M USIC.
" THE RING " AT COVENT GARDEN. A WELCOME RETURN.
Ox Monday night Herr Bruno Walter rose in the rostrum to conduct " God Save the King," which might, with equal appropriateness, have been " God Save the Ring." For it was while on our feet, listening to the National Anthem, orchestrated d la Wagner, with trombone arpeggios, that we realized almost overwhelmingly how great an influence the tetralogy has had upon our lives and emotions.
The present performances have surpassed our expectations, great as they were, for not only are the singers of magnificent quality, but the orchestra (of which we have ourselves to be proud) has proved itself something quite out of the ordinary. It is true that the prelude to Das Rheingold was a little shaky, but there has been no lapse of the kind since, and Herr Walter has welded the whole into a beautifully-balanced sea of sound, over which floats from time to time the exquisite tones of Mr. Leon Goossens' oboe, by far the best performance on that instrument I have yet heard.
Our first surprise was Herr Kirshhoff, whose performance as Loge was superb. Debonair, cynical and attractive, he dominated the stage throughout three scenes, and his pure tenor never wavered in clear brilliancy, from the first note to the last. Most of the actual debuts were less fortunate, and it was not until Wotan (tall and striking in the person of Herr Schorr) delivered his first notes—soft and full as velvet— that we had the sensation of stepping on shore from a boat. The Rhine had proved a little rough ! But fine as was the whole of Herr Schorr's performance, we realized on hearing the Abschied that he had been saving something for us. It was a revelation of the sheer beauty of the voice-line with, which Wagner had provided him.
The Alberich of Herr Habich had evidently been thought out with infinitely more care than is usually bestowed on the
part. His acting in particular was very arresting, and the moment when he seemed to be literally lifted off the ground in having the ring torn from him was enthralling.
With the exception of Fraulein Jung as Erda, whose tone and phrasing were perfect, the female voices in Das Rheingold were rather disappointing. Fraulein Farber-Strasser, who took the role of Fricka, possesses a fine voice, but it has a distressing " wobbly " quality, especially in a forte, and when unaccompanied, which we became unpleasantly aware of in the second act of Die Walkiire.
Just as Wagner, in Das Rheingold, is giving us a taste of what is to follow, so the singers and even the orchestra, sent
us away from that opera half-satisfied and longing for the
fulfilment of the manifold promises they (and especially Wotan) had given us. And they were fulfilled. Three
singers of great importance were added unto us on Tuesday
night. The first of these was Herr Urlus, whose performance as Siegmund erred only on the side of over-modesty and restraint. His high notes were very pare. The Sieglinde of Fraulein Ljungberg was a matter of the greatest curiosity to us all ; we had heard so much of her brilliance ; we knew she was to .be the new Salome. I can only say that if she is as good then as she was on Tuesday we shall be fully satisfied.
On the whole, however, I am inclined to think that Fraulein Rappers Briinnhilde was the most finished and beautiful thing
of all. She acted upon her first appearance (a most embarras- sing and difficult one for any actress) with just the right amount of wildness and bravado.
For the first time for years one heard the Wallciirenritt well performed. There was no raggedness and shrillness. It is so seldom realized that the choral singing is there more important than the panoramic clouds and waving spears. The scenery, we regret to say, was unrelievedly hideous, and the lighting (upon which, it was announced, much trouble had been expended) was perfunctory, uninspired, and uninspiring. But the magic fire somehow managed to be remarkably effec- tive. It was much more imaginative than usual, there was less steam and the flames were taller and bigger in volume. But I was forgetting. 'funding, that unobtrusive person, who never seems really to have deserved his death, found a worthy interpreter in Herr Bender, whose terrific bass should have made Sieglinde retire to bed without having to be told
Previous page
