The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-07-21

,
plan for continuing her monopoly of Par.
STAR by common consent as she calls
it. number of persons seen were en-
phatic in denouncing the assumption that
the heirs Of great man be privileged to
decide who shall and who shall not be al.
, lowed to enjoy the ripest fruit Of his genius
ITS a monstrous proposition, even now"
said wel-known music-loving New York.
er. Two people. Mrs. Wagner and son,
debating to all the world how the great
composers greatest work shall be inter-
! preted. The boy certainly knows nothi Z
| of his fathers intention direct. Whether the
J widow has correct. and the only correct,
appreciation is question. But even So
she can't live forever. After her, Slegfried
| is to be sole boss of the show-we must ac-
I cept his ideas of how Parsifal is to be
! played or so without. And if Siegfried
| should die. his heir. an infan, perhaps, 4,
| to decide on the merits of the chieftsst mu-
| steal work in the world. Why. that's using
/ art like patent medicine. the manufac-
ture Of which is secret in the family of
! the inventor
| \ noted conductor from the west Of the
/ United States. who begged that his name
! be withheld. pointed out that the Ninth
/ Beethoven symphony and the second part
! Of Goethe's Faust" were each as much
(, Of mystery as 'Parsfal." yet their auth
or's and their authors heirs had never at
| tempted to reserve them for favored few
| The Westerner. like the rest. was emphat-
, ic in protesting against the proposal of al
| lowing the Wagner family to menopolze
| 'Parsifal' for all time and dictate how 1t
| should be performed.
| There are greater managers than Frau
| Cosima and better and more appropriate
! opera-houses will be built than the Bay
| reuth Temple of Music" he said. Besides
this talk about 'ParsifaP being a sacred
piece that can flourish only in the sacred soil
wherein the maestro lies buried is, plainly
spoken. the rankest tommy-rot. II you
| want me to be polite about it. I will say
It's dream and not beautiful one. Music
like all arts. is progressive. Wagner him
self was one of the most progressive Of
men, who cared little for tradition, yet his
widow insists that only she who is imbued
with the late composers traditions
successfully present this work.
We'll, when she launches her appeal among
the festival guests. she will be made to
understand, once and for all. that the great
mass of music lovers resents her proposal a.
an insule to their intelligence. 'Parsifar
must be free, and until it is free We will
never know the limits Of its possibilities.
do you KNOW" continued the American
conductor that either Of the great Lon
don, New York, Paris or Milan impresarios
could bring out 'ParsifaP with a better cast
ard more sumptuous decorations than is
done here? Frau Cosma is a fighter and
has irreparably quarreled with many OF
the famous singers OF the day. These won't
go to Bayreuth any more. but would DO glad
to sing in Parsifap under other than the
Wagner management
!. One Boston Authors
Opinion of the Situation.
In talk your correspondent had With Q
Boston author sojournin8 here. the Sentls-
man raised an extremely interesting point.
NO Intellectual movement ever prodtsd
from being bound to q small community: no
work Of art can fill Its mission e. an edu-
Gator while locked up in a private coIlsc-
tion." he said. yet that L. exactly what
Frau Cosima wants to do forever and ever
with Parsifal-it shall be heard and seen
only by those able to AFFORD time and sx-
| pense to go to Bayreuth.
Now. It's fact that ParSifars II wag-
, ners sublimest work: no one can say that
he knows Wagner thoroughly unless he has
, heard 'Parsifal' Yet out OF ten thousand
music lovers not one may 90 to this place
Mecca for the fa,tbfnI aons. 80. =,
do,ht t,r.,, Co.,n,a.. -, 49,. ,...A~.s
q, h.,,.,.. a.. =. - ws .s
t,,,, o., - -. o.. 1870 E .-..--
whom the oro.t mo-. =, ,.,,...s, 80.
can ,a,.r -no,, T., h,. .,.,,...s - -, ~,
ness and comnleteness =, hi. .,o-,. :.
The latter remark Nos ,en..,sd =, -. 30
| the late maestro,. ner,ona, T-,.,,d. -.
like the majority az them ba. vithar.~n
, ! from the festival plays.
'Parsifal'" he said. "was finished IN
| the year 1882: on July 26. the game wear +fs
. initial production tool. Mace sir month,
later the great genius wa. dead. hut in The
meanwhile he had plenty OF time to uruvfde
| against the so-caIled proclamation. az par
sifal' But he took no steps LOOKING toward
that end, and honestly think the sbourbt
, Of seeuestratins his chef d.oeuyre for =
: sort Of family snap never entered his head
| II he intended to keep .Parsifar for MIN
self, what was ,hs US. of rs,ain> heaven
, and hell to insure its producfion? He COR
. tainly did that. and more. tn set .psr,sfar
a before the footiights.
Sava tho Cou,nosa, Ma Nj
| Mcdu W NeSleCt MUSIC Lovers.
Besides, Wagner vasr't n mob such
an idea as excluding music Iovern from Mn.