of Lohengrin may do us good. Let us see how tor, is, in some sense, creative, and on a level Da ist's denn wahrlich oft ein Jammer! Faust. letter and not hing but the letter-which, by the (To be Continued.) Lohengrin in London. (From the "Daily Telegraph.") At last, after years of waiting-weary waiting, perhaps, we may not call it-the English opera-goer has seen and heard Richard Wagner. There is reason for congratulation in the fact itself, stripped of all attendant significance. Ever since the reformer of opera began to make a noise in the world, he has been to us a vaguely-defined and shadowy personality. Now and then, in concert-rooms, we have caught a glimpse of a figure which, we were told, resembled him very slightly; and once, on the stage of Drury-lane Theatre, appeared a strange, but not unattractive, personality which Wagner's friends said was a representation of his immature youth. Otherwise, the great man has resembled to us one of Ossian's shadowy heroes, "orating from a distant mountain-top, while his form loomed vaguely and mysteriously through a fog. For a long time English amateurs cared little about the matter. They had their Beethoven and Mozart, their Rossini and Meyerbeer, their Donizetti and Auber-operatic composers quite good enough for them; and so it happened that, if ever their eyes rested upon the misty outlines of Wagner's figure, no special desire was excited. But men and women cannot long see anything dangled just out of Frederic all. But the proper study of mankind is man; and we turn from the natural features of the scene to the glittering array of princes, knights, and soldiers, drawn up around King Henry the Fowler. The action soon begins. Four trumtheatre, and all are not good-execute a fanpeters-there are sixteen somewhere about the fare, and a Herald (Signor Capponi) steps forward to explain why the King has summoned his vassals. The vassals say they are ready to guages," all bespeak a great night. The lobby fight, and the King (Herr Seidemann), in a is crowded, and long before the time when voice which suggests that the damp air of the Signor Vianesi lifts his bâton the unreserved Low Countries scarcely agrees with him, gives parts of the house are crowded to excess. A particulars, winding up by demanding of Fredgood look at the packed amphitheatre and gal-eric of Telramund (M. Maurel) why disunion lery, the tenants of which will "assist," in no and strife prevail in those parts. conventional meaning of the term, at the per- steps forward to say that Elsa (Malle. Albani), formance, repays trouble. The Teutonic elehis ward, and daughter of the late Duke of ment is there in strong force, signalized by On beards, many spectacles, and a prevailing this account, he (Frederic) could not marry round florid faces, a profusion of straw-colored Brabant, was strongly suspected of having made away with her brother Gottfried. expression of that solemn thoroughness which her, as had been arranged, but had chosen Orcharacterizes the worshipping German mind. trud (Mdlle. d'Angeri), whom he presents to It is a great occasion with our cousins. The7 the monarch. Frederic winds up by charging are in earnest, and, should the indifference of Elsa with fratricide, and claiming the Duchy as Englishmen be very conspicuous, may wax anhis own. All this (13 pages) goes on mostly in gry-a grave matter in these times, if not a such recitative as proves the truth of what was casus belli. Lower down, the reserved seats fill said of Tannhäuser "the four-and-twenty keys quicker than they are wont to do, and even do not afford a good basis for the ear." A Gerthere a certain gravity prevails. Eyes that man critic once wrote, apropos to the music of most often have opera-glasses glued to them are this scene: "It is mere bungling-nay, it is fixed upon unfamiliar pages; heads that usually filth, the most despicable violation of the rules nod to a circle of acquaintances are quiescent of art; and if any one should cry out and tell in the act of trying to comprehend the "myth us that we are stupid because this music does matter," which, as we have lately been told, not please us, we appeal to a far more certain represents to us, who are only compounds of consecutive generations," the "pure symbols organ than the brain, and reply, You cannot of primeval forces." Even Royalty basks in possess ears if you are fond of revelling in such discord."" We will hardly go so far as this the dawning light of the day of future opera. writer, but in good sooth Wagner's wild shrieks First to enter the Royal box are the Duchess of of liberty from the dominion of the tone-family Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Teck, are distressing enough to make us ask him for after whom come the Prince and Princess of an explanation. He is ready, of course, and tells us, referring to the discovery of the relationship of all tones, that "music shot up into an immense and varied expanse, in which the absolute musician, swimming about without an object and without repose, began to lose courage. Before him he saw naught but an endless heaving mass of possibilities, but was conscious of no object within himself to determine them. 66 Thus the musician almost felt Wales and the Duke of Connaught with their 66 The music original home again, where, between narrow banks, the water flowed tranquilly in one definite stream." Hence the sway of the limited tone-family, from which a strong swimmer like. Wagner is of course free. He can plunge about, shooting rapids, tumbling down cataracts, and gyrating in whirlpools, with an immunity of which Captain Boyton never dreamed-and he sens the effect of the crescendo which illustrates does it. But the action of the drama goes on. the descent of the Holy Grail. Wagner himself says of this prelude that it suggests a Henry determines to sit in judgment then and "miraculous troop of angels bearing in their there upon Elsa, whom the Herald summons to midst the sacred vessel." He goes on: "The appear. The royal maid is supposed to be At any rate, she hears holy procession draws nearer; the heart of the wandering that way. elect of God gradually exalts itself, it enlarges, the trumpeters (as we do emphatically), and The King it dilates; ineffable aspirations awaken in him; enters, attended by her women. he experiences increasing happiness in finding asks if she will be judged by him. Elsa conhimself attracted by the luminous apparition, sents, and goes on to tell, in dreamy fashion, and when, at last, the Holy Grail itself appears of a resplendent knight and champion, whom in the midst of the sacred cortège, he falls into visions have made known to her. ecstatic adoration, as though the entire world is here full of tenderness and beauty. It is had suddenly disappeared.' All this is hidden melodious besides, and the ear rejoices in it as from the bulk of the audience, who recognize the eye, after long gazing at sandy desolation, gestive movement, wherein the orchestra is ing palms. no more than a highly-colored but vaguely sug-revels in the sight of verdant fields and towerMoreover, Malle. Albani sings handled with consummate skill. The Teutons charmingly, and gives a foretaste of the excelaloft are, of course, an exception. With them lence which will characterize her performance "the entire world had suddenly disappeared," as a whole. Moved by the favorable impression and they like vacuum so much as to clamor for which Elsa has produced, Frederic claims the its renewal, which boon Signor Vianesi oblig- ordeal of single combat. The King consents, ingly grants. Then the curtain rises, and we and, the lists having been prepared in solemn are translated to the banks of the Scheldt, near form, calls upon Elsa to name her champion. Antwerp, nine hundred years ago-a splendid She chooses the hero of her dreams, vowing picture, and one that does infinite credit to that his shall be her hand and crown; whereMessrs. Dayes and Caney. Over the foreground upon the Herald, backed by his noisy trumpetstretch the arms of royal oaks, and in the dis- ers, again and again calls for the favored wartance, bordered by rushes, flows the "lazy rior without avail. In an agony of apprehenriver, while a bright sun sheds its glory upon sion, Elsa and her ladies fall upon their knees to pray for his advent. As they do so, the its interest to the end. Though the plot is not far other, and stirring the pulses of the listeners, as crowd nearest the river utter words of astonish- advanced by all this, the seeds of mischief are sown knight after knight, all mounted, and attended by ment, and presently is seen, in a small boat when Ortrud cautions Elsa against her lover's de- squires and men-at-arms, arrive upon the scene. drawn by a swan, a Knight covered with re- ceit, and urges the fatal step of discovering his name Finally, the King enters, and German chivalry is splendent silver armor. It is Lohengrin (Sig- and lineage. Elsa rejects the counsel with mingled ready to march against the enemies of Fatherland. nor Nicolini), who comes, not in visions now, pride and pity, but her enemy is confident enough Nay, not quite ready. Lohengrin, the chosen leadto fight for the cause of innocence and beauty. to end the scene with a burst of triumph. Mdlle. er, has not come, and great is the wonder at his A wonderful double chorus expresses the astonD'Angeri plays her part effectually here, and again tarrying. Elsa next appears sal and weeping, and Mdlle. Albari surprises us by the excellence of her then Lohengrin. In a few words, the knight declines ishment of the on-lookers-such a chorus as singing and her truthful, engaging conception of the to proceed with the campaign, announcing that Elonly genius could have written; because sug character. She had done nothing so well before. sa has been false to her allegiance. He then, in a gestive in itself, without help from words, of The duets over, we enter upon another scene of long and trying solo, declares himself a servant of the tumultuous feelings incidental to the situa- pomp and splendor. Day breaks to the noise of the Holy Grail, sent on the mission he had pertion. Here, not the Germans up aloft merely, multiplied trumpets, and its business begins with a formed, but now bound to return because his name but everybody is delighted. and, in response vigorous double chorus, which is interrupted by our and character had been revealed. Amid the wonto loud applause, Signor Vianesi repeats the friend the Herald and his attendant wind instru- dering exclamations of the crowd and Elsa's remorsechorus. Well for him that Wagner is not pres-ments, who come to place Frederic under ban, and ful entreaties, the swan meanwhile again appearing, ent to witness the dramatic absurdity of a crowd proclaim Lohengrin, Guardian of Brabant. The Lohengrin prepares to bid farewell, bequeathing to making believe to see an apparition in the dis- multitude of knights, and soldiers acquiesce in both Elsa's brother, should that missing youth return, tance, when, all the time, it is waiting only a proceedings, after which the Herald announces the his sword, horn, and ring. As he steps towards the few feet off. The assembly welcomes Lohen- immediate marriage of Lohengrin and Elsa, to be shore, Ortrud pursues him with reproaches, boasting followed by the departure of all for the wars. Here that she by sorcery had transformed the young heir grin in a few jubilant bars, after which the is occasion for another vigorous chorus, while four of Brabant into the swan, and that had Lohengrin strange Khight dismisses his swan, and comes to the front as a short chorus is sung in his knights hold aloof and grumble among themselves tarried the spell would have been undone. But her at the favor shown to a stranger. With these Fred- triumph is shortlived. The dove of the Holy Grail honor. At this point recitative begins again. eric makes common cause, promising to unmask his descends, and hovers over the head of Lohengrin, Lohengrin is accepted by Elsa as her champion conqueror, for whose crowning fortune preparations who loosens the chain from the swan's neck. Imand husband, subject to the condition of ask- are now visible. The wedding procession of "Lo-mediately the bird disappears, and in its place we ing no questions about his name, race, or coun- hengrin" has been so often heard in concert-rooms see the missing lad, now restored to Elsa's arms. try. This matter arranged, Lohengrin denies lately that we permit its familiar beauty to pass Lohengrin looks sadly upon their joy, and, harnessthe charge of Frederic, and the two knights almost unnoticed as our eyes rest upon one of the ing the dove to his boat, is drawn away, while the prepare for combat, while the Herald warns all most splendid scenes ever shown within the walls of music of the prelude drowns the death-shriek of Orand sundry not to interfere. But, before the the "Garden." Each of the dreses of the ladies is a trud, as the curtain descends for the last time. It struggle, it is necessary to invoke the justice of study in its way, and the coup d'œil presented by the is Heaven; Henry descends from his throne to glowing masses of color and the sheen of burnished armor cannot readily be forgotten. Among those act as priest as well as king; and another vast who stand aside to let Elsa precede them into the ensemble echoes his prayer. The episode is church is Ortrud, but the trial to her pride is more grandly conceived and worked out, but its exthan she can bear. Fiercely she confronts Elsa at ecution is a sad business; ears already shocked the door of the minster, and hurls at her bitter scorn. enough by Wagner's doings among the endless contemptuously demanding, amid the exclamations heaving mass of possibilities," being tortured of the on-lookers, who the bridegroom is and whence by singing not even approximately in tune. he comes. The scene is prolonged without lack of We now watch the encounter with breathless vigor till the King and Lohengrin enter. Reassured interest. Frederic is worsted, of course; and, by their presence and their reproof of Ortrud, another attempt is made to enter the church. But as he creeps away, Elsa begins a song of trinow Frederic confronts the procession, and once umph, which expands into a lengthened and more altercation begins, this time being carried on elaborate finale of a common-place character, throughout a lengthy and turbulent ensemble which, and productive of no more than vulgar effects. however it may aid the dramatic effect, cannot boast Upon this the curtain descends amid roars of of great musical value. As it goes on, Frederic finds applause that ouly cease when the principal opportunity to instil more doubt into the mind of performers have twice bowed their acknowledg- Elsa, and with a perturbed spirit the Royal bride ments. So far the opera is a success. We are for the third time ascends the steps of the minster, dazzled by the splendor and chivalry of the pursued by Ortrud's vengeful looks. At this point scene, impressed by the poetic beauty of the the curtain falls, and gallery and amphitheatre thunstory, and, hardly less, by the novel character der a second approval, louder, if possible, than the of its musical treatment. But are we satisfied first. The principal artists again acknowledge the applause, to which some of them at least have a Some of us, at least, good right. First among these is Mdlle. Albani-a must answer, "No." Weary of blazing true Elsa under all circumstances-and after come tone-color, endless surprises, unmelodious dec- Mdlle, d'Angeri, M. Maurel, and Signor Nicolini, lamation, and the constant strain at which the who, as far as looks goes, is a Lohengrin sans reproche. composer works, we doubt-while calling to We are now within half-an-hour of midnight, and mind the dungeon scene in Fidelio, ard the numerous departures from boxes and stalls take supper scene in Don Giovanni-if this be the place. But the enthusiasts up above hold out, and only true dramatic music. in scarce diminished numbers address themselves to what yet remains of the work. as well as excited? The curtain rises for the second time upon the Palace and Minster of Antwerp. It is night, and we can just discern the figures of Frederic and Or- tive introduction to the third act, and will, thereEvery amateur knows the very bright and effectrud clad in sombre garments and seated on the fore, not be surprised to hear that it was encored in steps of the church. A long orchestral introduction spite of the lateness of the hour. The pretty chorus is supposed to describe their feelings, and certainly sung by the attendants of the wedded pair as they manages to be lugubrious with facility; after which conduct them to their chamber is not well rendered, comes an extended duet. Here we find Wagner's and makes no effect, scarcely any applause following theory of the absolute subordination of music car- the retiring footsteps of the singers. Elsa and Loried out to the bitter end, and productive of nothing hengrin are now alone for the first time, and we but "a continuous surging of shapeless, and, as it have a love duet marked here and there with paswere, fluid sounds." One result is, however, that we sages of such exquisite beauty that the veriest are forced back upon the story, to discover that the stickler for accepted form might pardon its absence husband and wife, after calling each other hard on their account. In the course of this duet Elsa names, agree not to abandon hope. Ortrud, a sor- puts the fatal question as to her husband's name, and ceress and a Pagan, undertakes the work of revenge insists, notwithstan ling his entreaties, upon an anupon Elsa and Lohengrin, and fortune aids her by swer. At this moment Frederic and his four knights sending the Royal maiden to breathe the early burst into the room, but Lohengrin passes his sword morning air on the balcony of the Palace. In a through the leader, dismisses the followers with concharming strain-one of those gems of melody tempt, summons Elsa's ladies to conduct her to her which show that Wagner might have worn the own apartments, and declares his intention of remantle of Weber as head of the romantic school-vealing who he is and whence he came at the place Elsa expresses her joy, and then Ortrud, who has and under the circumstances which witnessed his sent Frederic away, appeals to her compassion. arrival. The rush of these events is great after the Another long duet ensues, but it does not weary us calm of the long love duet, and the music, albeit like the first, because Elsa is present, and around full of characteristic passages, has a nervous force her Wagner preserves an atmosphere of tenderness impossible to overlook. A change of scene takes us and beauty, sometimes inexpressibly grateful to the again to the banks of the Scheldt, and once more senses. The music, moreover, ably suggests the Wagner revels in trumpets. The strident instrucontrast between the two characters, and so sustains ments are heard everywhere, clashing against each now nearly one o'clock, and the house has thinned, but there are enough enthusiasts left to keep up a stentorian roar of approval, to cheer Mdlle. Albani, Signor Nicolini, and Signor Vianesi as they deserve, and to put a final stamp of success upon the evening's work. Success in many respects has, no doubt, been richly deserved. The splendor of the mise-enscène, the stage management of M. Desplaces, the remarkable attraction of Albani's Elsa, the earnest efforts of the other principals, and the comparative excellence of the orchestra, are features well worthy of approval. On the other hand, the chorus often sang distressingly out of tune, and there were frequent contretemps of a nature to call for precautions against repetition. And now the question arises: Will "Lohengrin" commend itself to the taste of English opera-goers, and establish Wagner amongst us? Of its present success we have no doubt. It will be the feature of the season. But how as to future seasons-how as to the theories it illustrates? Can our amateurs transfer their allegiance to music without form; to music as the slave of poetry; to music which is melodious only by snatches, and is charming only in the degree in which it is a violation of Wagner's advanced opinions? They may do so, and it is even possible that Beethoven, Mozart, Rossini, Weber, and the rest, may vanish from our lyric stage in favor of an entertainment which dazzles and excites without satisfying the higher faculties of mind and intellect. But success of such a nature could only be temporary. Music is not an affair of declamation, tremolos, trumpets, chromatics, and general swimming about in the vast ocean of tone. Music is tune, form, key-relationship, and adherence to those consity. Wagner may triumph awhile, but the masters trapuntal laws which can never be violated with impunity because they spring from a natural neceswill return to their old place, and after all, tempothe German critic already quoted, "certainly does rary good fortune means little. "Success," writes prove something for Wagner; it proves that we have to do with no insignificant person, but with one distinguished by varied intelligence and endowed with energetic mental powers, for without these such success and such works would be impossible. But a man may be still richer in gifts of this description, within which eternal art resides." and yet knock in vain for admittance at the gate (From the Pall Mall Gazette.) A king, two knights (one good, the other bad), a virtuous princess, a wicked enchantress, a swan, and a dove are the active personages in this drama, which introduces three states of ecstasy, including two visions; several miracles (including one miraculous transformation), one tournament, one attempt at murder, one death from stabbing, three marches, four grand pageants, and five horses. The piece is full of tumult, picturesqueness, character, and color. All that is pure in the play is presented in symbolical white. The miraculous swan, the mystic dove, are of course white. The girlish little lad into whom the swan is ultimately changed, or rather retransformed, shines in white armor, and whiter silk. Lohengrin wears a silver helmet, surmounted by a silver swan, carries a silver shield, is encased in silver armor, and has nothing unsilvery about him but his little horn of gold, and a black heartshaped escutcheon on his breast, frem which stands out an emblematic swan-once more in silver. Elsa, typical maiden of ancient ballads, suffering under foul calumny, but spotless as snow, is clad in white, in white and silver and in white and gold. The King, too, rides a white horse, which Wagner would not have allowed him to do if he had not intended to show that he considered him a good King at heart. The bad characters, on the other hand, are ill dressed in dark brown or in dull red. The vile Frederic of Telramund is exhibited in the garb of a beggar; and the wicked Ortrud flaunts about in crimson and spangles. to the angelic couple, Lohengrin and Elsa. Set to music as Herr Wagner has set them, the cries of the false knight and of the malicious enchantress who is urging him on his villainous course suggest not the wicked so much as the wearisome. The so-called singing of this objectionable couple is both harsh and tedious, and about half the second act is filled with it. Is it absolutely necessary that bad characters should sing bad music? We think not. Bertram in "Robert le Diable," Mephistopheles in Faust," sing melodies which are no doubt of a sinister character, but are melodies all the same. Kaspar, again, in "Der Freischütz" is at once tuneful and grotesque. Ortrud and Frederic, however, seem to be, not singing, but grumbling and grunting, spitting, cursing, and swearing in music; which is neither nice nor necessary. To Elsa and to Lohengrin the composer, as of right, gave his best. To Ortrud and Frederic, however, he has given neither his best music nor his worst. given them music at all, but only certain unmusical sequences of musical sounds. The duet between Ortrud and Frederic at the beginning of the long second act is something terrible. The succeeding duet between Ortrud and Elsa is a little better by reason of the passages for Elsa. But Ortrud's defi ance and Frederic's accusation in the same interminable act are odious. Neither the first nor the third act should be touched, both being full of beautiful music for Elsa and for Lohengrin. But the second act is nearly half as long again as either of the two others, and what makes it so long are Ortrud's and Frederic's very disagreeable solos and duets. 99 He has not Whatever else it may be, "Lohengrin” is not dull. Apart from the beauty of much of the music and from the general interest of the drama, it is full of passages which strike the eye, the heart, the imagination, or all three together. Nothing can be grander than the combination of sights and sounds in the scene where, while a procession of soldiers in gorgeous uniforms and priests in the brightest of robes moves across the stage in the midst of a crowd waving branches on all sides, the ringing of church bells and the pealing of the cathedral organ are heard simultaneously with the varied tones of the many voiced orchestra. This and other scenes like it in an opera which abounds in pageantry may render "Lohengrin" open to the charge of sensationalism-for the amount of pure art which goes to the The part of the King was feebly sung by Herr composition of such scenes is very small. But there Seideman, a new arrival from Germany, whose voice, are also scenes of the greatest simplicity for Elsa, under a long course of Wagner, seems to have giv. for Lohengrin, and for Elsa and Lohengrin together, en way. Signor Capponi, perhaps because he has scenes which are full of emotion and which, apart been trained in another school, but probably for from scenery and with the commonest costumes, more simple reasons, and because he possesses a could not but effect the listener. "Lohengrin" is, in naturally magnificent voice, did full justice to the fact, a highly poetical melodrama, in which the Herald's music. The chorus, shaky at the onset, mystical and the actual are strangely blended togeth-got firmer as it went on; but it has yet to familiar er, though not more strangely, perhaps, than in some ize itself with a style of music the like of which it of the plays of Shakspeare and of the great Spanish had never known until "Lohengrin was placed dramatists. It is full of the most delicate subtleties before it. It is required to ejaculate, to declaim, to and of the most palpable realities; fights on the express emotion in various ways, but not, as a rule, stage and suggestions of spiritual influences, over- to sing. The orchestra was perfect, and the conpowering blasts of trombones and luminous appari- ductor, Signor Vianesi, well deserved the special tions, real horses in the Astley style, and visions of summons with which he was honored at the end of miraculous troops of angels. Liszt's rhapsodical the performance. Wagner's orchestration is known description of one of the most striking scenes of the to be one of his strong points; and the effect of his opera that of Elsa's bridal procession, to which various combinations of instruments, which are often Wagner has composed music worthy of Weber and made not for their own sake but to serve from time quite in Weber's style-may be quoted as an exam- to time as a characteristic accompaniment to the ple of the sort of enthusiasm with which Wagner in personages on the stage, was sure not to be missed. his best moments inspires his fanatical adimirers. More worthy of remark was the style in which the “During this scene," says Liszt, “Elsa reappears at instrumental introductions or preludes were played. her balcony, and passes along the galleries of the The soft, spiritual prelude to Act 1 and the vigorous palace before descending to the street. Behind her quasi-martial prelude to Act 3 were both encored. slowly passes a long cortége to music of a soft but Elsa was also compelled to repeat her beautiful earnest character, admirably in keeping with the prayer-rather a mistake from a Wagnerian point approaching religious ceremonial. Trembling with of view, since by the Wagnerian doctrine all ́" reemotion, the Princess advances, looking more lovely peats" are forbidden; and Lohengrin had to arrive than ever in her crown and silver-mounted robes. twice over, for the sake of the wonderful orchestral The passionate strains of the orchestra are inspired rush by which his miraculous approach is indicated. at once by love and devotion, but so mingled that This was clearly absurd. But a great deal of what it is impossible to discriminate between the two. a mad doctor might call furor Teutonicus" was The Princess, at once a saint and a woman, walks raging in the galleries; and it seemed probable with downcast eyes; yet the strains of the music enough at one time that every piece, or rather every seem to reveal her thoughts, and in the vague mys- distinguishable beauty in every scene, would be retic ardor of its majestic crescendo we may read how demanded. Yet some of the finest things even in burning and yet how chaste are the glances which the first act, when admiration was fresh and fervent, are concealed beneath the drooping eyelids." That had to be passed over. It was impossible, for inis, of course, extravagant. But it seems to us less stance, to call upon Mdlle. Albani to give a second extravagant now than it did two days ago, when time the eloquent outburst of gratitude and joy with we had not seen 66 Lohengrin" at the Royal Italian which poor Elsa hails the victory of her champion, Opera, and Mdlle. Albani as Elsa. Elsa is the soul the Knight of the Swan, over Frederic, her accuser. of the work-or, perhaps, it would be juster to say This was one of Mdlle. Albani's most dramatic points the heart and soul of the work are Lohengrin and though it is not for particular points here and Elsa together. Both characters are perfectly played there, but for her general conception of the part, at the Royal Italian Opera. that she deserves praise. The fair-haired heroine of the medieval legend, calm under calumny, strong in her innocence, full of devotion to her deliverer, but urged by a fatal curiosity to put to him the question which he must not answer, is perfectly represented by this admirable artist, whose voice, moreover, gives melody to phrases which are not always in themselves melodious. Mdlle. Albani has had the advantage of studying the part of Elsa under Herr Wüllner, the Kapellmeister of the Court The atre at Munich, and to his intelligent and careful instruction much of her success in this difficult but far from ungrateful character may be attributed. The moral of" Lohengrin" seems to be that if a husband treats his wife well she should not be too inquisitive about his private affairs, apart from her; and also that to be able to resist his enemies a man The grief of Elsa, falsely accused, her ecstatic vision, and the mysterious arrival of Lohengrin, Elsa's prayer and Lohengrin's victory (in Act 1), Elsa's bridal procession (in Act 2), the orchestral introduction and bridal chorus, the duet for Lohengrin and Elsa, and finally Lohengrin's declaration, farewell, and departure (in Act 2) are the scenes and incidents that chiefly stamp themselves on the memory. If we also remember the singing of Ortrud and of Frederic, singly and together, it is to wish we had not heard it. The vocal utterances of these diabolical personages, represented, we feel sure, with great ability by Mdlle. D'Angeri and M. Maurelthough with an ability we are unable to appreciate -are obviously intended to contrast with and to enhance the beauty of the melodious phrases assigned must be perfect at all points. Lohengrin, if he loses one atom of his flesh, will be at the mercy of every one. Let him, however, preserve his bodily integ rity and he may defy attacks from all sides. This can only mean that the true knight, like Lohengrin, must be careful of his honor. Once touched it is gone. Lohengrin" may be viewed in a great many different lights-as an opera in the ordinary sense of the word, as a spectacular piece, as an interesting drama, as a sort of miracle play, full of naïveté, quaintnsss, and symbolism of all kinds. Its restless character will tell against it here, till English audiences acquire a degree of hardihood to which they have yet to be disciplined; but no one who is capable of taking an interest in things dramatic can fail to be moved by it in some way; and most persons must carry away from its representation a deep impression of its beauty. If we except the well known introduction to the third act, with its vigorous melody for trombones accompanied by a twittering of violins; the graceful music of Elsa's bridal procession, which is tuneful in the ordinary sense of the word, and the thoroughly beautiful "prelude," none of the " Lohengrin" music ought ever to be heard apart from the drama to which it belongs. But the work, as a whole, is very effective, and Elsa and Lohengrin are the two most poetical fig Gres of the modern stage. (From the Musical Standard, May 25.) The most important part of his theory, and the most prominent feature of "Lohengrin," is bis fondness for recitative and aria parlante. The Ital ians designate aria parlante as that species of cantilena which lies between air and recitative a tempo. There is nothing new about the form; Handel frequently used it, and the greater part of Purcell's famous song of "Mad Bess" is written in this de clainatory style. It unquestionably has its advantages, one of which is to allow the ear to repose after the fatigue occasioned by long continued or too strongly accentuated rhythm. But it may be carried to excess, and this is the great point in which Wagner so grievously sins. Hundreds of pages, indeed almost a whole opera, of aria parlante constitutes a weariness almost insupportable. Half an hour's discourse in no particular key, and accom panied with apparently purposeless modulations, will not make up for a patent lack of melody, whatever the most uncompromising partisans may say au contraire. The paucity of melodic airs is not an improvement, and the substitution of aria parlante does not constitute any pleasing advance in art. Melody is a gift that is but sparingly possessed by Wagner; but to pretend that this is an advantage, and to sneer at prettiness-as is done by some of his adherents-is as ridiculous as was Berlioz's pretended dislike of the fugal form. One is insensibly_re. minded of Cherubini's sharp comment on this, "Yes, he dislikes fugue becouse it dislikes him." And yet there is melody in "Lohengrin," and some beautiful music; but these portions are just those that the Wagneri'es protest against, and regard as weaknesses of the composer's immature youth involving principles which in his later works he has entirely cast away. What success attended the performances of "Lohengrin" on Saturday and Monday last is, we believe, to be ascribed solely to these fragments. It would be affectation, which the most pronounced adherent would hardly be guilty of, to pretend that the interminable recitatives met with the slightest favor. The house was filled with Teutons rallied to the support of their countryman, but even they could scarcely raise a hand in support of these dreary restless things. The inherent good in the work shines out all the more brilliantly by the contrast with this aria parlante; and contrast-that most valuable feature of music-lent a certain amount of charm to the gems, and unquestionably increased their brilliancy by comparison with the dulness of preceding parts. Excepting the arias parlantes, or recitative, as some may prefer to call it, the solos in the work are insignificant. The same may be said of the choruses with but trifling exceptions. They are for the most part short, jerky, very ugly, and very hard to sing The orchestral preludes, &c., are, though small in number and limited in scope, interesting, and in some cases novel; but Wagner does not believe in pure abstract music, and so, with the exception of the attempted illustration of the descent of the Holy Grail, to be found in the opening prelude, he places little reliance on these mere instrumental movements. We may dismiss the concerted music for the soli voices without remark; it is of no im portance, save for its absence of recognized form, and its singularly harsh unvocal phrases. One peculiarity is certainly worthy of note. Wagner has succeeded in doing one thing that no composer has ever done before: he has written a duet for one voice. The whole of the first scene in the second act-running to 24 pages in the vocal score copyis taken up with a duet between Frederick and Ortrud, who are seated on the steps of the minster. Each character sings alone, and though they plot long enough to overthrow a dynasty, they never sing together, save in the last 28 bars, and here they sing in unison! This is surely the most original duet extant in music. dresses could ever have existed, much less that la- Whet, whet, whet, Sweep, sweep, sweep; Tested by Wagner's own principles, we have shown that his music fails; examined from a more sensuous point of view-that of pleasing the ear-it is equally at fault. To a great extent, Wagner has been taken on trust in this country; no first-class musician, no prominent amateur, no noted critic has definitely declared in his favor. It is now the duty of the small, but ardent circle of his admirers to explain the cause of his failure; and, as they can pour out words ad libitum, no doubt this will be done. Happily there are not enouh Baal worshippers Even so lately as 1768, when Zumpe, a German here for this country to bow the knee to the new harpsichord-maker, began to make pianos in Lonidol. Neither the principles nor the materials of don, he sought to imitate the harpsichord tone; and which “Lohengrin" consists will find acceptance in when old John Broadwood, by using a thicker covEngland. To maintain that they represent a desir-ering for his hammers, produced a softer timbre, the able advance in art, would be to glorify chaos; to harpsichord players found fault with it as "tubby place ugliness on a pedestal and worship it as a and dull." If, however, our tastes have changed, virtue. even if we are wiser than our fathers, it seems a pity to destroy their work so ruthlessly as we do. Among the lectures on Irish music read in this hall two years ago, one was devoted to the harp, in which I drew attention to the wholesale destruction of those instruments, a demolition so wanton and so Something more, too, than pretty scenes, rich dresses, a large outlay of money, fine singing, and thoughtful acting, is nesessary to constitute an opera which shall take rank, and retain it, on the stage. Musicians demand a sound and intelligent construc tion; and to that must be added, artistic beauty. sweeping that except the ancient and beautiful spec- Keyed-Stringed Instruments of Music. SIR ROBERT STEWART'S LECTURES AT DUBLIN The fourth lecture on keyed instruments, which took place on Saturday, April 3, was the most fully attended of the series. The body of the hall was filled, also the platform reserved for the families of the College “dons" and the performers who illustrated the lecture. The crowd still increasing, how ever, the organ gallery was opened and soon occupied. At two o'clock Sir Robert Stewart came forward and said Such of my auditors as heard the lecture of last Saturday, and can recall the singular tones produced by the quills on the strings of the harpsichord, may have, perhaps, felt surprise that our forefathers could have so long endured, much less admired, anything so different from the keyed instruments of our day. But, in such matters, allowance must be made both for the effect of habit in the hearers and difference in the instruments themselves; for, although we were fortunate in obtaining a spinet and a harpsichord for you to hear (and I do not think that in the whole of Ireland there now exists one other), still we cannot be said to have heard the harpsichord to advantage, the tuners who understood the proper quilling of these instruments having long departed, and the proper style of touching the keys being, to some extent, lost. Custom is indeed all-powerful. To borrow an illustration from dress-can we conceive anything more unbecoming than the fashions of ladies' dress from 1780 to 1820? When young people of the present day are shown fashion-books published between the dates I have named, they smile incredulously, and are slow to admit that such *Reported in the London Musical Standard. Of she sings wit her fingares!" Lastly, the Princess Czartoryski, consort of the Polish noble of that name. This lady-one of the most attractive women of her time-was born in 1743. She visited London in Berlin in 1824, he too, found the harpsichord of Fasch (founder of the Singakademie there) still preserved, and has recorded his conviction that the Berliners would not have exchanged it for the finest Broadwood Grand which England could produce. Let us (continued the lecturer) recal the names of some of the virtuosi who, in England and abroad, were famous for their manner of touching the keys of these old relics. There were the German Bachs -a numerous tribe-of whom John Sebastian and his son John Christian were chief. Later on too there was Mozart. Of the French Couperins there were ten, all famous, though none so great as Francois, called Le Grand. Our French list would not be complete without Madame Laguerre, chamber musician to Mdme. Montespan (1680-1721). Fasch, harpsichordist to Frederic the Great, we have just spoken. Then, in England, there was Handel, and Kelway, whom old Mrs. Delany thought little inferior to him. Travers, also, and Battishill -cathedral writers as well as harpsichordists-and Worgan, and wild Tom Rosingrave, who, the son of an Englishman, became, as usual, "more Irish than the Irish themselves." He it was who compared Scarlatti's transcendent harpsichord execution to "ten hundred devils at the instrument." Nay, even his subsequent love-making was characteristic of the man; for when jilted by the lady of his choice, he borrowed a simile from the harpsichord, and declared that he distinctly perceived his heart-strings crack the moment she rejected him; this he called his crepation, fancifully deriving his sensations from the Italian verb crepare, "to crack." Indeed he sometimes believed that Satan played upon this fanciful stringed instrument. In Ireland the Hon. Garret Wesley (or Wellesley), second Lord Mornington, and the Hon. Mr. Brownlow, afterwards Lord Lurgan, were famous harpsichordists. Three more famous players-ladies-must conclude our list. seum, scarcely one antique harp can be found in Lady Hamilton (Nelson's friend), who had a fine chord and spinet. Ireland. Much the same may be said of the harpsi- Shudi harpsichord at Naples, and was, besides, Those who possess specimens described by Mozart's father as a "most expressive (and they are very few) have either permitted the clavier player." Mrs. Billington, who performed in "jacks" to be pulled out by children, or converted public at six years of age, and of whose legato Salothe instruments to even baser uses. One lady Iman (who brought Haydn to England) said, "Sare, know to have employed the case of her harpsichord as a pantry-press, and kept butter and eggs in it, the jacks and strings being destroyed. Some of the letters I received on this subject would excite a smile. Here is one:-"Sir-In reply to your advertisement I beg to say I have got a harpsichord, which you can have for £2; it is in capital condition, but the insides is all gone!" In several in stances where it was reported that harpsichords existed, such as at Castletown House, in the county of she, that she turned her palace into a hospital for Dnblin, and at Ballycorus, on the borders of the the wounded, during the Polish Revolution of 1830; Wicklow hills, it turned out that the so-called harp- she died at an advanced age in 1834. Her portrait, sichords were only old pianos with dates of 1790 to including that of her favorite harpsichord, engraved 1800. Again two of my former pupils had married during her visit to London in 1770, hangs yonder, into ancient Irish county families; both ladies adjoining that of Mrs. Billington. Sir Robert thought there was a harpsichord somewhere. At Stewart now dealt with the names of Tabel (a Flemlength one was found in a harness-room in a remote ish emigrant, who was the first to manufacture part of the building-the other in a dark cellar. harpsichords, in England; he had learned the art Both the instruments had been utterly destroyed by from Rucker's successor), also mentioning his two damp and neglect. I trust, however, that by direct-workmen, Burkhardt Shudi (the founder of the great ing attention to the matter, some of these once-val- firm of Broadwood), and Kirkmann. ued old instruments (for in some families spinets who married Tabel's widow, seems to have secured were left by will to particularly musical individuals), the lady by a sort of coup de main, giving her but may yet be rescued from their neglected state and half an hour to decide whether she would have him rendered playable. Many harpsichords had been or not, but swearing that married he had resolved destroyed for the sake of their beautifully painted to be that very morning. The lady consented, and panels. I myself was witness to this process of by this union of two fond hearts, Kirkmann having destruction, for when visiting Erard's factory last secured not only the good-will of the house, but a year I saw a set of panels, representing nymphs, stock of seasoned timber, and every requisite for shepherds, and satyrs, about to be fastened outside harpsichord manufacture, soon rose to wealth. When the works of a new grand piano. I thought how guitars came into fashion to the detriment of the much better to have left the antique instrument in harpsichord trade, Kirkmann shrewdly averted ruin, its own quaintly ornamented case, and to have and caused a revolution in taste by presenting all enclosed the magnificent Erard work in their usual the milliner's apprentices and maids with guitars. plain but elegant envelope of rosewood. In England He had them also taught to play. This degraded people are not generally so destructive; it is a the guitar from its place among fashionable accomconservative soil, and about forty of these old relics plishments, and restored the harpsichord to public were recently collected at South Kensington. It is favor. In the 17th and 18th centuries there was less interesting to recall such descriptions of old attention paid to expression in music; such refineinstruments as that of Burney: "The most magnifi- ments as forte, piano, slurs, and doubly-dotted notes, cent harpsichord made by Shudi for Frederick the rarely written down, were taught by the conductor Great, all silver and tortoiseshell," (what has become at rehearsal. But as the 18th century advanced, of it?). I find (continued Sir Robert Stewart), that and expression became more sought, men were no the old harpsichord on which Queen Hortense, the longer satisfied with the harpsichord. It has been mother of Napoleon III. practised, is still religiously often remarked that whenever social or political preserved at the Chateau of Arenenberg. You will wants are experienced they are generally supplied recollect that to this lady (a scholar of Madame in various places, and nearly at the same time, Campan) is attributed the well-known air, "Partant "the hour in short "produces the man." pour la Syrie" (a few bars of the air were here was with the pianoforte; within a few years of each played). Most visitors to the interesting "Hotel other, in Italy, France, Germany, and England, were de Cluny " will recollect the curious Italian spinets produced instruments closely resembling the pianoincluded in that collection. When Logier visited forte as we see it. The priority of date, however, company with the Russian Ambassador. She was also admired by the Duc de Lauzun, the French Ambassador; accompanied by both, she quitted England for Belgium. There the two Ambassadors fell out and had a duel about her. So national was The latter, So it belongs to the Italian inventor, Bartolemeo Christofali, who, in 1711, first struck the string with hammers, and called his invention by an Italian name. Marius, of Paris, produced his "Clavecin a Maillets" in 1716. Schroeter seems to have hit on his "Hammer Clavier" in the following year at Dresden. From the imperfect communication which then existed between various European countries, and from an examination of the evidence adduced, it is unlikely that any of these three talented men borrowed from the others. To Dr. Rimbault belongs the credit of fixing the date, and by him the evidence of the priority of the Italian invention is clearly established. So heedlessly, however, had this been treated that not unfrequently some one of the three names-Christofali, Marius, or Schroeter-had been altagether omitted by writers on the subject. In the pianoforte action it was necessary altogether to sever the connection between the key and the hammer after the blow has been given; this did not exist in the ordinary mechanism for ringing bells, nor in the organ, clavichord, or harpsichord; but it formed the great difficulty in the pianoforte mechanism. To remedy this had been also the object of the English inventor, Rev. William Mason, Canon Residentiary of York, a friend of the poet Gray, and also a poet, an essayist, and a most ingenious mechanic. Mason had invented the "celestinette," a little keyed-instrument, alluded to in the "Delany Correspondence," and passed with many persons as also inventor of the piano in England. The musical illustrations of the lecturer included one of the pedal clavichord sonatas of Seb. Bach, composed for W. Friedemann Bach in 1723; also Schumann's study No. 1, in C major, for the pedal piano; these were played as trios for violoncello. harmonium, and piano, in the absence of a pedal instrument. A lady also played the allegro from Bach's Concerto in the Italian Style," and the lecture was concluded by the members of the University Choral Society singing "Lord of all power," a little anthem composed by the Rev. W. Mason, above alluded to. There will be two more lectures delivered, dealing with the modern grand piano, and the various novelties introduced, from time to time, in keyed instruments. [To be Continued.] utes at a time, half an hour is quite enough of exercises for the strongest throat. That is where Wartel is wise, and really his method is too hard on any voice to sing even that amount every day year in and year out, without taking away all of its freshness and beauty before it is what he calls "perfectly posed." However, if scholars study with sense, I do not think they could find a better person to train and 'place" the voice (to express properly the meaning of the word “ pose as it is used in this sense.) To quote the exact words of one of his most promising pupils, "he makes you hit the notes just like a hammer, and that is what poses the voice and makes the intonation perfect." Some voices are naturally posed, and for such as these Wartel's method could have in a very short time only the effect of hardening it,—a thing which is never agreeable, and which is only necessary for those who have a constant tremolo." I looked up, and saw standing before me Nilsson's professor, P. Wartel, the man that holds his pupils as with an enchanter's power, and teaches them how in their turn to enchain and fascinate others. As he stands before me, a pen picture of him may not be uninteresting to you. He is very tall, with straight form and broad shoulders. The hair is tinged with gray, while the beard is quite white. The eyes are black, brilliant and shrewd, yet a kindly expression flashes from out their depths and lights up the old face with a transient glory Wartel is a great teacher, let people say what that seems to tell something of that wondrous inag- they may; as evidence of his work he has given netic power that he exercises over each and every to the world some great singers, and one alone person who enters his apartment. The cheeks are was sufficient to make his reputation as a teacher. sunken, and the complexion is pale and dark. The This year, Miss Julia Gaylord, after only a few forehead is very broad and high, and his slight bald-months' study, was engaged by Carl Rosa for Engness near either temple makes it look still broader.lish opera, and has had great success. She is an His voice is low, and he speaks with a searching American girl, who will no doubt have a distinkind of undertone running through every note of it guished career as a prima donna, either in English that makes one feel as if "the whole truth, and or Italian opera. Her personal attractions are as nothing but the truth," could ever be told him with rare as charming, while her voice is bell-like, and impunity. it already shows some careful cultivation. She is creating quite a furore in the British provinces, and also in the larger cities of Liverpool, Dublin_and Glasgow. She has great dramatic ability, and we wish her every success. The moment I saw Emma move, I knew that she was ready to commence her work; so we left the little salon and went into the music-room where Professor James, the accompagnateur, was already seated at the piano. I am not going to tell you how Miss Abbott sang, as you all know that she sings beautifully, but I shall describe Wartel's method, his manner of teaching, and his rooms. The pupil stands beside the piano, and he seats himself directly opposite, where he can watch every move, every gesture, hear every tone, and direct things in general. The pupil commences to sing, and Wartel begins to move his head in time with the music, humming with the scholar a bar here and there, sometimes in unison, sometimes in har mony, always in perfect accord. Sometimes at every other measure the student is interrupted 66 A Visit to Maitre Wartel-American Op- with such expressions as 'Softer, my child;" eratic Singers in Europe. We reprint from the Chicago Times a portion of a Paris letter describing an interview with M. Wartel, the great singing master. " More legato, my little cat;" "Louder, more expression," etc., etc. It must take no small amount of composure to be able to have one screaming at you every other moment, and yet keep steadily on singing, changing the tone and style according to the teacher's directions; but all of Wartel's scholars get used to this, and it is astonishing how they can obey the tones of his voice. PARIS, May 7.-We drew up before the door of 39 Rue de la Chausse D'Antin. That is where Professor Wartel lives, and we were going to call on the old teacher and hear him give a lesson. I stepped His great specialty is posing the voice. Tenor up to the concierge, who is very polite, and he, di- and soprano, bass and contralto sing after the one vining my inquiry and seeing a roll of music, said, method, but, strange to say, his most successful Maitre Wartel? Yes, he's at home; third floor, scholars have been ladies. Somehow or other he first door to the right-entrance from the inner knows how to train and pose the female voice to court." He smiled, and we walked toward the court. perfection, as all acknowledge that Wartel's pupils You see, any one that goes to 39 either wishes a know how to sing in tune, and to execute honestly lesson or a stylish dress made, and the old porter and smoothly the most difficult florid music. He knows when the "folks look musical," and when evidently believes in the old saying, "slow but they have an eye to the latest modes. Our appear sure," as his scholars often study years before taking ance evidently said "Wartel" plainer than any up an opera. He has great faith in the vocalisés, French could have done, and following directions, which are really songs without words, and are from we soon found ourselves pulling a dark bell-rope the first interesting to the pupil. He uses the studand awaiting entrance to the famous study-rooms of ies of H. Panofka as the first series; next those of the more famous French singing teacher. The M. Masset, and afterward. for the most advanced door opened, I felt a queer sensation creep over me, scholars, the vocalisés of Righini and Damereax, something as if I were about to be magnetized. which are quite as difficult as any opera that could Have you ever been to a fortune-teller's? Well, I grace either the ancient or modern repertory. The suppose not; I haven't either, but I have heard all pupils all study with him at a certain hour of each about such things and imagine one's feelings must day, and at another hour they have a lesson with be something very similar to those that steal over Professor James, who has been with Wartel eighteen one when entering the room on the third floor of years, and who teaches all of the operas and takes 39. A dark-haired maid answered our ring and them through with the vocalisés. Wartel himself told us that Professor Wartel would see us directly. never hears them sing in opera, unless just before a I looked at her and again felt those queer sensa- pupil leaves she might wish to show the perfection tions. She said, "Come this way," and we strag-of her voice and style to her dear professor. Then gled by a table laden down with flowers and pretty she chooses some aria, or scene, and the old man nick-nacks into a narrow, dark and very long corri- hears in the selected piece the great good his indor, that took us past three large rooms into a little terminable scales and exercises have done toward ante-chamber, or salon for visitors, where we sat forming the voice and preparing her for the more down on an old-fashioned sofa, and awaited the com- ambitious work of learning Verdi or Mozart. One ing of the "Master." day the scholar sings nothing but scales, and the next day nothing but the vocalisés. Two pupils have an hour together, and one sings ten minutes while the other rests, making the lesson of each one-half an hour in length; this is all they sing during that time, though of course the advice he gives to the other during the alternate ten minutes is the same as a lesson to one who cares to learn from observation. Besides, using the voice hard ten min You see Miss Emma Abbott had invited us to hear her lesson, and the appointment being for 3 o'clock precisely, I looked up at the cuckoo's house, and saw that we were five minutes ahead of time. Two minutes passed; three, four, and we heard dainty footsteps in the corridor. As the door opened, and the cuckoo sang the first of its three notes for the hour, in tripped Patti's little protegée with a Dwight's Journal of Music. BOSTON, JUNE 12, 1875. Translations from Writers about Music. "ART LIFE AND THEORIES OF RICHARD Wagner," selected from his Writings and Translated by EDWARD L. BURLINGAME, is the title of a handsome duodecimo of 300 pages, just from the press of Henry Holt & Co., New York. It forms one of their "Amateur Series," which has already given us the Diaries and Correspondence of Moscheles, and the Autobiography and Memoirs of H. F. Chorley. It is to be followed by a similar volume of translations from the Autobiography and Musical Grotesques of Hector Berlioz, by W. F. Apthorp. In the book now before us, the American reader will find copious and truly representative selections from the nine octavo volumes of Wagner's collected writings, hitherto a sealed book to those not familiar with the German language. The selections are made with judgment, so as to afford a good idea of Wagner's literary faculty under various phases, as well as of Wagner as a man and what he means, what he is striving to accomplish. His ideals, his extravaganzas, his egotism, his sharp power of criticism and of satire, his sincere admiration of Beethoven, Weber, and other great masters, whom he seems so ambitious to supplant, speak for themselves, for the work of the translator is faithfully done. First comes his short Autobiography, simply told, in a brief and pithy style, beginning: "My name is Wilhelm Richard Wagner, and I was born in Leipzig on the twenty-second day of May, 1813;" but it comes down only to the year 1842: a brief record of his subsequent life is supplied by the translator. Then follows a series of his earlier writings, fantas tical, romantic, or satirical, which form the lighter and most readable portion of the book. The first is "The Love-Veto," the story of the first performance of a youthful attempt at opera, with a wild plot suggested by Shakspeare's "Measure for Measure." The cleverest of them all is "A Pilgrimage to Beethoven," told as if it were his own, though it is purely imaginary, and full of humorous description, particularly of the hated " Englishman," who haunted him on the way to Vienna, drawn thither by the same magnet, and who clung to his skirts until he finally gained admission to the inaccessible master. He draws Beethoven into conversation about Opera, and in the coolest way makes him discourse flat Wagnerism! In the next piece, "An End in |