Mulder-Fabbri German Opera: Tannhäuser

“’Der Tannhauser’ was sung last evening at the Stadt Theatre. It would not be fair to say that the musical and scenic exigencies of the opera were strictly complied with, but it may be recorded that a sufficiently smooth representation was offered to interest and often to delight that thoughtful part of the public which always flocks to performances of Wagner’s works. The magnificent, though rather unsymmetrical overture; the impassioned strains of the troubadour, eulogistic of the spell of Venus; the grandeur of the march, the eloquence of the songs of the rival singers; the clear and fluent beauty of the chorale in the finale of the second act, and the exquisite romance in the third were all recited with enough effect to charm the admirer of a score which is already become music of the present. The regular artists of the Stadt co-operated in the rehearsal. Herr Bernard, whose skill and experience go far toward concealing the wear of his voice, personated Tannhauser, Herr Muller was Wolfram, Herr Habelmann Walther, Frau Fabbri Elizabeth, and Fraulein Rossetti Venus. The orchestra, under Herr Mulder, seemed hardly as self-reliant as usual, though the correctness of the reading was unimpeachable. The peroration of the overture, for example, lacked crispness, and the execution of the march was hurried, to the impairment of the calm dignity of the theme. A second rendering of the composition will doubtless show a marked improvement in its general interpretation. Sufficient gratification was shown during the progress of the first to warrant strenuous efforts in that direction.”