New-York tribune., 1899-05-28
MUSICAL COMMENT.
WAGNER AND BELLNI.

tWAGVEN A1ND
"A HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED CRITICISM
wAGNER's EARLY ATTITUDE TowAAD
GERMAN AND ITALIAN OPERA
HIS UTTERANcEs STUDIED
A chapter in wagner's artistic iife wh'ch mas
been insuficently studied Is tnat which "e"'
M his attitude toward German and itahah ope'"
during the first five years OF his associa''o"
with the theatre. During those years OF ouiiNe
a norton of them. he held views on the proper
-.,.,,or between music and the drama widely
different IL not Numerically opposite 10 '"o'e
,rb,cn he advocated and exemplfed after he
had discovered what proved to be the true His
SION Of his life. His biographers have known
the fact but as a rule have passed over 1t hur-
r,eav and as will appear later in this investi-
eaton with a sort OF apology based upon an
sntimation not justified by his own utterances'
,hat his admiration for Bellini to which ne
vave expression in ESSAYS printed in 1854 anu
1897 was given TO Schroeder -Devrients singing
rsther than to the music Of the Italian COM
roser There was no need at all Of resortihg u
what comes near to being suoterfuge III inc
ease In no respect was the young wagner VI
the period preceding the Flying Dutchiiah
the man that he was after. Musically ms entire
career from that period Is characterized os
steadily continuous progress. but IN that pei'0u
bs ,yas in the same state Of artistic as ne was
of moral fermentation.
IN, tho evidence touching what may be called
Waxners Italian period to which reference mas
..en made IN the books a new contribution is
now made from autograph collection IN 1>e"
York. 1t is that OF Mr.. August Lewis. reureo
refinement ]
.h,rgs and an ardent lover OF music. The ques-
t,on Of its authenticity IT, unhappily. not beyond
discussion. but so far as handwriting. the guar
.,,.e n, an honorable dealer In autographs ana
The Judgment Of Wilhelm Tappert surely the
aret Of all experts in things appertaining 10
wagnerian manuscripts are concerned MI
lewis ia justified in the belief that he owns an
autograph writing by Wagner wh'ch is unique
in character being nothing less than oetaiieo
technical criticism Of the first performance
., r,e,lnts Norma" at Konigsberg' unoer
Warmers own direction The article - uii"
signed but is dated at the beginning II II was
IN fact written by Wagner. the absence oi
signature Is easily explained-he couio scare
ly think Of venturing into the puohc pi'"'S
openly with criticism which picKeu na"'
with performance for which ne was al
a large measure responsible. But there 10
nossible explanation in the fact that the singer
a. vbor, the hulk OF the article is devoted was
about ~ leave K6nigsberg and that it seemed
desirable to bring about as good performance
as was possible before she went. MoreoVer'
Wagner only initiated the example OF weber
after whom he used 10 gaze with admirhe
plances as a boy when he tried TO help 10 an
appreciaton OF the operas which he brought
FORWARD by writing about them in the news
napers. Norma" had only been before the.
world five years at the time. and was Dut max
,ng its way from theatre TO theatre flnaliy
the fact ought also TO be considered tnat inc
singer then at the beginning OF her career was
an artist who rose TO great emnence suose-
queutly, and that the most unselhsh mo'"es III
.be world may have impelled Wagner to point
ont what he conceived to be remediable defects
An her manner Of singing and her conception OF
+ha mart of the Drudical priestess In Beltni's
opera. OF this more anon. The evidence that
,be article was written in 1887 consists in these
Il circumstances March. 1891 was the only March
which Wagner spent In K0ngsberg; in 1885,
March fell on a Wednesday as Is called for py
The superscrption OF the article: In March. 1881,
,IIenrIette Grosser, the singer in question. was
.1rima donna at the Konigsberg opera, having
Joined the company the year before; she le1t
the city soon after. as we find her singing IN
Berlin "als Cast" and also in Prague before the
end Of the year: Wagner did not leave Magde-
burg till the Eastertide of 1886. and did not get
his appointment as director at Konigsoerg TIL
January, 1887; in December. 1887. he had al
ready given Norma" for his own benefit al
Riga and written the article to which reference
has already been made. and which will be cited
again. There be no question that the arti-
Gle of which Mr. Lewis possesses the manuscript
was written in March, 1897; the external evi-
.dence and some of the internal indicates that
Wagner may have written it. though 1t is dif-
dcult 10 recognize his literary style IN n-not
even the style of the Bellini articles or 1854 and
December. 1887. However that may be- the
essay forms good text for the review OF "ae
ners attitude at the time toward German ana
italian opera, and it is therefore given mere IN
translation and in full.