The times., 1899-04-16
THE GRAND OPERA.


among the two score and odd musicians
who compose the orchestra carried about
by the Grau Company and raped on his
rack for attention last night the condi-
tions for an admirable performance of die
Waikure" were hardly encouraging. The
atmosphere was filed with a thrill of ex-
pectation and with anticipation of the
pleasure to be derived from a rendering
of one of Wagner's greatest operas but
unfortunately the Grand was not equally
crowded with people. Meteorological cir
cumstances, fear among the scholarly that
even moderate training had not prepared
them for the heayiness of the German mas
terwork. and among the fashionable that
its force might make conversation impos-
sible-reasons serious or facetious OF one
sort or another prevented the packing OF
the house as the attraction deserved. The
first twenty rows OF seats downstairs were
occupied and the top gallery had a tenant
for every chair, but the remainder of the
spacious auditorium was practically empty
Nor could IL be said that the gathering
was an entirely brilliant one. There were
the ordinary number of jewels and fine
silks, of bare shoulders and vari-hued
plumage, Of dress-suited men and beauti-
full women. in the body of the theatre, but
fewer notables were present than usually
ion was not such as might have been ex-
pected. Undoubtedly the fact that the pro-
duction was one which appealed to the
, everyday Wagnerian almost exclusively
was responsible for the state of affairs,
and the rustic OF leaves in printed librettos
and in the volumes of prominent authori-
ties would have made up to the elect what
was missed in a social way. The occasion
was chiefly Of interest to the students OF
TputOQic pf
they who composed a good half of the as
sembly.
die Wallsure." which is by some con-
sidered the most wonderful effort OF its
cycle, is also the most slighted, and
strange though this may seem-has never
been sung in Washington until last night.
Since the death of Anton Seidl, who was
one OF its most persistent exponents, not
even selection from the work has been
heard here, and SO the presentation yester-
evening had the merit of positive novelty.
Probably not fifty people in the building
mad ever witnessed production OF the
whole composition, and curiosity was cor
respondingiy great.
Among the earlier outputs of Richard
Wagner. die Walkure" still emphasizes
to remarkable degree the thematic ideas
OF the writer-ideas that had been ground
ed in "Lohengrin,'' .Tannhauser," and
''The Flying Dutchman." but which did not
reach their fullest point until the COM
pletiOn Of .Parsifal'' and its nearest con-
temporaries. die Walkure," as is univer-
sally understood, is the second of the four
operas constituting what is generally known
as the Trilogie. because its predecessor Is
| considered in the light of prelude. This
| initial work OF the series was .'Das Rhein-
! gold" and after 'Die Walkure'' came first
'Siegfried' and then die Gotterdam
| merung' For this succession the German
master drew his inspiration from the Scan
dinavian Eddas and from the epic poem
| of the Nibelungenlied. though through the
| marvellous art of his mighty genius the
neurological tale was considerably remod-
| eled. modified. and amplified.
The four music dramas describe many
| changes of fortune brought about by the
curses which the Nibelung Alberieh has
! laid upon power-endowed ring forged
with his hammers from the Rhine gold
| stolen by him from the Rhine -maidens.
The fatefui band brings destruction on all
who POSSESS il. from the time in which
| Wotan, the father of the gods. wrests ii
| from the despoiler until Brunnhilde, the
| last of its victims, returns the treasure to
| the purifying waters whence it came and
| thus delivers the world from the terrible
anathema.
die Walkure"5itself deals but with a
portion of the yicissitudes brought about
by the theft siegrnund an outcast of the
Walsungen blood. wanders a fugitive into
| the hut of Hunding. his enemy, and there
meets and falls in love with Sieglinde, the
| wife of this foe. The passion is mutual.
| and instead of ceasing with the anger
Of the husband. doubles when Segmund
| discovers the woman TO be his sister. Hav-
| ing been threatened by his host, he is
shown a sword bedded to the hilt in the
| tree which supports his shelter and is in
| formed of the power it wields for him who
can withdraw 1t. This task the hero sue
cessfully undertakes and goes forth to
| fight Hunding.
Wotan is at first inclined to lend his ia
yor to Siegmund and directs his daughter
| the virgin warrior Brunnhiide. to interfere
| in favor of this mortal But later his wife
| Fricka, obliges him to reverse the early
partiality. Brunnhilde refuses to obey the
new command. however, and attempts to
win the combat for the Walsungen but she
is defeated by Wotan and Siegmund is
| slain In punishment for her perversity
Brunnhilde is condemned to be the wife
of human, but, her pleading overcoming
| a portion OF the gods resolution. fire
| is lit about her sleeping form that the man
| who dares to approach her may be brave
| and courageous. With this the opera ends
the story of Siegfried's passage of the
burning mountain being told in the subse-
quent effort.
| Wagner. whose hundred arts were moth
| ing If not unified. fitted this Wild weird
Titanic legend-if legend it is-with a
| score as descriptive, as strange and bold
and challenging as is the tale itself. One
| is as much poem as the other, and the
| music would explain were it without words.
The twin elements dovetail and are ac-
corded with by every point in the work
| by the orchestration. by the lines of the
|
combination is powerful stirring, vehe-
ment,, violent, harsh in rhythm and rude
in arrangement.
Die Walkure is absolutely given up to
| series of motives, many OF which run
| through the entire Trilogie while others
| are heard seldom during the course cf the
| single production. Though these themes
are not so complicated as in others of
| Wagner's operas, they are equally re-
markable in their depictions; in the de-
fiant manner in which their harmony is
| evolved by combinations of notes totally
| at variance with each other; in their care
| ful weaving into the fabric of the work
Z, They form the complete composition
| there iss no eXtraneous melody in .'Die
Walkure." Marvellous in their conception
| they are irresistible in their force; a
thunderous force which is the outcome of
| innumerable sharp contrasts. OF quick
climaxic building and dynamic effect and
| of bold unconventionality.
The range of these themes and the man
| ner of their Introduction is productive of
| sublimity and grandeur almost beyond
description. From the chief one--"The
Ride of the Walkures' its constant
sweep. its vigor and firmness. and its ever
shifting force to the delicate, illustrative
| tinkling melody rendered while the rock
on which Brunnhilde is lying is given up
to the flames, is a distance not to be