'Die Feen'
consequently has little claim to originality, but the work is
nevertheless interesting to those who desire to trace the master's
development _ab ovo_. Both in the melodies and rhythms employed it is
possible to trace the germs of what afterwards became strongely marked
characteristics. Wagner himself never saw 'Die Feen' performed. In 1833
he could not persuade any German manager to produce it, and, in the
changes which soon came over his musical sympathies, 'Die Feen' was laid
upon the shelf and probably forgotten. It was not until 1888, five years
after the composer's death, that the general enthusiasm for everything
connected with Wagner induced the authorities at Munich to produce it.
Since then it has been performed with comparative frequency, and formed
a part of the cycles of Wagner's works which were given in 1894 and
1895. Wagner's next work was of a very different nature. 'Das
Liebesverbot' was a frank imitation of the Italian school. He himself
confesses that 'if any one should compare this score with that of "Die
Feen" he would find it difficult to understand how such a complete
change in my tendencies could have been brought about in so short a
time.' The incident which turned his thoughts into this new channel was
a performance of Bellini's 'Capuletti e Montecchi,' in which Madame
Schroeder-Devrient sang the part of Romeo. This remarkable woman
exercised in those days an almost hypnotic influence upon Wagner, and
the beauty and force of this particular impersonation impressed him so
vividly that he relinquished his admiration of Weber and the Teutonic
school and plunged headlong into the meretricious sensuousness of Italy.
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