Mu si c [COVENT GARDEN OPERA : " ARMIDE " AND "
SIEGFRIED 1 UNTIL last week Armide had not been produced in London for twenty-one years. I did not hear Destinn when she sang in this opera in 1907, but I can hardly iniagine a finer Per: formance'of the title-role than that given by Frida Leider at the second of the productions last week: it was essentially vocal conception 'of the part : that is to say, the draniatin significance and development were conveyed entirely by subtle changes of tone-colour. AS for the acting, Lelder was content to rely upon the traditional manoeuvres, but, since she knew these backwards, one was able to ignore them altogether. " Where'er she walked," it was her singing that
mattered, for it intensified the stake-action. -
I wish I could say the same Of Walter WiddOp as Rinaldo: All things considered, he sang thiS difficult music very Well indeed, but it was impossible tie believe in a Crusader whose dress suggested a Red Cross nurse by Maisie Gay. IS there nobody at Covent Garden who is empowered to say, " Vein simply cannot go on the stage wearing your clothes like that " ?
The ballets, with Ninette de Valois as premiAre danseuse, were not mere excrescences but true to the music in form and style. It is good to hear that Francois_ Ambrosiny, a ballet- master of great experience, is here again to direct this side of the operas.
Siegfried can never be wholly satisfactory on the stage. We are constantly, being made aware that the tyranny of tradition is at work—sometimes for good, at other times for staleness. The performances of Albert Reiss (Mime), Wilhelm Rode (Der Wanderer) and Rudolf Laubenthal (Siegfried) on May 4th were so superlative, however, that the burden of " stage ,directions" was considerably lightened, Reiss's.subtle representation of the Nibelung. is well known, of course. Rode fully justified the credentials which ha brought from, Germany. He was not merely a voice, _but a force to contend with, and it was interesting to observe the interplay between him and Bruno Walter at various points, especially during the Erda episode. Laubenthal had many difficulties to contend with. He had to rely entirely -upon his own--lungs to make the forging scene convincing, for- the bellows broke down at a critical moment ; later on, the dragon resorted to subterfuge, as if to cheat the young superman of the, glory of a real triumph.. Laubenthal, however,, added his own fearlessness to that of Siegfried, and by the assurance of his singing made all things doubly sure..
I had heard much of the repaired lighting system at C,Ovmt Garden, but in these two productions I saw little to justify the advance publicity. Until the old .system is -entirely removed there can be no marked improvement. This is cold comfort, I fear, for- nobody is willing to undertake so costly an enterprise.
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BASIL MINE►
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