MUSIC, RECENT PROGRESS OF. 



601 



tiques) ; " Der Ritterschlag," in two acts, by 

 Hermann Riedel (Vienna), libretto by Mosen- 

 thal ; " Don Pablo," in three acts, by Theobald 

 Rehbaum (Dresden, September 16) ; " Bianca," 

 by Tgnaz Brull, new arrangement of former 

 edition (Dresden, October 9). 



Operettas : " Das Spitzentuch der Koni- 

 gin," by Johann Strauss ; " Donna Juanita," by 

 Suppe ; " Capitan Ahlstrom " and " Graf von 

 Gleichen," by Josef Hellmesberger, Jr. ; "Ni- 

 sida," by Gene"e (all in Vienna); "Les Volti- 

 geurs du 22. regiment," by Planquette ; " Belle 

 Lurette," by Offenbach (both in Paris, Renais- 

 sance Theatie); ''The King's Dragoons," by 

 Rogel (Lisbon); "II Sogno d'amore," by Ber- 

 nardo Bellini (Naples, Circolo dell' Unione). 



1881. Operas: " Le Tribut de Zamora," in 

 four acts, by Gounod (Paris, April 1), libretto 

 by d'Ennery and Bresil, with moderate suc- 

 cess; "Les Contes d'Hoffmann," in four acts, 

 by Offenbach, libretto by Barbie r (Paris, Opra- 

 Comique, February 10), said to be unquestion- 

 ably the composer's best effort, and met with 

 enthusiastic reception ; " La Bague magique," 

 in four acts, by Armand Castegnier (Mons, Bel- 

 gium) ; " Der Warwolf," a romantic opera in 

 three acts, by J. H. Franz (Count Bolko von 

 Hochberg) at Dresden, February 6; libretto by 

 Paul Frohberg, after the old fairy-tale ; " Der 

 verschleierte Prophet," by C. Villiers Stanford 

 (Hanover, February 6), libretto after Moore's 

 " Lalla Rookh " ; the opera, dramatically effect- 

 ive, met with decided success; '" Thusnelda 

 und der Triumphzugdes Germanicus," in three 

 acts, by Karl Grammann (Dresden, March 

 11), libretto by H. Dickmann; the prevail- 

 ing character of the music is. declamatory, 

 though it takes at times a bolder flight, and is 

 melodiously effective; the climax of the opera 

 is the final triumphal procession, arranged 

 after Piloty's picture; "Der Fluchtling," by 

 Edmund Kretschmer (Ulm, April 1) ; " Eber- 

 stein," by Felix Mottl (Carlsruhe, September 

 18), libretto by Putlitz, after Uhland's ballad to 

 the celebration of the grand duke's silver wed- 

 ding. " Das Kathchen von Heilbronn," a ro- 

 mantic opera in four acts, by Reinthaler (Frank- 

 fort, December 8, Brunswick, December 25, 

 conducted by the composer), libretto by Hein- 

 rich Bulthaupt, freely after Kleist's drama; 

 the opera had won the competition prize, and 

 was received with great applause ; " Der wilde 

 Jager," romantic opera in four acts, by Victor 

 Nessler (Leipsic, December 11), libretto by 

 Friedrich Hofmann, after Julius Wolff's epic 

 poem ; the reception was favorable. From oth- 

 er parts we gather : " The Maid of Orleans," in 

 three acts, by Tschaikowsky (St. Petersburg, 

 February 25), received with a storm of ap- 

 plause, although critics charge the work with 

 poverty of invention ; " The Rose of the Car- 

 patian Mountains," by Siegfried Saloman 

 (Stockholm) ; " The Box of Pandora," by Col- 

 lins (Boston), libretto by Longfellow. 



Comic operas: " Herodiade," by Massenet 

 (Brussels) ; " Les Pantins," by Hue (Paris) ; 



" Two Widows," by Smetana (Hamburg) ; 

 " L'arnico di casa," by Cortesi (Florence) ; 

 " Incognito," by Henry Longe (London) ; " The 

 Twelve Jolly Bachelors," by Darling (Boston). 



Operettas: "Die Jungfrau von Belleville," 

 by Millocker ; " Der lustige Krieg," by Strauss ; 

 " Wiener Kinder," by Ziebrer ; " Der Gas- 

 cogner," by Suppe", (all in Vienna). 



1882. The great event of this year was the 

 performance of Wagner's latest creation, " Par- 

 sifal," at Baireuth, on July 26, and during the 

 month of August, on every Sunday, Tuesday, 

 and Friday. The work created a deep impres- 

 sion, and, though applauded sparingly during 

 its progress, met with enthusiastic approba- 

 tion at the end, and earned much greater ap- 

 plause on the second evening than on the first. 

 On the whole, Wagner, in this work, has re- 

 mained true to his principle of the "Leitmo- 

 tive." A welcome exception is the return to 

 choruses, and in the artistic structure, the beau- 

 tiful proportions, and the masterly elaboration 

 of the motives, the master has really surpassed 

 himself. This applies especially to the trans- 

 formation scene in the first act, the Good-Fri- 

 day idyl and the flower-girl scene, an episode 

 of irresistible charm. Among the prominent 

 motives, that of the " Heilandsklage " is the 

 most impressive. The performance was most 

 creditably conducted by the court-kapellmeister 

 Levi, of Munich, and among the soloists Frau 

 Materna, as Kundry, and Herr Reichmann, as 

 Amfortas, carried off the palm. 



On the second evening Fraulein Brandt un- 

 dertook the part of Kundry, with marked suc- 

 cess. 



Other novelties in this year were : " Hagbarth 

 und Signe," a romantic opera in three acts, by 

 Edmund von Mihalovich (Dresden, March 12), 

 libretto by Adolf Stern, after Oehlenschlager's 

 drama based on tine old Norse saga the music 

 is severely Wagnerian ; " Francesca da Rimini," 

 by Ambroise Thomas (Paris, April 14), libretto 

 by Barbier and Carre" this work had only asuc- 

 cfo cPestime ; " Alfonso und Estrella," by Franz 

 Schubert (Vienna, April 15), libretto by Franz 

 von Schober although the opera was brought 

 out by Liszt in Weimar about 1855, it is a very 

 remarkable fact that it had never been given in 

 Vienna, the composer's native city, it is full of 

 inventive power and contains a sufficient num- 

 ber of dramatic details to make it effective ; 

 " Das Andreasfest," a romantic opera in three 

 acts, by Karl Grammann (Dresden, November 

 30), libretto by Roderich Fels, contains many 

 attractive details, and was warmly received. 



Comic operas : " Galante Aventure," by Gui- 

 raud (Paris, March) ; " Der Bauer ein Schelm," 

 by Dvorak (Dresden, October 24). 



1883. Owing to the abundance of novelties, 

 the review of the remaining past seasons must . 

 be confined to the works by authors of estab- 

 lished reputation, or those among the younger 

 composers, whose former creations have been 

 successful. Beginning with France, we have 

 to register only : " Henry VIII," in four acts, 



