Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-06

| grave of what was going on here, and that
| these divine sounds were the clothing of
thoughts which were at this moment pass
ing through his brain, not recognized and
| familiar ones which had issued from it at
| some former time.
The entire overture, long as it was, was
played to a dark house with the curtain
| down. 1t was exquisite, it was delicious.
But straightway thereafter, of course, came
| the singing, and it does seem to me that
nothing can make a Wagner opera abso-
| lutely perfect and satisfactory to the untu-
tored but to leave out the vocal parts. L
wish L conld see Wagner opera done in
pantomime once. Then one would have the
lovely orchestration unvexed to listen to
and bathe his spirit in, and the bewilder-
ingly beautiful scenery to intoxicate his
eyes with, and the dumb acting couldn't
mar these pleasures, because there isn't
often anything in the Wagner opera that
one would call by such a violent name as
acting; as rule all you would see would be
a couple of silent people, one of them stand
ing still, the other catching flies. Of course
do not really mean that he would be CATCH
ing flies, Ionly mean that the usual operatic
gestures, which consist in reaching first one
hand out into the air and then the other,
might suggest the sport 1 speak of if the
operator attended strictly to business and
uttered no sound
Enjoyed in Spite of the Singing.
This present opera was ''ParsifaL" Nine
Wagner does not permit its representation
anywhere but in Bayreuth. The first act of
the three occupied two hours, and enjoyed
that in spite of the singing
1 trust that 1 know as we'll as anybody
that singing is one of the most enhancing
and bewitching and moving and eloquent Of
all the vehicles invented by man for the
conveying of feeling; but it seems to me
that chief virtue in song is melody, air,
tune, rhythm, or what you please to cali it,
and that when this feature is absent what
remains is picture with the color left out.
/ was not able to detect in the vocal parts
of stParsifal" anything that might with
confidence be called rhythm or tune or mel
ody; one person performed at a time-and q
long time, too-often in a noble and always
in high-priced voice; but he only pulled
out long notes, then some short ones, then
another long one, then sharp, quick
peremptory bark or two-and so on
and SO on; and when he was done
you saw that the information which
he had conveyed had not compensated
for the disturbance. Not always but pretty
often. If two of them would be put in
duet occasionally and blend the voices; but
no, they don't do that. The great master,
who knew so well how to make 100 instru-
ments rejoice in unison and pour out their
souls in mingled and melodious tides Of de-
lcious sound, deals only in barren solos
when he puts in the vocal parts. 1t NAV be
that he was deep, and only adds the singing
to his operas for the sake of the contrast it
would make with the music.
Calls 1t Vocal Gymnastic,.
Singing! 1t does seem the wrong name
to apply to it. Strictly described, it is
practicing of difficult and unpleasant inter-
walls, mainly. An ignorant person gets tired
of listening to gymnastic intervals in the
long run, no matter how pleasant they may
be. In ''Parsifal' there is a hermit named
Go17eenaanz who stands on the stage and prac-
tices by the hour, while first one and then
another character of the east eudures what
he can of it and retires to die.
During the evening there was an inter-
mission of three-quarters of an hour after
the first act and one an hour long after the
second In both instances the theater was
totally emptied. People who had previ-
ously engaged tables in the one sole eating
house were able to put in their time very
satisfactorily; the other thousand went
hungry. The opera was concluded at 10 in
the evening or little later. When we
reached home we had been gone more than
seven hours Seven hours at S. ticket is
almost too much for the money.
While browsing about the front ward
among the crowd between the acts l en-
countered II or Is friends from different
parts of America, and those of them who
were most familiar with Wagner said that
"Parsifal' seldom pleased at first, but that
after one had heard it several times it was
almost sure to become the fayorite 1t
seemed impossible, but it was true, for the
statement came from people whose word
was not to be doubted.
Coming to an Understanding.
And I gathered some further information.
On the ground 1 found part of German |
musical magazine, and in it letter written |
by Uhlic SO years ago, in which he defends |
the scorned and abused Wagner against |
people like me, who found fault with the |
comprehensive absence of what our kind |
regards as singing. Uhlic says Wagner de- |
spised 'jene plapperude musik," and there
fore ''runs, Jrills. and schnorkel are dis
carded by him. l don't know what a
schnorkel is, but now that / know it has
been left out Of these operas I never have
missed anything so much in nv life. And
Uhlic further says that Wagner's song is