Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
of opportunity for discussion. You may
take the view of Nietzsche that Wagner is
the greatest of pagans; that he expresses
in his work the primary emotions of man
as an animal. Or you may take the point
of view of the Rev. Dr. Duffield, and find'
in " T h e Flying Dutchman" the underly-
ing principle of the sacrifice of love; in
"Lohengrin" the struggle of faith and
doubt, and in "Tannhauser" the everlast-
ing contest between man's two natures, and
so on. It is possible, again, to take neither
of these two views, and simply hold that
the composer had no spiritual view at all;
that he was only concerned with the pro-
duction of a simple work of art for its own
sake. But no matter to which school of
opinion we ally ourselves, the fact remains
that Wagner would not be so great if this
difference of opinion about him did not ex-
ist. It is natural that the work of the
Shakespeare of music should excite the
same sort of controversies that have been
waged over the moral significance of
"Hamlet."
O IMS REEVES once told an interviewer
^
that he had lost during his career as a
singer about $400,000 through his conscien-
tiousness. As his affairs have gone so un-
fortunately in his late years that he was re-
cently compelled to accept a benefit, he no
doubt thinks regretfully of the lost money.
Probably his losses of the kind referred to
were not quite so great as the sum men-
tioned, as it was at one time understood
that the famous English tenor had a con-
tract with his managers by which he re-
ceived a certain sum when his name was
announced, whether he sang or not. His
popularity in England was at one time so
great that his name was sufficient to crowd
a concert room. Even at that time he
was an old man. He disappointed his au-
diences then almost as frequently as he
sang; but the public always went to his
concerts quite regardless of the probability
that they would not hear him. It was said
in those days that Mr. Reeves received
$500 even when he did not sing, as his
name, in view of the audiences it drew,
was worth that amount.
Mr. Reeves attributed his failure to ap-
pear to an excessive conscientiousness
which kept him from singing at all when
he could not sing his best. He described
the dry feeling in his throat, the peppery
burning which first indicated that he was
not likely to be able to sing. There are
singers in the Metropolitan company who
could have told Mr. Reeves that his free-
dom from nervousness was enough to com-
pensate for all the sufferings he might
have experienced from other causes. In the
long list of troubles necessary to an artistic
career Mr. Reeves did not include this
form of suffering.
*
COME instances of the nervousness of
^
famous singers can scareely be under-
stood, so entirely without reason do they
seem to persons in private life. Why
M. Jean de Reszke, for instance, should
be nervous about singing a familiar part
before a New York audience is impossible
to explain, but it is a fact that he is one of the
greatest sufferers from nervousness in the
entire company. Mme. Sembrich is thrown
into almost unendurable nervousness at
the thought of appearing even at a Sunday
night concert, and in an operatic perform-
ance suffers even more. Mme. Lehmann
undertook her present severe method of
life with the hope of finding some relief
from the dreadful nervousness that afflicted
her, and has been in a large measure re-
lieved. Mile. Calve was such a sufferer
from nervousness during her last year in
this country that she
refused allinvitations
that required her to
be seated at table
longer than a few
moments. This put
dinners out of the
question, and she ex-
p r e s s 1 y explained
that she would not
accept, under any
circumstances,
in-
vitations to dinner,
as the ordeal of sit-
ting still so long was
too m u c h for her
nerves.
Even
Edouard de Reszke,
w h o i s apparently
the most stolid and
substantial person in
the world, suffers as
much as a debutante
from nervousness at
some time. Most of
the artists say that
there is no explana-
tion for the irregu-
larity w i t h which
t h e i r nervousness
attacks them. Some-
times in the pres-
ence of very serious
a r t i s t i c problems
they a r e perfectly
calm and collected,
w h i l e at o t h e r
times, w h e n t h e y
have only to do
composer should really be compelled to
face the music—whether it be good or bad.
I admit that it's a trying ordeal, but just
think of the comedian—he has to sing it! "
*
TGNACE PADEREWSKI has notified his
*• American representative that he will
sail on October 18th by the Teutonic for
another American tour. The great vir-
tuoso is now enjoying splendid health and
is looking forward with pleasure to his
forthcoming visit.
When the Polish pianist returned to
what they have frequently done before,
their sufferings may be more than at any
other time.
*
T H E ever-humorous De Wolf Hopper,
* whose antics are always an entertain-
ing feature of every comic opera in which
he appears, has this to say about some
well-known composers: "John Philip
Sousa is as diffident and shy as a maid—
flinches at the test to win or lose it all. I
insisted that he should brave the tempest
with me on the first nights of ' El Capitan'
and 'The Charlatan.' He obeyed, re-
luctantly, finding a secure hiding place in
the rear of a box or else back of the stage.
Victor Herbert is in the same catagory.
The only two American composers that
seem to have any nerve and force are
Julian Edwards and Ludwig Englander.
They have become so daring that they
grasp the baton and lead the charge on an
opening night of one of their works. The
Europe the last time he took with him
$220,000 as his profits from one tour, less
the amount left here for the Paderewski
fund. He receives in London now the
highest pay ever given to any pianist. His
fee for private appearances is 1,000 guineas.
Some of his earnings in this country are
said to have been lost lately in speculation,
although part of the money went toward
the purchase of the estate in Switzerland
which he bought last summer. Paderews-
ki's opera has not yet been produced. It
was to have been given in Dresden last
winter, but his Russian engagements were
said to have kept him from directing the
rehearsals and for that reason the work
was postponed. It is said to be completed,
and even alterations contemplated by the
composer after the orchestral score was
finished have now been made. His pres-
ence in this country next winter may com-
pel another postponement of the perform-
ance, as the composer desires to have
charge of the preparations,
PADEREWSKI.