The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1942-05-09

I rutIf~bh Inv suatfrat tno ~ v
nothing succeeds like failure. To
be sure. not all great works which
are popular today were born under
dark. ominous clouds that leaked
disapproval. Aida" (yerdi). The
Tales Of Hoffman" foffenbach)
'Hsensel and Gretel" bumper
dinck). "Mignon" (ThomasD. Mes
siah" (Handen. Elijah" Men
delssohn). and many more were
welcomed with warm. some Of
them with wild. enthusiasm.
Opposed To them 10 q long and
illustrious list of works whose
very existence tottered In uncer-
tainty ss a result Of their disas-
trous first performances.
Think Of poor old Johann
Sebastian Bach's est. Mat
thew's Passion" which had Its
first performance In 172s. then
WAS shelved for 100 years
when In 1929, Mendelssohn, .
Jew. revived II. That whole
century Bach and his works
were almost completely for
gotten. He h very much alive
today. His music "fowers
DER the wrecks of time"
An outstanding box office sue
cess Of today s Puccinis Mad
anne Butterfly" Cat any rate, II was
before the present war;. and yet
its first performance, at LaScala.
Milan. In 1904. was such a miser-
able failure that the composer
gathered up the score and parts
in order to prevent a second per-
formance. As q matter of fact,
and. strange AZ 1t may seem in
the light of later events. most of
the first nights of works by Puc-
chi, whom we are inclined to con-
slider one of the most successful
Of all opera composers. were any
thing but propitious. "LaBoheme"
and La Tosca" wobbled danger
ously In their early career.
Now let us turn from Puecini
to Beethoven, the mighty Ludwig.
of Bonn. He also had his failures.
Of winch none was so great as
that first night of "Fidelio," his
only opera. He had finished the
score In the fall of 1905 and re-
turned to Vienna to begin re-
hearsals. There were difficulties
In the vocal and orchestral parts,
but Beethoven would listen to no
complaints or suggestions: he
OVERRIDE all objections. BY the
time the fatal day rolled around,
Beethoven found himself handling
cast and orchestra that stopped
just short of mutiny,
To this condition was added an
other equally perlious. Strangely
enough. 1t was one occasion where
the sword of the conqueror cross
cd the pen of the creator. The
French army had been for weeks
advancing on Vienna and, with
Napoleon at It's head, entered the
Austrian capital. November IS.
1905. The viennese, led by the
imperial family and members of
the nobility. fled the city. All
those who possibly might have
been interested In "Fidelio." now
ready for presentation. had gone.
But Beethoven would not hear Of
holding up the performance. Those
who suggested II were roundly de-
nounced and left his presence with
ringing ears.
The audience consisted almost
entirely of French officers and
soldiers, who understood neither
the music nor the words. The
French victors yearned for n work
with a ballet. or at least one with
some exciting, spicy situations.
What they got. at least IN their
opinion. was q rather dull affair
detailing a wife's devotion. The
audience accordingly expressed it.
self. as European audiences will,
in q way that could hardly be
taken for approval.
'Fidelio" staggered through two
more performances and was then
withdrawn. After Beethoven made
several changes. leaving part of
the work out altogether. II was
given two more performances. and
then withdrawn by the composer
himself. who believed that he was
the victim Of intrigues at the
theater and, also. that he was be-
ing cheated out of his royalties.
Nearly decade passed before
"Fidelio" was again given.
Another opera that bowed its
way into the world under circum-
stances far from happy or promis-
ing was La Traviata." Wher
verdi's nth opera had its initial
hearing at Venice in 1883. its
failure was complete a failure
that in no wise frightened by the
dismal second performance. After
the opening night. Verdi wrote tc
his friend, Muzio, La Traviats
last night was a fiasco. II the
fault mine or the singers Time
will show" The fault. not SO ap-
parent some so years ago, was
with the singers.
To quote one critic: The
tenor Was hoarse; the baritone
In particular, considering his
part of insufficient import
ance. took little trouble; the
prims donna. though q good
singer. WAS . very plump, ro-
bust lady. whose depth Of con-
sumption In the hast act pro
voked q regular epidemic of
laughter among m audience
Il