The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-06-21


which could NOT be done IN the modern German
theatres. tie gave me an interesting account of q
"trip ne made In Northwestern Germany last year
for the purpose OF selecting singers for tine Nibe-
lungen performance. He had been fortified to
meet much disappointment IN the operate per-
formances; he returned Disguised with the frivO-
lous, nay sacriegious, wickedness carried on with
the German opera by theatrical directors singers
and kapetineisters In general. In Wurzburg he saw
performance OF .'Don Juan" where the kapell-
naester endeayored to prove what the singers could
do With incorrect tempo all through In Carlsruhe
the regisseur had undertaken to improve the CLOS
ing scene OF the second act OF .Lohengrn' by
making the Archbishop OF Antwerp meet Lohen-
grim and Elsa halt way to church, and give them
his blessing In Vienna the opera is overrun by
the ballet that pure opera is impossible. Wagner
found one OF his operas there so much dishgured
and cut down that he left the house in disgust. In
Hamburg the opera was ''unbearable;" IN Berlin
"horrtd )" in Cologne 'abomnable y He heard very
respectable performance OF the "Mesterslngern
at Bremen, and elt in duty bound to give the Bre
men singers and managers tull praise. He re-
turned home more than ever filled with the neces-
sty there is for reform in the German opera, the
necessity TO establish, as ne intends, school for
the music drama in his NiDeungen Theatre, at
Baireuth.
OPERATE INCOMPETENCE.
Everywhere Wagner found tncOmpetence-ina-
bility on the part of directors and managers to
comprehend the true mission of drama tic opera.
Everything was sacrificed to gaales aud by sing
10 the mania for applause. What one manager
sus tanned another suppressed, and only in Dresden
and Magdeburg and Munich was his "LOhengrn"
given entire All operas suffered from this barba-
Ran Acknowledgement, Mozart, Auber, RIOS
sini-eyerybody. He found the orchestra leaders
ignorant. as rule, OF the dramatic necessities OF
the opera; and the singers, trained in French man.
nersm, had lost all naturainess. AS for scenery,
it seemed to be considered a matter OF little ac-
xlfra Thao evadv
for personal applause than the success OF an opera
as a whole. The directors know more about mill
tary parades and ballet than operate beauties;
the orchestra lie iders recruit their personnel rom
beer gardens and concert halls: the public is arb
trary and demand amusement rather than pure,
eleyatng music.
THE PUBLIC TO BE REFORMED.
1.-THE public said Wagner, needs reform as
much as the German opera ITSELF" He spoke of
the annoyance given TO true lovers Of music By the
audience struggling IN during the overture, by
gosslping when the intention OF the composer is
10 prepare the minds OF the audience Tor what is to
come. AS prayer is the prelude to worship so is
the overture the prelude to opera. Then towards
the close there Is the other annoyance OF many OF
the audience leaving their seats in order to get
their overcoats and shawis before the great crowd
had in Frankfort during mutiated performances
OF his "Lohengrin,' when at halfpast nine, half an
ns S 1s 40
FrankiOrters leave their boxes so early when the
opera which Is certainly beautiful one, tt was
dramatist by my side. .Oh." he answered, '.you
must know that In Frankfort it is the custom to
have potato salad and wurst and other deicacies
on the patrican table at hafpast nine, aid o solid
Frankfort patrcian would sooner lose naf the opera
than miss his potato salad" 1.-THE mission Of
opera has been mistaken" said Wagner .People
have been in the habit Of going to opera for the
sake OF being amused The mission OF the true
opera Is TO elevate and ennoble. intend to make
Baireuth the gathering place for the best operate
strength Of Germany. for the exercise OF the highest
German original art / selected Baireuth In order
not to come in conflict with public whose taste Is
already vitiated"
wagner spoke OF actors land singers at some
length and OF the combination OF the dramatic and
musical excellence which the production OF his
operas demands. He abhors the actor or singer
who never fOrgets himself his ego. on the stage.
His ideal seemed to be Nine. Schr0eder-Devrient,
a woman OF whom the composer spoke with deep
warmth and reverence. She was both actress ana
singer in one person. the one supporting and COM
ideal OF the singer OF the future And glorious
ideal he has given US Wagner first requires poe
try, wherein to build his music He requires the
musical intentions. He does not think that the
| German has, by nature, any talent for dramatic
the German is an actor only through study and
naturaness. 1t is in the realm OF music where the
played. Hitherto this realm has been as
good az closed to the dramatisf. 1t is
a wondrous, illimited realm, which we
are entering with the music drama as nave en-
deayored to expOund it." at was Nine. Schroeder
Devrient," said the composer, who drst revealed
to me the great beauty and power OF the music
drama / was repeatedly asked how liked her
singing. / SAID, She has no voice, but she under
stands so well how and when to breathe, and to let
her true woman's soul stream out SO wondrously
in song, that in listening to her neither
thought OF her singing nor OF her voice. To this
great woman owe all my knowledge Of the nature
OF the mimic art; and In her this art consisted but
IN truth'uness, in naturainess 10 reality, the lor-
getnlness OF herself, and the embodiment for the
time being in the person the heroine 70 be delin-
ated The denial Of ones self, this living over OF
other lives are the essentials Of dramatic success.
The wonderful play OF this woman revealed to me
the true secret OF the mimic art. She conld not
restrain her emotions; her play was part OF her
h|e Despising applause, she always lamented that
she was not gifted with the genius OF her mother,
the great Sophie Schroeder It was the spirit Of
with her mother. Without music she would not
have been So" Wagner referred me for more
Information on this great woman 20 one OF his nu-
merous pampnlets-the one on factors and Sing
ers'-which since my interview have read with
great interest ,,s,c
wagner accepts as q fact the decay OF the drama
In Germany and IN England. He endeavors to call
up in his music dramas new genre OF OPERA
national German drama, which we style music
DRAMA since ne starts out on the proposition That
the strong point Of the German 10 music, the weak
point drama and by combining the two he idealizes
the former and thus eevates 1t to q standard htn-
the genius OF single men, like the Devrients in
Germany and GarricK in England, have elevated
tne theatre through their own exertions ana ge-
ner strives for rst Of all; not an elevation OF mu
sic, which in Beethoven he says reached ITS high
est possible development Wagners estimate Of
Beethoven, in his essay on the dear CON-
poser, is concentrated in few sentences
Sit is considered to be a physiological
axiom for high intellectual capacity, that
q large brain should be enclosed In a thin, deli
cate skull as II Tor the easier and immediate per-
ception Of external things. But when, several
years ago. the remains OF the great composer were
examined, 1t was found that the skull correspond
ing to extraordinary strength or the bOny struc-
ture was OF unusual thickness and density. Thus
did nature protect In him brain OF extraordinary
constituencies, that he could gaze into himself
and into his own great heart In undisturbed calm.
For Beethoven, Mozart, Guck, Weber, WaR.
ner has only words OF true appreciation. Said
Wagner 10 some friend not long ago:-"Culture
came to Germany earlier from the Latin lands. A
hundred years ago the Latin language was that OF
the servants the French that OF fashion. Music
alone maintained Itself German, In the names of
Sebastian Bach, Gluck, Beethoven, Mozart, Weber.
They ali worked on Germany's musical develop
ment.s
wAGNER'S FIELD
In the field OF oratOrIos and phonies, the high
est has already been attained Beethoven left only
sin gle opera "FidellO,r in Itself gem pointing