New-York tribune., 1920-11-21

stream Of molten lava. should think Of
s1borc!natlng it in the moments Of
Apr me climax to the voices Of the
sing ag-actors. But Wagner, VINO must
nave telt the urge Of MS music more
heenly. vitality, ccmpeNinglv. tn4n any
reproducing artist can feel it. vet in
SISTED that n It's most tumultuous mo-
ments 1t was only an accompaniment
10 vocal song.
Passionate expression is not condi-
toned upon volume of tone; sonoritv
and emotional intensity do not neces-
aatI-y imply loudness or noise. Isolde
selects the love pailtre from the box Of
potlons TO the soft song OF a solo vio-
l4n Tristan 5 heartstrings snap in
twain TO the Dianissimo chord of a
harp. Are these not dramatic eli
makes" Mr. BodanzAy did things of
Wonlrous potenc, and beauty with his
Band Yesterday. lifting his hearers to
mountain heights q feeling and plung-
ing them into awful depths. but he was
never more eloquent than when he sub
cued the instrumental voices so that
the song OF the singers might be heard
and occasionally y understood. The same
.Aten1 .ty ct emotional uttegance might
have been attained had he set the PEGS
q ms orchestra 2 degree or two down
II. the dynamic scale. We say this in
the full ow Of appreciation Of his fine
Interpretation Of the score 1t was
often Transporting. But his fortissimo
c.lmaXes frequently shattered the
Of the singers.
keYels in Opulent Voice
Nine. Natzenauer suffered from this
IS much AS -lr. Sem5aca: but the latter
VA more distinct in his enunciati Il
tnan ms conganlon because Of ais
CAREFUL at times It seemed too care
IA sing ng- Mime. Matzenauer rev
eled II the gorgeous opUlence Of her
cence ana splendOr OF vocal tone as
she poured cut We cannot recall ever
TO have heard before. he part is not
new to her; she sang it in Boston q
lev years ago and also in Paris. To
incorporate i in her repertQry was q
natural, q par-ona5le, perhaps praise
worthy ambition. COntraltos have
lt..e ID do N the works Of latter day
composers, and that little is not all
10 tne taste of b'g-brained singer
10 whom her art is more tran lasclvi-
Gus pleasing. Her achievement yes
terday justlfes her desire 1t was al
most beW.d ellng from a musical, 4
dramatic and purely vocal point Of
view. Bur ncr persistent Use OF the
device OF Carkly cOlOring all vowel
sounds was harmful to her enuncia-
ton Of the text. ~ covering her h-ga
tones she also covered the words A
similar fault could not be attributed
TO Miss Gordon. whose enactment OF
the part Of Ieolde's servi iag-maid in
us musical su.,iciercy and its histr.-
one skill was ore Of the surprises
Of the eDcescntat.o1. Naturally hcl
voice suffered in elect from being
brought mo c0ntraS with that OF
Nine NatZcnaucr. The re ION Of
soprano and concralto voices was re-
verscd Tie csnDan.on Of the prin-
cess was reduced 10 undeserved setv.-
tude
We can parucplarize no further;
there viii he time for that in the days
to come, for Wa2nef's work was re-
celved With sven giadsome and Oh
y.ously genuine enehp assn taat it
must hold its own with the most
popular wor6s in the repertory which
Mr. Gatu h4s prepared FOR this sea
son. There must he comment, too, or
the new scenic OUTFIT OF the opera; lol
when Mr Urban sets himself large
task he accompiisaes noteworthy y
.ang, and this ne has done in the
mounting Of Christian unA Isolde
whether or not !. is the correct thing
ray BE- reserved for discussion at an
other time