New-York tribune., 1921-11-27

cannot now conceive Of an idlnr
controversy than one touching the near
ness with which the greatest sinpera
wham have heard in the role of Mar
gnerite Cor Margherita} approached
the ideal Gretchen Of Goethe. These
singers were Nilsson, Lucca, Patti,
Aihani and Gcrster. omit Melba, for
whom the part was little else than a
concert role, and Nine. Semhrich, con-
fesnang whose impersonation my mem
ory fails me. An operate incarnation
OF Geethe's heroine was made impos-
sibie by Gounod's librettists, Barber
and Carr@, and though Gounod has put
an ecstasy Of expression into some of
Marguerite's words altogether worthy
OF the German poet. he has not repro
duced her. Some Of the tenderness of
Gretchen is In the creation of the
iFrenchmen. but little of the simple
'ty, the rasticity, might almost say
the rudness, the coarser fiber which
makes Goethe's heroine q national
type. To illustrate: what Marguerite
does in moment of overpowering
passion (admit her lover into her
chamber) Gretchen does with cool de-
liberation, planning the meeting with
Faust and taking the sleeping draught
for her mother from his hands. For
this reason there has not been wanting
| even German critic who placed the
Gallo maiden on q higher moral plane
than the German. All that Nine. Nils
son sang as we'll as all that she did
IN the opera was so instinct with
sympathy, however, that there was no
resisting her whether she was repro
dncing poets ideal or her own con-
ceptiop Of the French paraphrase. l
never felt that wanted Goethe's
sweet child to do as Nilsson did, but
| neither did feel that l wanted Nils
son to act otherwise than rs she did.
Nine Nilsson
in "Lohengrin"
! What may have been defect in
Nine. Nilsson's impersonation of Mar
guerite in Faust" was one of the fine
elements in her impersonation Of Elsa
in "Lehengrin." So far as the general
operate public of New York was con-
cerned she was the creator of the char
acter here, having sung it when the
opera had its first Italian production
in the Academy of Music on March %.
1874. Three years before there had
been few performances in German
at the Stadt Theater under Adol
Neuend riff with Nine. Lichtmay and
Herr Habelmann in the principal parts,
but fashionable folk paid little atten-
ton to German opera until it became
the staple of the Productions at thte
Metropolitan Opera House in the sea-
son iS84-'85. Nine Nilsson's asso-
ciate as the Knight of the Grail was
Italo Campanini, the idol Of his day
as Caruso was yesteryear, Of whom
It 10 difficult to think as long dead.
Elsa, though simple, pure, feryent
!, maiden, has yet in her q strong in
fusion of aaeenly pride fer which
Nilsson had an eloquent vehicle in
voice, style, bearing and gesture. This
element found fine expression in the
clash between the women before the
minister, a scene which Wagner bor-
rewed from "The Lay of the Nibe-
lung" where it takes place before the
portals Of the cathedral in Worms, and
there is no question about the naughty
queenship of the disputants. What we
missed most in Nine. Missions imper-
sonation was the dreamy element upon
which Wager lays much stress in his
play, which he emphasizes in the frs.
words which his heroine utters and
proclaims in the music which accom-
panies her all through the first act
Elsa's conduct and speech throughout
J the scene of accusation and trial must
be those of one in an ecstacy. Nine
Nilsson, though admirably equipped OF
;. 1t in voice and appearance (who can
Fail to recall her Morse eyes and
Northern tint!) did not reach this
plane; seemed, indeed, to have no in
clination to dc so, being serenely con.
fdent in herself and her cause; but
she rose to full comprehension of the
part in the second act and threw all
the feryor of her magnificent dramatic
nature into the trying scene Of ths
struggle between womaniy curiosity
and an almost idoaatrous love for he,
seraphic champion and lover. A more
deal yoice for the part NO ono could
SIX; sweet innocence spoke in Its
limpid purity and mysterious some
thing which held sway over even the
physical elements of those attnned te
it as was.
, An Ideal
Mozartian Character
! Ny earliest recollections Of Nine
} Nilsson, as have stated. belonged IS
: the period Of my adolescence. heard
her sing at that first concert the mad
scene from Hamlet" The impression
which she made upon me then phys
ically Il have confessed to tears and
goose fesh) and emotionally was
greater than dozen years later. when
~ was already a somewhat seasoned
J professional reviewer, but the mosi
profound and convincing demoRstra-
| tion Of her artistic skill which remains