Scan 29
Musical Courier 1902-03-05: Vol 44 Iss 1145, 1902
40 lines. Read by computer on 21 September 2026. Printed page 30. See the scan on archive.org.
1THE only performance this season of Wagner's tetralogy began on Monday afternoon of last week with a startling production of "Das Rheingold." To the younger generation of the Leit-motivers it seemed the worst production possible; but the older musical residents protested that it was not as bad as one they had heard in—the clanging of the Broadway cars blurred data and detail. At all events, this performance in question was bad enough to displease anyone. Like the be-rhymed little girl, when "Rheingold" is bad it is very bad indeed.
3The cast was good. Schumann-Heink was ambidextrous, singing both Erda and Flosshilde. Her Erda is an impressive figure vocally. The character and the manner of introducing it are far out of the ordinary. When the bright stage suddenly darkens and this unheralded figure appears in a grotto one is apt to smile and recall the blundering stage tricks of Massenet and Gounod; and if the importance of the message is not made obvious by dramatic interpretation it falls very flat. It is one of the stage liberties Wagner allowed himself. Now Schumann-Heink never fails to make this character awesome, and every word of her utterance is attended by weighty meaning. As one of the Rheindaughters this artist swam like a fish out of water and sang jollily.
5Her water companions were frivolous Fritzi Scheff and Camille Seygard. The latter, suffering from the effects of too violent an aquatic rehearsal, stood in the wings while her substitute swam above. The singing of all three was animated.
7Reuss-Belce made a very attractive Fricka, and Marily was a French Freia from the tip of her toes to the top of her voice.
9Van Rooy's Wotan is superb. This god of errors is an unhappy creature from the time of the second scene of "Rheingold" to his final appearance in "Siegfried"; one calamity follows another; in fact, he only escapes one peril by courting another. And there are listeners who cavil because Van Rooy does not show sufficient composure in the singing of this part. He never has time to be composed—the Damoclean sword—to use one anachronistic figure—is ever suspended over his bungling head.
11Loge is unquestionably Van Dyck's best role, and his acting of it is quite on the par with that of any impersonation on the operatic stage to-day; it is so devilish elusive, evasive of anything that is straightforward, and always weighing several tricky acts while performing one.
13Bispham's Alberich is well known of old. He has not yet found time to temper his enunciation; when he does that it will be a much better figure than it is even to-day, and as it stands it is a strong Alberich.
15Reiss had but little opportunity to show his Mime at its best—his time will come with Siegfried. But even in Rheingold he made much of it and succeeded in convincing us that the part is not at all a comedy character. Wagner meant this to be an unfortunate type but a serious one; and in the working out of this most Mimes fail. Reiss is a versatile actor and an artist in the matter of detail.
17Dippel's Froh is much the same as all of Dippel's characters. He depends on the costume and stage setting to make the necessary difference in his parts. And he sings—as only Dippel can sing.
19Muhlmann and Blass were the architectural league of giants that refused to work for less than union wages. They walked in time and sang in tune, which is far more than one can write of most giants of one's acquaintance. Duiriche waved bravely—some day his vibrato will carry him off his feet and then Mr. Grau will have to employ a score of singers to take his versatile place.
21Damrosch conducted. And he doubtless wishes he had not. It would have been a difficult matter to win belief from a novice that "Rheingold" is thematically the most interesting of the Ring, that the exposition of themes is here naturally the freshest and that the work is knit durably and consistently. One effect after another went smash right before our very ears and the yarns of the musical texture were frayed and torn unrecognizably. The orchestra played the work as though it were a novelty on which the ink of writing had not had time to dry.
23The stage management can only be praised with faint damns. Indescribable incidents occurred; lights popped on and then popped off again; the anvil symphony behind the scenes went its own way while the orchestra went another, and nobody seemed to mind save the audience; boatswain's whistles piped shrilly and the voice of the stage mismanger was loud in the land. The whole affair was clearly an opportunity wasted; with such a cast and with the material in the orchestra and the facilities for lighting and handling the stage the performance should have been exactly what it was not. There was a large audience present.
25"Die Walküre" followed on Thursday afternoon. And the powers that be decided to give a magnificent performance. Breval, brune and French, made her first appearance here as das Wotan's Kind from the Rue de Walhall. She wore a stunning, shiny cuirass and a fiery skirt, which trailed über Stock und Stein; but her sloe hair was as enticing as Melisande's. Her arms waved up and down as regularly as a semaphore and every traditional gesture of the Paris Opéra was lugged into Wotan's land. Her German was neat and pointed, and she sang with never an understanding of the role's deeper meanings. For her sweet Paris sake there were cuts made in the score which were simply monstrous. She should find the time and then sing Brünnhilde entire in two evenings.
27But Breval knew exactly what she was about, for with her last phrase it was evident that her vocal resources were at an end. She also introduced some new business: When Wotan disowned her she fell at his feet into a cruciform pose so obviously that even nearsighted Mamma Cosima would have remarked it and had it cut out; then she rolled over nonchalantly and sang "War es so schmählich" as though it were a cavatina instead of being one of the greatest of recitatives in all music. After Wotan had kissed her to sleep—it was a wonder that he did not do it before—the audience was satisfied that Breval does not spell Brünnhilde. Let her put the part in camphor and keep it there until she returns to Paris; New York wants none of it.
29Ternina sang Sieglinde. She has not essayed this role for some time, and other singers have sung it until the real significance and beauty of the character have seemed blunted. Here, then, was a revelation. Sieglinde is after all one of the stronger of Wagner's creations—probably next to Isolde the best drawn and most sympathetic. Ternina makes no unnecessary gestures, and herein lies the force of her movements, every one of which becomes meaningful through this frugality. And on Thursday she sang it superbly. From one scene to another she reveals the psychology of the character; the wretched woman, the wife of Hunding, is not at all the love thirsty creature which hurls itself into Siegmund's arms; the second act shows remorse and fatigue, both fighting love, and in the final act she appears the crushed woman with no care for existence until her maternity is prophesied. All these lines does Ternina draw firmly but not illogically brusque—there is about it all the subtlety which makes her Isolde so wonderful a creation.
31Schumann-Heink was again doubly busy as Fricka and Waltraute. Her Fricka is amply shrewish and she bullies her Wotan convincingly. The music—the most Italian of the later Wagner—she sang very well.
33Never during his New York appearances was Van Rooy so commanding a Wotan as he was on this occasion. He carried things by storm, and in the last act ws magnificently brutal until the tender mood set in. His wrath over Brünnhilde's defiant deed was real enough to be true. He is prodigal as to voice, and when he ranted there was some excuse for it in the text.
35Siegmund was Van Dyck, a part which he does extremely well. He was in better voice than usual, and his "Nothing, Nothing," in the first act, was tremendously stirring. Blass sings Hunding effectively. The voice is young and unworn, and his phrasing is legato. The Valkyrie blood shrieked wildly. Damrosch conducted, and worked to wipe out memories of the "Rheingold." He planned climaxes and achieved them. The orchestra was in good shape. On the stage things went much better and the lights were more tractable. A large audience was present.
37On Tuesday night there was the Prince Henry gala performance, and the house was full of money and decorations. Wednesday night brought us "Carmen," with Camille Seygard as a very chaste Carmen—the illness of Calvé's father had affected that singer's throat. Friday night a repetition of "Magic Flute," with the same cast as before.
39For the Saturday matinee there was "Lohengrin," with von Bandrowski as the savior of troubled virgins. This tenor's voice is far from beautiful. The mezza voce does not offend, but to sing all of "Lohengrin" mezza voce would be to sing only half a knight. So Bandrowski forced his voice to the pitch of distress, and also to the distress of the pitch. Besides, he exaggerates sentimentally and conveys little impression of the mystic side of the character. Ternina sang Elsa, and made it an artistic but rather a mature maiden. Reuss-Belce took Schu-
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