New-York tribune., 1882-08-12
LILLE SECRET or WAGNERISM

A letter from Bayreuth which we publish this
morning gives the impressions produced upon a
highly accomplished and judciOus musician by
the extraordinary representations which have
lately attracted so much attention amongst the
lovers of art. The reader is referred to our
CORRESPONDENT for iull details of the perform
ance, of whose general success brief account
had already reached us by telegraph. But
after all has been said about the splendor OF
the music, the impressycness of the action, the
personai influence of the composer, the con-
tagous effect of enthusiasm III a crowd of
zcalots, and the novelty of this method of Civ
ing opera, Wagner still remains a problem
which pilues the curiosity OF the world. Why
is this man the greatest musical sensatiOn-tO
borrow popular phrase-not only OF his own
time but perhaps of all time q? Why do men
watch his proceedings, study bis principles,
and await his productions with so much more
interest than they ever manifested III the most
ilustrious of his predecessors, In Bach, or
Handel, or Beethoven, or MozartY
1t is because Magnetism represents the
renascence of an art which was far gone in its
decline. The typical opera of the past-the
richest, the most beautiful, the most abundant,
reached its elimination fifty years ago, or
about the time OF ROssnl's meridian splendor.
Its subsequent course has been marked by all
the signs of decay. 1t has been frivolous and
insincere art, destitute OF great ideas, sterile,
unaspirng, polishing over and over the same
forms and phrases, content to create nothing
but to repeat the old commOnplaces which grow
fainter with every repetition. Outside of Italy
there Was no promise The Germans had no
national opera; and the French school, less
aspiring even than the Italian, developed the
melodramatic medleys of Meyerbeer, and, find
ing no progress in that direction, stopped short
Thus it happened that one of the most refined
aud elegant of amusements lost it hold upon
people of taste, and degenerated into the mere
accompaniment of social Gayety. AS the art of
painting i'll It's decadence sinks TO the function
of wall decoration, SO the declining opera be-
comes no longer priced for itself, but is only a
musical entertainment which animates the
spirits and sustains the tagging conversation
OF fashionable subscribers i'll the boxes. Nat
uray the race OF great singers dies cut; the
very traditions of the grand style are forgotten
I in an age which has no use lOI them. In forty
years only one great opera has been written
in France, only one vigorous and brilliant com
poser Has arisen III Italy. 1t Is clear that Gou-
nod exhausted himself in Faust" and
Verdi's doubtful fame rests upon only three
ont of his numerous works; OF these, " ii TrO-
vatore Is fastening to the limbo where gloomy
"Ernan stalks silent; La Traviata " Is
saved for a while only because Nioletta wishes
TO use it for prima-dOnna- music and Aida
is an experiment in transition valuable chiefly
because it shows tendency toward something
else-we must wait for Verdis next opera
before we decide what.
Thus we may restrict the living operas of the
French and Italian stage to Faust and
Aida and both were written under the in
iluence of the great revival which began in
Germany with the appearance OF "Tann-
hauser y III 1915. Here, at last, was some
thing genuine, aud earnest, and strong and as
one imposing drama followed another, although
quarrels, as might have been expected, waxed
furious over the composers reforms. the world
could not lelp recognizing the wholly new
direction he was giving 10 art, the fruitful life
which began to abound in the dropping frame,
the fresh and heroic impulses which throbbed
i'll lyric music and stirred the whole people 10
strange emotions. The course of the revival
has been slow, perhaps, but not so SLOW as the
superficial observer might suppose. Its in
fiuencc has gone deep, aud extended III many
directions. 1t has affected the taste and under
standing of the masses with surprising force
1t has touched all schools OF composition, and
sometimes startled the pcdants in a comical
way that reminds us of a drOwsy man reused
by hot coal. 1t has brought forth ettava-
gances, it has run into errors but everybody
can see that IL has given astonishing life and
dignity to an art that was almost dead, and "a
lofty ambition to artists who had lost the habit
OF earnest endcavor. If there is to DO "a
bright future for opera. the only direction IL