New-York tribune., 1919-12-28
Memorable OccasionHere
May Be Temporary Substi-
tute for "Hansel and Gre
tel,'' Long OFF Program
By II. f. krehbiel

"HaHsel und Gretel" seemed to have
brought JOY to the young and a two
fold pleasure to the hearts Of those
whose appreciation of them was
doubled by seeing the happiness which
it brought to the little folk 1t had to
be sacrificed to the Moloch of War
"onigskinder' had less enduring
merits and went the way of other
operas, which had to make place less be-
cruise new things were demanded than
that atfcctation and fad might be
humorcd. For this Mr Gatti has Of
fered something like compensation IN
"Oberon'; for "Hansel und Crete" It
Is possible. though not likely, thac a
substitute has been found, tsmpocar,ly
&, least, in the opera which hal It's
first public performance unde- extrao~-
binary auspices last night The opera
was "L'Oiscau bleu."
Fashionable charity threw its arms
around the new work; the circum-
stance that II was to open it's eyes to
the stage lamps in the metropolis of
America instead of one OF the capitals
IN which the authors are at home, lent
the occasion glamor which made an
almost irresistible appeal to curiosity
In its original form as a spoken play
the work had achieved a conspicuous
success when it was the sensation of
Europe at noble theater which at the
time was devoted to nobler things:
the author of the operas texts, whom
occidental peoples have hailed as a
genius, was present to witness the pre-
mlere; the composer of the music con
Quoted the performance; the extraor-
binary resources of the establishment
were avished upon its pictorial dress;
what more could have been done to
make the occasion one of memorable
artistic triumph? Nothing within the
power of the management, the public
or the outtitters. If there were dis
closed riffs within the Lutte which by
and by shall make the present music
mute its authors nor the producers
were to blame.
Details Of Performance
AS to details in the performance. we
nave no disposition to inquire curious
~. An observation, general in its
scope, might be held to cover the case
had singing in its accepted sense
been demanded by the music, there is
no institution in the world which could
nave provided the requisite number of
singers; II expressive action ard
equally expressive vocai uttcrance are
as essential in an opera as they were
IN the spoken play, the book no less
than the score offered an insurmounu-
able bar to the full achievement of the
purposes OF the lyric drama. We might
add that in NJ. Maeterlinck's fairy
drama an understanding of the speech
es is as essential as enjoyment of the
stage pictures and the doings of the
piay-tolk to appreciation of the au-
thor's purpose and for such an un-
ders:andlng hlndrances were provided
oy the use of foreign tongue and the
emp ioymcnt of music. "L'Oiseau bleu"
is an ailegory replctc with philosophical
symbolism not profound but beautiful!
and appealing. For such symbolism
music might provide a vehicle. but it
would have to be music of a different
order than that written by M. Albert
Wolff, and its appeal would have to
be directed to different and larger
comprehension than that which an or
dinary audience brings with it into the
theater.
No one who witnessed Mr. Winthrop
Ames' notable production os The Blue
Bird" at the New 1neater nine or ten
years ago will need to be told that
music IS essential to the exposition of
'HS diiS5Oiy NiVSu room IN winch
spoken dialogue could be effectively
employed, we can imagine what music
appropriate TO the play would be like.
IL would be & sort of ether, impalpable,
ever present, persuasive, yet seldom
assertIve for its own ends; tonal
mist; an halation from an invis BILE
orchestra, an emanatiou from the pic
lures, the thoughts, emotions Of the
people of the pay, an eyoca,ion Of the
listener as we'll as the poet 1t would
obscure nothing vitalize and swceten
everything. 1t would be palid, warm.
cadaVerous. roseate, gorgeously cru
descent in turn. At times when situa-
tons and postures become momen-
tarlly fixed it would seemingly CON
dense, gather itself into a cloud. take
on the contours of rhythm and melody,
float upward, carrying speech with it
speech which had blossomed into song
then be disslpated and waited away
again as harmonious perfumed mist
Folksong for Children
Debussy could have written such
music; some other composer might
When Herr Humperdlnck wrote music
for "Hansel and Gretel" it was for a
home play, designed for his children.
In it he introduced folksongs from the
German nursery. When he was per-
suaded to eNpound 1t into an opera
he applied the Wagnerian system OF
construction (and with an over-many
hand), but adhered to the folksong
type of nobody. and made his score to
sing with childish cherubn always
When he undertook to supply music
to the sympolical fairy tale "Konigs-
kinder" he wrote continuous orches-
trail part, above which he wanted the
pointed text q. e., the rhythmid and
measured words to be spoken. The
experiment proved TO be a failure, and
when he was commits stoned by the
Metropolitan Opera directors TO turn it
into an opera he adopts the German
operate manner Of the period.
ar. Wolf has not tried to make such
melodrama (using the word in its
sncient sense) as we have imagined.
but has tried to trim L'Oiseau Bleu'
into an opera. Music is Il clog to speed,
no matter how deftly it is employed.
and much OF the fairy play had to be
sacrificed. No doubt the hand Of M.
Maeterlinck was employed in the alb
breviation AS also in some of The
textual changes. We can not recall
whether or not the scene in which the
trees of the forest, its wild denzens
and domestic animals take counsel as
to the punishment which they wish to
inflict upon the children who come
within their precincts in search of the