Evening star., 1940-12-15

advised of the progress in compo-
sition. day by day Wagner and
she walked together or sat in her
home as they discussed it or ex-
changed warmly Worded letters
when this was not possible.
Wagner lived in state of high
excitement, and Mathilde managed
to fan the fame. Minna's bourgeois
and common-senSe resentment of
this state of affairs was bound to
lead to the break which was inev-
itably to destroy their married life.
Otto Wesendonk seems to have
trusted his wife completely and to
have found nothing to be alarmed
at in her association with the artist
they both admired
Story Celtic in Origin.
The episode of Wagner and Frau
Wesendonk had its repetitions be-
fore and after, eliminating in Wag-
ner's taking for his second wife
Cosima Liszt Won BuloW after a long
and scandalous association with her
while she was still married to his
friend, Hans Won BuloW This side
of Wagner's character cannot be
condoned any more than his in
gratitude to those who befriended
him or his careless attitude toward
his many debts. To Wagner 1t was
all quite plausible, however, seeing
that it helped him to develop his
musical powers. 1t is undoubtedly
to the charm Of Mathilde Wesen-
donk that the world owes Tristan"
whether Wagner's attraction to her
was merely his living the role of
Tristan with her as Isolde or
whether it was in reality one of the
great love affairs of history.
The famous story of Tristan and
Isolde" Celtic in origin, has been
utilized in every land by every kind
of writer. The version which Wag-
ner employed was that of the 18th
century Gottfried Won Strassburg,
who in turn had translated the
manuscript of an Anglo-Norman
poet, Thomas. In the older forms
many eXtraneous events had been
introduced according to the fancy
of the troubadours or minnesingers
who use it in their story telling.
Wagner divested the plot of these
additions and began his libretto at
a later point in the old saga.
Story Of Minor Importance.
The story itself takes on minor
Importance in the opera In spite
of its dramatic situations. It is
the emotion OF the work which DOM
mates and which is SO intense and
moving in its musical expression.
Never has the ebb and flow of all
powerful feeling been so wondrously
portrayed in song and in the
strength and unceasing flow of his
inspiration as there expressed did
Wagner rise to unprecedented
heights.
The opera was finished in April.
1858. The usual trials regarding its
production began and when Vienna
decided it was "unproduceable"
after more than so rehearsals, and
like fate followed it later in Karls-
ruhe, Wagner was in despair. Still
an exile and unable to superintend
personally its staging, he could not
smooth the way for any of the
opera companies considering it. It
was not until seven years later that
it was finally given in Munich, not
reaching the Metropolitan Opera in
New York until 1896
Three years before it was heard
in America, Wagner had died. He
was buried in Bayreuth, in the place
where he found the eventual real
ization of all his dreams Death
struck him while he was writing an
article on "Das Weibliche in Men,
schen" and the manuscript is left
with his last written words, Love-
Tragedy" This profound human
problem had been the inspiration
for all his musical dramatic works,
eliminating in the unforgettable
Ynl1cic of strTr{cfoo ord TcoJJa