New-York tribune., 1908-10-04

never opera or drama had in this world before
Mr. tonried had concluded at the outset OF MS
enterprise that 'ParsjfaP' was too great money
maker To- he Included in the regular subscription
list NJ the season. He followed his general pros
pectus with a special one. In which he announced
fre performances Of Waguer's festival drama on
special dates. under special conditions and at spe
cial n-ices The first set down Tor december
"a the prices for the stalls on the main floor the
first ha Iconv and the which were at his d1s-
oeeI ve-e doubled orchestra stalls. s10. but seats
in the upper balcony and the topmost gallery were
cold at the regular price The first performance
took place on December. %. the east helng as
follows:
Parifs1 Bord5s Alloys Burgstssr
Anlfortas. Ant9n Ro,sf Ean B;ss KeGy
KlngJoF. Et61s .MarssI J0qrnst
e5 eaSt EI9 Tsnrre Miss Braendle
rbiyI E'enaIre Albert Ress
I,, Lhlr1 fIseu SITe .Mr Harden
Second knight. 55-,ise Home
Anton Fuchs and Carl Lautenschager were IN
charge of the stage; Mt. Hertz condCc'eu. lHe
erst half of the season had been sacrificed 10 the
d,,cton As such things done at Bayreuth
and in the best theatres of Germany the prepara-
tons were inadequate. but the results achieved SET
many old visitors to the Wasnerlan mecca III
amaze SO the mere spectacle Was c"iceii''u
Mr. Conried's production was an Improvement on
+bo+ ce Faz-reuth in most things except the light
effects All of Wagners dramas snow that the
poet frequently dreamed OF things Whlch We're oe-
yond the capacity Of the stage IN ms day-eVeh
the snIendid!y equipped of the Festspiei eihaus
in Tsayreuth. Improvements in theatrlcal NE
roncs made their realization IN more or less de
gree possible. The greatest advance disclosed by
New York over Bayreuth was in the design ana
r,aninuIation OF the magical scenes or the second
act Such scenes that between Parsifal ana the
Flower Maiaens were doubtless In the imagination
y, WAGNER hut he never their realization Up
10 the time of which / am writing the Bayreuth
pictures were exaggerated and gar1sh. In New
York every feature OF the scene was beautliu III
concepton harmonious in color, graceful in action.
seductive as the composer intended II TO be-as
a,,,,rna TO the eye the music was fascinating
to the ear At later performance Welngartner'
conductor and composer now director Of the Royal
Imperial Court Opera OF Vienna. sat beside me-
After the first act he spoke in terms generally
complimentary about the performance. but criti-
cisa6 its spirit and execution in parts. When the
scene Of the magical garden was discovered and
the floral maidens came rushing IN he leaned for
ward in his chair. and when the pretty hustle
reached its height he could wait no longer 10
give voice to his admiration. rAh! he exclaimed
in a whisper. there's atmosphere! There's fra
grau.e and grace the music of the drama was
familiar to New Workers from many concert per
rormances Once indeed. there a "Parsifal
festival In Brooklyn. under the direction OF Mr.
Seid! in which all the music was sung by the best
singers OF the Metropolitan Opera House on
stage set to suggest the Temple Of the Grail.
Only the action and the pictures were new TO the
citv's music lovers. Nevertheless the interest
the part Of public stipend uS. The first
FIVE representations were over on Janu2~v 2l but
before then Mr.. Conried lad already announced
FIVE more besides special day performance on
Washington's Birthday February %. After the
eleventh performance. February 2S Mr.. Conried
gave out the statement to the public press that
the receipts had been slS5aOs that is an average
OF sls 4g7 L. But this not the end Under
MI Grau the custom had grown up in the Metro
politan Opera House of special performance, the
proceeds of which were the personal perqus!tes
of the director. In all the contracts between the
director and his artists there "A clause which
bound the latter to sing for nothing at one per
formance Before his retirement Mr. Grau grew
ashamed of appearing in the light OF an eeenosy
nary beneficiary under such circumstances s1d
explained TO the newspapers that the arrangem All
between himself snd the singers purely
business one. Nevertheless ne continued TO avail
himself of the rich advantage which the arrange
usnt brought him. and in the spring closed ths