Music
[COVENT GARDEN OPERA.— " SIEGFRIED " AND "DER BOSENHAVALIER."] THE tyranny of stage tradition was shamefully apparent during the first act of Siegfried. The average Wagnerian situation asks no more of singers than that they should breathe heavily, take one step forward with the left foot, a half-step with the right, and then present arms, and so on indefinitely ; so much so that, when there is something positive to be done, the result is almost invariably ludicrous. When he should have been entirely free from self-consciousness, Lauritz Melchior betrayed himself by a too obvious attention to Bruno Walter's beat. His furtive and guilty glances suggested that he was forging a cheque rather than a sword. To one who knows his score, it is surely not so very difficult to bring in those hammer-blows with precision.
As a vocal performance, Melchior's Siegfried was admirable. There is no great beauty in the tone, but his voice suggests the vigour and fervour of a young superman. The duet in the last act marked a very high attainment of ensemble. The Brunnhilde of Frida Leider is always a most consistent and satisfying conception. In this scene she conveys the conflict between heredity and environment with very little strain upon our credulity. Moreover her voice is one of the few that can thread its way easily and naturally through the orchestral texture. The Erda consultation was magnificently sung by Schorr and Olczewska.
The third performance of Der Rosenkavalier brought about a consistently high level of orchestral playing. The beginning of the last act was very neatly done ; every detail of the delicate scoring here was clearly conveyed. Strauss's So schnell als moglich is an injunction which can be easily mis- understood. The weaker brethren among conductors take it to indicate a speed trial. Bruno Walter's tempo seemed faster than it was in reality, because he was careful to shape every single turn of phrase, so that after a few bars the momentum was established and continued, as it seemed, of its own accord.
As for the four chief members of the cast, it is impossible to imagine a group of singers holding a more complete under- standing among themselves. Save for one moment of uncertain intonation, the second act duets between Elisabeth Schumann (Sophie) and Delia Reinhardt (Olctavian) were without blemish of any kind, and when Lotte Letunann's beautiful tone was added for the famous trio in the last act, the delight was such that, at the very thought of it, criticism is deflected into the unwonted paths of rhapsody.
BASIL BLAINE..
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