New-York tribune., 1899-05-28

ne kept ilors or1 prsyer could have been sung WIN
and e the
especially since the LADY I; ros.ea SO shoad have
care not to attach too much importance h TO @ Rfl
truly wonderful high register, otherw'se snd power
the d rs Of fones mparhns Mheh after all chief
glory OF voice Those extravagant d nead feeI,ns
are can Signify only In eeting embellishments OF
the expression OF violent passion ,a,strv on
tSe transition in the low register which she scarce r
| y ever accompshes without sort star5 ol a in no
stroke Her low tones. moreover. sh stshu chose of
| relationship so far quality goes win '"o'e ~
ne5 Our eantatrice will surely admit that norid sing
inc Is not her forte and do not wish 70 assr s,
that the coquettlsh colerature Of sne M have out
lived Rosn period by tsst ten Gr Trsuen
nsUsd by an 1t appeaon ls Of and study
acquire execution demanded Sy RRsSs
iSs yey nis applause bestowed BY the public after
this number and with complete justice, tr ,bat this
Srs BART % was the weakest feature Of the repre-
senaton The passionate side OF H. Snet between
her and Adagisa and here IT was that rrapIea dni
rosser completely in v her snoeessful II she
had given more tender expression 10 the TRANSITIONS
the moods 6sn of se 0Oe IS oared e
Of her own love by Adalsisas confession and per, per
m1s bat b1esst 5ns WOfS heT entire nature Resolved mild
ness and sweet melancholy and the @ peauTt pus
sie sase rhranen hne ch will dch tr5sten" etc. would
have been much effective II It land especially
yoes devee Which our cantatrce has yet
made her own, but which she should al ieast seeA
% The moment when seyerus enters and Adags;a
points him out as her op IGveT wfs he
in tghtSa anger pu ba.e SSst HSai o4d passages
are by no means the light ornaments for which
Fraulen Grosser seemed 10 take tnem' o,nt o,, ,n
oS bower when sey sns
to the awful rage Of the woman 90 Severus
aVtsT Veende after den she Mensd ha eS she
draw Adagsa toward herself with cast she her off
with the words Fose The allegro gre ssedhs of 5hs
duet between Norma and an nscs hroughoS and
with too little light and shade seriously II came ne
near to seng teachery and severus
stinacy Norma suddenly Translated from n and
vengefu desire bursts forth with the s,y WordI .n
Der RachH Mass ye suaon Fen
ser let fall completely, fact that cannot explain
on the theory that she was physically s
hibition of power, and for all the shortcomings
dscoverable by the severest criticism she s
the duet between Norma and severus. from whicn ar
place to 9s S end eh S1rTn weden she did
sing with sufficient widness and booothrsu1n1ess, IN
acSompshsdd mos the cTminaton Of the opera
and in which Bellini scales the topmost peak Oh
Fraulen Grossers performance. as can only be
created by the extraordinary Erauiein osnn Grosnr'
Was gave evidence OF a sound and
correct Conception forego judgment on the other M
TO set down the standard which have applied 70
Fraulen Grosser too greatly IN oruer 70 oI honod
MIA e corrected at the repetons Of this beautiful
opera to the advantage of the whole In respect Vi
greater life and energy.
Before passing the rest Of Wagner's utterances
concerning Bellini in review a few words about
the singers whose performance was deemed
worthy Of such extended notice TO the Ignoring
of ell the other details in the performance may
not be out Of place. Henrette Grosser was born
In Berlin in 1918 Her parents were simple foiH'
and she grew TO be fifteen years or age oe1ore
she began the study of music Then some friend
of the family admiring her voice, recommended
her to Count Won Bruhl. general-intendant al
the Royal Opera, who engaged her for the
chorus and arranged to have her educated as
a singer In 1884 she appeared for the first
! time In minor parts at the opera but not md
| ing sufficient employment she accepted an en-
| gagement as prima donna at Konigsberg IN
1896. but after filling star" engagements
| ("Gastroen," as the Germans say at Berlin
and Prague in 1887 she was engaged at the
orera in the latter city. and remained there till
| 1850 when she retired into privacy living first
in Prague and at last accounts in Berlin. Her
tending from the G on the third space below
the treble staff to the D on the sixth leger line
above-three octaves and fifth. One Of her
favorite roles was the Queen of Night in Mo-
zart's Magic Flute" bit OF evidence which
confirms her fondness for tones in altssmo
which the criticism faults. Were II not for the
fact that Bellini expressly demands that the
passage, "Oh, non tremare," should be sung
"Con lutte forza" and 'Fremente," 1t might be
pointed out that Wagner demonstrated his be-
! lief that aorid passages were sometimes the
expression of intense passion in the opera which
he wrote in his Bellini period "Das Lebesver-
bot" for we find such passages confined to the
words Thor (fooD and "Heuchler" (hypocrtel
in the finale of the first act published by Hous-
ton Stewart Chamberlain in his sumptuous book
on Wagner.
For the rest to show Wagner's attitude towart
Beln and his progress away from 1t (as wei
| as his subsequent renunciation Of his .owr
words), 1t will suffice to marshal all his pub
lshed utterances on the subject with few
clarifying comments. In 1884 he heard Mon
tecchi Capuletti," ard on June 10 Of that yeal
his first literary effort so far as is known. ap
peared in Laube's "Zeitung fir die Eegant'
Welt" In it he denies the existence OF such
thing as German opera, and takes q specia
stand to strike at Webers "Euryanthe." tn
| opera which later became his model in de
| gree not eQualled by any other work. Thos
who wish TO read his anmadversions on thi
exquisite work may find the passage quoted II
Wagner and His Works by II. T. Frnck. Vol
ume /. page 40. More pertinent to the presen
study is the following passage:
We have, 1t is true field in music which be
longs peculiarly TO us; II is the field OF nstru
mental music. But Wa have no German opera, an
for the same reason that we have Natona
drama We are far too intellectual and too learne
to create pusating human figures. NeVe
Will forget the impression made upon me latel
by Bellnian opera being heartily satiated wit
the perpetually alegorizng turmoil Of the orches
ira. and hearing again simple and noble sons
do not desire by any means that Frenc
| and Italian music 10 sld hiifI