New-York tribune., 1891-08-29
WAGNERTANA.
FESTIVAL NOTES AND COMMENTS.


ING PARopy-HAxs SACHS AND THE VENUS
BURG AND TRIsTRAM LEGENDs-AUTo-
GRAPHs AND UNPUBLISHED
LETTERS OF WAGNER.
NnrenBeFg August s.
For the first time have heard persons coming
mt from a performance Of Tannhaeuser' crlticise
Wagner for bringing the corpse OF Elizaoeth OF
The stage in the last act The objection 10 the
scene lies near enough 10 be considered obvious
but to me the circumstance seemed an adhhrao"
illustration of the seriousness OF view nspiIeu %
the Bayreuth festivals In the opera as origlnanS
written ana performed neither venus noi inN
abeth was bodily visible the stage IN tiie iasV
aet. The former suggested by rosy hgn'
which sufused the stage in the vicinity OF the
Hoerseberg which in reality is so far dstaat from
the Wartburg that to make Venus visible Is an
error OF place: the death of the latter was sug-
rested by the tolling of bell on the castle. Inc
contrasted effect | am sure was much more
nowerful stimulant 10 the imagination ana emo
1ions than the present transformation scene which
trinns tine orotto of Venus into the 'Thurlnglan
Valley and unavoidably invites speculation as 10
how Elizabeth could climb the mountain 10 bne
Wartburc die. be laid out for burial ana De
brought down TO the valley again While Wollr@i
is singing his romance and the returned l"nn-
baeuser telling the story of his fruitess pilgrimage
The incidents are connected so cleverly that q
Iapse of hours between them cannot be fancleo'
1t is early evening when Elizabeth AFTER her
prayer starts for the castle Darkness falls as she
oscends the hill Wolfram salutes the evening
star as soon as 1T appears His postlude is inter-
rupted by the entrance Of 1annhaeuser' "hose
6rst words {" Ich hOeete HarfensehlagD , pTe-
clude the idea OF an intermisson. lannoae user
tells bis tale at once, yet on its conclusion Hornns
breaks and the funeral-train OF Enzape'h ap-
pears Wagner protested in 1852 that the chahge
I'm the final scene had been contemplated from
the first was essential to realization Oh ue
ethical idea Of Tannhaeusers redemption 'hrough
the death and mediation of Elizabeth. NeVetVhe-
less the change was dramatic blunder lhto wnlch
ne was led by his love Of spectacle IKE his su'-
stitution of the lance in Parsifal" for the cues
ton which is the symbol of healing pity in "oit'
ram Won Eschenbachs epic.
After the tragedy the Satyrplay. At sum-
mer theatre in the garden OF the Wlttesoaoh
Hotel here last night, the Nuremburg publc' ln-
clud;no no small number of Bayreuth pilgrims
witnessed that amusing parody on Wagners opera
entitled "Tannhaeuser und die Keilerei auf der
WaFtburen which Mr.. Ambergs company per-
formed in New-York two seasons ago. In tihs
narodv the outward forms of Wagner's book and
music are ingeniously twisted into farce. Inc
satirical purpose Of the librettists, who beleVe
were students at the University of Breslan, Is
little vague, for while the farce is an attack on
the socaled Music of the Future. the MUSIC OIL
the Present is typifed in Dame Venus, VINO is
irepresentd as the keeper Of care chal'ahV
The chief fun in the performance last night came
from the skt on the Bayreuth festival The
otn of
tival announcement down to the address OF the
Committee on Lodrinqs. I translate few of its
statements
TANNTAEUsER
THE ROW IN THE wURTBERG.
onera of the Future with Music of the Past ana
Groupings of the Present, in three Acts' Dy "asnei
connoisseur Binder. -, -
The two Public Performances VIII take pace oh
August and 8, 1891.
CThen the cast, with the names OF the pcrSOnaso'
MOBILES from the four quarters of the globe and all
conntries Old acquaintances. Old and young bum
mers disguised as pilgrims Will not 9ppeaNS; Na,oTs N
IN Gsek BacoSans saSIs and Fauns
invisible, because SO lightly Clad
The Oldest scenes are copied after nature. Trans
Place: Act Champagne ss ss.dSS TOgnain' Act H.
The beginning Of each Act will be announced by
ranfsres.
Obviously the author of this programme had
been to Bayreuth. The fanfares were those used
at the Wagnerian Mecca, with their rhythm
changed to make them sound like measures from
folksongs, under the music of the parody con-
sisting of folksOng melodies. The house was
darkened at the beginning of each act, and
placard on the back of the conductors chair an
noupced that the orchestra was invisible. The
prformance was received with uproanous good
ubn fror Wan.
merriam shrine at Bayreuth joined without reserve
Probably some of them, if they found it necessary
to ease their consciences, did so Yith the refec-
tions that Wagner himself used TO enjoy the same
parody of his work most heartily, and that, as
rule, only great works are paroded. as only
great men arc caricatured.
There was o special appropriateness in produc-
ing the parody of "Tannhaeuser" in Nuremberg
This picturesque old town is the scene of Wag-
ner's only comedy, and Die Mestersinger Won
Nuremberg Wagner tells US, wos conceived by
him as the Satyrplay which was to follow his
tragedy OF "Tannhaeuser." Greek associations
and Greek ideals were always in his mind, though
his love for theatrical effect of which he was
consummate master, led him TO do many things
which were forbidden by the canons of the Greek
dramatic poets Had he adhered little more
cIcsely TO the spirit of the old rules he would
not have made the mistake Of changing the finale
of "Tannhaeuser, nor have brought the sublime
and ridiculous into such dangerous contiguty
as he has done in the battle between Siegfried
and the dragon. Here in Nuremberg the veritable
Hans Sachs wrote plays on Tannhaeuser, Tristan
and Siegfried between three and four hundred years
before the poet-composer who put him into his
comedy. Very naive and very archaic indeed
ore the poet-cObbler's dramas compared with the
poet-cOmpOser's, but it is, perhaps, not an ex-
sggeration TO say that Sachs was as influential a
factor in the dramatic life of has time as Wagner
in ours. He was among the earliest of the Ger
man poets who took up the Miracle plays and
Mysteries after they had been abandoned by the
Church, and developed them on the
lines which ran out into the classic
German drama. His immediate predecessors