The late Richard Wagner, to whom assiduous genuflection is the order of the day in Germany, not for any reason which might conceivably appeal to a civilized man, but because of certain barbaric notions he cherished, is currently the recipient here in New York of quite another kind of homage.
Hereabouts we have no illusions about the unpleasantness of the late Richard Wagner as a human being. We can, none the less, gladly celebrate the artist.
This afternoon in Carnegie Hall there ends a series of three concerts of the Philharmonic Symphony, conducted by Toscanini, and directed at the utterly laudable purpose of glorifying this artist.
Already there have been heard excerpts from “Siegfried,” “Tannhaeuser,” “Tristan und Isolde,” “Lohengrin” and “Parsifal,” not to mention one or two other pieces. As soloists, Gertrude Kappel, Marion Telva, Paul Althouse, Hans Clemens, Emanuel List and Richard Bonelli have appeared with the orchestra.
I got no joy from the great prominence given the pietistic “Parsifal,” which caused Nietzsche to shy, in deep disgust away from the composer out of whose brain he had hoped to elicit music for his Superman. I was decidedly disappointed in the dragging tempi and odd accentuations accorded the wonderful “Tannhaeuser” Bacchanale music, where the strings, those transfigured vehicles for Wagnerian imagery, were smothered in the Toscanini conception.
La Kappel, who is no Isolde, and L’Althouse, who is anything but a Tristan, struggled herocially with their task in the Act II “Tristan” love scene, but in vain. They seemed nervous about the business. Miss Telva sang the Brangaene interruption efficiently.
I have mentioned these less-than-happy matters first to get them out of the way.
I have no desire to soft-pedal the admirable “Siegfried” Waldweben or the workmanlike Act I and III, “Lohengrin” Preludes given us by Toscanini, nor can I fail to mention the splendid List singing in “Parsifal.”
Maybe I expected too much.
BENSONHURST WOMEN’S FESTIVAL
The Women’s League of Young Israel of Bensonhurst is sponsoring a strawberry festival on the evening of May 5 at 8516 Bay parkway, Brooklyn Mrs. Jack Feinzeig is in charge of arrangements.
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