The sun., 1903-11-26
I II E
w E B
An ab.orbingNovel
of the laws delays
by Frelk. T. Hill
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & co.
''DIE WALKUERB" PERFORMED.
SECOND NIGHT OF OPERA UNDER
HEINRICH CONRIED.

fVeUlVau as SIeBIIInc-fcuN WOti
Conducts for the FRS, Time In Amer.
iea-StaEe Effects Not Good.
Mr. Conred's administration at the Met
ropolitan Opera House reached it's second
evening last night. The disclosure OF the
time was a performance Of Wagner's die
Walkuere." The occasion was made inter-
esting by the first appearance in this coun-
try of Felix Mottl, the distinguished Wag-
merriam conductor, who was in his early
years directly associated With Wagner
himself. He belonged to the same group
of young assistants of the Bayreuth genius
as the lamented Seid-Rchter vas the artis-
tic guide Of them all, but they imbibed
their knowledge of Wagner's purposes from
the fountain head.
The Metropolitan Opera House thus
comes once again into the possession Of an
authoritative interpreter of Wagner's
music and whether that was to work for
good or not was In some measure to be
demonstrated by last nights performance
That the question could not be settled
finally was due to conditions which Mr..
Mottl could not control.
The season is yet very young. The
art lists and the orchestra have not had time
to become thoroughly acquainted with
Mr.. Motifs personal equation, with his
artistic creed, his methods and his possible
crotchets. Rehearsals are as much of
luxury under the Conried rule thus far as
they were in the consulship Of Gral. Again
there was new Brlnnhiide last night,
Nine. Gadski who sang the part for the
first, and choir Of young and innocent
Valkyrs some Of whom had never stepped
upon stage before, and who were in all
proba bilty quite. overwhelmed with the
| consciousness of their public presence.
! These are conditions which do not
promise triumph for a conductor, upon
whom the, burdens Of Wagner drama
rest heavily. Owing to the lateness Of
it was we'll past midnight-it is impossible
to do more than summarize Impressions
this morning. The performance was one
to invite extended comment, but that must
wait.
MIR. Mottl is, Of course believer in the
present state Of slow tempt in Germany,
and consequently good deal Of Die Wal
kueres was lingering sweetness long drawn
conducting was admirable 1t was full
OF color and nuancs. of wide, dynamic
range and Of eloquent touches, but 1t did
not smother the voices It was the con-
who has temperament as well as under
standing, but is not carried OF his feet by
enthusiasm. Mr.. Mottl is we'll poised. In
fact there we're times as at the end Of the
have helped. But for the present let that
pass Mr. Mottle is welcome
There was new scenery for the drama.
and lot Of specially imported Bayreuth
stage effects: Most Most OF. OF then them were were bad
aged: The, light effects were nearly all
the end of Act H. was done la Bayreuth
with cloud drops in the foreground and as
at Bayreuth it was utterly ridiculous because
it was almost impossible to see what was
Some master brain caused Brunnhilde
to be attended during the .Todesverkul-
endigung'" scene by her faithful steed,
field, did all he could to ruin the scene and
made pretty fair job Of it,. Fricka was
towed up the mountain by the ridiculous
stuffed rams. Mr.. Conried ia attending to
the wishes of Wagner, but in some matters
child.
The principals were Nine. Gadski as
Brlnnhilde, Olive Fremstad as Sie0linde,
Nine Homer as Frickd, Ernest kraus as
Siegmund, Robert Bles s, as HuInd,"g I,,a g. and m
said i'd of them now Nine. Gadsk's first
Brunnhilde was worthy Of high praise.
1t was dignified yet tender. 1t had repose
and significance. She sang the, music
pNCPlpntly. ITOIn tIlc
of the -Hojotopo' to the mystic prophecy
of Sieamunds death, More will bc said
Miss Fremstad is an American woman
who has been abroad for years She sig
nalized her. return by lovely and au-
thoritative impersonation of Sieginde.
The part is trife high for her warm mezzo
soprano voice. but her singing was, thor
oughly artistic and she is valuable ad-
dition to our list Of operate acquaint-
ances, Mr.. Kraus comes to America again
an artist of greater stature than of yore.
His impersonation Of Sieqmund was ex
eellent and much & Of his singing singh :, was gen.
Wagnerian Interpretation. He seemed
to be laboring under some difficulty and
was probably not in the best Of voice:
There was brand new choir Of Valkyrs
last night. The new names in the list We're
Lillian Heidelbach,. Paula Ralph, Isabelle
Bouton, Selma Kronold, Marcia Van
Dresser, Johanna Poehlmann and Joseph
inc Jacoby. They acquitted a,t ed. themselves
and come to an understanding about the
pitch,