The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-07-12

sis OF the circus had nothing In ii Of the
bsrbario but its suphoniouRnees. Tonal
balance, sanity. O clear exposition OF de-
tails, freedom from aifectation Of all sort
the affectation Of temperament ID the
worst-the production of a rich mSlopse
--tfess are but q superficial cstsloguing OF
DIR. Richter's many admirable qualities
Above all IL 10 the sense OF security one
feels under his sticls--oAn hast. ohne rdaf'
Ternina, all reports to the contrary,
sang as well as ever In two cycles. Her
voice sounded fresh and II behaved pre-
clsely IA it did in New York---it lasted for
the three performances and in the fmimola
ton Scene seemed subdued. (Though that
is her reading of this finale -subdued,
poetic). But she has grown artistically
and her third not 81 "WalkClre" war some
thing memorable. Il il the blending OF
voice, action, doniinstatl by aery tempera-
Eent and a fertile imagination that makes
The work OF this singing actress 10 power
full. Her Brunnhiyde is much more
rounded conception than Lehmann's.
though Lehman had physical endurance
for whole week of vocal china xes Woman
and goddess rernina IA, and her intsrpreta-
tien Is ~ various that you forget all others.
Her nervous ailment seems to have van
ished When We heard last winter that
her face was paraly2ed, in reality she was
assiduously attending the opera in Munich
as spectator. She looks robus. and her
voice has gained by the rest,
Olive Fremstad you will hear this coming
season. She si"as-somcthing usually
omitted In Wagner performances. Her
Carmen is highly praised In Germany.
In the Ring abe sang only the Frickas.
Van Rooy did not spare him-elf and had to
rest after the third cycle. No matter
what he may lack, he is easily tn. greatest
Wotun alive. for Wotdn ia not the lacka-
daisical grumbler and lugubrio,ls bore most
singers make Of him, H" Ia god, wrath
fnl god and this as we'll an his emotional
side Van Rooy gives. But what physique
the man must have that withstands the
abuse Of his vocal organs! He made niusty,
dusty, ill-smelling Covent Garden shake
to its very roof
Why speak OF Van Dyck2--I shan't His
Loye and Sieomund are thrice told, and ex-
cellent told tales. Krasa, the Aiberich and
Hagen, la a Bohemian with a cultural pow
erful. rough voice Kirkby Lunn as Erdr
might have been singing Chinese. She
had no Idea OF the part, Kraus Ia so big
that the dragon would have quailed He
has keg-like waist and voice a. hard as
nails CONSTRUCTED, choked-up and unme-
lodious He employs falsetto tones, taste
less expedient In Wagner music drama.
With Van Rooy, Krails and Bertram II is
the pace that is killing. Antilles, with his
sickly. sugar-sweet Sieofrted, failed to make
much Of an impression. His forging scene
was painfully inadequate and In the last
duo he was vocally absent. should say
that Waller in die Meistersinger" Is the
limit Of this overrated singer. Even his
legs, those Dresden China legs, were inef-
fective. A Miss Reinl sang the Byunnkilde
of the third cycle "Siegfried." She Is
promising, young. without vocal method
or endurance. She began with her oliha1es
and at the end only made motions.
A savage article on singing in one Of the
English monthly reviews was. apropos.
while the German singers were In London
They nearly all sing poorly; but then 30 do
the French and italian singers and the
amount OF vicious singing an English audi:
ence accepts with gratitude Is appalling.
Voice is everythng-the art OF producing
1t not a necessary quality. never heard
so much old-fashioned yelling. after the
approved Bayreuth barking school, an in
this Ring. 1t was 80 bad at times, especially
when Kraus delivered the ErsdhSung In
'Gouerdammerung.' that gazed fearfully
about me expecting smiles or frowns. In
stead saw oountenanoes upon which co tasy
was imprinted Very evil, too, was the
chorus in this fourth day OF the Ring Why
not ackno Wedge frankly that continued
Wagner singing knocks the voice to smith
Green's whether one sings well or illf Only
giants can attack this formidable music.
giants Of endurance It Is not question
OF hov to sing Wagner, but how long will
the man and woman last when they do
sing his music. They last, TO be sure, In
the flesh. but the voice has departed. Show
me Wagner singer past 40 with fresh voice
before 40 no one knows how TO sing the
complicated scores. He writes quite az
commercially for the throat a. Verdi
but he demands more-hence the inevitable
Krach in the careers Of all Wagner singers.
Shall give list OF names2
One detail Of the management was oomical
and blasphemy-breeding At In the
afternoon you went to the opera house In
cabbage-land. At 8:l5 the first act over,
you, perforce had TO hurry home, swallow
a cup Of tea, tumble into evening clothes
and return to Act H., which began at 7:4S
Nothing more uncomfortable could have
been devised, and all because Of the English
iron-cast worship OF dress. Without the
swallow-tail and cylinder, Wagner, nay
life itself. would not be endurabfe, and this
trait about sums up the artistic spirit over
here. the clothes philosophy which Carlyle
expounded in -Sartor Rssartus.' There
we're few bold spirits ,unafraid like George
Bernard Shaw. who sat in daily garb.
saw Herr, the conductor Of the Metropolitan
Opera House, taking notes when Richter
conducted. He was sensible enough TO
wear a sack coat. But the heavy hand OF
custom rules in London. Dare It's wrath
and you become a social pariah
In the great Wagnerian triangle, the
stage Ia as important as the orchestra and
singers Mr. Francis Nelson, who learned
much from seidl. is still young man aud an
ambitious. His handling OF the heavy set-
ting Of "The Ring is highly commemorate,
for he is handicapped by lack Of rehesrsals
1t is enough TO make any stage manager