Wee
striking or profound, but not so much
by reason of any inherent defects of the
unpretentious better work itself as be¬
cause ofthe fact that singers able to de
justice to it are getting rarer on the
German stage from year to year. A
laudable attempt has been made by means
of a new and revised translation of the
text to fit the scenes and musie to the
exigencies of modern taste, and now tlie
score itself has been freed from the dusl
and cobwebs of more decades than one.
but after all the chief and only charm
nowadays lies in Donizetti’s arias and en¬
semble numbers, and this is only faintly
suggested by those employed in the
present revival.
Given in connection with the new ballet
Nippes“ (Brio-à-brac) it may have a
more prosperous career thanthe Debussy
tone poem. If so it would not bethe first
time that Euterpe has been indebted
to Terpischore atthe Vienna Opera House.
Once more Josef Bayer has composed
a pleasing, tuneful little work, very much
in the style of the Puppenfee“ and vari¬
ous others that during the last quarter
of a Century started out from here and
were heard wherever dancing finds favor.
In Nippes’ we once more find a collection
of inanimate flgures, supposed to come
to life for a brief span of time, who step
down from an étagère or out of a tapestry,
and having exeouted their evolutions
return to their primitive conditions. A
series of waltzes, polkas and marches
musters the different figures in attractive
groups, and dainty costumes, nimble feet
and catching rhythms combine to oreate
the oft cited and frequently misconceived
Vienna charm.“
Very different both as to character
and soope is the pantomime for which
Austria’s best accredited living dramatio
author, Arthur Schnitzler, has written
the libretto, and one would almost be
tempted also to say Austria’s best ac¬
credited pianist, Ernstaon Dohnanyi, has
composed the musie. It is the first time
he has had anything to do with the stage
of aught but the concert Toom, and al¬
ready he has given such proofs of a nice
appreciation of the needs of the play-
house that further efforts in that di¬
rection are likely to follow.
Inthe meanwhile the favorable reception
that Dresden and Budapest have accorded
the little work has also been granted here.
and though pantomime, as such, is not
olassed among the most generally popular
forms of entertainment, the exception
that more than twenty years ago was
made in favor of André Wormser’s“ Enfant
Prodigue“ may be extended to its most
important and valuable suocessor. To
be sure the tragic note that is struck by
Sohnitaler may be accounted too depres¬
sing for a style of musical play whose
chief characteristic is supposed to be
charm and merriment, andyet Dohnanyi's
score furnishes so much of both that a
certain lack of enlivening episodes may
not be weighed so heavily in the balance.
In the Veil of Pierette“ Schnitzler.
emploving the familiar figures of the
time honored commedia dell’arte sets
out to show no Piereite who has escaped
in bridal dress from her own wedding
festivities to join Pierrot, whom she
loves and rather than lose whom she
has resolved to put an end to herself.
She brings a vial of poison with her, which
Pierrot pours into a glass, drinking some
of it.
But her courage fails at the last no¬
ment and her lover, disillusioned, with
his last strength dashes the potion ###the
ground before expiring. She throwt her¬
self upon his inanimate body, trying in
valn to call him back to life, andthen over¬
come by terror rushes from the room.
Adelicious distinctly Viennese waltz inter¬
mezzo leads over tothe next scene, which
represents the wedding festivities in the
home of Pierette’s parents.
quadrille is followed by a minuet.
and as the time goes by her absence has
become generally noticed. Harlequin,
to whom she has been wed, grows im¬
patient and angry. sothat finally in a fit
of passion he breaks the musiclans' in¬
struments. At last Pierette returns visibly
disturbed, but she tries to allay her
spouse’s suspioions by enticing him to
dance. Atthis point the ghost of Pferro
appears among the guests, visible to her
alone.
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Man schreibt uns aus Wien:
S HUI
rh. In der Hofoper hatten wir die Première der Pan¬
komme „Der Schleier der Pierrette“ von Artur Schnitzler.
Musik von Ernst von Dohnanyi. Nur selten oder noch gar
nicht hat man in der Hofoper ein so seriös gefärbtes, so lang¬
weiliges und langwieriges Ballett aufgeführt, wie dieses, das
zwei so glanzvolle Namen zu Autoren hat. Selbst der vernünf¬
tigen Regie des Herrn von Wymetal konnte es nicht gelingen,
dem Publikum auch nur das geringste Interesse für die Ballett¬
novität einzuflößen. Man wird den Namen Artur Schnitzler
nach diesem Mißerfolg nicht allzu oft auf dem Programm des
Hofoperntheaters zu lesen bekommen. Das Ganze war ein fa¬
toler Irrtum.