New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-04-18
MUSIC AND THE DRAMA.
rHE sYMpHONY socIETY.

NJ Damrosch has almost taught us 10 expect an
.r,,,aI performance Of Beethoven's Choral SYM
,hopv He has fired his chorus with an entbus1-
ssm which seems untiring, and at the end
If a season of remarkably hard work they
still seem ready to undertake anything. Thanks
10 their zeal and his own ambition, he was able
70 present last night for the closing concert OF
the SERIES the Ninth Symphony as the prelude to
thu third act Of Wagner's "Siegfriedp Perhaps
this was an anti-clmax, but there seem to have
been reasons for putting the symphony first.
If the Doctor could always be as sure of his or
cbesfra rs he is OF his chorus he might accomplish
much more polished work. But the band just now
"a by no means In good condition. 1t has been
enQrossed ut the opera in music which diff
fers widely from that of the symphony,
and has acquired habits which need sharp correc-
tion The opportunities for serious rehearsal have
been very few quite insufficient, indeed. for 80 ar
duous programme as that of last night. Hence
the execution of the orchestral portions OF
the symphony, though much better at
the concert than at the rehearsal, was
somewhat unsatisfactory; and in the slow move.
ment the defects of tone rendered the more
apparent by the extraordinarily slow tempo, which
was only about half the speed indicated by
Beethoven. The chorus. however, sang with great
frmness and spirit and in the quartet the society
had the valuable assistance of SignOr Campanin,
together with Mrs. Swift. Mrs. Norman IA good,
though very strong contrato), and Mr.. Remmertz.
The selection from "SieCfried" consisted OF
about two thirds or more of the third and last act
no part of which has ever been performed here be-
fore The vocal portions were rendered by the
same four artists who took part in the SYMPHONY
and the band was considerably increased
for the occasion, numbering, we believe.
not far from one hundred instruments
The finale of "Siegfried," like all the later
divisions Of the Nbelung Trilogy derives special In
teres from the brilliant and ingenious use which the
composer makes in it of themes already employedin
connection with the characters and incidents of
previous scenes and to trace the "leading motives"
or threads of suggestions, through the glow
ing pages of the score is a most en-
crossing study. The third act opens with
night aud tempest, and the storm movement, repre-
sented by orchestral prelude constructed upon
remarkable combination of two. or rather three.
leading motives which have a direct and
obvious reference to this part of the
drama. The first is found in the
Ride of the Valkyries, and, as wo
are soon to see, the Valkyrie, Briinnhilde, s the
principal figure in the third act of the opera The
second heard in the bass is the Morn. or Fate, mo-
tive which originally occurred in 'RhinegOld.'
when Odin called up Erda for the first time and was
warned By her OF the approaching doom Of the
gods. The Morn motive is extended to
form q third, symbolical of the GGtterddm-
Heang, or fading power of the gods; and this
makes the most conspicuous figure in the introduce
ton. The appearance of Erda is indicated by
phrase consisting of lopg-drawn harmOnes rather
than melodic figure. In the course of the
dialogue between her and Odin there is such
rapid succession of significant passages
that the entire scene may be said to be
made up of quotations from previous parts of the
No av fha in nfi hp Walhalla m
tive fragments of the music of Freia from Rhine
gold,D SlegTred's Sword motive, bit OF the love
melody of Siegmund and Sieglnde from The
Valkyrie"; and q frequent recurrence OF
the G6tterdammerung motive, we'll as
of heavy bass figure which svmbozes
the law that bound even the gods. The Bird Song
indicates the approach Of Siegfried; the music OF
the Fire scene accompanies his arrival at BrHnn-
hides rock and as he forces the flaming barrier
we hear several of the familiar Siegfued themes. as
we'll as the Slumber music, with which,
in the finale of 1.-The Yalkyrie" 0din laid
Brinnhilde in the long repose. On the
awakening Of Briiunhilde the music takes an enc
tirely new character. Motives employed before.
especially in the story of the love of Segmund
and and Sieglinde, arc repeated, but with
them are melodies belonging TO Briinnhilde
herself, the chief of which will be found described
end quoted in the interesting and valuable
librettO furnished fer last nights performance.
AS the duo between Briinnhilde and Siegfried
moves Oh to its rapturous finale, the form of the
vocal 1arts approaches much moro nearly TO con-
ventiOnal patterns than is usual with Wagner, al
though. OF course, even here the symphonic mode
of treatment is really preserved.
There never has been singer in America capable
of interpreting the music allotted 60 BIiinnhlde in
this scene. and to say that Mrs. Swift was unequal
TO it but family expresses the extent Of her inca
pacity. She gave US hardly Q reflection of
the "wlld, wildering woman" Of WagneTs
creation; aud although some Of the hottest parts
of the burning love duo were cut out there was
very far indeed beyond her powers The most ill.,
tense passages she passed over without trace
of emotion aud more than once the orchestra
overwhelmed her completely. 1t was otherwise with
Campanini, who psrsOnated Siegfried with no little
fire and assurance but he was, OF course, at great
disadvantage in beng associated with an unimpas-
stoned Brinnhiide. He was received with every
demonstration of delight, and the performance as
whole called ont very hearty APPLAUSE,