The New York herald., 1876-08-17
the whole race OF the gods may 60 to darkness sns
cares not, If SIegiried and Brunnhilde are one.
our sFLrcrIoNs rRou THE SCORE.

OUR SELECTIONS FROM THE SCORE.
In work OF such colossal magnitude as ''Segfred,"
the grandes opera OF the Trilogy it extremely dif
cult TO make judclous selections from the score In
those have chosen the characteristics of the two
principal characters. s,egfried aud Brlnnhde, are
powerfully portrayed We name the FIRST selection,
"Ihe sword song" It is sort OF address 10
''Nothung," the sword of segmund by young
hero of the opera In The second selection Siegfried
swings the hammer Justify aud forges the blade anew.
The awakening OF the daughter OF Odn by Sieglried,
her first musical utterances when she recognizes
| that she is longer goddess and that she loves
| mortal will be lound r the few measures marked No.
). The rapturous love duet that concludes the opera,
as tender mpassoned anything that can be
! found in lyric drama in which Brinnhilde and Seg-
fried mutuay pledge their love, very long and try
ing scene We present finale of the scec-
| ton marked No. l. Few singers capable OF doing
! Justice as throat and lungs must give way in nine
! cascs out OF ten.
| RHEIN GoLD-FIRsr GRAND REHEARSAL OF THE
INTRODUCTION TO wAGNEas TRILoGY--THE
COMPOSER STAGE MANAGKR--THE
N1MrHs OF THE RHINE, THE GODS OF WALL
nA1LA AND THE pwARFs NIDELHEIM--
MAGNIFICENT SCENIC EFFECTS.
BAREuTL July 81, 1876
"Rhoingold''-I have just returned from the Festai
! Theatre having " messed the first performance, in
ful costume OF the "i;hengold' y the Introduction OF
| the cycus OF the "Ring OF tho Nibeiungs." About
score Of favored individuals present and few
citizens OF Baircuh. who nad seats provided for them
in the gallery iiaey the Princes gallery.
| The performance gwen with the greatest possible
care and perfection, though the slight interruptions
natural TO first night could not be avoided. Kapel-
meistcr Richter, OF Pesth conducted the invisi-
| bic orchestra Wagner himself omniprescnt
rcqiSSeur directing every movement with
that marvellous energy and consclentiousness
winch he shown throughout the rchearsals IL
| has been interesting to SEQ how Wagner labors
| with head and hand in the production OF his great
operate cvclu- A, nine ten o'clock every morning
| since tho beginning OF June he has spent an
average eight hours day experimenting the rehear-
sails correcting the dramatic expression OF the singers
| the meditation of the orchestra storming and
! laundering praisng and applaudng, first speak
ing for moment with Richter then assisting Siegfred
the execution of an attitude, then coming tor q
moment before the stage to greet friend or take
! short respite from his titanic work In all this Wag-
ner does be at all self-conscious; he does
appear think for moment that ha
is the creator of the glorious scenes and
the wonderful music; that his word
many of the best singers Of Germany have
| gathered about him to learn from him. like school
children the of the music drama There is not
trace oil vanity Wagner when he Is the stage,
oil the stage for that mater. so far as have mad
the opportunity OF observing HIM On the stage, n-
deed, he Is
ABSOLUTE RULER DEspoT,
who cannot brock contradiction, and indeed, why
should he, when he alone knows what be done.
He is man below medium stature, and OF not any par
,culary commanding pre-, ,ence but he has giant brain
and u will that make him sdpreme | have foS
minutes gazing at the man. standing in the middle Of
the stage, looking insignificant in the midst OF mis-
glorious creations listening TO the singing
The the ready stop the action
for a single misone, and have elt deeply Impressed
the that he indeed, those few whom
nature produces once in a century. We may laugh az
the foolish wit about the music OF the luturo, but
shall have admit that he ls indeed king among
men, a Shakespeare the musical world, genius
whose fame must be undying. say this in full knowL
edge of the fact that thousands of persons delight
style themselves an;-Wasnerites from pure snor-
rance, ana other thousands because they do not like
his music his operas, not understanding them But
do auy why these critics should have
their say all the time, for there many thou
sands persons who have the intellectual capacity to
become enamored with wordrous musical and dra-
matte creations.
DRAMATIC
But to "Rhengold'-l almost dread the task Of maxi
ing the scnemc and ideas embodied 10 the entire
opera which .'Rheingold" is the introduction, aud
without knowing something OF these might well
attempt to write about the work at all For tho
basis OF all Wagners creations is the text the poetry,
the symbocal IDEAS which tho and song eluci-
date and illustrate. We have do merely with
musical creation In which poetry and painting
architecture take equal share with the music.
Critics very great mistake when they consider
the by Itself tor II is the union Of all the arts
that GOES o produce the music drama Let us en-.
deavor drst OF all get clear idea OF the poetry.
tho legendary and symoolical element that
unicries the entire work. In bis earlier works in the
Flying Dutchman," 'Tannhauser," "I.ohenerin" and
.Trsian and Isolde" WagneS has told himself that
events historical, but taken from the realm Of
legend myth, alone suitable for the attainment
Of his ideal of the drama, and the .Rng Of
the Nibelung" he has gone deeper that mysterious
world before and instead of dealing with tho
myths that at least semi Christian period
has made bold attempt to bring the entire cyclus OF
the Germanc legends of gods and heroes the scope
drama and placed hem, it were, the irame-
work OF his music The central figure which Wagner
has selected IS
srEGFRiED OF THE SRELuxGxx LIED;
but ho has given new and far grander creation
than s the imperiectly drawn for US by the
medIIval German singers The IN lbclungen Liedv in
lis present but shadow OF what it was IN the
original the Christian coialers carefully ex
plunged every that had the slightest reference
10 the old Northern dvintes. The adventures of ths
siegred of The Lied perfectly nexplicabe in them.
selves The Nibelungen Hoard has significance and
the leading to The Catastrophe the conquest o,
Brlnnhilds for King Gunther gives but cebc idea q,
the story narrated in the EadGs put the matte,
IL as brief space possible IT may be said that Wac.
ner having taken the heroic segircd the central
agure his musical dramatic cyclus, connects tho
nt hcr as IN he T. NJ
dinavian source, embodying therein the legend oi
siegiricd. the Dragon Slayer, and the ideas of old
Northern worship Ali heroes, even In medieval
nmes clad by the poets In heroic character.