The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-07-25

rectors and the singers look for instruc-
ton, for suggestion and for approval
AS Nine. Nordica put it, When Niemanh
says it is well done we feel sure the pun
lie will say it is n1agnihcently done
I chatted with him to-day of his career,
of his triumphs in New York, OF his
Tannhauser fiasco in Paris, Of all ms
Wagnerian victories, and he smiled as he
began in this peculiarly characteristic
vein:
ct am practising the art Of forgetting;
am trying to eradicate from memory all
that I once worked so hard to acquire;
and I am really succeeding. I hardly know
that I was once a singer You see Wnen
one has worked throughout life with one s
nerves-has, in fact, earned nVlng py
sacrificing them to every feeling that
imagination could conjure up-it is but
just to give these ganglia rest 1hey
have earned it, have they not! 1hese
poor unstrung nerves!
''You do not know what it is to key
them up to Wagner's conceptions. More
so in those early days than now. NOW the
public is in touch with you when the nrst
note strikes the ear In the struggling
days it different. 1t was an Ordeal
to sing before an audience as cold as the
snow without; to sing ones best IN the
face of cynical smiles; to know tnat one
is singing the greatest music ever con
ceived by man and to such an audience.
Those were times when nerves gave way
$50 I am forgetting mueh-as much as
I can-to give these tired nerves Wei
earned rest
Niemann's physique bellies his remarks
He still towers six foot full. as straight as
arrow, and with frame knit ike that
of a Hercules. It is the same strong arm
that in his youth welded the sledge-hanner
in an iron mill, the same tender touch lndt
later struck the chords Of Tannhauser's narp
and the same strong right hand that bore
the sword of LOhengrin.
In a locket that hangs from his watch
chain are the pictures of his boys. He
shows them. and the smile on his face tells
the story of his paternal love. For mo-
ment the face saddens. 1t must be the
memory Of the mother Of these boys, the
famous dearly beloved Rabe, that occasions
the change. Then he drifts from music to
the school work the boys are doing. 1t IS
interesting to hear this famous man talk
so simply of what he hopes to do for his chill
dren. He believes that the eldest, now four
teen years of age, will some day add fresh
lustre to the name of Niemann in the mu-
steal world. Then to a delcately-put inter
ruption he again talked of his past:
Il worked harder in those days than do
the singers of to-day. With me 1t was a
question of getting at the very soul of the
opera studied every part I went through
it again and again, and when it had become
part and parcel of brain and blood was
able to go on the stge and live the part
No wonder those who heard N1emann say
he has never been approached in Wagnerian
roles. He was one of the first Lohengrins
and almost the first Tannhauser His con
OF these parts remains the lQedA
which even the greatest of to-day's singers
strive to follow. None has yet approached
him either in these two parts or as Tristan
or in ''The Ring of the Nibelungen-
Wagner and Niemann met in Zurich IN
1858 for the first time. and their intimacy
continued to the formers death 1t was at
the congress in Baden-Baden in 1859 that
Napoleon III. invited Niemann to visit
Paris. and in 1861 he finally accepted the
invitation and sang the part of Tannhauser
in that unfortunate performance that ended
so disastrously for German opera on French
soil OF this episode in his career Niemann
simply says; ct was the spirit of 1870
That is all"
His triumphs in America are the memories |
that seem dearest to him. The tour Of
1S8S-S9 when with Lii Lehman he car
ried this country by storm. he still talks OF
as the most memorable period of his life
In America you do everything on a |
grand scale. Your applause, your enthus1- |
asm, is almost wild in its intensity. Why, |
we performed Tristan and Isolde eight |
times in one month. and the enthusiasm |
finally was as great as at the first rendition |
will not say that Americans are cultured |
music lovers or connoisseurs. Their appre- /
citation was Enthusiastically naive. But
he elementary might that lies in the music |
IF Wagner seized upon the public and
brought out their spontaneous enthusiasm.
80 to-day the majority of visitors at |
3ayreuth are Americans. They have tasted |
he cup of Wagnerian nectar and they come /
% the fountain spring for more.
Il remember meeting William H. Van |