Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-07-28
"PARSIFAL."
At Rehearsal With Wagner-A Pen
Picture OF the Great Master and
His Artists.
Upon the Stage ut Bayreuth-Description
Of the Theater-The Stage aud
Mystic Abyss.

4
Mystic Abyss.
The correspondent of the New York Heralt
at Bayreuth gives the following interesting
details about the Wagner Theater and tn,
rehearsals of the great opera of Paratal
which has just been so successfully brough
out:
THE WAGNER THEATER.
| The Wagner Theater stands on a Sigh
eminence about mile from the center Of The
town. Nothing could be more simple or un.
pretentious than the exterior, which is of red
brick and pale brown sandstone, with the
woodwork OF the frame showing. The build.
| ing is for use, not for ornament, and while
it is perfectly quiet and harmonious, and ut.
terly unobjectionable, there is nothing about
| II Impressive except its great size. Even
| this loses mach OF its effect, for the theater
| stands quite alone, out in the country, and
| there are no other buildings near by with
| which 10 com pare it. The interior is as un-
| preientious as the outside. Large columns
run along the siGes, and ~ the back are the
( boxes. Over the boxes is a narrow gallery,
but there are no projecting galleries as in
| ordinary fheaters, and no proscenium boxes.
| The eooring is the quietest of grays. The
| first thing that strikes one about the audito-
| ry is the steep pitch of the floor, which is
| sleeper even than that of the old Bowery
Theater, now the Thalia, in New York.
This enables the spectator to see over the
| heads of the people In front of him, SO that
there lie really not one bad seat ia the house
OF the whole 1900, 1850 of which are on the
floor
THE MYSTIC ABYSS.
The most striking Of Wagner's peculiar
inventions, il one may call them SO, is the
sunken orchestra. Just before the first row
OF seats rises curtain screen three feet
high-just high enough not to interfere with
the view of the stage. Between this and the
stage is the famous "mystic abyss where
Wagner places his invisible orchestra Ii is
a cham seventeen feet deep, eighteen ieet
wide, with a further width of ten feet under
the stage, which forms projecting roof over
part OF it, and it extends entirely across the
house. The conductor sits in the middle of
this Immediately under the curved screen
and high up, Invisible to the audience, but
with full view of the stage and having his
band beneath MIN, entirely unoer his control.
All around the front of the stage is sort OF
cloth hood, about four feet wide, which
seems 10 shut the orchestra in still further
and to drown the sound still more.
The device ia very admirable one, for 1t
enables the spectator 10 have clear and I'M
obstructed view of every part of the stage,
by the motions of the men In playing, and,
chief of all, it lessons the intensity OF sound
without muff1ing it or rendering il indistinct.
This Is a most important consideration with
such sonerous Instrumentation as Wsgner's
and with 80 large an orshestra as he employs,
for without some such device as this the
voices of the singers would inevitably be
drowned, while to decrease the number of
the band would be to injure the quality of
tone.
If little unnecessary money has been spent
upon the exterior or upon the decoration of
the auditory it has only been to leave
more for the stage, and here there has been
no niggardliness. By this 1 do not mean the
scenic painting and spectacular effects, which
are of wonderful beauty and of which shall
have occasion to speak later. l mean the
size of the stage and the perfection of the
mechanism.
The dimensions are very large, ninety-five
feet in breadth by seventy nine in depth,
with second stage behind the fret one forty
nine feet broad by forty deep, which is
practically one with the first stage, 30 that if
necessary a stage depth of I19 feet can be
secured. There is an excavation under the
stage thirty-seven feet deep, and above the
stage there is sufficient hight 70 lift the
largest scenes bodily out of sight. The total
hight OF the stage from the bottom of the
cellar TO the apully floor" is l76 feet. The
mechanical devices are admirable. They
have been designed BY the first theatrical ,
mechanicians in Germany, and no expense
has been spared to make Them as perfect as
possible. What effects have been produced
on this stage those readers of the Herold |
who remember the accounts of the Ring DIES
Nibelan1gen performances in 1876 will under
stand. 1t seems likely, from all that can be
told at this early date, that the effects in Par
sitai will rival, il not surpass, those of the
first great festival performances at Bayreuth.
Herr Friedrich Brandt, the distinguished
stage director of the Darmstadt Theater,
cry for the Ring DIES Ni6eiungcn, has been here
with large corps of assistants for over two
months hard at work, and the results of his
labors are said to be very remarkable. The
plan shows a general distribution of the
stage, orchestra and auditory.
HOW WAGNER REHEARsED "PARsIFAL.n
The rehearsal was set for o'clock, but by |
4 80 o'clock very motley crowd had gath
cred around the door OF the theater. Most
of the solo singers were there-Materna,
Miss Carrie Pringle, young American girl, !
who has one OF the smaller parts; Winkel- |
M ann, Scaria, jaeger and the rest OF them
chatting away with each other or their |
friends. There was a party OF officers in gay |
men Madchen mot FLOWER girls" by any |
means), and apparently glad of any excite |
ment TO break the monotoDy of their garri- |
son life. There were lot of boy choristers |
chasing each other about through the crowd, |
and looking mischieyous as choir boys,
for some inscrutable reason, always do. And |
as a background to the whole there was a /
hedge of curious Bayreuthers, who had come |
up the hill TO see the artists go in to their |
work much as they would come to see the |
animals feed. Within the sacred precincts |
Of the theater they could not go, for at the |
door stood two or three watchful Cerberuses,
who informed me with great vehemence that |
they had orders "to admit nobody who was
not member OF the company. Nobody |
could go in on any pretense, not even
mouse" And / have no doubt that they |
were right.
The scene inside was in striking contrast |
to that without. The stage was brilliantly |
lighted, but all The light was turned away
from the auditory, which was in such
pitchy darkness that one could scarcely see
his hand before his face. The stage lad been
bersome practicable" inclined planes which,
with grand piano, had been rolled into
corner cut of the way. At the back was q
drop scene, on which was painted couple
oi snow-capped mountains. Across the front
Of the stage was row of chairs for the solo |
singers VINO were 10 take part In Inc re-
hearsal. Behind these were chairs for others
who were not to sing, but to sit by and profit
by the hints given their friends. Back of
Lhese again were the seats for the chorus, ar
ranged in curvipg rows. From the mystic
,hasm" arose weird, dreary sound Of tuning
which seemed to suggest vaguely
hat we were somewhere in the neighborhood
Of the mouth Of the inferno. Soon the sing
.rs began to stragge in, and by o'clock
nearly every one was in his place.
PEN PICTURE OF WAGNER.
Suddenly Wagner, who had been in lit
lie garden Just outside the theater, came ia.
He was dressed in light drsb overcoat and
a dark coat, which were both thrown open;
in white waistcoat and pair of very light
trousers, and he had huge black necktie,
which spread out over his overcoat. The
isce was the came to which we are accus-
omed in The pictures, and from where sat
could see very little change in him except
hat his hair was somewhat grayer than it
used TO be. He walked briskIy across the
stage, stopping to speak to one or two of the
people, then over temporary bridge which
has been built across the mystic chasn" 10
give access to the auditory, and took his
,eat in the middle ofsthe front row. There
was momentary hush, Lewis voice was
heard from behind the curved screen over
he mystic chasm,n and the rehearsal of the
irst act began. shall not attempt to describe
= II -. l. 4