New-York tribune., 1920-11-21
Einseii''s Notable
But English Is
Poor in Isolde
lime. AlaHenaucr Gives
lavish Beauty and Op,,-
lent Loneliness OF Voice
to Great v agner Opera
i)rchestra Too Sonorous
sug,laee | 9ed Clear Only
at Detached Moments:
Faulty Book to Blame
Bv II. E. krehbicl

-se-e went EGst o. art wind
.-,sgh the Metropolitan Opera House
..,,s-;av afternoon wach SnooN the
.i.srs of oNre.lcncv and convention
-; ,-ovs rcst - bats and night
=, ,umbla- and f'atter.vc into the
..,r air. Al-sr ~ lnterregnum of
- seasons WaEnerS CHRISTIAN unG
..';,7 VS. performed. 1t was per-
- IN EnE sr ostcnSlbly which
-, righ. haye made the day one to
= marsed Mt red letter in the
s..g-s calendar cf the establishment
t,r or even one-ta.f Of she antlcipa-
-..s when II held cut had been re-
.grsd There are several red letter
'rs associated w.ta the great lyric
..-a-le. Us speak cut our convic-
-. the creates o. ali lyric dramas
>. !. has Oeeu Pre- er-ea at the Metro
'.,.-sn sstab s,went. One was the
=. American production O. the work
:, December 1856 when all the per
.,,~suces a. the taeater. though not
=. entire re0er-ory, were German. \
,.,,d was tie FRS, performance IN the
han regime. ws en-. through the IN
.ssrcs aad particip patton OF Jean de
,.,1ke il was demonstrated 10 the
,sslic that Wagrer's music might be
,rs 50 IS 70 meet the claims Of as
,.,ic beauty without harm TO the dra-
-,.jc ideal. II ; was IL 1he season Of
*. %. Ni-hia TIE Intervening dec
..s and st.erward there were several
able Incidents. sGcn as the assump-
.,n Of the part o. Isolde by Nine. Ter
"a and Mss Frem stai, but those
7,.ch deserved q red letter or a white
t,.e were Ire tNo mentioned.
English Not Clearly Sung
yesterday production II the Eng
Il language had been what i might
ige been its gIircarce would have
..o grea.er than that Of any OF ITS
except he 1rst But it
s,s not. II iact. -as moments in it
which thare wa, an opportunity TO
-a..ze that the vernacular vas the
r--age o. the performance were so
~ and so detached that the subject
VOWED becomes negligible. except as
: ..smen, n tre larger question as
g whether or not operas ouch. TO be
.,~senied in ar other language than
=. IN when they were origina "
7....sn. That question has frequently
s.a discussed n -hiS journal aad the
rg-nsn-s mus nov oe repeated mere;
5 better 10 devote time ard snace TO
l'sE observations or the causes which
-scght about The failure IN this -
~. Of & rerres en-ation which in
TT other "a .c.lars was o. note
71,.y excellence. Preliminary TO
a.:e observations let il be Set down
Is = syom thai 10 intelligent person
|; saly . rejec- thai for an audience
+ v,ich the English IS native -9ngue
-z.atallig.t = English performance
mmeasur41r worse then = per
5'-zlce in a1v - the other languages
gse a. oar .vtc thaa-er. 1t S worse
x.agse il IS un-ntel lloigle 10 al those
|E,s listan - =. no- only 70 those 70
TT Frercl. Ga1man or Italian IS an
|-aowr tongue
Whiiehill Is Understood
V. saould Zee, Oh. ret 70 speak in
Is sweeping -e~ms cut Of considera-
l.. :oE the efforts o. two or three
rss wno managed % ke some OF
- words understood 1lr. NhiIehi..
Z instance. ard 3r. Sen0ach-lt
re aad been enough Of understand
:. speech u present even an outline
Ire poet-c9m p0scr's thoughts IN
s@ significant continuity. Nobody
7se.a 20 understand every wort IN an
- Or -a- contrary. there are
i! educated peop-e ot taste who
TX :. sufficient Z they understand
~ o. taem TO get wnat might be
r.. tae general r-n of the argu-
u to- -ae ves-. especially in the
~ emo-.ora -zeC moments Of tre
u .nsy ere content - depend upon
1o,e e.oele,. expression Of the
= No r~c drama. perhaps.
l'A-i ta-s e. sc tnan Tristan unl
-s VITA r. tremendous musical
s'A-cs G. t1= universal passion. Il
4 s's.o-r = Dr. C..-l-lv or even 0ur-
IL 1dli.er r- - wna- the typ cal
'A Q, q tines say 70 each otner
ls loYs due ot nc arst act. Even
'sac'ag TIE .ext from the printed
4 S..A rs --rsla m.Ntur- of pessi-
r. rl.osepcy one teels Ike saying
4 >T-noEraes Tseu.t:
@e asar- mea a.nz os love simpler
g@se v-os7a. riddles made Of night
/ hsse i ao- 'ine n the Nrst act
- MIG r.-rr light not 10 BE-
~. . tae .rcc .zance O. hearl1
ants - e.. ~ ,oe cot, t1ro0oiaE
T. O "ag1s- drama And thcre
81 a. ne "lice .1 the original
s-e or II a. adequate trar station,
II. 70. oe tr,-g,t 70 tne ears and
u -f'saenslca ~ every devoted listen
a = sscsi4ec aooor cne from trans
~ A'ayef a13 conductor.
q Pasaphrase l. Faulty
''S,szJ a.-.erca vas wholly al
r pr. -h Stall sc at
q Z. ny y eir.r..en the b arne2 J.
,e -la11.e taa We snail
'~'s r4 e Ing 81 Yors or
"a .aa- D. H. ard r. Cor9er. the
~ 1ort e1er made u = NayreT' Z
T. poen. r VS. touched up n
60 s',1es - laze j. better adapted
1'A2 - Er E 2nund Spaetn and
IA - Coz crey 1T me revision
10 KIN occalse not one Inc
- p9e, .c fty vas intel. z BIZ
- az r. had oeeo poes!D.e 2.
ne ,ert.raance NTH tae boob
s = e.- -rr were none ~
'8sacmes. .r tae brochure so.f
~--'ff-ee ra. contained only
~ RI 80 a..a md faulty para
. tee 'tr4ert, fpl - line
-" fe1n.fy Ieltooic forms y.
81 M vcc.a. makcsaifte.
zee ~ ttr <rrs . Jeanne
- bfsngeosel. Er. KoDert Biaar
Aae<D. Ic Clarence Whitehall
ssshal ne EI2ilsa tongue J.
y toe ltaers Mfoc Ma,zeu
.ss'9e JDaano Ncm5acd Nyris
D',sft Leor1erdt fMelot} Cctay'
~. - tas9'f'. aal hnXelo hada q
W fsf tcrv1e Ms fDreiKn
~, men. le,ne. up lr ta-- can
." pfiy .ccagse u nis arY
- y, By r.1.Dn ri n tre :
Co., CO. s'f 'roIy wro11ct lrafn1f Z