Wagner's Parsilat was once performed almost in its entirety on
the concert platform under the late Sir Joseph Bamby at the Albert Hall in 1884 excerpts have frequently been given at the provincial Festivals, and the Vorspiet, the Chaffreitagszauber musics, and other selections have for many years formed part of the repertory of our orchestral concerts. But until the refusal of the Reichstag to extend the copyright, which lapsed with the New Year, stage performances of the opera were the monopoly of Bayreuth—a monopoly which Wagner himself intended to be perpetual. A strong cast had been secured for the series of performances which opened on Monday at Covent Garden, and, speaking musically, the results were for the most part admirable ; but the effort to reconcile Wagner's instructions and the Bayreuth traditions with modern ideals in regard to mounting, scenery, and costume has been less successfuL These are, after all, secondary considerations. What really matters is the impact of rarsijal on the emotions and imaginations of those to whom the work was either new or unfamiliar in its stage form. Of this it is too soon to speak. But all the omens seem to point to a revival of interest in Bayreuth and an increase in the number of the international pilgrims this summer.
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