, 1876-09-17
The Managers Association
in Secret Session.
Tenor Of the DiScusSiOn---PriV2
Views Publicly Expressed.
Notes Of American and European Act
OTIS and Plays---Lectures Of
the Season.
MUSIC.
WAGNER,
THE EIBELCNGEE TRnQGy.
E2eci1l Eoyrxsp00dencE Of This TTibs,ne.

THE EIBELCNGEE TRu0GY-
E7ecial Correspondence o5 Tbs Tribune.
/
BAYEEUrH, Aug. 2L-The great moment Of
Nayne7's life has come The end OF 25 years
.-'res him an experience TO look back upon,
Il. which e:eyything from poverty to luxury,
l:>;:u cuntenl,;. and accusations Of char,atanism
t. Ike most unlimited lattery, is included, and
TX ii.ss.s himself surrounded by all the nristocra-
T. c: Germany, With the Emperor at their head,
:> ':.s.tl;::g him for doing Tor German musical art
D.s:a;iI didfor German politics, in putting
~: stamp ot nationality upon them. From the
Ny br:sia,liug Of his career, Wagncr's fore
:.--. :;Ir!o,se has been the establishment Of
t.!',1au.hty German art,-not that Germany had
- art. but because the art she had was not her
oy::, but was borrowed, in opera and in drama,
1.elA foreiyn models. Italy had 1,cr opera and
s.:r Iossini; Germany her Mozart and her
f:ucs; but greatly as they differed from the
1t;.l:l eartickler in their compositions, and dis
tasteful were at first the operas, for instance,
"f Mozart to Italian audiences, yet neither
-::ozart nor Gluck-1ndeed, not even the more
ttr.nan Weber-was unliamperel by those
t:,t-at:c traditions Of which Rossini WAS by
irtn-igAt the rightful heir. To free himself,
therefore, from imitation Of foreign models was
Wagner FIRST aim. This We sec already in his
tar4y works, 8 Tannhause- u and s1 Lohengrin,'
which, will. retaining to great extent estab-
1z.cd musical forms Especially for songs,
1.ale great advance over the Italian school III
the Importance attached to the lbrato, the
words Of which were no longer to be repeated
c::Gs&ss'y, without regard to the sense, merely
1of tic sake Of giving play to the trills, runs,
2ii. various contortions Of the singers. This
1irs- Step led 20 q still further advance. With
TIE l1aiians the music had been everything, the
WIS nothing. With Wagner, the words we're
e.SF2ics: to respectable position; but why not
e Scsonn this and create an art which, CON-
l,1inG III itself poetry and music, each in its
highest form, shall be superior to either one OF
1:tt.il alone, lnaslnuch it shall be union oi
the highest qualities OF botha Such was Wag-
A:be!ungen," ard what more Titanic purpose
could III artist have! Ii he succeed,
the world Will have gained nothing less than
d:sanctiveiy new art We may well consent to
wi':c: it may be distinguished from what We
know as ''opcra-" And surely the occasion of
its first presentation TO Us, through theatrical
performance, merits somewhat more deliberate
n:,tl2e .aan that which, in the interval between
tie conclusion of the opera and the hour of GO
ing to press, is written for the daily paper
L-nccaliy is this true, since the novelty Of this
:--t finds Us with no established canons of crit
1s'ls1n ready at hand; and feel certain that auy
criticism upon the -. Ring OF the Nibelung il
c"nst!eiltiously done, than an expression Of the
writer's bcwlioerment, which the music, the
dEa'?aatic force Of the poetry, and the wonderful
sevnic effects have all combined to produce.
Il
We arc now in the midst Of the SECOND per-
f:'-:aance. 4 week ago the great horde of
strangers poured into Bayreuth from a train the
.c"Eta Of which was unprecedented in the ex-
i,rEicllcc of the Oldest inhabitant. At their head
w,-s the Emperor William, followed by innum-
cradle. Counts, Barons, Dukes, Grand Dukes,
D1chtsses Of this city, and Duchesses Of that,
;4':d p choice band OF Berlin pickpockcts. The
Emperor Of Brazil and his wife we're
also passengers by the same train, but as they
came strictly incegaito, they found some difli
Curry III getting carriage. and only after being
pat out uf o11e they had entered did they finally
sl;"eeA i'll entering the one they had ordered.
From, ltt station, through the city to the palace
the Emperor was greeted with prolonged :,rea1ls
''y the lropulacc. This, it must be noticed, is
n: mark Of dlsres;1cct, but is the German
.:t,1lyalcnt Tor our reception with cheers, the
tirr.'lAn cheer being prolonged "Oh!" With
IL '}..Is aud wrcaths, Bayreuth could not have
h''cn gayer when Frederic the Great was accus-
i.'1lel to come here to the entertainments Of
IL: Court oc the Margrave, his sisters hus-
t,antl. And the festive display Of the town was
Isl without its reward for OIL Sunday, the day
AFTER mis- arrival, the Emperor and his party
":7. to be seen repeatedly passing from place
I" place in open carriages, and the curiosity OF
tie PEOPLE was gTatjtled. One could not help
:tsis.asting the conduct OF the Emperor with
t..:.' ri the BAvarian King. who, week pre-
tloJsly. though visiting town In his own
k':sgdosn which he had not seen for 10 years,
N': uose to arrive at O'Clock in the morning,
:!:d Eaves no further qualification TO the
ff1r he
t:e7;ycl from his drive through the town
N l close carriage at night But Louis II.
tlas llis cccentricit.cs; and If We must include
- 1hcm the possession Of miniature park,
" =! lake oug vistas OF mountain scenery,
~ hui;i tho roof of Ms palace at Munich,
- :!ust clso not fail to remember that it Was
L. Who, ALWAYS the devoted friend Of Wagner,
3-:.1etd the 100 600 thale:s which, out OF the
t':tI estimated expense Of this festival (30 600
1i4aiers, or S:3=:5, 5,co}>, were necessary At the
.u:-tt. Indeed, but for him the 8 Ring Of the
N'".unr" would not now be heard ut Bay
rcl:!i.
Seven O'Clock on Suu4ay night was the hour
- tie performance Of s'Rhcingold'' the intro
ds:t;oa to the trilogy; and it would be difficult
I conceive Of more brilliant audience thaa
Tia: wt:ic.. gathered within the walls Of the
neutrality-suspicious., 2s Wagner calls his theatre.
I'e beautiful toilets of the ladies we're worthy
g.: The 1'ule7!h presence, aud when the En-
les.'s with his> smiling faec bowed his thanks
ts t:ic stirring welcome that was given him,
IL; company could not have seemed uniting.
!s- ;4cs tie numerous titled personages, tie
a:icnrc Included musicians, composers, capel-
!::";:tc"s, directors Of theatres, etc, from all
i ::ts Vi Germany; friends of Wagner and
/ :.::slics OF Wagner; and host u critics
r::o AZ: said to he diyided principal
x as ioEows:- London anu Paris eighteen
rs: i, Berlin twenty, Vienna fifteen, America
:r; cen, nu: to mention iudiv;dual representa-
ti::':, ot c,uatless newspapers Prominent at
u: IT the ccEtre ct the rows Of seats. which rise
Il: ai;:;ye tiur from tho edge Of the "gulf' in
w.: ii: TIE orchestra is sunk to the royal gallery
a.. sri hot help observing the charac cteristic
:;-*::r u Franz L:szt, who occupied seat next
- IL daughter, Malame Wagner Gate Madame
~. D:lov) and The Baroness ron Scileinitz,
/ :-@'u-ts whose influence at court the presence
9. ::.e E:2,!erAr had already, 8: previous first