New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-12-05
MUSIC.
wAaNERs TRISTAN UND ISOLDE"


z.. IA r.olae that can be said from study OF
me printed page best advocate and seVeres' 'e
r,nst in the end derive their conclusive arguments
/. stage representation A dramatic work. whether WIN
Zen for speech song becomes truly vital only on 'o
stage and Il is TO the therefore, that the
final appeal must made. Between the book ana inc
performance there are frequent contradictions III TINS
drama as nearly all others Of Wagner and perhaps an
equal amount Of praise and of condemnation wond i
the ground IL those who pronounce them were ooged 10
base their opinions what they and hear in the the
atre instead what they dig out of book and score IN
their studies This being true, Newiorkcrs are 10 oe
congratulated on being a most wonderfully favored
community so opportunity TO enjoy this drama
Is concerned.
We sneak advisedly Tristan ind Isolde" sets before
It's characters the severest problem ana the
most difficult any work in the operate list After
completion it waited six for stage production ana
Wagner found it necessary in 1868, when
he had an ideal representative of Tristan III the
tenor schnorr Won Carosfeld. TO make excisiors
in order to keep the drama "pracucapie'
From 1865 until last summer wherever IL
has been given extensive cuts have been made,
though every grudgingly yielded II yielded at
all by the extreme wing among Wagner's admirers Last
summer Bayreuth the work given in its integrity
and great the rejoicing thereat in the "agneiah
Mecca but the fact added new argument 10 tue case
The conditions at the ayreuth festivals are unique NOT
only are the performers inspired 10y degree OF artistic
devotion not to be found under ordinary circumstances
but they given long resting spells between the acts
The public bring into the theatre greater enthus
asm larger supply Of endurance than are commonly
found Now enthusiasm and endurance are both wantcd
in those who wish TO be really apprccative of Tristan
and this truth reflection the work. Appreciation
of Tristan is more than anything else matter OF
emotion The music with its tumultuous lavacurrent
attacks emotional part more than the Intellect OF
the Judgment This is of the grounds on when ex-
cons are to be commended for there moments in
Wo1,.n sflaa N-anin0 lln
emotional tension great beyond the bounds OF pleas
ure For the performers need Of cxcsons grew out
of physical No singers would be Wiling 10 90
all the work which Wagner assigns 10 tristan and fsotde
under ordinary operate conditions. II would he rlnous
TO their voices they attempted it, This, unquestonaby
is defect ia work which Is only to be explained
ON the ground of wagners we-known Indifference
10 the limits OF vocal possibility Other excisions are de-
handed by mistakes traccabe into Wagners study The
cuts made in Metropolitan Opera House point out
mistakes They chiefly in the love duct OF the
second act the speech OF King Marx after the discovery
and the death scene of Tristan which occupies nearly all
of the third act
Concerning the beauty of duet we have already
spoken composers bodest and most successful
effort TO give musical expression to hot unbrdled pas
sion which puts itself into antagonism with all the
world At its climax Wednesday the Furthermore
limit OF by seemed to have been reached
1t aernaed between accents OF intense yearnng and
passionate oupoungs like boiling torrents IN u tne
singing and the acting of Frauein Lehman ana Helr
Nemann as well as in the PLAYING of the Orchestra T tSer TO
which Herr seidl the npng Spain epe
and of the ply steal limitations which ordinarily
formed as wagner wrote IT, aud heard in Bay
reuIh last summer is thirty minutes long Here, plainly
Wagner and composed with tremendous en-
thuslasn for in the dialogue of this scene lies
the key, and as some viii think the JuslhSauSn'
everything in the drama But pessnistlc philosophy
transmitted through verbal plays which are carried iar
beyond the limits of if not TO the verge OF childish
ness is not GOOD dramatic matter and half hour of it
is much swinburne. who repeatedly makes use OF
he made a study OF Wagner's drama. also attempts
daance with the images of night and day which fills so
is at unlike Germans Isolde checks TriSians song
wherein lie asks;
Tos iss day y.s. sy s thee Sa toy 2tfe
BY calmly Observing
Ihave heard men sing Of love a simpler way
Than these wrought riddles made OF night and day
said that to understand the drama in its complete
one must sympat1e or at es' KNOW ~, pn o
servon necessity is essened by the reduction
ling Justified by dramatic feeling An inactive person
age is not welcome age on The stag least OF an ID
difficulty is not helped out 10y permitting him to en-
though his attributes and conduct admit of explanation
would ind better province in an epic or prose ro
s @Spfs but %O"l Tr.s, SS could do much for
A@%s reputation ny pecpitaHg IGe sca al , nU fa
IRE product of the study on the stage Neither Herr
Nenans acting nor herr fScnE ro ea a e M
patience Wednesday yet it has been generously and
Ii anything could justify retention of all the music of
the last act it would be the performance OF Herr Me
ness have never witnessed on the lyric stage
but ea1reS pa % Si s here
firms the opinion expressed III TINS journal
cision benefits the scene Here Wednesday Herr Me
mann carried bis hearers along with resstes power and
ment The elimination Of his sucIings Was in fact
horrible and could not help wishing he had Sopped
mand The exposure of the sword wound was shocking
would have been glad TO have dispensed with this TOO
vivid realism .
spite OF liz defects exceedingly clear exposition
OF the character the poetcomposer conceived and
that dramatic composition which requires tragic
chsr TO exhibit the progress OF his growth ana disso
luton From the digniucd reserved knight Of the nrst
act TO the impassoned lover OF the second and the
Third there are progressive steps which wildly
presented that no can be oplyious to them As III
"Tannhalser" in TRISTAN" he reserves his powers
for the eliminating scene but he never guilty OF step
which retards the development # the char
that Fastening TO It's destruction compared WIN
his imators that we have seen Cand no heroic tenor
attempts IanuhdnScr now without Initiating Nemanh)
he stands out ID wonderful prominence oy reason OF ms
disregard OF all eXtravagance OF gesture OF utteiahce lis
snallst gestures of eloquent meaning His use Of the
color with voice that has been sadly worm
power His complete absorption by the work IN hand Is
manifest whether he is active or inactive and his IN
has failed even when his own performance mas
fallen OF the high standard which the author of the
art work and hisell have set These qualifications have
noticeable in all that he has done since he 10
NewYork and they shone with peculiar refulgcnce last
Wednesday evening
In every respect his Tristan finely mated by Fru
ein Ielbann's IsOd. Nocally her performance he
yond praise. IL is seldom gwen to the public 10 observe
complete eNoton of artist To her task From her
first note her last she abandoned herself without
seryation publication OF the contents OF
the character. And in her study she
has grounded 1t. She has grasped its passionate
intensity and degree that never so manifest at
this performance she disclosed the wealth OF musical
hstronic gifts which qualify her TO interpret
the hCroncs OF Wagner She proved that the
pcet-comIosers be in spite Of the fact
written for the mere exhibition OF sensuous
beauty OF tone aud that its proper Interpretation calls for
painful sacrifice. Fraulcn Brandts Brdngdne has
many beauties though might be improved If she were
10 bear in mind that she impesonate noble lady
the companion well maid OF princess The artists