Moreover, it would have been a musical calamity to have the
treasures of melody and harmony that are stored away in the Nibelung
scores reserved for the lucky few who are able to go to Bayreuth.
Wagner himself must have felt this when, contrary to his original
intention, he gave Neumann permission to perform the Tetralogy (under
Seidl's direction) in Germany, Italy, and Belgium; and since that time
it has been successfully incorporated into the repertory of all the
leading German cities, and many smaller ones, such as Weimar,
Mannheim, and Carlsruhe.
In Germany the length of Wagner's and Meyerbeer's operas is not so
objectionable as here, because there the opera commences at seven, or
even at six thirty, and six, if it is a very long one; hence it is all
over shortly after ten, and everybody has time to take supper before
going to bed. But in New York, where it is not customary to sup, and
where the dinner hour is between six and seven, it would hardly be
advisable to commence the opera before eight. Nor is the interest in
the opera sufficiently general to inspire the hope that for its sake
any change will be made in the hour of dining.
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