The sun., 1903-12-25
The Metropolitan Production
Better Than Bayreuth's.
AUDIENCE LOST IN WONDER.
Directors Give Conried 4 Wreath
of Laur:l and Roses.

Fnthusiasn-But First Impressions Of
the Value OF Nagncr's Last Work
and the Summary OF HIS Artistic Creed
Are That II Is n Mass Of Glitterins
Artihcialitlcs. Rcantiful In spots.
Richard Wagners last music drama,
the sacred festival play" entitled "par-
sfal, first performed at Bayreuh on July
20, 1882, was produced at the Metropolitan
Opera House last night for the frs. time
in America and the first time anywhere
outside Of the Wagner theatre in Bayreuth.
vast audience assembled to witness
the performance, or celebration or what
ever it ought to be called, and seemed to
be lost in wonder. The ushering of the
drama into the New World was attended
by curious surroundings. Problems OF
dress and dinner obtruded themselves
among pious meditations and philosophical
speculations. In Bayreuth dress matters
not, but dinner is sometimes uncertain.
or these matters account is given in the
proper place. The position of honor goes
to the drama itself. What sort of impress
sion does it make here? What ia the real
truth about this thing, which in Bayreuth
is called sacred" with hushed voice and
solemn faced reverence?
Such weighty matters are not to be dis
missed in the ordinary survey Of a morning
column of type. Critical examination OF
the inner circles of this convoluted creation,
this radiated aurora of an old mans vener-
able imagnations fed by the eternal cur
rents OF vast immortal literatures, is not
for the scant hour when the hounds Of mid
night are on the traces Of the pen. To-day
there is scope only for an impressionistic
sketch
ITS ARTISTIC VALUE.
"Parsifal" is the child of Wagner's artistic
decrepitude. 1t is a decrescendo in inspirs-
ton, a rtardando in invention. More than
any other drama of Wagner does it rely
upon the dazzling of the eye to dull the
keenness of the musical ear. 1t is a most
imposing pageant set to unimposing music
Wagner fired heaven once with the immo-
lation of Brdnnhilde, 1t was not to be done
again. The light on the Holy Grail is white
and cold -...
The entire machinery Of the familiar
Wagnerian drama Is here; but the scsne
painter, the stage manager. the meckan-
ician and the electrician hravely hold up
the hands of the musician, Cast any old
rags Of scenery on the stage; let the lights
be as dim and Pickering as the dying fancies
of Adrian; let the actors be Of the breed Of
the subsidized provincial German theatre.
and yet the last aot of Tristan und Isolde"
will peal its eloquence into the heart and
blast the soul with the lightnings Of genius
Give the first act of Die Walkure." most
hackneyed of all great acts. the tottering
timbers of Maurice Grau's battered seem
cry, a moonlight Of such Prussan blue as
never was on sea or land, and still the might
and power Of its pulsating passion will
conquer.
SKELETON WITH BUT sHREDs OF FLESH.
But strip "Parsifal" of it's scenic and
mechanic gories and you will lay bare the
skeleton of system, with only few shreds
of the flesh left upon it. The poem Of
"Parsifal" is almost utterly devoid of those
great basic elements which make human
life dramatic for men and women. No
where in it do we see, as in Wagners other
works, the primeva man and woman at
gaze upon one another in the naked bar
barrie splendor of desire. Instead OF the
one passion which makes plays we are
asked to consider the suffering Of a man
who is as remote from our common sym
pathies as his figure is from our eyes when
it lies recumbent in the seat behind the
altar of the Grail.
Amfortas is held up as typical of the sur
ferngs Of humanity under the curse of
carnal sin. Tdnnhduscr is more eloquent
than a thousand of him. We see Tann-
hduser in the grip Of the temptress Of the
sin Of AmfortaS we hear talk, talk, talk,
while the sufferer himself is carried about
upon a litter-a charnel house sight-mak-
ing his unending moan to the patient stars.
PITY AS AN oPERAT1c MOTIVE.
The hero OF the story young Pdrsifal,
comes before us looking like young Sieo-
fried and wearing a musical tag of similar
style In the last act he is bearded and
armored, again like S'egfried, and his theme
is exfoliated in an outrageous harmony
of trumpets and trombones. But what a
tenuous echo he is after all! .Sieqtried
bazes with all the glory Of manhood; he
has hot blood in his veins and he carves
his way through fire and the wrath Of q
god TO the mountain of his hearts desire.
Pdratdi loves no woman, He has no
passion He cannot have. for he is the
embodiment Of ascetic. or at least mon
astic, denial The one emotion which he
submits for our hearts is pity. most ex-
cellent emotion and admitted 10 he akin to
love. A highly respected sister-in-law OF
love it may be, but love is love, and spins the
big round world down the grooves of time
As an ethical basis of this drama wa
are asked to accept a philosophy Of pity.
founded on the ethics Of Arthur Sohopen-
hauer and ampifed by the adoption of
certain of the teachings Of Buddha. In
stead Of those beautiful doctrines of re-
demption through the love and self-saoriHce
of woman, so eloquently preached in some
OF Wagners other dramas, We are besought
to look upon woman as temptress and
remuneration of love as the highway to
heaven.
As the exemplar Of the claim Of pity we
are presented with the picture OF the
wounded Amfortas, who is a lay figure of
incomprehensibe personality. He is shown
in the first act, and the pity doctrine is
further preached in the pother made over
the killing OF the swan tsach n big, fat,
able bodied swami As the master of evil
we behold KHngsor, who comes before liz
in the first scene Of the second act with