Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-09-07

ENTHUSIASTICALLY toilets being out of
place. A few seconds before the overture
the doors are locked to remain barred until
the end of the act. The lights are turned
out, completely darkening the interior. A
strange, weird feeling creeps over him who
for the first time finds himself amid this
darkness and profound silence 1t does not
last long, however, for a glimmer of light
arising from the pit in front of the stage.
where the orchestra is hidden. is an indi
cation that the musicians have taken their
places and that the performance is about
to begin. The first soft strains of the grand
overture of the first act of PaIsifal become
audible-the music increases in volume
until it has reached such a pitch that it
seems to carry everything before it. At an
unexpected moment the curtain rises, dis
closing woodland scene in the Spanish
Pyrenees.
Parsifn1.
Parsifal up to the present time, has been
given on other stage than that upon
which it first made its appearance. Wag-
ner's memory is SO reverenced in Europe
that Notwithstanding the profundity of his
greatest masterpiece there is not inn
presar.o who would have the rashness or
temerity to produce Parslfal liz any other
theater save that of Beyreuth. The opera
was intended for this one stage. Wagner
before his death, it is said, begged his wife
almost pitecusly to do all in her power to
prevent Parsifal from being produced for
other than Beyreuth. and in addition i'm
plored his countrymen never to allow 1t
to be performed in any other German city.
The scene il the woods where Parsfal
is escorted to the temple was pronounced
by an American seated at my side, who
had spent the greater part of his life IN
the great musical centers, as the subiimest
thing he had ever seen in his life, and well
worthy by itself of journey OF 5000 miles.
One beholds Parsifal in the primeval forest
he appears to be walking, in reality he
is not. 1t is the scenery which moves. AT
first huge trees appear which give place
to rocks. boulders, lodges and fantastic
cliffs. In deep recess at the top of a
lofty crag two small columns become dis
cernible which give way to others larger
in size, until they have reached colossal
dimensions, and all that enc sees are mas
sve pillars, which in tL~n gracefully yield
10 the interior of temple, the most beau
tiful setting l have seen anywhere, and un-
doubtedly a reproduction of the interior of
San Marco in Venice. This gradual tran
sition is without question one of the most
effective pieces of staging that has ever
been wrought, and there is nothing that
will surpass it in the opera houses of Paris
Or Vienna. OF the music of Parsfal it is
possible to say but one thing-Wagner re-
garded it as his best composition. 1t is
accepted as such by his followers. The
performance in Beyreuth usually COM
mences at 1 o'clock in the afternoon.
After each act there is an interval of one
or two hours, during which time the
theater is closed. The greater part of the
day is thus consumed, hut it is to the adj
vantage of the audience as well as the
singers, for the former are not wearied by
a long continuous performance and the
latter are given time to rest, which they
well merit.
The Composers Grave.
The Interval between the acts may be
spent in reading the Hbretto while seated
upon one of the many benches in the ex-
tensive park around the theater, in
taking a walk to the grave of Richard
Wagner, at the extreme end of the town.
In the garden in the rear of his house
the great composer has found his last rest
ing place. A plain but massive granite
slab marks the place of burial. When the
writer beheld this grave the vines of ivy
had hidden it almost entirely from view
but that was after the first performance
OF Parsifal, and not at the end of the
festival, when the vines have been de-
prived of their foliage by the thousands
of travellers, who carry off the leaves as
cherished mementos.
JOHN H. METZEROTT.