New-York tribune., 1918-01-04
The Opera

MS absence. After an affectlonate leave.
taking Of his wife and children, Ludwig
places himself at the head Of his troops.
which now set out on their march to
join the Crusade.
Scene 4 opens with the tidings Of
Ludwig's death on his way to the Holv
Land. The Dowager Landgravnc So
phle, his mother, now claims the Wart-
burg as her Inheritance, and, unmoved
by Elizabcth's grief, drives her from
the Wartburg in tho. midst Of fearful
storm.
In Scene s we find Elizabeth. who on
being expelled from the Wartbure has
taken refuge at Il hospital which she
h&d founded in her prosperity, still OK
crcislng her charity among the poor
ana afflicted in the neighborhood. II
closes with her death and apotheosis.
ihese scenes form a series of lovely
PICTURES, but, except for the episode
OF the transformation and Of the ex-
pulslon Of Elizabeth from the Wart-
burg, there is absolutely no dramatic
action. Moreover, the music itself. never
written Tor operate presentation. GEN
eraily tails to carry any sort of
oramauc conviction. The orchestral
pa'h'ihg OF the change of the bread
1i'Vo roses. moment calling for the
fichest sort Of melodic treatment, fell
aosoiutely flat In fact, the whole of
IA! .he nrse part of the opera, including
'he long orchestral prelude, left one
Unmoved and even bored. The later
scenes were more effective, though even
III these there were stretches of dull
ness. The choral setting for the de-
parture OF Ludwig IS stirring bit of
writing, and the characterization of
fl1zabeth IN the scene with the Land
gravlne possessed a poignant tender
ness. the characterizati of the Land
gravlne being, however, singularly in
effective. The last scene, again, though
haltlng, rose at times to heights of
beauty, a beauty increased by the ex.
Hfuislte singing and acting Of Miss
In the score there are hints Of the
"agneran influence, and in his treat
ment of defamation Liszt shows th;s
strongly; but, while there are manv
passages of quiet loveliness, nowhere
GOES the music rise to any great emo
'onal heights or show any extraor-
dlnary richness in melodic ideas.
IL is, OF course, unfair to Liszt tc
Judge his work from the viewpoint OF
opera. From that viewpoint he never
intended it to be judged. Let idea
spirits rail as they may, opera is a con.
ventlon intended for public ncve,
any TOO intelligent musically. 1t stand.
or falls by the suffrage of that public
public which always has required
emotion, and generally crude emotion
Wagner's intellectual subtletes ar.
chestra. His music dramas live because
OF the elemental power Of his musi,
and its supreme melody.
Llszt wrote his Saint Elizabeth" fo
a very different public and in yer,
different manner. That its latte,
scenes should in opera possess the ap
peal that was theirs last night is du,
more to the poignancy Of the story an,
to its exquisite Interpretation, than t,
the music itself.
Saint Elizabeth" has none of tn
melodlc and spectacular appeal whicl
has made that other oratorio. Saint
Saens's Samson ct Dalila," effective i,
an operate form. 1t remains, despit
scenery. costumes and group posings
an oratorio in spirit and appeal, an,
leaves us with the suspicion that tn
time for the merging of separate
forms, even of the same art, is not We;
AS lar as the performance went, lit
tie can be said but praise The seen
cry Of Josef Urban was Of high de
gree OF beauty. a beauty only too rar
az tHe metropolitan. The stage plct
urcs were we'll lighted and we'll com
posed. the singing and acting of TIL
principal Of high degree of excel
lence. There was, however, one defec
which ought at once to be remedied
The miracle in the second act consist
in the turning of bread into roses, bu
for some strange reason the presen
production adds two other miracles
a fiery cross and a triple string o
descending leaves. somewhat on tn
theory that three miracles must b
thrice as impressive as one Thi
glaring theatrical effect destroys muc
:. of the simplicity and beauty of TIL
scene.
The enactment Of Saint Elizabeth b
Miss Florence Easton will long be re
membered even by those who dislike
the work itself. 1t was creation in
formed with high spiritual beauty,
beauty such as is rare indeed on tn
operate stage, while her exquisitel
pure voice and clear diction brought t
the part added beauty.
Mr.. Whitehills performance of Luc
wig was q worthy mate, figure c