
Meinherr Wagner, have for the iast six months
been greatly exeTcis ed about the production
| Of that composer q: opera, the "Iau1hauser,"
at the Grand Opera It has benin rehearsal
ever since last autumn ). was first played night
before last, and i. to be performed for tic
| second time this evening. IT,; :: ~ :
] am but the humble tehronicler of the ex-
1 ternaas Of this Tannhiuser-a + Its story, the old
German legend prettily and poetically re-
| sumed By Hene, must already be familiar
| 10 most Of your renders. Introduced into it
as that art-tou1nament did historically
befall,' centuries ago, in the grand hall Of
the old Castle Of the Wartburg, by Efsenach,
| where, yet centuries later, Luther watched
and wished, and wrote bis muscular transla-
tion Of the Hebrew Holy Writ into live Ger
man. The mise en- scene is to the. last degree
artistic. There are landscapes and tableaux,
mixed OF living fgurantea, and gothic archi-
lecture, and middle,aged costume, posed,
painted, and dressedwith the incest regard to
historical accuracy and picturesque effect SO as
to enchant and instruct the spectators, Wheth-
er they be artistic on-lookers OF archaeological
students You must understand that great
war is going. on here in, Paris about;the merits
Of the Trans-Rhehan's composers music.
The Mlnnesingcr contest In the Wartburg
w was joke; to it, Wagner is an innovatof:
The French are, as Tocqueville said, the most
revolutionary and the most routiniere of any
people IN the world. In, nothing are they
more tied to ROUTING than In ait in art they
are nowhere more Toattsne4e thln. in; musical
art. Just because Of their peculiarly fine
sense OF form, they are slow, obstinateIy slow,
IN accepting new forms-~hether in muzic,
literature, or even plastic art. By the, way,
the French people are not musical people.
The only national representative opera in
Paris is the Opera Conique, and not the Ita.
Ian. This Is to be borne in mind. The
french are not musical tor ! n1usic's
sake, but. dramatic. Meantime they have
come to accept certain grand operas for
fashion or acquired tastes sake. These .are
either ltslian operas, done at the Ix11ie7s. or
others set out ut the Grand Opera. Now na
operais set ont at the Grand Opera without a
odeft and magnificent 1tsse In sce1,e. Fashion
able folks are led to the Rue Lepelletier by
their eyes rather than by their ears Wagner. i
being nothing but musician, declared that
he would have no baIlet,in his opera. HeHent
further, and declared that he would have
no cldque 1.-THE hired gang Of applauders al
tachsd toali Parisian theatres] he went yet be-
yond that extrayagance, md insisted that he |
should be the leader Of the orchestra on the
first representation CT thia opera. It would
take at 1east four pages Of note paper, col
ulnn Of the Tribune, to explicate, With intel |
ligble cleanness, the complex snarl Of inter |
ests, passions, jealousies, tea-potiBtic tenn
pests, etc., that all these Wagnerisms gave
rise to in the dilletante Parisian circles. And |
to all tht r force the force Of national vanities
and jca1ousfes-the radical difficulty of q |
tFenchmans recognizing as a merit any merit |
to him hitherto unknown. An opera defiant /
OF Rossini and Meyerbeer; an opera without q |
h.'fst; an opera trans-Rhenar and not trans
Alpine!
Inen there came in SO many Interruptions,
growing out Of Waguer's quarrel with the di- |
rector, with the orchestra leader, with preyi-
GUS engagements Of the Emperor, who must
De present for the first night--thAt all ears of
the little musical world were appricked to the i
highest point Of intensity any time these three
weeks. And speaking Of the Emperor, re-
minds me to tell tue legend explicatife Of how
the trans-Rhenen had the luck upon the PaFi-
sian stage. Months and months ago, there
was private party at the Tui1ieres s-one Of
those semi-Frivate soeil parties, entrance to
which is absolutely barred 10 oar correspond
ent Of American or London court Journals, to |
Col Wapshots, Count Johannes and to all the
riH-raff of well Informed spy report.
er5 for any journals. Charades were PLAYED. |
L. II. 2. is fond Of this sort Of amusement
Princess Metter1ieA did q charade which L. |
N. B. could not guess the ke7-Eord;to; con
"owHed beat,r iif his: Ma,ezty
md company viii permit mel eonaeqaently
was at the orders oi the yivacious Princess
Metternich, wife of Austrian Embassador Met
ternieh, daugliter-in-law Of old hietternich.
Viyacious Princess then says; Have Wag-
ner's Tannhauser performed at the Grand
Opera" And SO, aud only 50, in spite Of all
obstacles, the Eegner's Ial1i;asS.lser has got on
finally to first performance, under difficulties !
iarenee could have prevented from being III
suheTable. Lust learn that the second per
erred. 49, ~: