The evening world., 1911-02-03
"Das Rheingold" Well Put On
In Matinee Cycle of "TheR Ring"
Hertz Makes a Fine Ex-
position Of the Beau
ties of the Score-Md.
riska ALdrich Appears
as Fricka = Stage Set
fings Admirable and
Well Managed.
By sYL vEsTER WILING.

- As RIIEINGODD." at the Met
%ropolstan opera House yester-
day, made a most auspfcious
start OF the matir',e cycle Of Der Rims
des NibeirYsen." the only one to be
Afven this seas~n. II has been an
nounced. The prologue to the Trilogy
has never quite reached In New York
the popularity that II deserves. Yet the
audience was large. and at the end Of
the continuous performance, lasting two
n a quarter hours, there was a burst
Of applause the s~pontaniety OF which
could not be mistaken. which continued
until many curtain calls for all the prin-
cipal singers had been acknowledged.
The greeting TO Mr.. Hertz before the
performance began had something in 1t
Of affection as well as Of admiration.
Admirable Scenic Effects.
IL was not the best performance of
"Rheingold" that w have been prlvl-
legged to hear. but In some particulars
81 equalled the best. and in nothing
did IL call for severe condemnation.
Except for a few trivial balkings of the
ffimsy curtains representing clouds and
some wobbling on the part OF the rain
bow bridge 10 walhalla, the scenic ef-
1fects were admirable. Especially fine
in Illusion was the opening scene at the
bottom of the Rhine. The water looked
very real and tho Rhine-maidens float
ed about in It without q hitch while
they tantalized Alberich. Perhaps the
light that fell upon the aspiring Nj
beiung with the rising sun was TOO
strong, but the seizing OF the gold by
rim was well done. For Mr.. Hertzs
part in the production there Is nothing
r". praise. He made the orchestra
D.. oclaim the. glorious music so that one
could have been content with that
alone. II was among the singers that
weaknesses were disclosed.
Old Favorites Pleased.
leoomer's wotan Is familiar. II IL an
impressive portrait Of the ~heavy-witted
and almost constituencies chief OF the
gods, who Is so easily beguiled by the
crafty Loge. At the beginning his voice
seemed tired. as II has more than once
OF late, but strangely. after a while, II
seemed to freshen. Loge. the flicker
ing fre-god. Is not easy to play con-
vincingly. Van Dyck used 10 do II bet
ter than anybody we have seen. Bur-
rian's acting OF the character Is a bit
heavy and jerky. but. at least. he sans
well. OF Goritz's sinister Alberich and
Reiss's grotesque Mime nothing new in
praise can be said. for they are IN
Irritable characterizations. except for
a modern tendency on the part of
Mr.. Goritz to declalm altogether too
voclferously. Louise Homer's Erda. too,
ts become n tradition. The three
Rhine maidens were very we'll done by
Lenora Sparkes. Bella Alien and Flor
ence Wickham. Some OF the others
we're not as satisfying.
Mariska AIdrlch as Frlcks.
There was a new and beautiful Fr!cka
IN the person of Marsha Aidrich. Her
voice has quality. but so few appear
ances are given TO her that she is al
ways nervous. This not only hampers
her action. but detracts from the beau
,sy OF her singing. A little more conf
dence would W given the touch OF
realism which her Characterization o.
Wotan's wife lacked. Not for the same
reason, because she appears frequently.
but FOR some cause Alma Gluck's
F'reia also was disappointing. Her per-
sonal beauty and exquisite voice should