Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-12-30

TT -
METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE.
"Tho impression given by the house is that
it is large. The impression looking dowx
from the balcony is that it is enormous
From the parqnet each circle above is seer
only as narrow rim. The effect Is less, Of
Coarse The first and salient criticism-and
the words were on all lps-was that the
quiet, subdued effect had been pushed to an
extreme The total absence Of bold coloring,
the intricacy and delicacy Of the ornamental
fioD tbat can only be seen from a distance,
was enough Of itself to check enthusiasm.
at would be pretty hard TO get house to
s'riSe" at singer here said a quiet gentle
man in a parquet seat TO the lady beside
him. It's too quiet for much enthusiasm The
great beauty Of finish apparent throughout
was as freely spoken Of. The curtain, itself the
most conspicuous work of art in the house, is
ss rich as curtain may easily be, and is said
to be the most elegant piece Of work of
the kind in the world. Only one other is
ut al similar. It is embroidered work-a
real draped curtain, and not painted repre-
sentation of one Its material was manufac-
tured expressly, and it was constructed by
the most skilled embroiderers Yet it, too,
magnificent beyond question, is SO subdued
that its real elegance is lost on the audi
ence"
TIE PRESENT SEASON.
The present opera season viii be marked
by the production Of q good deal Of Meyer
beer and very little of Wagner. Last years
Wagnerian reign seemed to be almost too
much for the New York musical world. This
years repertorv contains Meyerbeer's Huge
A 81 y d
TELL Mozart's "Dcn Juan" Gounods
Faust" and WagneT's "Lohengrin" and
s'Rheingold"
To the casual visitor the aspect of the di-
rsctor's private Office would suggest little be-
yo1d the placid progress Of a well conducted
business Attaches Of the theatre come and
so, letters are brought in aud answers car
ried forth, but ell is achieved so quietly that
one would suppose the actual transactions
were carried on some twenty miles away
The truth Of the ancient dictum that ap-
pearances are deceitful, however, was never
more clearly proven than by this condition
of things, for if there is any spot on Man
haitian Island where more work is done be-
tween early morning and midnight than at
the Metropolitan, the place would be worth
visiting. Every hall, Office and room in tho
spacious structure, extending from Thirty
ninth to Fortieth street and Broadway to
Seventh avenue, is now tenanted all day long
by singers, songstresses, musicians, painters.
coStunaers and stage hands, and rehearsals of
Eonne sort or other go On without Interrupt
ton, except while the actual performance is
:n progress.
The amount Of work that accompanies the
production Of opera, as it is put on at tho Net
fopolitan opera house, is almost incompre
hensible to tho ordinary mortal. There is a
contant ectiyity in cll the departments of the
enormous place that is positively bewildar-
ing to the outsider. Counting the company,
nbout 1000 people are employed in the build
ing in one way or another Thirty carpen-
ters were employed in preparing the scenery
of the first big Wagnerian production, "Das
Rheingol6,n alone. When this piece was
brought out in Germany it was necessary to
build, in each instance, an entire new stage.
'But," said Mr. Edmund c. Stanton, the
controlling spirit of the Metropolitan domain,
1--we can improve good deal here on lumber
rome German methods. 1t only needed
few American heads to devise as effective
scenes as they have over there without in the
least tearing away the present stage Of the
opera house"
wAGNEE'S "DAS EERINGOLD.n
Il is not often that the entire scenery of an
opera or a play is painted in Europe in order
10 secure accuracy Of detail, but such hes
been the case with "Das Rheingold," and
what is more, its scenery has been produced
from the sane models os were used under
Wagner's direction at the first performance at
Seyroot; the costumes and arrnor have been
i,rT
he designed in 1879. There ere so many re-
quirements made by Wagner in the score Of
''Das Rheingold" for weird, or. what is even
more difficult, purely natural effects in
Scenery, thet tie ingenuity Of TIE stage man.
eyer has been exarteG TO its utmost in order
to secure them without fantastic results.
When the curtain goes up the stage win
he disclosed set Gs a great mountain
gorge. Rocks are on every hand. Most
Of these rocks are covered by the waters
Of the Rhine, which flow TO quite third
of the height Of the proscenium arch
from the stage Thus the action of the scene
occurs beneath the surface OF the river. In
this scene the Rhine maidens first appear
swimming Gs they sing, end here the first
mechanical difficulty is encountered Il was
absolutely necessary that the Illusion should
Movable platforms have been built. CORE
spending In number to the mai5eas From
the certe. of each arises strong iron sup
port on which there are two rests, one for the
knees and the other for the chest Of the
singer.
Lying in this manner the performers have
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