New-York tribune., 1876-08-23
WAGNER AT BAYREUTH

|
| BAYREUTH, Aug. THE pilgrim from far coun-
try. who reaches this remote little town after much
changing about from slow railroad to another,
| and Sees hillside he approaches the station,
the queer thcaer Of dusiSy red and yellow, skelc-
| ton frame of wood built in with bricks and resting
on a stone basement is lost at first in wonder that
place like Bayrcuth should have been chosen for the
most remarkable musical enterprise and one OF the
greatest experiments in that the world has ever
Bayreuth lies the borders of that inter-
esting region of stalacttic cayerns known as the
Franconian Switzerland but 1t has no curiostles OF
ITS own, and it is out of the routes of travel 1t Is
ancient, but most of its antique buildings were long
ago destroyed 1t has some historical "reminiscences
! of plcasurc-lOying margrayes who held festive
! court here, and whose palaces and gardens are still
in better repair, and OF Jean Paul, whose
statue adOrns of tho public squares, and whose
room in little suburban inn, is shown tOstrangers
but for these things the ordinary tourist cares ttle
The hotels are small and unprctending, and the city
possesses only seven carriages which can be made to
40 duty hacks, that when the festival season
| began vehicles borrowed from Nuremberg
from Wiirzburg and from all the surrounding cities
without wholly satisfactory result however, for
here al the horses and men TO be in the army
while the work is done by the women aud cows
To a traveller it appears that Bayreath is nothing
| except what Wagner makes it, Pictures of tho
master hang in every shop window, and are stamped
upoa ciear-boxes and the covers of bcer-mugs. His
house. in the estimation of the inhabitants, is the
principal monument of the town. 1t is low square
building of yeIlowish stone, set back hundred or
hundred and fifty feet from the road,
and surrounded by garden. Beans and
potatoes bloom around you as you walk up tho
sandy path from the high iron gate to the front door,
and the pleasure grounds in the rear, where the
household is screened from curious eyes. The house
stands at the end of the principal street of Bay
reuth and to reach it you must pass through zone
of bad smells such or usually finds on the out
skirts Of town. All day, till the hour of rehearsal
is near, stream of people moves toward the COM
poscrs Wahnfried" and valet stands at the half
open door to answer their inquiries. Liszt there,
and one can see him and then of morning,
driving abost the city with his daughter, Frau Wag-
ner. Herr Wagner himself often drives in an open ba-
roucbc, sometimes alone sometimes in company with
two or three of the titled personages especially Of
the geutler SEX who make IA little court i'll which he
and Lszt the regning powers. Heads are uncOy-
cred when he passes, and he returns the salute.
Stand for few minutes about midday in tho
square at the center of the town, and what curious
panorama moves before You. All the principal sing
cTs of Germany and some of the first musicians OF
the world are in that laughing aud bus.lng throng.
Wotan chats with the other denzens of Washalla,
and the Walkyries and Rhine-Daughtors show their
honest aud not uncomely faces among the crowd.
They are pleasant diyinites, and never saw but
one of them ont of temper, and she dis
tnguished goddess to whom the hotel people gave
at supper last night bottle of stale beer. Here
! are musicians and amateurs of almost every
nation, Russians, Englishmen, Seryians, Morse
men. and Americans in great number,
even from the Pacific coast And the Bayarian
| pcasantry, with their odd costumes and amazingly
ugly faces come in from the surrounding country to
stare at the unaccuStomed sight.
The King arrived between Saturday and Sunday.
His Majesty, rs all the world knows, is peculiar in
his ways and it suited him to come by special train
from Munich IN the middle of the night. He did not
enter the city at ALL notwithstanding that it had
been ela5ora;ey decorated with flags aad greens in
hi, honor, blt aghtcd in the suburbs opposite the
Jean Paul inn, and thence driven to the fantas-
tic little garden palace known as the Hermitage.
built by Margrave George William, hundred and
Fifty years ago. There is royal palace
in the city, but that is fitting up for
the use of the Emperor William, who is
coming next week. The King likes to listen
to music alone, it arranged that the final
dress rchcarSals of the great Nibclungen Irlogy
should be given as a special performance for his
benefit, and orders were Issued that 10 one what
ever should be admitted except the royal party.
ricI out to the letter. There is a low and barrow
gallery over the Kings box, where few privileged
spectators could neither see the King nor be
by him. and handful of peopC-lizst conspicuous
among thcm-were admitted 70 seats on the hoor
next 10 the orchestra. Ii was NY good fortune to
be one of the favored few lasj M t at this excep
tionaliy private rehearsal of kheingo,d" the pro-
ogue to the Iilogy. We got in early i'll the evening"
lust as the soldiers began TO clear the open space
in front of the theater in preparation for tho
coming of the King, and sat in darkness for moro
than an h0ur admirng the wonderful art with which
the theater is adapted for its purpose Ii Is almost
entirely without ornament, except What II derives
from its excellent architectural proportions. Tho
,roscenum is painted of a sonibcr dusky tint the
ceiling i, fat with frcScoes of neutral shade the
benches are plain, with cane seats, and rise with
steep ascent in rows but slightly curved, the front
row being Just the length of the prosccnium, the
rear nearly twice as long but all the spectators so
placed that they have a clear view of the entire
stage There are no bad seats. At the rear OF tho
benches is the box for the King and other high dlg-
nltarics. The auditorium is small, having capacity
of only 1900. and the width of the proscenium
is not remarkable but the stage itself is OK
enormous breadth and depth, while huge loft for
the working of the machinery towers above IT, and
cellar for the same purpose goes deep below Ihere
are no lights in the auditorium, except few near
tbe ceiling at the sides and rear, and these are
almost entirely eXtinguished before the curtain is
drawn. If one had libretto therefore it would be
,n,possible to follow it during the play. In Wag-
ners dramas the attention must be concentrated on
the stage Even the orchestra and conductor are
out of sight, down in the mystic gulf which sep
arates the spectators from the actors shelf pro-