New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-08-12
BAYREU TIL.
REFLECTIONS IN THE wAGNERIAN MECCA

4 BONE OF CONTENTION.
FROM srArF CORRESPONDENT OF TIKI rarBuNEi
Bayreuth, July %.
Anybody inclined to idle speculation might
find plenty of occupation in Biyreuth Just no" III
wondering what Richard Wagner would say
be were TO colnc back from the beyond anu uaNc
A look at the institution which his mighty genius
established in this ngforgotten slowly aecaSihs
s.. Frsnconian town. Time was when the Visitors 10
the festival plovs nj the now famous theatre OH
the hillside barring few acidulous SCORERS ana
critics were enthusiasts. who wOrshlpped Win un-
questioning reverence for four or i've hours on
Alternate days in the temple OF "O'ah anu uie
Grail and spent the rest OF the time Drinking ID"
varian beer at Aneermanns Iaudlhg wagner anu
Schopenhauer, patronizing Beethoven anu DAG"
and railing against contemporary art AnseT-
ronr,s WIS hevond question the most uninvtlng
restaurant in the town, but IL was hallO"eu u
the faithful by the occasional presence oil 'he
Meister" who joined in all OF the DIVERSIONS IusV
specifed These CapellmcIs'eIS ana ofchesua
musicians buzzed about the tables and hung
over the beer mugs like bees around sugar p'i-
rel. no liable was complete without at least
cborister Satirsts and scofers never lacked o.
iects for their venOmous shafts and the rowing
nevspaper correspondent had no end of material
for his descriptive pen In spite of the toolsh en-
trayaCance of those early days. however, there
was something more than amiable in the single
ness of purpose, the seriousness OF mnd' the oe
votion and the enthusiasm OF the mulutuues'
The pilgrim 70 Bayreuth of to-day knows not
Angermanns. That is pregnant fact; IL SPEAKS
of change. In year, moreover, Angermahh wiz
be only a memory like the festival of 1876. 1t is
to be torn down TO give place to poSiolnce' ihAS
is the advent of new spirit symbohzed.
There are hundreds of persons IN GaSreu'h W.
l,.n mt
them-who deplore IL woful change that has come
over the Wagner festivals ana wish that they
might turn back the hands of the festival CLOCK
which seem, to them, 10 be Fastening toward the
midnilht of collapse. The change, say theN' Is
external as well as internal, material as wen d.
spiritual. The representations when uleN lhiuK
were conceived for the edihcatOn OF the elect are
in reality enjoyed chiefly by that restless IRE
sis;ibe, incousacrate, unconsclonaple pclhs VINO
goes I'D and down the earth Ike roaring Aoh'
seeking what he may see. BY that mixed meta
phor | intended to designate the tourist lie 10
is who has wrought the change. lie comes i'll
drovcs twice a week, does play OF two tthc
representations being arranged in pairs as if for
bis convenience and the despair Of the hotel ana
clearinghouse keeper then dashes OIL behhd a
snoytino nrunting locomotive to do" Nuren,-
berg and reach Munich before next day sunset.
Naturally enough such bird of passage is not De
loved by the denizen of Bayrcuth III the degree
that the helpessly patient vlcum OF 1875 anu
1882 was Though feathers be grasped by the
handful he does not stay long enough TO De
pluckcd clean: and your average l}ayreuther has
as little admiration for man who escapes WIN
q mark in his pocket barber has for man
who shaves himself with safety razor
greatly fear Chat the downfall OF Angefimhh
and the change in the outward circumstances Of
eli, go npnfo
the artistic taste and principles or the walters anu
coachmen of Bayreuth.
Rut the Tourist is still less beloved by the mem
beers of the Allgemeiner Richard Wagner Verein'
For one thing these good people are unhapplly
convinced that the ctstnesS Of tickets the dlfli-
Guilty of obtaining them, the want OF conslderaC
ton with which the General Verein is treated by
the Board of Administration and thousand other
things which are WEAKNESS to the flesh ana
vexation to the spirit are all due to the same
pestiferous tourist. The Indignation felt by some
of the members found fOrcCful utterRnce at the
meeting of the General Verein on the goth inst.
Moritz Wirth who aspires TO be the chlet apostle
Of MAGNETISM, or at least its official mouthpiece
was outspoken in his denunci0tion of the Board
of Administration and took its members sharply
to task for negecting even the commonest cour-
tesy by refusing to answer communications sent
by the Leipsic branch and failing TO send dele
gate to the meeting. The Wagner Societies, es
pecially the spokesman Of the Leipsic branch, are
under the Impression that they ought TO enjoy GER
tain privileges over the public in general in the
MATER of the purchase of tickets. Their mem
bers are bound TO contribute dollar year each
to the Bayrcuth fund. To each society the Board
of Administration sends tickets which are either
ratified for or otherwise disposed of in the society
Each ticket thus sent costs the branches ovel
IL, = a
regular price OF the balance, thirty-five PEE
cent goes into q fund established for the purpose
of assisting impecuniOuS musicians TO make thu
tourney TO Bayreuth this fund and the balanc
which goes into the festival eXchequer are Tn
society's contribution TO the Wagnerian cause
The report of Herr Puttkamer showed tina
the General Society received nearly $4,000 II
dues last year. of which 81 $40 was expended il
the purchase of tickets, while thirty-ive per cen
went into the festival fund The sum receive
was about $4,000 greater than the year before
although, according 70 the report of Baron Secken
dorf. of Berlin, it appeared that there had been
loss in membership of several hundred. mem
Der from Vienna bemoaned the fact that the de
mand for tickets this year had been so great tina
the special excursion from the Austrian capita
had had 10 be abandoned and instead OF 40
Niennesc. as formerly, only fifty were present o
the opening representation. lie suggested tina
action be taken expressive of regret that ther
was no understanding between the General Was
uer Society and the Festival Board of Administra
ton relative TO the supplying Of those Societie
with all the tickets desired by their member
This introduced the tourist who now, especial
the American species, came in with the Board {
Administration for an equal share of animadve
sion from the indignant Wagnerites. The iat
that the American tourist is "schauluStig," Tia.
is, spectacle loving" seemed peculiarly oitensiN
TO the malcontents in the meeting, but the re-
grievance was probably the fact that he and h
confreres from other countries, including the sc
ton of Germany governed by the Wagn
Verein, had played the role Of the early bird an
promptly gobbled up the ticket worm when 1t WI
eNnnsed nv the Board of administration. lie