The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-01-29

I plehhe popular ldbte COulu Ht 81 Ni'toih 'HV
fundamental laws Of human life as to let
these two lovers settle down in peaceful
married contentment he rose TO the con-
ception of that majestic womanhood which
he embodied in ts highest and most glorious
shape in his Bidahhilde
Flea. conceived by Wagner on such lines
as these was surely no laokadaisioal maiden,
cherishing her superstitions because they
furnished her with thrills down the spine
but passionate dream haunted woman,
who looked beyond the confines Of the
physical world with the eyes OF an imperative
and blazing faith.
That faith was to be shaken only when
1t was called upon 10 exercise itself upon
some part OF the history Of the beloved
LohoHgrin's fate was prepared by The very
nature of Elsa or all women in the world
! this ecstatic epitome Of womanly love
was the last one upon whom could be laid
the ban of prohibition
All or nothing must be hers. She could
no more resist asking him for his name
than she could resist the flaming of her
soul at his very touch. splendid. burn
ing, passionate figure this Elsa certainly
seems to be when read in the light of Wag-
ners own reflections That there is some
difficulty in presenting her from this point
Of view cannot be denied. for the music
Of "Lohengrin' is so sweet and SO fluent
that it affords little opportunity for such
decamatory effects as are to be found in
later works
Bat there Is room for greater aooentua-
ton than ia usually given to this music.
which * too generally treated as II il were
twin sister to the pure Italian cantiena.
Even in his early stage Wagner had passed
beyond this and entered the realm OF
lyric defamation
Of course there is always the danger OF
going too far. The Germans. especially
those upon whom has fallen the curse Of
Blyreuth ruin this music by delivering
it in hard brittle style, which they foolshly
believe is the true Wagnerian manner
happy medium in the desirable ACHE c-
inent. but il Is seldom found.
Wehe Wehel as they wall in the Wagnerian
dramas. The presentation Of Der Ring
des NibelungenT came 70 sad end The
orchestra was utterly worn out and couldn't
play Nine. Nordica was out Of voice and
couldn't sing. Miss Walker was out of
temperament and couldn't act Miss We
was out Of everything aud couldn't do any
thing. Even the horse kicked
Andreas DIPPED did his best with Sie0fricd
but he was fighting against fearful odds.
He died peacefully and smiled contentedly
on his bier. The Rhine maidens had tempted
him in vain. What else could have been
expected? Only with cotton in his ears
and smoked glasses on his eyes could SieD-
fried have been tempted by such damsels.
The final scene of all, which ended this sad
eventful history was wonder OF msmau-
agement. Mr.. Conred has persistenty adj
vertised the performances "a under his
personal supervision. He must have felt
glad of this while that last scene was going
on. About everything that could possibly
go wrong did so and finally when Walhala
should have been blazing in the skies there
was nothing but murky gloom of gauae
drops against which the hrazen Walhalla
theme hurled itself in Northumberland
despair
Just as the curtain closed there was a
sudden upward swoop OF gauze, but, alas
too late, The roasting Of Wotdn and his
hroilsome brood was unseen. Loge was
swindled out OF his great triumph. and the
moral Of the mighty drama was unpreached
And it was all Mr. Conried's fault He was
personally supervising. He himself hath
said it.
Another Italian. who writes both courte-
ousy and temporarily has been troubled
by comments printed in these columns
anent certain doings at the Metropolitan
Opera House He SAYS:
After reading over the criticism Of PUG
cini's 'Tosca in last Tuesdays issue Of your
valued paper allow me to remark that |
cannot agree with several Of the views you
have therein set forth
In the first place you say that Mt the
present day, Puccini, Mascagni and Leon
cavallo alone uphold the standard of
Tuscan glory Leaving aside the sarcasm
Of this assertion. and the fact that Leon
cayallo is not a Tuscan. one might remark
that your statement is Incorrect Whore
do you leave Gordano and Franchett?
How many composers ara there outside
of Italy, besides Submissions and Massenet.
that have written for the stage of late days.
Perhaps NJ Charpenter Humperdnck has
written mighty little besides his Hansel ind
Grete and Paderewsks Manru we
could hardly call an opera Therefore If il
is a dull time in Italy what should We
say Of other countries? Besides this while
it may he true that Haecagni has not writ
ten anything to equal his brutal Caval-
lera it ia admitted that Lconcavallo has
at least equalled If not surpassed MS Pag-
liacci' with la Boheme
As TO the bells in 'Tosca,' | might say
that they do not merely keep empty time
as you say: along With them is Scarpa's
aria, the motive Of which is pleasing and
mastery
In passing lesson may be drawn from
the nature OF this writer's complaint. In
all matters OF criticism, il you agree with
the critic he Is right, but II you disagree
with him he is wrong. This rule holds
with most force when you have never given
two hours study to the subject to which
the critic has devoted his life He must
be wrong if he does not agree with you.
He must be wrong because he makes n busi-
ness Of thinking about these matters and
is at it nearly all the time. You must be
right because you think about them only
for your own pleasure and infrequently
Now for the answer. If the gentleman
desires 10 know where this writer leaves
Giordano and Franchetti, he must reply
that he leaves them precisely where every
one else does Giordano has written one