Home | Archive | On Wagner

‘Wagner at Bayreuth and at Munich (by our special correspondent [Herbert Thompson])’, MT September 1902

One does not look for novelty in the works given at Bayreuth, but novelty in their production experience has taught us to expect. ‘Der Fliegende Holländer’ was the nearest approach to a novelty at this year’s festival, having been introduced at Bayreuth only a year ago. Many have inclined to doubt whether this early work would quite repay the cost and trouble of an elaborate revival, but I fancy that most of those who have witnessed a performance will feel that it fully justified itself. It certainly illustrated in striking fashion the methods which distinguish Bayreuth. Stars are always discouraged, but in this case there was not an individual performer who could fairly be styled of the first rank, while as vocalists pure and simple one would hesitate before placing the majority as high as the second. The impression made by the opera was, none the less, the deepest in my experience. It was treated quite seriously as a drama, which the actors set themselves to expound, not simply contenting themselves by making the best effect out of their parts, and still less seeking to create a series of isolated musical sensations. This, joined with perfect stage management, artistic scenery, and the most wonderful stage appliances, accounted for the impressiveness of the production.

In the Dutchman there is a curious mingling of styles. The characters which appealed strongly to Wagner’s imagination evoked, even at this immature period, his characteristic individual style — there are, for instance, many passages in the Dutchman’s part which are big enough in their lines, and dramatic enough in feeling, to belong to a period quite as late as ‘Lohengrin,’ if not later. In other minor parts he would seem to have been hardly sufficiently interested to raise himself above the current operatic style. Erik is a mere operatic tenor lover, and his cavatinas have tunefulness enough, without a trace of the warmth of melody which characterises Wagner’s later works. Daland is rather different. He is a thoroughly commonplace individual, with a veneer of heartiness that does not conceal a keen eye for the main chance. His superficial cheerfulness is exactly reflected in his music, though later on Wagner would no doubt have made it equally appropriate by different means. Now the point of the Bayreuth performance lay chiefly in this, that the dramatic significance of each character was carefully and consistently suggested. Emmy Destinn’s Senta was full of intensity; she was possessed by her one idea of saving the unhappy man who had won her sympathy. Emil Borgmann had the hard, unpleasing timbre that seems to be the rule with German tenors, but he atoned by making Erik really a man, and not a warbling barber’s block. Theodor Bertram’s conception of the title part was thoughtful, but by no means convincing; he did his best, but the study was too apparent, he never felt the romance of the character. On the other hand, Madame Schumann-Heink’s Mary and Paul Knüpfer’s Daland were well finished and altogether excellent interpretations. The stage management was not only artistic, but the perfection of common sense. The maidens who listened to Senta did not all face the audience, or sit in stiff rows, but grouped themselves about the singer, and concentrated their attention upon her song. The ships were marvellously handled, but the Norwegian crew was rather inclined to be fussy, especially considering that its numbers were far in excess of any possible Board of Trade regulations. The spectral phenomena about the Dutchman’s ship in the last act were for once above the level of pantomime for they took account of the necessity of mystery. The ship was shrouded in clouds, and the skilful management of the lighting greatly helped the illusion. The whole work was played without a break, and took two and a-half hours, yet there was no suspicion of monotony, while the quickness and noiselessness with which the elaborate set scenes were changed was little short of marvellous. Mottl conducted, but was less successful in keeping the orchestra in its proper place than Richter, who directed the first of two performances of the ‘Ring des Nibelungen,’ on July 25—28.

Concerning this work, the chief thing to be recorded is that Richter did not fall into the Bayreuth failing of dragging the tempi, but gave the music all its proper warmth and passion, without, of course any sacrifice of dignity and force. Gulbranson’s Brünnhilde is a fine impersonation, and van Rooy is well known as one of the best of Wotans. Miss Wittich as Sieglinde and Burgstaller as Siegmund were excellent, but the Siegfried of Ernst Kraus did not commend itself to me. He, like many others of the minor performers, did not sufficiently consider the claims of vocal beauty of tone but indulged in a hard method of production that occasionally approached shouting. His attitudes were forced and stagey, and he was altogether too pretty for this son of the woods. To some extent the same complaint might be made of Erik Schmedes as Parsifal, but there are in truth very few artists living who can quite satisfy one’s idea of the character, and in many respects his thoughtful interpretation deserves great praise. Wittich was good as Kundry, singing beautifully as well as acting with dramatic power. Dr. Muck conducted the performance I witnessed, and did not drag it so much as one at least of his recent predecessors, though he took it more slowly than Levi, who conducted it under Wagner’s own supervision. A new scene for the Magic Garden was a very decided improvement upon what used to be the least satisfactory piece of Bayreuth scenery. As for the audiences, they showed the deterioration that has set in since Bayreuth became fashionable, and there was not that intentness upon the drama that used to be noticeable while its place was ill-supplied by an increased attention to the toilet. If ‘smart’ people once make their influence felt at Bayreuth, then good-bye to its artistic importance. But it is to be hoped they will drop it as quickly as they have taken it up, and I think this is not unlikely to happen.