New-York tribune., 1899-06-11
MUSICAL MATTERS.


FOREIGN AND DoMEs-
TIC NOTES.
osrusai Of the two letters which The Ir'ouhe
gives 10 the world to-day, and which are naoe pu
src NOW for the first time, will disclose 10 t'e "e
rer student that It is still possible by the o'sco'e
20 a,,dence and its proper colocaton 10 make '"e
ufa history OF Richard Wagner more oeiii''o a
, .,.at, "a the LAWYERS would say than II Is IN tne
standard biograph Especially Is this true 'o.V.
ing the early part of his career Az was p'''eu
-n .,udy Of the poet musicians attitude towaro
,.auan music from 1884 to 1871 whch hppeaieu ''
,h,s journal two weeks ago That stuu! oa"ea
,aoL "a memory a batch OF Wagner letters o"heu
NV Mr. Max Vogrich. the well-known p'ahis' nNN
composer and his kindness ana cour,es! "
The Tribune to-day to throw additionai Hsh' VI wy
s,orv NJ Wagner's early life. The most signncah'
fact brought out by this new light Is one 'h"' no"
never even been hned at In the DOCKS nal"V;, 80,
.bat Wagner was on the point of rupturing ms
marital relations seven months aiter ne hau o
into them The first letter printed beio" was WIN
Ten in June 1897 lie married his hrst "iie' Mii'na
planer on November -. 1896. The unhapp!
domestic life of the pair has been usc"9eu
at annie length by Wagner's bographers' ou'
not one of them seems TO have Deeh a""iV
that the incompatiblity OF the TWO ""'"'''
had been exposed. or at least d" eNp
threatened before the pair had Deeh n'''
a vear simultaneously with this letter theie
I,o,ca from, nv wife" writes Wagner to his frlehd
schindelmeisser. June - 1887. was the aV''o"
aver begun? The judicial records al hOhissoe's
ought to show; but they do not seem ever u nav
been Investigated. probably because IL 'ias nv
heep made known that the early years OF wagner
. orr,ed ufe were unhappy. The farest treatment
that the story of that life has received came from
Ferdinand Praeger whose sympathies were iarseiy
with the wife Of his friend. but who SIN 1us'reo
1he separation which took place nearly eenern-
.ion after the marriage. Writing Of perioo 'e"
weeks after that marriage. Praeger says
The time he spent in K6nigsberg was proIlonga;;
-,or ~ The miserable existence which had foIioWeo
the breaking up OF the Magdeburg company: n'eI,
ejHed now alas, by anxiety for his young wue. II
was unenvened by any gleam Of even passing sun
light The time dragged heavily, ana was never p
1Se presence no Of his first wife has compassion
atey remarked poor Dor Mnf Srsi Few nan months Of
drudgery no doubt repented Of her bargain, I, ,,I
Of tender affecton Wagners references TO the de-
votion and untirng energy OF MS VIE CUTIE hi '"e
Konigsberg year of distress always dl'''u '''"
Alas, that a letter should turn up now. more
than sixty years later and spoil this pretty picture
of patient sacrifice and unselish devotion. lhrtF
weeks after the marriage not only mas Mihha re-
pented of her bargain. as Wagner surhseu az
many years later but Wagner tells one of his most
intimate friends that he has begun SUIT TOT u'-
yorce The circumstance brings back to mind
letter of Wagners which TIE Tribunes Whilom
Musical Pilgrim read IN Bayreuth in 1891. The let
Ter was one Of twenty-five which Nine Josephine
Rudolph the travelling companion of Nine Ma
terna when she visited the United States. In lss-
had brought to the festival town in the hope OF
finding a purchaser for them. Mime. Rudolph was
the daughter of Tichatschek the tenor. VINO was
Wagner's first Tannhauscr in Dresden, and all the
letters but one were letters from wagner 10
Tichatschek The exception was one that has
bearing on this story being from Wagner 70
in, II made
marriage He was conductor a. the opera In Mag
deburg at the time 1876 and she was member oil
lthe theatrical company. Evidently she mad quar-
relied with the manager OF the theatre because at
a performance OF Shakespeare's romeo and
Juliet" the part Of the heroine had heoN given to
another actress In a 1T of anger she had left Mag
ideburg and gone Berlin. Evidently. too. she had
had lovers quarrel with Wagner for his letter Is
full Of protestations and peadings. which cumnate
3n threat cast aside all work and abandon HIM
self to dissipation unless shn shall return and take
him back in her affections Then he formally offers
his hand in marriage.
The letters which are 20 follow both addressed
ITO Louis Schndemeisser. composer and conductor.
born in K0nigsbers on December s, 1911; died in
1854 They brought 20 New-York by son
iof schindelmeisser. a teacher of languages and
,sDought from him by Mr. Vogrich two or three
years ago Schindclmoisser was a half-orother
of the Dorm alluded TO in the second letter. Their
mother Fanny Schindelmeisser. was musical
.pedagogue for years In Berlin where she created
a stir by classwork dumb keyboards. Schin-
demesser remained warm admrer OF Wagner
and his music all his life. but Dorm never accepted
the Wagneran evange He. too. was composer.
and brought forward opera. die Nlbelungen
which had fine success in Berlin In 1854 thereby
drawing down upon himscf the sarcastic indgna-
tion of Wagner Dorm also Schumann's teach
or in counterpoint and brilliant musical feuileton-
,st He was for years conductor at the Royal
Opera in Berlin but was replaced by one inferior
in merit but stronger at Court In 1863. and there
after till his death in 1892 acted music critic Of
.Die Post" Of Berlin. Karl Won Holtei Ger
man playwright, who had undertaken the reor
ganization OF the theatre and opera at Riga. and
who appointed Wagner conductor in the fall of
1881. The books not definite about the date.
MIR Dannreuther In Groves Dictionary OF Music
and Musicians sets down the failure Of the opera
at K0ngsberg where Wagner employed before
he went TO Riga taking place at about Michael
mas" But the second letter proves that Wagner
mad already conducted his first opera at Riga more
rhan a fortnight before Mchaelmas (September
%. The first letter written in the course OF
the summer OF 1887 which became momentous in
the history Of his creative because II placed
1n his hands Bulwers Last OF the Trtbunes." and
thus gave the impetus "Rienzi." The accepted
understanding hitherto has been that Dorm. who
was In Riga at the time and had been identified
with it's chief musical activities for five years. Sc
cured the appointment ior wagner mere wagner
seems to he depending on Schindelmeisser. Apropos
of the reference TO Norma" In the second letter.
ST may be said that that opera, with which Wag-
ner evidently wanted TO effect his debut in Riga
was given for his benefit three months later That
IS part OF the Bellini story told in these columns
awo weeks ago.
g One thing more. and something In the nature Of
amusing speculation rather than OF serious I'M
port: What opera was IT that Wagner quotes
musical phrase from in the second letter? Schindel
roeisser was the composer OF Ave operas Two OF