Evening star., 1935-03-10

THE complete program Of today's
symphony orchestra concert. in
order of presentation is as
i follows:
"Die Meistersinger"-
Prelude to act three.
Dance of the apprentices.
Entrance of the meistersinger.
Homage to Sachs.
Preludes to act one and act three,
"Lohengrin."
"Brunnhilde's Immolation," "Gotter-
dammerung."
Good Friday Spell' from "Parsifal." ]"
"Traume"
Overture, "Tannhauser."
What is there to say about Wagner
that has not been said many times
before, and very much better than !
could do it? To measure the greatness
of his genius one should make the
profoundest possible study OF his
works and should hear them again
and again-and yet again. One
should start with his early works and
see the development, realize the def
mite growth, sometimes natural, some
times by the sheer intensity of his
indomitable will power One should
then see how the bud of his musical
genius grows, then opens up under
the inspiration which Weber, Berlioz
and List gave him (the first two for
the enrichment of his orchestral
palette, the latter for his harmonic
and imaginative Stimulance).
Then, later, when already at the
height of his musical powers, another
more dangerous, more deeply burrow-
ing development took place with, as
the result, the incredible scores OF
Tristan" and "Parsifal' and ''Meis-
tersinger" and "Gotterdammerung. y
1t is that change which makes Wagner
so ni-appealing-the fact that he
can satisfy the most heterogeneous of
tastes, that for sheer brilliance he has
not been outdone by any one, and
that still he cannot but have the
strongest possible influence on the
most precious esthetic taste.
All great composers and performers
from 1900 on have had periods where
they were of" Wagner. 1t is the
very best proof of the mans nearly
diabolical magic that We always come
back to him again. We can deny MIN
as much as we want from nearly
every standpoint and, when We are
all through, we come back to him
like the children to the Pied Piper
Classicists and romantics find that
his work gives them the conductorial
possibilities beloved by every wiz
tuoso" (in the good sense OF the
world, and, more than that, it gives
not only ourselves, but the audience, a
certainty of satisfaction like no other
composer can assure.
For this, our first Sunday "Al
Wagner" concert, I have tried to make
the program as diversified and as
indicative of the many-sidedness OF
his genius as was consistent with the
necessary cohesion of a symphonic
program.
WE WILL start it with the work
w which he wrote at the fullness
of his power, the most important
items of the third act of the ''Meister-
singer" the introduction with Hans
Sachs monologue about the frailty
of our illusions, then the dance OF
the apprentices, the Meistersingers
marching in. homage to Sachs, ending
with the procession.
We then, in immediate contrast
have taken the preludes to the first
and third acts from one of his earliest
works. "Lohengrin," the opera which
was nearly forgotten and lost He
writes about it in his letters to Liszt
saying: After my first success oi
'Rienzl,' I was completely forgotten
Could you possibly use this work?'
And List, with his touching readiness
| to help, Immediately produced it to
such perfection that it was a greater
success than the other operas that
had already received public acclaim
"Lohengrin" Vorspiel. No. /.
The Holy Grail (the vessel in which
the Savior'S blood was received when
out of love for His fellow men He
died upon the cross) was taken away
for a time from unworthy mankind
At length 1t was brought back by a
host Of angels from Heaven and de-
livered into the keeping of a COM
pany OF holy knights on Mount Sal
vat, pure in heart" who are strength