New-York tribune., 1922-12-24
Some Strange Features in
New Operatic Stage Setting g
.,,er to Mr.. Royal COrtissOz; Old Methods and
New; Peculiarities in the Staging of
Wagner and Other Operas

besides the arch and the rushing river.
is a fat floor strewed with rocks. 30
obviously disposed 70 be the couch Of
kundry and the seats Of Gurnemanz
and the Esquires that we know they
arc going TO be put to those uses the
moment they are disclosed by the part
ing curtain.
Then instead Of wagner's Flowery
Meadow ('BlumenapoD In the third
act we see q elump Of birehes In the
middle foreground and the rolling foot
hills Of snowelad mountains beyond
forbeGr describing Klingsor's magic
garden, because do not know what
the strange shapes which hll Il are,
but I am glad that somebody had the
faith which removed mountains Of the
first English season in this instance,
though the Pyrenees still rise above
the meadow which wagner's simple
mind conceived as covered with flowers
and apostrophized In the marvellous
Good Friday music.
But this too is an old grief which
thought had overcome, as I had the
fantastic settings Of "Cosi fan lutte"
which compelled the characters 70 run
out Of the picture at intervals, though
they remained on the stage. All be-
cause Mr.. Urban thought that by means
Of stage upon q stage he could give
J MoEart's opera the intimacy which Il
needs to be wholly effective.
My newest mental disturbance was
created by the new settings Of "Thais."
Touching Il ask your intercession
with the gods, that may receive en-
lightenment and the comfort which Il
will bring. want to know whether
bananas grow ten or twelve feet high
in the oases Of the Theban desertsi
whether the skies there we're densely
festooned with branches like those Of
the weeping willow, but with leaves
like the laurel, hanging straight down
70 within twenty or thirty feet Of the
| EIOUUu u ENf AMNlu III WNMhA NNNANN
also); whether the boudolr Of a lady
| (no matter what her moral character),
in Greek building, was without a cell
ing, or any covering beneath the star
studded sky, which is visible over two
walls painted with Egyptian freseoes;
whether IN such boudoir there might
be brilliant strips Of gauzy material
hanging from upper space (the clouds,
probably, and serving no purpose but
90 Gil the picture with color and ham
per the movements Of the Rctorsi
whether the lions Of Mycene were not
a bit anachronistic on top Of Greek
temple in the early Christian era, say
some seven centuries after Mycena
had been deserted (or we're they the
lions Of Crete y and, well, never mind;
lots Of things which am compelled
to see nowadays at the Opera House.
Don't write to me-just pray for my
understanding and help mo to obtain
some peace Of mind.
have a recollection Of having given
place 70 a long article in The Tribune
some years ago in which the new prin-
eiples of stagecraft were set forth and
ekpounded. l remember that the car
dinsl principle Of the new art was said
to be that a stage picture must be
good art" which meant that it must
be good as a picture; so good, indeed,
that II reproduced in miniature It
would be acceptable for the adornment
on ths walls Of an art museum. But
from this major premise was deduced
The extraordinary and, Il seemed to
me, contradictory principle that the
picture ought not 20 attempt 20 imi-
tate reality, but only 20 suggest it
the suggestion coming from aesthetic
effect" the artist having the privilege
to conventionalize, select, eliminate
and dispose Of the elements Of the
scene as he pleased. Il was said 20 be