The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-02-07

trying to play them too swiftly he IL
charged with roasting" her whereas
u" mas merely reported what actually
took place.
F"ur-hiths Of musical criticism"
* Just good reporting. Given a per
son who is acquainted with the re-
Iuirements OF the performance and
WI" can hear the rest * four times
out of i've mere record of facts
Tn" singer sings out of tune ar
breaks phrases or Falls to enunciatc
/ i'Nt or sings Itch grollc NIGHT as IL
II wcr" a hymn Of thanksgiving. The
reporter records the facts. It is the
singer who "ruaSts" herself
When II is held to bc a matter OF
. opinion as to whether violinist has
a good staccdto or a Round tone or "A
/ me cantlleua tits time to sit up and
+ think. People who say that these
/ things are all matters of opinion have
not given the conditions due con-
Sid"raiion. If half dozen persons
are engaged in conversation about a
song recital and there are two
. opinions as to whether the singer
was a soprano or @Ontralto, az to
whether she could euuuCiate French
J or whether she did or did nc. c.r,-
Hat in the third line of the first
stdn2a of louvre les ycuX" it simply
goes To show that some heard it and
some did not. The existence of the
thing cannot be called into question
T. be sure, the reporter of musical
doings sometimes has to treat Of
subtler things than these, and there
"a in, .Y.I a.
opinions may properly be expressed.
But the larger part Of his daily work
consists in noting down mere facts
such as those recounted, and untor-
tunately II Is in these less sgnifi-
cant items of musical art that the
great body of readers Of musical
criticism" are most deeply Interested.
Sometimes there arises above the
horizon u small cloud, perhaps not
larger than mans hand yet suf-
ficient to attract attention. Lately
there has been a small cloud Of this
kind in the shape Of muttered grumh-
liugs about the performances of Der
Ring DIES Nihelungen" at the Metro
politan. Now no one loves these
works, with >all their faults. better
than the music reviewer of THE syn;
+ nut II is his firm conviction that the
existing conditions at the Metropoli-
tan make it impossible to present the
works in any way different from
r that with which we are all ac-
quaintcd.
The regular series Of representations
has To go on. The subscribers do not
pay to hear Wagner's cycle. but tC
few wish to hear operas but the ma.
, inrity of those who pay for boxes anC
. orchestra seats at the Metropolitan
, do not wish to listen to Wagner fes
tiyal
On the other hand, let us suppos,
that il were possible to give "Dal
RhenEold" on Monday, Die Wal
Suere" on Wednesday, "Siegfried
i Thursday and Goetterdaemmerung
on Friday, The artistic purpose o
:, Wagner would he defeated becaus
, the same persons do not hold the boXe
, and seats for those evenings.
o., Then why not give the works il
, the afternoon and not a week apar
, each time? This, too, cannot he ar
, ranged while the present condition
4 exist The singers employed in tn
Italian repertoire and in the fey
French operas in the list would hav
=, to sing an the subscription perform
70 ances while the Wagner interpreter
We're occupied with the Ring TIL
same orchestra has TO he used and W
= should have musicians quite worn on
with playing twice a day SOmethin
-, would have to he done with the Phila
81 delpha performances also.
The whole situation is unfortunate
- However there is one thing whic
might be managed without very grea
difficulty. The same persons migl
sing the same parts in tho dffercr
l' dramas one soprano should sing a
J. the BrUCuHhiHCS and one bass all III
% N0idHs Even Erda is not Away
J. the same in these times. This itei
l. of the representations could he niue
= improved.
II The large amount Of public intcrei
" shown in the performances given
II the unsatisfactory conditions show
AZ that tho pondcrous creation of Was
a nor still has great vitality, \ rep,
a titiOn Of the series could profitably
given this season, and it may be tn;
n one viii he given,
ne METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSI
~ MOutCmCZZI'S tragic onprl "I 'AnnI