five, much as in
any ordinary opera house. Even the conductors upset the arrangements
occasionally. On the other hand, if we leave the vagaries of the stars
out of account, we may safely expect always that in thoroughness of
preparation of the chief work of the season, in strenuous artistic
pretentiousness, in pious conviction that the work is of such enormous
importance as to be worth doing well at all costs, the Bayreuth
performances will deserve their reputation. The band is placed out of
sight of the audience, with the more formidable instruments beneath
the stage, so that the singers have not to sing THROUGH the brass. The
effect is quite perfect.

BAYREUTH IN ENGLAND

I purposely dwell on the faults of Bayreuth in order to show that there
is no reason in the world why as good and better performances of The
Ring should not be given in England. Wagner's scores are now before the
world; and neither his widow nor his son can pretend to handle them with
greater authority than any artist who feels the impulse to interpret
them. Nobody will ever know what Wagner himself thought of the artists
who established the Bayreuth tradition: he was obviously not in a
position to criticize them. For instance, had Rubini survived to create
Siegmund, it is quite certain that we should not have had from Wagner's
pen so amusing and vivid a description as we have of his Ottavio in the
old Paris days. Wagner was under great obligations to the heroes and
heroines of 1876; and he naturally said nothing to disparage their
triumphs; but there is no reason to believe that all or indeed any of
them satisfied him as Schnorr of Carolsfeld satisfied him as Tristan, or
Schroder Devrient as Fidelio. It is just as likely as not that the
next Schnorr or Schroder may arise in England. If that should actually
happen, neither of them will need any further authority than their own
genius and Wagner's scores for their guidance. Certainly the less their
spontaneous impulses are sophisticated by the very stagey traditions
which Bayreuth is handing down from the age of Crummles, the better.

WAGNERIAN SINGERS

No nation need have much difficulty in producing a race of Wagnerian
singers. With the single exception of Handel, no composer has written
music so well calculated to make its singers vocal athletes as Wagner.
Abominably as the Germans sing, it is astonishing how they thrive
physically on his leading parts. His secret is the Handelian s