The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-11-03


that she viii lnstill doubt into Elsa's mind
aud lead her to ask Lohengrln the fatal
question when will at once leave her
and return to - home. Elsa appears on
her balcony an Ortrud appeals to her.
The maiden dcscends. ana Ortrid at once
begins her evil labor The two GO into the
palace together. Morning dawns: and the
herald of the king prorlaims Telrumund
an outlaw aud Lohengrln ruler Of Brlhant.
The bridal procession appears and Is about
TO enter chAS"h shcn Ortrud intcrpuses.
claims precedence over Elsa. and declares
that Inhengrin is sorcerer The king
and Lohengrln appear and end this scene.
The procession again advances, TO he in
tcrrupted again, this time by Telrnmund.
who repeats his wlfe's accusations After
further attempt by IciFnmund to shake
the faith of Elsa, the procession enters
The third act begins with the arrival OF
the bridal couple In their apartments, nc.
Comnanied by the king and the mobiles, The
lovers ARE left alone. and now Elsas curl.
oslty gets the better OF her devotion. HI.
nnlly. she asks the question. and al that
instant Telramund and -four companions
gives lohengrn hts own sword and nc
stays Tclrnmund. Elsa now realizes the
significance OF her error. hut Lohengrin
summons her women and bids them lake
her To the king before whom he will re-
vel HIS name aud station
The second scene OF this act takes place
IN the meadow by the river, Teramund's
body is borne on, ana Elsa and Lohenglin
also arrive Lohcngrin Announces that he
can not be the leader of the warriors. lie
~" Is his STORY, lie Is Lohengrin, the
son OF FarSifnl keeper OF the Holy Grail,
and us one Of the Grail knights he is en-
doWed with power to defend the innocent.
but only 50 long as he preserves the secret
of his name and rank Now that these are
told, he must break his own heart MS well
as Elsa's 10y q dnal departure. The swan
returns with the boat. Ortrud. i'm this mo
ment Of triumph, can not refrain from de
claring that the swan Is no other than
ElSa'S mi SSng brother changed into n bird
by her entertainments. LohCngrin prays, the
swan Is retransformed into Elsa's brother
aud a dove draws away the boat containing
the Knight of the Grail.
II would not be at all difficult to write
long essay on the music Of "Lohengrn,
but this is not the place for It The work
belongs to what Is known rs Wagner's
transition period II stands between the
two earlier works, In which old operate
forms aud traditions are 20 considerable
extent preserved. nnd the later creations
OF the master, In which his own theories are
fully developed. In "Lohengrin' we first
meet with Wagner's continuous melody.
There are no separate numbers as therc
were In the old operas, and as these are
even I'm "TnuuhauSCr" hut the music flows
spontaneously In faithful accompaniment
TO the suggestion OF the text from the be-
ginning of each act to the end
A natural result OF this plan IS the orm
and convincing cohcrcncy of the music.
The style Is absolutely unique, and us IN
dividualtv Is preserved from beginning TO
act Is there a complete departure from inc
essentially sweet and fluent character OF
the melody. hut the duet between Ortrud
and Tcllumund Is, perhaps. the most sat
isfnctory exposition of Wugncr's genius IN
the whole work Certainly nowhere else
I'm "Iohcngrin" do poetry, sccnle painting,
must and action unite SO pcrtcS{E III h IN
production of that dramatic totally when
Wagner called the art work OF the iutute'
: recommend to those VINO sincerely ue
sire to understand Wngner's theory OF ope.
A. FAIL gttalV Of
alone in the score, but in the theater, where
only II is to he observed In ITS enufety'
Leading motives are used IN ms oper a.
hut only incidentally, as they were u,
'.'rauuhauscr III" system had not reache9
it's perfection in the masters mind, ana
the typical phrase mad not vet nCCohe
the entire material of his music. Never
iheless. the most important personages,
objects and emotions have their muHicn,
emhodlmcnts in the score OF l,on'hsrln,
II ANYTHING were 10 be gained by making
a cntnlogue Of thcm. ! should insert one
here: hut there X altogether too much
cntaloguing Of leading motives lhcie u
nothing in the music of any WnEher utn IN.
which is not fully explained by the text
and 1t Is only necessary 10 benr IN mint
the fact that Wagner aimed AT an OF
gnnic union between poetry and i MUSE
and not a mere production of ear-tlcknn;
sounds Furthermore, general consent
seems to have excepted ''Lohcngrln IRON
the necessity of explanation. No me write
haudbooEs 10 IL. This Is MOI because II u
n more satisfactory work Of art thnn an!
other work of Wagner. but because while
its musical form IS radically different from
that OF the distlnctlycly italian opera q
musical style Is Immediately nppreclabl'
by the least. educated car. An cGnmlna
lion of the score will show that II teen
with beautiful and original ideas, and tina
II is a remarkable cmho iiment of muSich
SIKH and learning. But the results are
apparent spontanciN, n wealth of melodi
| beauty and gorgeousness Of vocal an'
Instrumental color, which inspires TN
Imagination and moves the heart.
'Lohengrn' has for years been the mos
popular opera In America when presente'
| With n satisfactory company of singers
| one of the best that ever sang i IN ltaHai
was that Of the season of lSS3-lSNl AT th
| Metropolitan opera house, when ChrisLin
! Nilsson was the Elsa Emma Fursch Mad
| the Ortrud, Jtalo Campanin the Lohen
! grin. Giuseppe Kaschmann the Telramuh'
| and francesca Novara the King. But IN
! doubleday The best cast ever assembled II
! this country. and one of the hest In IN
| history Of the work, was that which per
| formed "Lohcngrn" In German az the Met
| rnpolitan IN the season of 1893 lSO6 Nine
! Lillian Nordica was the Elsa, Nine. Neui
| Brema tho Ortrud, NJ. Jean de Rcszke I'M
! Iohcncrin NJ - scnmann the Tclramun'
| aud NJ. Edouard do Rcszke the King.