New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-09-17

l<dS London
was to have sung many times, hut after her
third appearance she contracted such = cola
that she had to leave at once for Bournemouth.
and it while there that she Underwent y
severe attack OF Inflammation of the lungs She
has had TO be especially careful since as mil
monary weakness is q family inheritance She
* unwilling to venture going to London aeai,
soon While knote. whose experience there was
hardly less unfortunate. VOWS that he will no,
endanger his voice by hazardng the English
climate He and Fremstad agree that it is hard
IL necessary for a singer to 60 to London now
adays. since there are two Bavarian theatres
Of pre-eminence. and especially since the offer
ings Of the Manners company at Covent Garden
have been such disappointment.
The two remaining operas of the series Tam
hauser" and "Lohengrin, We're presented very
deIightfulIy Slezak did rather better as Tam
h3user than as WaIther He may he q singer
some day: ana Reichmann pleased many as
Wolfram. Else Breuer made a very acceptabIe
Venus although she hardly has the physique
for an ideal impersonation Of the character The
cast 81 "Iohengrin almost ideal Knote
sang tho title rcle. Il is pleasure to add more
testimony TO the lovely quality of his voice and
the fine artistic appreciation which characterizes
all IF his work Feinhals sang Telramund
spIendidly and his acting VAS SO fine to he
especially worthy OF praise. L is not always
that = great singer Is also q good actor Lau-
terer as Elsa vas far more pleasing than az
Eva Her voice has great range, is very
powerful and at times very sweet. But il is
rough in places: and in the more dramatic
singing il is often unmusical Fremstad ap-
reared as Ortrud. q most difficult character for
one Of her arniable temperament 70 undertake.
, Ortr,d Is the evil spirit which pervades the
tire oyera: and II Is her personality which should
he the most emphasized, seeing that It is she
who fs AZ the bottom Of everything. Frenlstad has
neither the physique nor the ability TO repre-
! sent the rampant malice which the character
requires One would soon expect Maude
3 Adams 10 make success as Lady Macbeth. and
Freras-ad IS the Naude Adams Of the operate
stage That she did succeed in creating an Or
trud who has really a dominant evi! genius is
high testimony to her artistic ability; and her
! voice was almost all that could be wished.
/ The mounting Of 'L0hensrin'' was especially
beautiful. the scene before the minister being
rich almost to heaviness- The stage at the
I Prinz- Rerenren Theater is SO large that II is
/ rossibfe 10 show three stories Of a palace, and
| so deep that three hundred people can easily be
| accommodated. From the time the Wedding
| procession appeared in the balcony Of the palace
| until the door of the minister was reached the
I stage presented a series Of tableaus worthy or
Pioty's brush; and 50 long route would the
stage allow that the entire chorus was at one
! time plainly in sight marching two by two. i
| wealth Of festoons and wrcaths were hung from
| all the balustrades Of the palace by pages who
! were always going 70 and fro adding to the
! decorations parading with lighted candles;
! and the costumes of course, were lavish To see
| a Wagner opera mounted in this way is 10 ap
/ preciate how that great artist intended that all
! the arts should be combined in the masterpieces
which he gave to the world
The Prinz-R egenteu Theater. with fits blue.
gray and gold coloring. is ideal place for the
! production of such works of art. It is 50 much
! more beautiful than the Bayreuth theatre that
the difference cannot bc appreciated until il is
seen. Last year the acoustics. however. were
very bad. There WAS a distressing echo. it WAS
found that in addition To certain faults above
The stage, the statues Of Wagner List Mozart,
| Beethoven, Goethe Schiller and Shakespeare.
which had been placed in large inches at each
side Of the a 1itorium interfered with tho
acoustics, 50 they We're taken down and sold. In
their place there have been erected certain
bronze stills, which. lamentahly. con
tribute the only taWdry effect in this otherwise
! beautiful auditorium.
In addition to the surprising beauty Of this
theatre, there are other comparisons which can
! he made resulting unfavorabIy for the original
Wagner theatre at Bayreuth. The mechanical
devices of the stage are certainly more modern
and serviceable for the ideal production Of the
difficult operas; and this year the orchestra has
been much better than it was At Bayreuth-
stronger in first vioIins and more pleasingly
blended: while so far there have been more great
singers engaged here than have appeared dur
ing the entire season ar Bayrcuth.
OF course, there is the most intense rivalry
and bitter jealousy between the two places. 1t
is probable that the Wagner festival house at
d., II ,,,,ll
at all had it not been that the theatre here is
50 new as be a novelty decidedly worth rival
ling. And Bayreuth Of course can 1aunt its
monopoly of "PaTsital," and 50 establish q ri
valry which is most formidable. Bayreuth has
now been open for two successive seasons: and
although the present season. which closes on
the 10Th, has not been financial loss it has
not been a success. Tickets which cost 20 MARKS
could be obtained for eight very often; and the
attendance has been such that it would seem
better that the theatre had remained closed
excepting for the fact that it has announced To
the world that 1t will not he eclipsed by the new
closed; and it is probable that the management
Of this theatre viii seize the opportunity 10
present The Ring of the NibeIung."
The Ring" was the feature Of the Bayreuth
festival this year. and its production was con-
sfderaby below the standard; and even more
potent reason why the theatre should have re
manned closed than the comparatively light mar
ronage is the fact that by opening II has sur
fered unfavorahle comparison with the stand
ard of former years. There is really no reaso,,
why there should be such bitter rivalry hetwaa,,
the two places. No one would uree = 1o,o, ~
music to come to Munich to the exclusion Of
Bayreuth. Bayreuth is an experience ,-bioh
never can be duplicated anywhere else and u 10
to lie regretted that "Parsifal' can ever he pive,