Evening star., 1933-09-17

1OQaV DOtn lneSe men nave TedcleQ
ripe age of friendship and co-opera-
ton On September Max Reinhardt
touched the threescore milestone, while
his friend and follower will have added
10 years to that number in June of
next year. To both the past season
has brought renewed glory as we'll as
the sad but inevitable reckoning of their
artistic position. For Reinhardt 1t has
brought further tribute to his bril-
liant talent while Strauss has received
the unavoidable criticism that follows
his failure to live up to the brilliant
promise of the time when he responded
to the fire Of his friends vivid mental
1ty and temperament.
Last Spring in Italy. at the Floren-
tine Musical May, this Summer in Salz-
burg Max Reinhardt was made the re-
cpient of a delighted public's appre-
citation Of his conception of art in stage
decor. The production Of Strauss
latest opera, "Arabella,' this Sring and
his recent appearance as conductor at
Bayreuth. after a 2O-year feud with
Sigfried Wagner. and at Salzburg,
brought the sorrowful acknowledgment
that his unique genius had had its day
and there was no new impulse of in
VentiveneSS or musical outlook to arouse
again the spontaneous enthusiasm Of
lOval audience.
OF these two creators, so closely al
lied and interdependent through long
life and many glorious artistic achieve
ments, it might seem today that the
genius of Reinhardt was the most SOL
idly grounded To his true and uner-
ring dramatic sense can undoubtedly
be ascribed the awakening of a cor
responding genius for drama in Richard
Strauss, his original tonal color and
independence of form. as novel and
advanced as that of the pioneer of the
new art of stagecraft.
Born near Vienna and trained for the
stage Max Reinhardt made his first
public appearance at an early age at
the Stadt Theater of Salzburg. his pres
ent home. An actor of individuality
and studious tendencies, he soon at
tracted attention by the extreme nat
uralism which characterized his inter-
pretations. So powerful were his por-
trayals at time when stilted and un-
wieldy readings and posturings were
still considered necessary to an actor,
that he may be said to have founded
a new school of acting. He gradually
took into his own hands much as did
Chaliapin in his later operatic years
in Russia. the various details of stage
production and the direction of his CO.
actors Interpretation In Order 10 ar
rive at the more perfect whole he had
in mind. Through his studious absorp-
tion of Goethe and Shakespeare, he be-
came more and more convinced that
with naturalism as a keynote. some
thing new could be done with both act
Ing and staging.
His venturesomeneSs and conviction
Of its dramatic value led him to pri-
vate production of Oscar Wilde's "Sa-
lone" in Berlin after public showing
had been objected to by the censors.
1t was from this remarkable perform
ance that Richard Strauss received in
spiration for his "Salome" which rocked
the musical world at its first produc-
ton in 1906 with what was deemed
musical profanities. and shocked New
York into a pompous decree of BAN
ishment year later. Again inspired
by the dramatic production of Rein
hardt, Strauss wrote his greatest work,
Electra Here was a musical drama
the equal Of which had never been
heard and whose stirring power was
again proclaimed last Winter, 25 years
later. by crowded Metropolitan rising
to its feet to applaud for Is long min
utes with wild enthusiasm. For the
original productions of Strauss next
operas, Der Rosenkavalier" and "Ari-