Evening star., 1940-12-15
By ALICE EVERSMAN.

program.)
BY ALICE EVERSMAN.
In the literature of the world
great love stories have been writ
ten in passionate verse or in poetic
prose of the most exalted kind. 1t
remained for Richard Wagner to
write the most moving of them all
in music. In his opera. Tristan and
Isolde" he has given the souls an
guish and ecstasy a language so
superhumanly beautiful, so filled
with truth as every human heart
desires it. so winged with passion
and undying faith as to leave the
world spellbound in this maze OF
deep emotion.
Face TO face with the revelation
of an age-old ideal. speechless be-
fore an utterance that no mind con.
ceived before, recognizing the power
of penetration that has OWNED the
longing of all humanity. all who
have heard this work have marveled
at the genius of the man who
wrote it.
Tristan and Isolde is unique
among Wagners many extraordi-
nary operas. While always drawn
by the mystical and the psychology
cal. he had never given himself up
to their influence to the same extent
as he has done in this work The
dramatic action is of little impor-
tance against the tremendous power
of the emotion expressed and the
psychological study that has been
traced in it. 1t is music that touches
both the height and depth of the
greatest experience which human
individuals are capable of feeling
and which is delineated with such
forcefulness and emotional abandon
of the most exalted kind as to find
no comparison in musical literature.
Not Happy With Wife.
The writing of Tristan has been
thought for many years to have
been inspired by Mathilde Wesen-
donk, to whom Wagner was at
tracted at this time. Some students
of Wagner have disclaimed this idea,
but it serves to demonstrate trait
in his character which none of his
biographers have been able to gloss
over. His treatment of his wife,
Minna; his many love affairs and
his apparent selflshnesS in not
realizing the sorrow and scandal
which he caused has been blot on
his genius which few could forgive
Wagner was peculiar man and a
genius and therefore cannot be
judged by ordinary standards. Had
he adhered to them he might never
have brought his talent to complete
fruition.
He married Minna Planer when
quite young and soon found that
he was mated with one whose char
acter and intellect were at the op-
posite pole from his own. He was
self -centered, erratic and thriftless
from her point of view, while he
felt that her effort to mold him to
the general pattern of living was
sitting his genius. She was jealous,
nagging and suspicious. with just
cause, no doubt, but what Wagner
could forgive the least was her COM
plete misunderstanding of his aims
and the loftiness of what he was
trying to create.
Endured Early Hardships.
The pity of their relationship is
that she had to endure the hard
ships of his early years without
sharing in the fame which he later
reaped. Nor did she understand that
a man of Wagners temperament
sought every means of succoring his
inspiration, and that it was to be
found, for him, mostly in the SYM
pathy of a charming woman.
He had been friendly with Otto
and Mathilde Wesendonk for some
time when the former, knowing
Wagner's impecunious condition, Of
fered him a quiet home in the lit
tie cottage on his estate. The COM
poser accepted with joy and with
thorough gratitude this desire tt
assist him in his creative work
Mathilde was young and beautiful
woman, a poetess of some talent
but most of all devoted to Wagner
and an ardent admirer of his writ
| ings.
Wagner was not the man to put
aside this opportunity to fresher
his creative genius through the
companionship of a beautiful and
sympathetic woman. He was tired OF
concentrating on the Ring" which
he was composing at that time and
in the emotional state in which the
daily association with Mathilde put
him was glad to turn to the old
legend of Tristan and Isolde"
which seemed to portray so befit-
tingly the status between himself
and his lovely neighbor. He told a
friend that before he had begun to
write Tristan" he had seen the
complete score in vision before
him.
Talked over Composition.
Whether it was that Wagner was
deeply in love with Mathilde in
reality or whether she was simply
a living symhel, close to him, Of
Isolde has not yet been decided. At
any rate, day by day. shs vas kept