The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-03-12
DER FUElGHUETZ" REVIVED
WEBEFS NCSIC Ar THE METRO
FOLITAN OPERA HOCSE.
me WSrk % ksNcciIentIy MOanaesl nut
PeSforuseSl only TslerHbly-Nueh &C
the Music Pleased tire Large Audience
Greatly Mime. a;adakl o. Praised.

Hne WUfA 10 Ehceilemuy MOunlo1 nut
PeTformesl unlS Tolerably-Nueh &C
the Music Pleased tire Large Audience
ssFcaslS-Mme. Cadski o. Praised.
weber's Der Freischafz- was revived
at the Metropolitan Opera House last
night. The work had not been heard in
the original German since Walter Dam
rOsch gave IL at the Academy OF Music in
1899. IL has been done In English since
that. and IL was done at the Metropolitan
in isst under Dr. DRmrosch. But its
performances in this city have not been
numerous considering the fact that u
Wss made known here in 1926. only four
years after IL was given TO the world by
the genius Of Weber.
There 10 no difficulty in accounting for
the want Of a general public demand for
Der Freisch 0tz' in these days. The
great historical importance OF the work
appeals to no one. That Weber antici-
pated Wagner in the use Of many OF the
expedients which mark the distinction
between opera and music drama. that he
gave to the orchestra a gAmut OF utter
ance which il had never known before
his time. that he demonstrated the
capacity Of vocal bFavura for dramatic
utterance and thus made possible Bellini's
Norma that he excited the enthusiastic
admiration of such masters as Besthoven.
Wagner aud Berlioz are facts known to
students Of musical history.
hut these things mean nothing to the
audiences OF to-day. whose first aud most
impressive discovery Is that the style Of
the melody 10 old fashioned and who
with good reason-cannot h. brought 10
enjoy the dialogue. -anctifed to all good
Germans by two centuries of devotion
to the -sonRspiel- form. But Il may lie
doubted whether WebeT's masterpiece
would be popular success in these times
even with the Beriioz recitative~.
With the dialogue it, fate ~ sealed
spoken lines never sound interesting in
= large opera house and opera singers
seldom speak we'll The st vocal piecs,s
Of Der FreischGtz- are without exoep-
ton beautiful and expressive. hut they
are cast in mould wholly uncOngeniAl
to the American operaRoer. tine must
Ire German or thoroughly saturated
with German ideals IA order thoroughly
to enter into the spirit Of the work
such an air a. -Ieise. leiss- would
please an any OPERA. hut 10 ss-Ins tn stand
out a. a singularly striking number when
heard IN a performance such as that of
last night TheoVerture naturally aroused
enthusiasm becaus- u has l-~en kept
alive IN the concert room and its style
has not been allowed TO pass from piIblic
memory. IN" hunting song ~ OF the
type that always pIeaSes and there ~
plenty ~ other music that can give de-.
light TO people not too devoted 10 Puccin'
The production last night vas scenically
admirable The moulding OF the bullets
m the VOLTS Glen is always the scene
IN which memories Of The Black Crook
are revived. u was splendidly done last
night The picture was most effective
and the dreadful things that happened
when the horrors Of the incantation broke
loose wore quits terrifying such a
spectacle was worth arranging and the
audience applauded ~ heartily.
Musically the performance relied pretty
much on the intelligent efforts of Alfred
Hertz who conductsd and Mine Gadsk,
the igdfhs The orchestra discharged tie
duties Capaby and IN the overture even
brilliantly. Mr. Bla-s made a gallant and
we'll de~l gnsd attempt az CaspdT. hut his
voice H. not vigorous enough for such
etaCtinR music and he himself - much ton
amiable 90 depict such a desperate char
acteT
Hermann Jadlowkrr sang the music ~
Mar as u he had a steel collar around his
throat and acted like a schoolboy who
had b~en kept IN for not knowing his
lesson Miss Alten was tolerable
AsRchSH. The minor parts we're respecta-
bly performed. hut not m a manner 20 add
much interest 10 the representation. The
chorus sang very we'll indeed and even
danced