New-York tribune., 1891-08-29

wifs heeause of her honor. Faithful Eckardt,
character that figures in many Thuringian legends
oeneciallv in tales Of the Wild Hunt, warns each
,,arson in turn 20 beware OF Venus The latter
,;s,sns IN each boast then let's loose an arrow
rach boaster succumbs with brief lamentation.
wben tho play. opens Danheuser is already
nrlsoner of the goddess. After all the rest have
fallen victims he begs for his release, and they
| min in his petition. Venus rejects the petition,
sneaks in praise of her powers and calls on piper
! for music. A general dance follows, whereupon
the company 90 with the enchantress into the
v.nnsberc. The last speech of Venus ends with
the line:
$50 says Hans Sachs of Nuremberg
There is but a single scene in The Court OF
Venus In other plays written after, no matter
how often the action demanded IL, there is neither
change of scenes nor division into acts, and the
nersonaees whether biblical or classical talked In
the manner Of the simple folk Of the sixteenth
century Sachs's tragedy. "Von der strengen
Iieb' Herrn Tristrant nit der schoenen Koenlgln
Isslden {" Concerning the strong love Of Lord
Tristrant for the Beautiful Queen lsalde'j, con-
taius seven acts as is specified in the continuation
of the title {" und nat Akte'). 1t was writ-
ten thirty-sx years later than the Carnival
plav. and three years after the establishment OF
| a theatre in Nuremberg by the mastersngers
Each act ends with triple rhyme. Though Sachs
uses stage directions somewhat freely compared
with the other dramas OF the period the personages
all sneak in the same manner and time and space
arr apnihilated in the action most bewilderingy'
| Thus no sooner does Herr Trstrant" volunteer
10 meet Morholdt der Held" to settle the question
| of Curnewelshlands' tribute 10 lrland, Ihah
the two are at it, hammer and tongs on an lsianu
in the ocean. All the other incidents OF the ola
| legend follow as fast as they are mentioned
| Tristram saves his head In Ireland when ols-
covered as the slayer of "Morhold" by Kidding tho
country of dragon, and Is repeatedly cohVlc'eo
Of treachery and taken buck into confidence py
"Koenig Marx" as one may read in Slr Inomas
Nlalory's "Morte d. Arthur" Sachs follows an old
conclusion of the story, and gives Iristram sec
ond Iseult to wife. This wife. prompted by
desire to test her husband lies about the color oil
the sails of the vessel sent to bring the first seut
70 heal her lover. and Tristram dies. This con-
clusion. which is obviously patterned after the
Greek story of the death of King Aegeus, has been
varied several times in literature, but has never
been more exouisitely treated than by Matthew
Arnold in bis poem The first 1seult dies OF
broken heart at the sight of her lovers bier and
the Herald in q speech draws the moral of the
tale. He warns against Illicit love and concludes:
| Aus dem so lass dich treulich warnen,
| @ Mensch vor solcher Liebe Carmen,
| Und spar dein Lieb' bis in die En-
Damn hab' Elm lieb und Klein meh.
| Dicseelb Lieb st NIT Gott und Ehren,
Die Welt damit frucht bar zu mehren.
Dazu giebt Gott sebst allewegen
| Sein Gnad' Gedeihen und milden Seeen.
Dass stete Lieb' und Treu' aufwaehs'
I'm ehlich'n Stand das wuenscht Hans Sachs.
Among the visitors at Bayrcuth this year is Frau
Josephine Rudolph, who was the travelling COM
panion of Frau Materna when she visited the
| limited States in 1882. Frau Rudolph is the
daughter of TichatschelS the tenor singer at Drcs
den who was the first Tannhacuser. 1chatschek
was one Of Wagner's most intimate friends from
the Kapellmeister days Of the poet-compoSer till
the tenor6 death in 1878. The two kept up
brisk correspondence all through the years of
| Wagners banishment and it was in the attic Of
| TichatschelS's house that the parts Of the SYM
phony were found which Mr.. Seidl was intrusted
to write out in score while he was a member Of
Wagners household Many Of the old singers
manuscript treasures have been dissipated but
Frau Rudolph still has twenty-five Of the com
poser's letters written TO her father and one
written to his first wife, besides number Of
autograph compositions dating back TO his study
| years in Leipsc and the first Of his operas that
found performance These Frau Rudolph is willing
to SELL fact to which call attention in the hope
| of interesting autograph collectors in America.
| The letter TO Wagners first wife was written
before marriage and is peculiarly interesting. She
was an actress and had evidently quarrelled with
the manager of the theatre because the part Of
! Juliet had been given to a rival. She had left
| Magdeburg where Wagner was capellmeister, at
the time, and gone to Berlin Evidently, too, She
| had had a lovers quarrel with Wagner, for the
letter is full Of professions and peadings which
| cuminate in threat to cast aside all work and
| abandon himself to dissipation nness she return
| and take him back in her affections. Then he
formally offers his hand in marriage. Another
letter derives peculiar interest from the festival
! performance Of Tannhaeuser 1t Is addressed to
| Tichatschek and originally incosed statement Of
the cause Of the failure Of "Tannhaeuser" at the
Paris Grand Opera in 1861 which the tenor was to
send TO Robert Heller, musical critic in Hamburg
who was to print it in his journal, the Ham
burger Nachrichten." IL is dated Paris, March 23,
1861. and concludes as follows:
"God, my dearest Tschecke, how much have
the story how, after the first performance Of
| Rienzi,' you forbade the copyist to make the
cuts which l had indicated, and when l took
YOU 10 task, replied: No | will not permit
| How the hot tears ran down my cheeks. q.
| But do not think i'll of me. That, at an age
| when no tenor mas voice OF any Klnu, you leel
stronger and abler than ever, flies in the face
| Of all experience and natures calculations On
this no mortal can or could count; we can only
| cape with astenishment and say Then the
miracle really is possible And thus it Is, for
| what you say all confirm who have heard you.
| Well, heaven bless you! and since it has been
| pleased to preserve you to me In so marvellous
| a manner, so that | may hope TO meet you strong
and well if ever return 10 Germany, we will do
something together to astound everybody"
| Tichatschek was born in 1s07 and remained
on the stage till $685. that is till he was sixty
two years old Evidently he had reproached
Wagner for not choosing him to sing "Tann-
haeuser" in Paris, instead of Nemann, then
thirty years of age. an earlier letter, written
from Venice in 1858, tells playfuly of the estma-
| ton in which Wagner held him, and throws some
light besides on Wagner's attitude toward his
| benevolent friends. / translate: