ty of Californ ern Regional iry Facility N- ~-...:^ Y \ 1. 1 liwrntii r M /ID IL^ ^ J L 1 :l c>p ^ \. p.^ THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES This edition sprinted from type in February and March^ iSgg^ is limited to one thousand copies, of which this is No 9.^...- f ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL BY HIS FRIENDS <^^< NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS MDCCCXCIX COPYRIGHT, 1899 BY CHARLES SCRIBNEr's SONS If '> 7 PREFACE SHORTLY after Anton Seidl's death several of his friends suggested that I should write a book about him, biographic and critical. As I happened to be at work on two other books which absorbed all my spare time, I at first looked on the proposal as imprac- ticable ; but one morning the thought came into my mind, "Why not contribute a chapter or two myself and let Mr. Seidl's other friends — singers, players, composers, critics — write the others?" The rest of the plan was soon sketched. The book was to be a labor of love for all concerned and the friends appealed to responded cor- dially. Lilli Lehmann and Marianne Brandt, in far-off Germany and Austria, sent their contributions first, and the others followed promptly. The contributions are printed exactly as they were sent, except that some had to be translated. The blue pencil was used in a few places, to avoid repetition of biographic facts or anec- dotes ; but this could not be done in all cases, on account 1CB8G71 PREFACE of the connection. It is hardly necessary to add that I am responsible for all the literary interludes connecting the various contributions. In preparing the biographic chapter I had the advant- age of the co-operation of Mrs. Seidl. I asked her, since she naturally knew so much more about her late lamented husband than any one else, to write a chapter of remi- niscences, or, at any rate, to jot down copious notes about his career, his character and habits, so that I might incor- porate them in the biographic chapter. She demurred at first, on the ground that she had never written any- thing for the printer, and was not even a good letter writer, but finally consented. The result proved so eminently satisfactory that I found I could use her manu- script (in translation) exactly as sent in, except that I found it advisable to divide it into sections and put each in its proper place in quotation marks. Thus the reader will always know what part of the story is hers. Schiller said that " for actors posterity has no wreaths." Anton Seidl was like an actor in so far as he was not a creator, but only an interpreter. He was, however, like Liszt or Rubinstein, a creative interpreter, inspired, enthusiastic, authoritative. He preached the gospel of the greatest composer of the nineteenth century on two continents. He was the first to conduct Wagner's greatest works in many German cities, as well as in Italy, PREFACE England and America. In America, especially, he will always be identified with the acclimatization of Wagner's operas. The twelve years he labored in New York were years during which Wagner's art took firm root in American soil. He did not reap the full material com- pensation for his labors. All the more does he deserve a reward like this volume, which will remain not only as a monument to his interpretative genius and his worth as a man, but also as a milestone marking the most im- portant twelve years in the history of music in America. To all those who have so generously helped to make this book a success, Mrs. Seidl asks me to express in this place her heartfelt thanks ; also to the publishers, Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons, for their kindness in waiv- ing all share of the profits; to Messrs. D. Appleton & Co. for courteous permission to reprint from their sump- tuous volumes. Music of the Modem World, Seidl's article on Conducting, which is second in value only to Wagner's own essay on the same subject ; and to Messrs. Falk, Wilhelm, and Aime Dupont, for permission to use copy- right photographs. Henry T. Finck. New York, March i, 1899. CONTENTS loGRAPHic Sketch by Henry T. F INCK 9 Including the Memoirs of Mrs. Seidl . 3-83 Student Life at Leipsic 4 With Hans Richter . 7 In Wagner's House 8 Concerts in Berlin . 10 The First Bayreuth Festival II Recommended by Wagner 12 Wagner's First Symphony 13 Seidl Surprises Wagner 14 The Traveling Wagner Theatre 15 Courtship Days 16 The London Barber 18 At Amsterdam and Berlin 20 Adventures in Italy . 21 Wagner's Death 23 More Honors for Seidl 24 Madame de Lucca . 26 Marriage 27 CONTENTS A Year in New York 28 Golden Age of German Opera . 29 Debut in New York 31 Wagnerian Conquest of New York . 32 German Opera Banished . 33 Philliarmonic Prosperity , 34 Reinstated at the Metropolitan . 36 Beloved By His Singers . 38 Stage Management . 39 Some Personal Traits 41 Home Life .... 44 Eight Pet Dogs 45 In the Catskills — Work and Play 46 Mime Buried Alive . 49 Christmas Presents . 50 Wotan Kills Mime . 52 Seidl's Generosity 54 Masquerade and a Surprise 54 Presents for His Wife 57 Relations with Musicians . 58 Favorite Haunts 60 His Majesty, Richard Wagner . 62 Theodore Thomas 63 Triumph in London 64 How Seidl Conducted Wagner . 67 Triumph in Bayreuth 68 A Permanent Orchestra 71 The World at his Feet 77 Fatiguing Duties 78 The Last Day 80 CONTENTS The Funeral Services by Edgar J. Levey Programme .... Address of Mr. Wright . Dispatch from Colonel Ingersoll Some Personal Tributes The Philharmonic Society A Brooklyn Tribute By Albert Steinberg By James Huneker By Henry Waller . By Henry Holden Huss . By Victor Herbert . Appreciations by Musical Critics By H. E. Krehbiel . By F. N. R. Martinez By August Spanuth . By Charles D. Lanier By Henry T. Finck Letters to Seidl from Richard Wagner Others .... From Robert Ingersoll From Templeton Strong . From Jules Massenet From Eugene Ysaye From Antonin DvoHk From Richard Wagner From Cosima Wagner Anton Seidl's Literary Work The Development of Music in America Cuts in the Nibelung Trilogy 85-97 . 86 • 92 • 93 lOI- -127 . lOI 102 104 114 117 119 113 isl- -176 131 140 148 158 160 and 179- -202 • 181 182 183 184 185 187 199 205- -240 . 206 209 CONTENTS Anton Seidl's Literary Work (Cont A Scene in the Gotterdammerung Fafner's Death Siegfried's Narrative Orchestra and Singer Schumann and Wagner On Conducting Tributes from Great Singers By Lilli Lehmann-Kalisch By Marianne Brandt By Lillian Nordica Dome By Emma Eames-Story By Anton Schott By Giuseppe Campanari . By Jean and Edouard de Reszlce inued) 205-240 210 21 1 21 1 212 213 215 243-259 243 245 248 251 252 255 258 PO RT RA I TS Anton Seidl, October, 1895 Mrs. Seidl, 1886 Mrs. Seidl as Eva in Meistersinger, 1886 Anton Seidl, 1888 .... Anton Seidl, 1894 .... Anton Seidl, 1895 • • • • • Summer Home in the Catskills, . SEPTEMBER, I 897 Anton Seidl Conducting, 1895 FACING Title 16 28 34 58 80 1 12 215 FACSIMILES Letter from Wagner, 1878 . . .187 Wagner's Original Mss. of the Song of Walther in Tannhauser . . . 200 Seidl's Original Mss., Erlkonig Ballade . 236 Testimonials at the end of the volume From the Maurice Grau Opera Company. From the Directors of the MetropoHtan Opera and Real Estate Company. From the Musical Protective Union. From the Manuscript Society. BIOGRAPHIC SKETCH BY HENRY T. FINCK INCLUDING MRS. SEIDL'S MEMOIRS BIOGRAPHIC SKETCH IT is an odd fact that most of the great Wagnerian conductors were born in Hungary. Liszt, Hans Richter, Nikisch, Sucher, came from the land where the fiery Magyars and gipsies dwell, and so did Anton Seidl. He was born at Budapest on the sixth of May, 1850, the year when Liszt took pity on Wagner and brought out his three-year-old Lohengrin which no one else had dared to touch, because it was believed to be an " impossible " opera. The parents of Anton Seidl intended him to become a priest. As a boy he seemed to be willing enough to gratify their desire ; he liked to assemble his playmates about him, read mass, dispense a blessing, and imitate other things he had seen in church. Yet this did not prevent him from riding his hobby- horse, singing rhythmically, " Tschin daratta, bum, bum, bum," and exclaiming, " I want to be a conductor." His musical talent was revealed at an early age. He was a boy prodigy, and was only six years old when he first played the piano at a chanty concert. In school he played the organ for the Fathers and became director of the male chorus. Nicolitsch, of the National Academy of Music, gave him lessons in harmony and counter- 3 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL point. But his chief delight was the grand opera. He attended performances as otten as possible, and when he got home would sit up late at night trying to repeat on the piano the melodies he had heard at the theatre, as well as to imitate the gestures of the conductor, who seemed to him a most important personage. When he heard Lohengrin for the first time he was so deeply affected that he made up his mind firmly to become a musician, and his parents who had at first opposed his musical inclina- tions, finally yielded. STUDENT LIFE AT LEIPSIC Leipsic was at that time still the centre of musical life in Germany, and to that city, accordingly, he went in 1870, aged twenty years. His object being to obtain a general education as well as a musical training, he not only became a pupil at the famous conservatory, but also was immatriculated as a student at the university, where he attended lectures on Logic, Philos- ophy and Musical History. At the conservatory he studied the piano under Coccius and Wenzel, the organ under Pappe- ritz, harmony and thoroughbass under Oscar Paul and E. F. Richter. When Anton Seidl took his oath of allegiance before the rector of the university he stood next to Adalbert Schueler, who soon became one of his most intimate friends, and remained so to the last day of the great conductor's life, his final act of friend- ship being a short address spoken at the open bier. To Mr. Schueler I am indebted for some unpublished anecdotes and reminiscences relating to the student years of his friend. While by no means inclined to neglect his lessons, Anton Seidl found more food for his mind in the numerous concerts and operatic performances offered in Leipsic. Nor was he averse to enjoying 4 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL a convivial evening with friends ; and thus it happened that once in a while the motto, " business before pleasure," was reversed. One of these " larks " and its sequel is thus described by Mr. Schueler : " In 1872 Anton Seidl was a member of a class in counter- point under Dr. Oscar Paul, of the Leipsic Conservatory. There was a good deal of writing to be done, and it was often almost impossible to find the necessary time for writing out all the ex- amples given. As Anton Seidl was at the same time attending the university, he occasionally visited some of those meetings of students, from which ' they wouldn't go home till morning.' Such a protracted meeting of jolly students would naturally con- flict seriously with the examples in counterpoint. It was on one of these occasions that Mr. Seidl came to my ' den ' one even- ing and said : ' I am going to be out with the boys to-night and have not yet done anything towards my counterpoint lesson for to-morrow morning. I hate to skip it, and yet I cannot attend without some written examples. Have you got time to write some examples for me ? ' As I had done most of my examples, I promised, and he left his book with me. " In the morning he came to his class room late ; so I had just time to give him his book before he handed it to the pro- fessor. It was too late to look over the lesson I had written for him. Dr. Paul, who was sitting at the table, opened the book, Mr. Seidl standing a little behind him to his right, I to his left. The professor, whose delight it was to hunt and find mis- takes and to make the most of his ' find ' in the way of sneering and scolding, began to read, with pencil in hand. All at once the pencil came down with a plunge on some unfortunate note. " Dummes Zeug ! What do you mean by this note ? " He looked up in Seidl's face with a frown. Now, although Seidl 5 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL felt perfectly innocent in regard to that note, he felt also that he had to father the mistake, whatever it might be. He knew, too, that since he never had seen it, he would not be able to explain it. So he did his best to gain time, by taking off his glasses and thor- oughly wiping them. I had been watching the professor's pencil from the beginning, and seeing the mistake, said : 'I think that note ought to be a instead of b.' Turning his head to me over his left shoulder, the professor inquired : 'What in the world do you know about it ? ' ' Oh, I was simply looking into the book over your shoulder and saw the mistake,' was my answer. Seidl still kept on wiping his glasses with a vengeance. ' Well, a will do,' said the professor, and went on reading. " Unfortunately this was not the only time that the pro- fessor's pencil struck a snag. But wherever it happened, the same peculiar conditions of the atmosphere compelled Seidl to wipe his glasses, and the unwary professor gradually got in the way of asking questions over his right and getting the answers over his left shoulder. Subsequently it always seemed to both of us like a miracle that we were not suspected and caught in the game we played. One other occasion after that, similar circum- stances induced me to write an exercise in Seidl's book, but the scare we had had taught us a lesson. We both were very par- ticular that Mr. Seidl should see what I had written before the professor saw it." Another episode relating to this period is thus described by Mr. Schueler : "In the autumn of 1870 Anton Seidl entered the organ class of Dr. Papperitz, of which class the writer of this also was a member. The lessons at that time were given on the old worn-out organ of the still older St. Peter's Kirche. Anton Seidl, who had never sat on an organ-bench before, was asked 6 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL to take his seat. Being unacquainted with the dangers of a ' loaded organ,' he innocently stepped between bench and organ, and had both his feet planted squarely on the pedals before the unsuspecting professor could prevent it. The result, as may be imagined, was startling, and the face of Anton SeidI was a puzzle. ' Take your feet off the pedals ! ' exclaimed the excited professor. Up went one foot, then the other ; the organ kept up its dismal noise. Above its roar was heard the voice of the professor, ' Sit down and lift your feet ! ' which he finally did." WITH HANS RICHTER During the two years that he studied in Leipsic, the prog- ress of the Wagner movement throughout Germany engaged his special attention. He knew, among other things, that Hans Richter had been with Wagner in 1866 to 1867, preparing the Meistersinger score for the press ; that he was subse- quently appointed Director of the Chorus at the Royal Opera in Munich, and that he brought out Lohengrin at Brussels, in 1870. He felt sure that no one except, perhaps, Hans von Billow, could have penetrated so deeply into the secrets of Wag- nerian interpretation, and, therefore, when he heard that Richter had gone to Budapest as conductor of the opera, he made up his mind to return to his native city and beg Richter to accept him as a pupil. Richter readily consented, instructing him also in the scores of the classic masters, and he soon became so con- vinced of his pupil's extraordinary talent that, when Wagner wrote to him, in 1872, asking him to help him in finding a talented young man who could assist him in his work at Bay- reuth, he promptly recommended Anton Seidl for the place. It was a stroke of luck such as the young man had never thought of in his wildest dreams, and he did not need Richter's admoni- ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL tion that he had before him a rare opportunity for becoming a great interpreter. He knew, as well as his teacher, that there were certain things — the most important of all — which he could learn only from the master himself. So it was with eager ex- pectations, and a heart throbbing with joy, that he packed his trunk and took the train for Bayreuth. IN wagner's house Why was Wagner so anxious to have an assistant ? The following extract from one of his letters to Liszt, at an earlier period, will answer that question : " I am working with all my energies. Could you not send me a man who would be able to take ray wild lead-pencil sketches and make a cleanly-copied score of them ? I am working this time on a plan quite different from my former one. But the copying is killing me ! It makes me lose time of which I might make more precious use ; and, besides, the constant writing fatigues me so much that it makes me ill, and causes me to lose the mood for the real work of creating. Without such a clever assistant I am lost ; with him I could have the whole [Tetralogy] completed in two years." In another place Wagner refers to his sketches in these words : " Everything written with pencil illegibly in single sheets. It is altogether too difficult to copy them in my way, especially as the sketches often really are dreadfully confused, so that only I can decipher them." It took a thorough musician to do this work, and Wagner soon found that Anton Seidl was just the man he wanted. He kept him in his house six years while he was completing the Gotterddmmerung score and composing Parsifal, and thus it came about that Anton Seidl had the honor and advantage of becoming one of the four only ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL pupils Wagner ever had, the other three having been Hans von Biilow, Karl Ritter, and Hans Richter. Having been so long a member of Wagner's household, Anton Seidl had many interesting things to relate about the great master, and one of the most regrettable things about his early and sudden death is that he had never written his reminiscences of that period. To his friends he used to relate how Wagner com- posed. He always carried some sheets of music paper in his pocket, on which he jotted down with a pencil such ideas as came to him on solitary walks, or at other times. These he gave to his wife, who inked them over and arranged them in piles. In these sketches the vocal part was always written out in full, while the orchestral part was roughly indicated in two or more staves. Whenever the master was in the mood for composing, he would say to Seidl : " Bring me my sketches," and the pupil would pick out the parts he happened to be at work on. Then Wag- ner would retire to his composing room, to which no one was admitted, not even his wife and children. After elaborating the melodic, harmonic and rhythmic details of his score he considered his main task done, and the orchestration was completed down- stairs in the music room. Probably no task that Wagner ever had puzzled him so much as that of writing a march for the Philadelphia Centennial. He had never been in America, knew little of our musical atmos- phere, and had nothing to inspire him. Mr. Seidl told me how Wagner secured a collection of American tunes, but could find nothing in it to suit him. For a time he was really distressed, not knowing whether he could keep his promise. But one day, as he was emerging from a dark lane in Bayreuth into daylight, the idea of the triplets which pervade the march occurred to him suddenly ; and Mr. Seidl vividly remembered the master's joy 9 ANTON SEIDI- A MEMORIAL at having at last found a theme on which he could lavish his stir- ring harmonies and wealth of orchestral colors. An anecdote regarding Parsifal, which is related in my Wagner and his Works, may also be fitly reproduced here as show- ing the relations between master and pupil. When Seidl had become Wagner's secretary he one day heard him play the en- chanting strains of the Flower Girl scene, which naturally made an indelible impression on him. Some years later, when he was putting the sketches into rough shape for practical use, Wagner played various parts for him. When he came to the Flower Girl music, Seidl remarked, "Ah, I know that ! " whereupon Wagner jumped up excitedly, almost angrily, and wanted to know where he had heard it. He was pacified after the matter had been explained, but the shock remained in his memory a long time, and every now and then he would say to Seidl : " Well, have you found any more familiar things in my music ? " CONCERTS IN BERLIN In the spring of 1875 Wagner went to Berlin to give two concerts with the Bilse Orchestra. " He appeared at the first with the young Anton Seidl at his side," relates Franz Frid- berg in the Berliner Tageblatt. After telling how Seidl became Wagner's secretary, Herr Fridberg continues : " In time he became Wagner's right hand ; he was, in fact, the real conductor of our rehearsals. It was impossible to conceive all that this young man from Budapest heard and knew by heart. Before Wagner himself had noted errors in his own music, Seidl could be seen flying over chairs and desks to correct the blunder. The Master viewed the actions of his young famulus with paternal love, and repeatedly I heard him murmur, ' Ho, he ! What would I do without my Seidl ? ' If Seidl disappeared for a mo- ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL ment, and things began to go a bit at sixes and sevens, Wagner would look about anxiously and cry, ' Help, Seidl ! ' and Seidl would come with flying leaps to set things to rights. In one passage it seemed impossible to achieve what was wanted of the bass trumpet. The player was an excellent trumpeter, but could not understand the exotic instrument. In vain did Seidl labor with him, sing the passage, rewrite it for him, explain it over and over again ; it wouldn't go. Wagner, too, tried his eloquence, but with as little success. At length Seidl turned to the Director's stand and said, ' Master, it is impossible for me to make the man play it.' ' For me, too,' replied Wagner, angrily, and the two looked at each other despairingly. All at once the figure of Bilse rose up beside the trumpeter, took the instrument from his hand and played the passage perfectly. Bilse, a practical man and routinier, had, as usual, found a way out of the difficulty ; the man grasped what was wanted, and played the passage in turn correctly and with surety. Wagner turned to Seidl, and in his Saxon dialect observed, ' There, you see, Seidl, Bilse can do what the two of us couldn't.' Five years later I heard Die Gdtterddmmerung under Seidl's direction in Leipsic. Not long before I had heard the first and second performances of the tremendous work in Munich under Levy. Without wishing in the least to depreciate the merits of this great artist, I must say that, for me, Seidl's conception was the greater. There was in it more life, more movement, more poetry. In fact, I received the impression that night that of all the conductors I had got ac- quainted with, Seidl was the chosen interpreter of Wagner." THE FIRST BAYREUTH FESTIVAL It was also Anton Seidl's happy privilege to assist at the rehearsals and performances of the Nibelung Tetralogy at the ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL first Bayreuth Festival in 1876. In the article on Conducting, reprinted elsewhere in this volume, Mr. Seidl himself gives us an interesting glimpse of his duties on this occasion. Before the stage rehearsals began, Wagner said to him ; " My boy, you must help me on the stage, behind the scenes. You and your col- league Fischer (subsequently Court Conductor at Munich) must assume responsibility on the stage for everything that has any- thing to do with music — that is, you must act as a sort of musi- cal stage manager. You will see the importance of this yourself, and you will find that it will be of infinite effect upon your future as a conductor." " Later," continues Mr. Seidl, " we were joined by MottI, and naturally we undertook the unique work with tremendous enthusiasm. Wagner was wont to call us playfully his three Rhine daughters, for the first rehearsal under his care was devoted to the first scene of Das Rheingold. I was in charge of the first wagon, which carried Lilli Lehmann, who sang the part of Woglinde. Little did I suspect that in after years Lilli would sing the part of Briinnhilde under my direction." In the other operas he similarly took care that certain scenic de- tails were carried out in harmony with the music. RECOMMENDED BY WAGNER Mr. Seidl now believed that the time had arrived when he ought to utilize his acquired knowledge in spreading the gospel of Wagner's art. Having heard that there was an opening at Mayence, he approached Wagner, who addressed the following letter to Dr. Strecker, manager of the well-known music pub- lishing house of B. Schott's Sons : " Esteemed doctor : I have just read an advertisement in regard to the vacancy in the con- ductor's place at Mainz. I beg you to use all your influence to secure this position for mv young friend and adjutant, Anton ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL Seidl (at present here). He conducts excellently, is very ener- getic and reliable, and I vouch for him in every way. He would be ready to begin on September i. I have taken it upon myself to find a good place for him, and would consider it a special act of friendship if my wish could be gratified through your kindly intervention." The letter, however, came too late. The posi- tion had already been assigned to another applicant — luckily for Anton Seidl, who remained a while longer with his master and afterwards found a much wider field of usefulness than a small city like Mayence could have offered him. Wagner's first symphony It was in the year of the first Bayreuth festival that Richard Wagner founded a sort of museum af manuscripts and other articles relating to his life, for the benefit •f his son Siegfried. Among other things he was anxious to include in it the manu- script of his first symphony, which had been lost ever since 1 848. He asked some of his friends to search for it, and they succeeded in finding the parts in a trunk which Wagner had left in the house of the tenor Tichatschek when he had t« leave Dresden suddenly because of his participation in the revolutionary up- rising. Wagner was delighted to recover this juvenile efF»rt, and he asked Anton Seidl to combine the parts into a sc»re and to add the two missing trombone parts. Six years later Wagner asked Seidl to come to Venice to supervise the production of this symphony ; but, unfortunately, his favorite interpreter was un- able to get leave of absence from his manager. We shall see later on how this annoyed him. During these last years of his life Wagner intrusted all im- portant enterprises to Anton Seidl, whenever he was consulted about them, and this enabled the young conductor to fan the "3 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL flame of enthusiasm for his adored master in various German and foreign cities. In 1879 he assisted at the rehearsals for the Wagner festival in London, and previously, in 1877 and 1878, Wagner had sent him to Leipsic and Vienna to give the singers at the opera the benefit of his thorough knowledge of the Nibe- lung scores. In the following year he was engaged as conductor of the opera at Leipsic, where he astonished the conservative natives by the most stirring interpretations of Wagner's works. It was there that I for the first time had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Seidl conduct, and I now realize, better than I did then, that it was his interpretative genius that there made me appreciate the Nibelung dramas in some respects even more than I had appre- ciated them at Bayreuth. SEIDL SURPRISES WAGNER Of what great importance to the cause of Wagnerism Anton Seidl was is made apparent by the manner in which he won a suc- cess at Leipsic for 'Tristan and Isolde. Wagner, discouraged by the fate of this diflicult work at several opera houses, had made up his mind not to allow it thereafter to be given anywhere ex- cept under his own supervision. When Angelo Neumann, manager of the Leipsic Opera, first asked permission to produce this opera, Wagner refused ; but subsequently, in view of the co- operation of Seidl, he gave his consent. What the result was may be inferred from a letter to Neumann that Wagner wrote at Palermo on January 16, 1882, in which occurs this passage: " My excellent friend and patron ! " It was kind on your part to write to me about the success of the Tristan performance at your theatre. . . You are aware that I had made up my mind to allow this problematic work to be given hereafter only under my personal supervision : now it >4 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL has succeeded without me — and that astonishes me ! Well, good luck ! I certainly discover in Seidl hidden faculties which only require a fostering warmth to surprise even myself; therefore, I beg you now, for the sake of the ensemble, to allow him even in the scenic department more authority than is usually granted to conductors, for in that direction lies what he especially learned from me. . . Kindest greetings to Seidl and his admirable company." Under such circumstances it was a matter of course that when the Travelling Wagner Theatre was organized, Anton Seidl was first of all secured for the conductorship. What was the Travelling Wagner Theatre ? It was a project of Angelo Neumann's to take Bayreuth, so to speak, on a trip through Europe. He believed that if a company of first-class Wagner singers were brought together, with Anton Seidl at their head, for a series of Nibelung performances, the enterprise would be attended by great success. Wagner would have preferred to have Europe come to Bayreuth, but as he had not the means to give another Nibelung festival at that time, he gave his consent and blessing to Neumann's grand undertaking. THE TRAVELLING WAGNER THEATRE The original company included Hedwig Reicher-Kinder- mann, Marianne Brandt, Auguste Kraus, Katharine Klafsky, Anton Schott, Julius Liban, George Unger, and on special occa- sions, Materna, and others. Performances were given in various cities of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland and England. Altogether, from September i, 1882, to June 5, 1883, the number of performances of the Nibelung operas given on the Continent was 135, nearly all of which Seidl conducted, be- side 58 Wagner concerts. Thus Anton Seidl had the privilege of first interpreting Wagner's great work in many German cities, '5 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL and in several foreign countries, to which America was added later. Before the last performance given by this company (at Graz), Angelo Neumann delivered an address to his artists, in course of which he said : " A special word of thanks is due to you. Kapell- meister Seidl, and your orchestra. The achievements of the or- chestra, and your inspired interpretations, have aroused the admiration of, I might say, the whole world, and I hope we shall yet win many a victory together." Previous to the long tour of the Traveling Wagner The- atre, Anton Seidl had distinguished himself in Berlin (1881-82) by conducting, at the Victoria Theatre, the first performances of the Nibelung dramas ever produced in that city. Four cycles were given with such brilliant success that the company returned the next year from Leipsic and gave Nibelung performances for several months. Excellent as were the co- operating vocalists, it was conceded that the lion's share of the triumph was due to Anton Seidl, in spite of the fact that he had to put up with an inferior Berlin orchestra. In a letter which I wrote at the time, and which was printed in the New York Nation (June 16, 1881), I said that the orchestra reminded me of " a mediocre instrument played by a man of genius." Wagner was present at these performances, and often expressed his pleas- ure at the achievements of his pupil. It maybe added here that the last letter he wrote was addressed to Angelo Neumann, and contained the words " Seidl delights me greatly." COURTSHIP DAYS As good luck would have it, the Traveling Wagner Theatre had included, among its members, Fraulein Auguste Kraus, a blonde beauty of the Viennese type. Good luck, both because 16 Mrs. Seidl 1886 O M A PHOTOGRAPH BY K A L K ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL she was an admirable interpreter of the lighter soprano roles in Wagner's operas (she sang Wellgunde, Sieglinde, Gutrune ; also Eva, Elsa, etc.), and because it was in this tournee that Anton Seidl wooed and won her as his wife — a wife who for a few years after marriage continued her professional career, and then gave herself up entirely to the devoted care of her beloved husband. Mrs. Seidl has written for this book the following account of this interesting period : " When I first became acquainted with Anton Seidl, I had been taking lessons for a short time only. About that time the * ensemble ' of the first act of Lohengrin was being produced, in which I was singing the part of Elsa. We were quite alarmed when we were told that Anton Seidl of Bayreuth, who was then on a visit at Hans RIchter's, would be present on the occasion. Young as he was then, he looked very serious, had a big pair of spectacles and long hair, much longer than he wore it in later years. He did not speak one word, not a muscle in his face indicated whether he was pleased or not ; I was, there- fore, not a little proud when told afterwards that he had spoken approvingly of my voice and remarked that the blonde Elsa would achieve success. " The following year I had the good fortune of meeting him again ; as a pupil of Hans Richter I enjoyed the privilege of attending all the performances of the Nibelung's Ring at Bay- reuth ; then later on at Vienna, whither the master sent him to see to it that the Trilogy was studied in the spirit of his beloved master. At that time he was offered an engagement at the city theatre of Leipsic. Two years later I was engaged there for the youthful dramatic roles at the Opera, and only then I began to know him better. We were generally all assembled for rehearsal before he in his characteristically slow way would step out of a J7 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL Still slower cab and make his way towards the stage. Once he remarked, when the question as to the musical ability of the dif- ferent singers came up for discussion, that, in spite of my usual correctness, he was almost willing to wager that in the second act of the Meistersinger, before the duet with Hans Sachs (' Good evening, master, still so busy ? '), if his song should be followed by loud applause, so that I would be unable to hear the orchestra, I would fail to begin in the right place. Naturally I did not agree with him, and when, on the following day I sang Eva, I had no idea that he was in earnest when he told me he would give me no clue. Schelper, after singing ' How sweetly smell the elder blossoms ! ' was loudly applauded, but I counted my measures, so that, in spite of my not hearing the orchestra well, I succeeded in coming in at the proper time. How surprised I was, when my part came, to see my dear conductor looking into his score without making a sign for me — a proceeding which, however, did not prevent me from singing correctly. He told me afterwards that he would not have acted thus, if he had not been perfectly sure that I would come out all right. THE LONDON iJARBER "In May, 1882, the Richard Wagner Theatre Company went to London to produce the Nibelung Trilogy. One day there was great excitement among the artists during a rehearsal. What had become of Seldl ? Was he sick ? Who was the man at the desk in his place ? These were the questions asked by the artists, for Seidl was to conduct all the rehearsals as well as the performances, yet here was a stranger with his back towards the stage. Suddenly the lights were turned on higher, and at the same moment the face of the conductor was turned towards us. After staring a moment, we all burst out laughing. The conductor was ig ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL no one else than Anton Seidl. But how changed he was in appear- ance ! At that time he knew very little English, so, wishing to have his hair cut, he entered a barbershop and intimated panto- mimically that he wanted about an inch cut off his hair. Then he sat in the chair and buried himself in a newspaper. When he got up and looked in the glass he found that the barber had misunder- stood his pantomime and cut his hair down to an inch ! Of course, besides the loss of his hair he had to endure the gibes of the whole company. "During the winter of 1882-83 ^^ undertook the great Richard Wagner Tournee throughout Germany and gave the Nibelungen in all the large cities of Germany, Holland, Belgium and Italy with excellent result. We had an excellent companv, including Reicher-Kindermann, Marianne Brandt, Vogl and his wife from Munich, Schott, and on some occasions Scaria and Materna. The orchestra comprised 56 to 60 excellent players, thoroughly drilled by Anton Seidl, who aroused with it every- where demonstrations of the greatest enthusiasm. Every one did homage to Anton Seidl. At Berlin he was asked to conduct a concert for the benefit of the sufferers by the floods. The Em- press Augusta Victoria had undertaken the patronage of this great charity performance. The ladies of the highest aristocracy like- wise took part ; they wanted to please Anton Seidl by presenting him with a costly watch studded with diamonds, accompanied by a dedication in the handwriting of the Empress herself Now, what do you suppose Anton Seidl did ? He refused the costly gift and declared himself amply rewarded by the letter from the Empress, and prayed that the amount paid for the watch be added to the fund collected for the sufferers by the flood. He declared that the letter of the Empress would be kept sacred as an heirloom of his family. 19 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL " Perhaps it was not diplomatic on his part to refuse the gift of these ladies who were eager to do him a service ; but such conduct gives an insight into his noble and generous character. Disinter- ested in the highest degree, he would never do anything merely to win the applause of the public, and in this respect his simplicity was really touching. Often when the audience persisted, after a performance which had come up to his expectations, in calling him before the curtain, he afterwards received us in his room at the theatre with demonstrations of the greatest delight ; a happy smile diffused itself over his usually serious features. When, on the other hand, the representation had not been satisfactory, accord- ing to his high standard, no amount of applause gave him satisfac- tion. AT AMSTERDAM AND BERLIN " At Amsterdam I was to sing the part of Eva in the quintet {Meistersinger) for the first time in the concert hall. As the introduction to the quintet is not the same in the concert version as in the opera — and I had not sung the part for some time — I asked the theatre attendant for the music, but he did not get it. The rehearsal came on and I had no music ; so I told the con- ductor, ' Kindly excuse me if I make any blunders, for I found it absolutely impossible to get the music' Then you should have heard him telling me before the whole orchestra, ' That is no excuse ; when it is a question of the Meistersinger you ought to have gone from one music store to another until you found it.' I retorted, somewhat sharply, that it was not my duty to go hunting scores, inasmuch as my contract declared that all the music was to be supplied to me. He answered, sar- castically, ' Of course, a spoiled Viennese princess like you doesn't need to do such a thing.' I was furious, for he was the first man ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL who had been impolite to me. When we sat down to dinner at the Hotel Amstel, where on first nights we were in the habit of sitting at a large table, I sat opposite him. I gave vent to my anger by telling him that he overstepped his right by treating me as he did, and ' from to-day, Mr. Conductor, you are a nobody to me. I know my parts, thank, heaven, and do not require your baton to guide me ! ' I kept my word, too, and never looked in his direction while singing, and never made a mistake, either. This again angered him, for he could not help seeing that I was right. I remained steadfast for a full fortnight when, one day, after rehearsal, he ' threw a wheel ' with his body, and rolled around the parlor to the utmost astonishment of all pres- ent. Heinrich Vogl said to me about that time, ' Remember what I tell you, you will surely be Seidl's wife yet ; he is over head and ears in love with you.' But I would not agree to that, declaring that I would never marry anyone connected with a theatre; that my chosen one would have to wear a full black beard, and under no circumstance could I love Anton Seidl, who had treated me so uncourteously at a rehearsal. My dear Tony acknowledged to me later on that he had been angry only because he knew well that I was perfectly tamiliar with the quintet, and that once for all he had wished to drive such whims out of my head — ' Prima Donna whims ' he called them — but such things were not in harmony with my natural simplicity. ADVENTURES IN ITALY " Our company comprised 130 persons, and we always took an extra train. Sometimes the whole company was in the cars, only Anton Seidl was absent ; he slept so soundly towards morn- ing that he could hardly be awakened. This was quite natural, for he had to conduct every day and make, in addition to this, ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL the many exhausting journeys. In no one city, BerHn excepted, could we give more than the Tetralogy and one concert, and usually after the performance we had to take the train and travel night and day for the sake of giving a single concert. Then we had to travel again, and so it went on all the time. Once, at Carlsruhe, we were all in our seats when the rumor circulated, ' Seidl is not here yet.' The engineer waited five, ten minutes, then declared that he could wait no longer, and, just as the train was starting, the head of Anton Seidl appeared at the gate gazing at the retreating train. Everybody was excited, not knowing whether he could take a later train and reach us in time, because without him we could not have given a performance. By good fortune he succeeded in reaching us at the proper time, but from that time forward the theatre servant was instructed to keep a close watch on him, and never to allow him to sleep too long. " Of his great forgetfulness I may cite the following in- stances : On our journey through Italy he bought a very fine walking-stick, which afforded him much pleasure, but when he reached the hotel he had left his cane in the railroad car ; the same thing happened with a big Calabrian hat which he left at the hotel and never recovered. The lost rubber shoes and umbrellas would furnish a store. In Venice he told us that a big package of linen had been directed to him from Hanover, but as he did not remember having left any, it must be a mis- take. It was in the preceding September, when he was at Han- over, that he had intrusted his underwear to a washerwoman ; thence the bundle had been forwarded from city to city until, finally, it reached him at Venice, in April, seven months later. But he had not the remotest idea that anything was missing in his wardrobe. The same thing happened, unfortunately, with many letters and souvenirs from Richard Wagner ; he had placed them with other ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL documents in a chest. One day a friend said to him, ' Mr. Seidl, your trunk is burst open at the railway station, and the wind has scattered your papers. The people are picking up your, valu- ables ; if you hurry you may be able to save some of them.' On that occasion he lost most of his letters from Richard Wagner, and the loss was a deep anguish to him. WAGNER S DEATH " One evening at Aix-la-Chapelle, Mr. Seidl talked for a long time about his disappointment because Director Angelo Neumann had refused to let him go for the Christmas holidays to Venice, where Wagner had requested him to come and assist in the production of his symphony. 'As soon as this tournee is over, I shall fly to my master,' he said ; ' I cannot endure the separation any longer.' The following morning we were all thunderstruck by the news of Richard Wagner's death. Neu- mann, very naturally, was desirous of postponing the performance of Rheingold and Seidl did not wish to conduct. But Neu- mann was compelled to give the opera, and Seidl had to conduct, though he did it with a bleeding heart. The tears were streaming from his eyes during the performance, and he was utterly pros- trated by the sad news. On the following morning he left for Bayreuth to attend the funeral. It was his sad privilege to help, with Hans Richter, Mottl, and Fischer, to carry the mortal re- mains of the master to the grave. " The Nibelungen met with extraordinary success in Italy, both artistically and pecuniarily. The public of Venice (the first Italian city we visited) was enthusiastic from the beginning — wanted the first scene of the Rhinedaughters repeated, nay, wanted even Mime to repeat ' Sorglose Schmiede,' and when finally Frau Reicher-Kindermann, with her superbly powerful and beau- ts ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL tiful voice, sang the part of Erda, the applause threatened to last forever. The IValkure met with still greater success; Schott and I were, after the first act, called out eight times : the public kept on shouting bis! bis! and wanted to hear the first act a second time. Thus our success went on increasing ; Anton Seidl was lauded to the skies by press and public. Everyone was wondering how he could, with such a small orchestra, pro- duce such wonderful results; (Italian orchestras consist of lOO or more performers). Seidl was in everybody's mouth ; he was really the main attraction of the undertaking. If he sat in a restaurant he would find himself surrounded by the elite of the local society. Garlands of laurel leaves were innumerable. Many a man after such triumphs would have become vain and proud. Not so Seidl, who remained the same modest and retiring man he had been before, happy, and sufficiently rewarded in obtaining from his band of artists the best possible results. Illuminations and serenades were arranged for the artists. Imagine how delight- ful it was for us ladies to return home after a concert covered with flowers in our beautifully decorated gondolas. For me, who was a young girl, it was particularly romantic and enjoyable. MORE HONORS FOR SEIDL " In front of the Yendramin Palace, in which Richard Wag- ner closed his eyes for the last time our orchestra played the funeral march from the Gotterddmmerung. The whole Grand Canal was covered with thousands of gondolas. On our return Anton Seidl received at the hands of beautiful women bouquets of roses, but in his profound grief at the loss of his master he hardly noticed these offerings. Numerous invitations were sent to him, and it was intimated to him that the acceptance of at least a few would be to his interest, as the people intended to bestow an order ^4- ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL on him ; but he declined everything. He did not care for such things, and was at that time so shy that he then, as always, avoided everything in the way of ostentation — not always to his advantage. " He always disapproved of repetitions, and more especi- ally so in the works of his beloved master. The death march in the Gbtterddmmerung, however, and the Waldweben in Sieg- fried, he was compelled to repeat because the public refused to stop applauding. Like marble he stood there to show the pub- lic that interruptions were out of place and that the opera must not be marred in its continuity. But the public was not satis- fied until these numbers were repeated. In Bologna, when the curtain had fallen on the funeral march, a big crown of silver laurel leaves was handed to him from the stage, the tribute of a number of music-lovers. We ladies received on this occasion bouquets of such dimensions that we were not able to stow them away in the carriages and could only pick out a few of the hand- somest flowers, leaving the rest. And so our journey through Italy was a succession of triumphs for the music of Richard Wagner. In Bologna it was when one forenoon there was a knock at my door, and on my saying, ' Come in,' Anton Seidl stood there, visibly embarrassed, with a beautiful bouquet which he had gathered for me with his own hands. He asked me if I would consent to become his partner in life and share with him pleasure and sorrow. I do not know myself how love for him crept into my heart without my being aware of it, but I felt it was a love such as we experience but once in a lifetime. We were betrothed without informing anyone, but the fact became known a couple of weeks later in Turin, where we exchanged rings. How touching it was when, walking along the beach, he would stoop to gather some beautiful shells, or at other times to pick »5 ANTON SEIDL^ A MEMORIAL flowers for me. He had never done such things before, nor did he at any former time wear a ring or a button-hole bouquet ; all this was too showy for him, but he did it for me after our wedding. Jealous he was beyond the expression of words. I was so success- ful at that time that ofl^ers of engagements for short or long seasons fairly showered upon me in every city; poems were dedicated to me and bouquets without number sent ; but the moment anyone looked at me he was in a rage. At Rome the German ambass- ador (I think it was Baron Keudell) gave a grand festival to which all the artists were invited ; in fact, it was given in our honor. But Anton Seidl was absent. It was also in Rome that the beautiful Queen Margarita of Italy called him in presence of the whole public to confer upon him her thanks and the as- surance of her profound appreciation of his merits. No one else of the company of artists was thus honored, and the circumstance awakened considerable jealousy among many of them. MADAME DE LUCCA " One of his greatest admirers was Madame de Lucca, a pub- lisher of music at Milan, a lady who had frequently visited Wag- ner at Bayreuth, and was one of his most devoted followers. This lady travelled with us in Italy from city to city, unwilling to miss a single performance ; she was very kind to me and came very near changing my whole career some years previous to the events I have just related. In 1876, when I was a pupil of Hans Richter, I had the good fortune to be able to attend all the rehearsals for the Nibelung festival in the Wagner theatre. " One afternoon I was singing my part when someone knocked at my door, and on my opening the door two ladies and three gentlemen came in. One of the ladies was Madame de Lucca, a short stout brunette, and the other a companion of hers, 26 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL the only one in the party who spoke German. She explained to me that Madame de Lucca had heard me sing, and was delighted with my voice. She had come with a view to propose my going with her to Italy, where she would give me the most competent teachers and treat me as her own child, and that it would not cost me one penny. One of the gentlemen present, the Director of the Scala Theatre in Milan, wanted me at once to sign a contract that I would, in the following year, appear at the Scala in the parts of Elsa, Elizabeth, Senta, and Marguerite, which I was to sing in Italian, but I was not to be called upon to sing in any Italian operas. And this magnificent offer I declined on the ad- vice of Hans Richter, who wished to preserve me for the German stage. Had I accepted, I am sure I should have had a splendid future before me. " When at Venice, in the Theatre Fenice, after the curtain fell on the first act of Die Walkiire, a lady came and embraced and kissed me heartily ; that was Madame de Lucca, who visited me often and would sit for hours at my side, although we could not speak to one another. She also sent me the most beautiful flowers. She asked me once to urge Mr. Seidl to accept at least one invitation, in the course of which he was to be decorated with an order, but I could not prevail upon him to go. MARRIAGE " After the Wagner Theatre had completed its long series of performances, Anton Seidl accepted an engagement under Angelo Neumann, at Bremen, whither I went to join him as his wife on the 29th of February, 1 884. We were married in the Cathedral at Frankfort, where I had an engagement. The fact of our getting married on the 29th of February, and a Friday, caused considerable comment amongst our friends and acquaint- »7 ANTON SEIUL A MEMORIAL ances, but for me this Friday proved a day of good luck, and, even if I had been superstitious on the subject, I could not have changed the date, as I would otherwise have been compelled to stay three years longer at Frankfort. " Anton Seidl did not arrive at Frankfort till the day preced- ing our wedding. The ladies of the house where I lived asked him if he had ordered the wedding bouquet. Of such things he naturally had not the remotest idea. Thoroughly frightened, he replied that he was absolutely ignorant, and asked what kind of flowers he was to order. The ladies laughed heartily at his dis- comfiture, and told him that all he had to do was to order a bridal bouquet at the florist's, and the florist would do the rest. On our arrival at Bremen we were received with the highest dis- tinction ; our apartments looked like flower gardens ; the orches- tra gave us a serenade that evening and the chorus singers another one the following morning. A YEAR IN NEW YORK " My husband had dreamed so often about America that an irresistible power drew him towards that country, and he felt con- vinced that he would find there a fine opening for his work. Here I must state that when I was a young girl, I bound myself in my contracts with Neumann to visit all countries where he should send me excepting America. I do not know whether it was the fear of the ocean or the instinctive knowledge that the climate would not agree with me, and that I should soon lose my voice ; at any rate, I had in all my contracts caused the word ' America ' to be cancelled. Then came Dr. Leopold Damrosch, who oflfered me an engagement for New York. I should have preferred to say ' No,' but I loved my husband so dearly that for his sake I should not only have gone to America but anywhere. z8 Mrs. Seidl as Eva in " Meistersinger 1886 FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY FALPC ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL I should have willingly given up my life tor him ! My only reason for coming was to study the peculiarities of the country and see what chance my husband might have for a concert tour. At that time I felt dreadfully lonesome, and could hardly wait for the time when we should start on our return journey. My desire to leave was so intense that, when on a Friday I sang the part of Sieglinde for the last time, I immediately bought a ticket for the English steamer so as to be able to leave New York the next morning, for with my ticket from Dr. Damrosch I could not have left till the following Wednesday. By the sudden death of Dr. Damrosch everything was of course changed. Director Stanton made my husband an offer to become first conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, and in consequence he came to New York in the following autumn. " I am still convinced that a mysterious attraction drew him to New York, for the moment he saw the harbor he was de- lighted ; the elevated railroad he found imposing ; even the large telegraph poles seemed to him beautiful. We were still in the carriage when he exclaimed : ' This is magnificent ! I feel that I shall get along well here.' When he saw the big Opera House he was delighted with his future sphere of activity. He was en- chanted also with the idea of being the first to introduce in New York the great works of his master — to make them acquainted with the Meistersinger, Rheingold, Siegfried, Gdtterddmmerung and 'Tristan." So far Mrs. Seidl's narrative. GOLDEN AGE OF GERMAN OPERA The circumstances which led to the substitution of German for Italian Opera at the Metropolitan, and thus to Anton Seidl's engagement, need not be dwelt on here in detail. In brief, 29 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL Messrs. Abbey & Grau lost such an amazing sum of money — about a quarter of a million — during the first season in the New Opera House, though their company included such famous singers as Nilsson, Campanini, Scalchi, that they were unwilling to risk another season. Unwilling to close their house — which would have meant a triumph for the rival Academy of Music — the stockholders decided to assume all risks themselves and try once more. Some of the newspapers had been persistently clam- oring for Wagner in the original, and for other German operas. The suggestion was accordingly made that German opera should be given a trial, as that would not conflict so directly with the Italian opera at the Academy. Dr. Leopold Damrosch was secured as conductor and sent to Germany to engage the singers. He succeeded in securing no less eminent a Wagnerian singer than Frau Materna ; but, apart from that, he gave up the star- system and tried to win success by giving the German master- works with fine ensembles and at reasonable prices of admission. The operas produced were Tannh'duser, Lohengrin, fValkiire, Freischutz, Fidelia, Les Huguenots, IVilliam Tell, Don Giovanni, Le Prophete, Masaniello, La Juive and Rigoletto. I remember how anxious and nervous everybody was regarding this enterprise ; let- ters came to me begging me to be as gentle toward it as my critical conscience would allow me to be. But the success of the first season of German opera was so great as to astonish the most sanguine. In place of the quarter of a million deficit of the previous season, the stockholder-managers had only ^40,000 to pay — a mere bagatelle to them. In the meantime Dr. Damrosch had died on the battlefield, but he died as a victorious general. It was therefore decided to continue German opera for at least one more season, and a salaried manager was chosen in the person of Edmund C. Stanton, who 30 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL went to Europe and brought back three first-class Wagner singers — Lilli Lehmann, Marianne Brandt and Emil Fischer — and, most important of all, a new conductor, Anton Seidl, whom Wagner himself had, as we have seen, during the last years of his life, favored above all other interpreters of his music, and under whose inspired guidance Wagner opera was destined to become a tidal wave that swept nearly everything else from the stage. During the first year of German opera at the Metropolitan, Colonel Mapleson kept up his rivalry at the Academy of Music, with Patti and Nevada as his bright particular stars. But finally he was obliged to retire from the field. " I cannot fight Wall Street," he exclaimed. He might have added " and Wagner." It used to be one of Mapleson's favorite maxims that " Wagner spells ruin." He was quite right, from his point of view ; for, given in his way, with colorature singers and incompetent con- ductors, Wagner's operas were, indeed, bound to fail. But the Wagnerites insisted that if these •peras were given in New York as they were in Germany, they w«uld succeed here, too. The performances at the Metropolitan proved this, and Mapleson was refuted and routed. DEBUT IN NEW YORK Anton Seidl made his debut at the Metropolitan ©pera House on November 23, 1885. Interesting particulars regard- ing this performance will be found in Mr. Steinberg's article. It was universally conceded that, often as Lohengrin had been heard in New York, its p«etic beauties and its thrilling climaxes had never been brought •ut as on this occasion. Everybody congratulated Mr. Stanton •n his good luck in securing as his conductor the man of whom Wagner had said that, if Hans 3' ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL Richter had fallen ill before or during the first Bayreuth festival, he would have unhesitatingly placed the performances under his guidance,* though he was then but twenty-six years old ; the man of whom he wrote, not long before his death, " I rely on you above all others " ; the man who had first introduced the Ni- belung dramas in Berlin, and many other German cities, as well as in five European countries — England, Belgium, Italy, Hungary, Holland — and whose privilege it was now to do the same for them in America, with the exception of Die tValkiire, which had been done before. Under his direction Die Meistersinger had its first American hearing on January 4, 1886; Tristan and Isolde on December i, 1886; Siegfried on November 9, 1887; Die Gotterdammerung on January 25, 1888; Rheingold, January 4, 1889. Each of these dramas was the lion of the season in which it was produced, and each one established Mr. Seidl more firmly as a favorite of the public. As a writer in the Sun has remarked, " No conductor was ever so popular with a mass of people in this city as Mr. Seidl was. Whether he appeared before a large audience at the Metropolitan or at a concert of less im- portance he was certain to be greeted with applause. He was well known by sight to more New Yorkers than any other musician in this city, and he was recognized everywhere in public." WAGNERIAN CONQUEST OF NEW YORK It is true that in these great successes for his master he was assisted in turn by all the eminent singers of Germany ; but in Wagner's operas the best cast is paralyzed if the con- ductor is second-rate ; he is the pilot who leads the ship through all the difficulties, and to Mr. Seidl, therefore, is due special honor * See the facsimile of Wagner's certificate printed in this vohime. 3* ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL among those who are responsible for the Wagnerian conquest of New York. Seven years German opera held the fort, and more and more did Wagner come to the front. In the season of 1889-90, for instance, the box-office receipts for Wagnerian performances were $121,565, while those for all other performances combined were only 183,982. As a matter of fact, the public got into such a state of mind that it practically refused to attend any operas but Wagner's in paying numbers. This was almost too much of a good thing, even for the full-blooded Wagnerites, who used to be maligned as persons who wanted Wagner, the whole of Wagner and nothing but Wagner on the operatic stage, but who, in truth, were among the first to crave more variety in the repertoire. That the stockholders finally got tired of this state of affairs is not to be wondered at. Many of them did not care for German opera at all, but merely tolerated it because it seemed to pay bet- ter than anything else. But, although the advanced subscription had gradually grown from a few thousand a year to as much as $85,000, the deficit grew larger every year, for reasons unknown to the public, and finally it was decided to try a change and go back to Italian opera. GERMAN OPERA BANISHED This decision was arrived at in secret conclave, the directors being apparently afraid of a general outcry if they declared their intentions openly. Loud were the wails in the Wagner camp, for no one could foresee that the change w»uld in the end only plant Wagner more firmly in New York s«il, through the en- thusiasm of the great singers who had been brought over for the express purpose of exterminating Wagner. For Anton Seidl the cessation of German opera was a most 33 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL serious matter. Had it not been for the fact that he was in 1891 elected as conductor of the Philharmonic Society, in place of Mr. Theodore Thomas, who had accepted a very tempting offer to found an orchestra in Chicago, he would have been without em- ployment or income, and would have doubtless returned to Ger- many. Under his conductorship the Philharmonic Society flour- ished immensely. PHILHARMONIC PROSPERITY When IVIr. Theodore Thomas assumed regular control of the Philharmonic (1879-80), the first year's receipts were $18,735 — an advance of 3i 1,578 over the preceding season, when Neuen- dorf?" conducted. Every subsequent year saw an increase until in Mr. Thomas's last year the sum of $2 8,246 was reached. When Mr. Thomas went to Chicago, most of his friends remained true to the Philharmonic, while the accession of Mr. Seidl's friends and the growth of the city swelled the number. After Mr. Seidl be- came leader, the receipts were $29,306, $32,574, $30,111, $32,681, $34,839, $34,324. In consequence of this growing prosperity, the directors decided, in 1897, to add two extra con- certs. They did so with considerable misgiving, fearing that not a few subscribers might desert them. But the contrary proved to be true. Whereas the concerts were increased ;i2 P^*" cent., the subscriptions increased 60 per cent., and the receipts for the sea- son's sixteen concerts amounted to almost $50,000. Of Mr. Seidl's admirable work as conductor of this society I shall speak in another chapter of this volume. The steadily growing popularity of its concerts under his baton shows what the most highly educated music-lovers of New York thought of him in a capacity so difFerent from his operatic sphere. Professor Edward A. MacDowell once remarked that there was probably no 34 Anton Seidl iSSS P II a T O G K A l" H VV 1 L H E L M ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL Other contemporary musician so great both as operatic and con- cert conductor. And it is to be noted specially that Anton Seidl won this preeminence and popularity in the concert hall through his interpretations of other masters than his own ; for of Wagner's works, only two or three were played by the Philharmonic each season. Every conductor has his prejudices and his special excel- lences, and no musician has ever interpreted all composers equally well. Anton Seidl had his weak points and his careless days, but I can say from an experience which includes nearly all the great conductors of the last twenty-five years, that I have never known one so many-sided as he was. Besides the Philharmonic he also conducted for a number of years a series of concerts under the auspices of the Seidl So- ciety. These were given in Brooklyn in winter and at Brighton Beach in summer. Sometimes he visited other cities with his Metropolitan Orchestra, and also gave extra series in New York, at the Lenox Lyceum and elsewhere. Though his orchestra was not large, and though he seldom had money enough to get all the rehearsals he wanted, he achieved remarkable results. Some of the most delightful concerts I have ever heard were those given on Sunday nights at the Lenox Lyceum. It was often remarked in those days that Mr. Seidl could achieve finer results with forty players than most conductors with eight^^ There were many difficulties and rivalries against which An- ton Seidl had to contend in the years when he had to depend on concerts for his living. He was also obliged to witness two seasons of special Wagner performances in which he, the greatest interpre- ter of these operas, could not have participated except in a way not consonant with his dignit)^ and his artistic conscience. Moreover, for two or three years New York witnessed the strange spectacle of having Wagner's operas conducted at the Metropolitan by an 35 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL Italian, while Wagner's favorite conductor was engaged to preside over the Sunday popular concerts ! He was a very unhappy man in those years ; he gave way to fits of despondency that helped to undermine his health. I do not hesitate to say that had it not been for those years of neglect, when everything seemed to con- spire against him, he would be alive and well to-day. It is sad to think, that the victims of circumstances are usually the world's best men. REINSTATED AT THE METROPOLITAN Before this tragic end came, however, Anton Seidl's life once more illustrated the law of the survival of the fittest. Help came from two directions. The admirers of the great conductor, feeling that things had gone too far, got up a monster petition with several thousand signatures begging that Anton Seidl be re- stored to the conductorship of the Metropolitan for at least the Wagner operas. In the mean time another force was at work that in the end would have brought about the same result un- aided. When German opera was displaced by Italian, M. Jean de Reszke was imported with others, as an antidote to Wagner. He had up to that time appeared in only one Wagner opera, Lohengrin. Wonderful artist as he was, he gradually saw what new worlds there were for him to conquer, and having heard Mr. Seidl conduct some of the other operas on special occasions, he made up his mind that he would devote himself to the Wag- ner operas and music drama thereafter, and that Anton Seidl must conduct them. The will of the greatest of tenors is law. I know that on one occasion M. Jean de Reszke made Mr. Grau and Mr. Seidl sign a contract in his own room, so that no accident might frustrate his wishes. Future generations will read with amazement that New York 36 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL listened for years to second- and third-rate performances of Wag- ner's great works while Anton Seidl was looking on idle, neg- lected and despondent. A short extract from one of my criticisms in the Evening Post will show what a peculiar state of affairs pre- vailed even after Mr. Seidl was re-engaged for some of the operas : " Last night, for the first time this season, Mr. Grau ap- plied to a Wagner opera the same principle that he applies to all the other operas on the regular nights — that of putting the best person in his special place. Lohengrin was given under the direction of Mr. Anton Seidl, and the success, both financial and artistic, was so overwhelming that it will be very strange indeed if Wagner ever fails in future seasons to have the same justice meted out to him as is given to Verdi, Gounod and Bizet. Three days ago seats for most parts of the house were not to be had for love or money, and the auditorium last evening was simply packed up to the ceiling. It was a refined audience, too ; there were only two large hats in the whole parquet, conversa tion was hushed, untimely applause hissed down ; but when the proper time for applause came, it was given with a sincerity and enthusiasm not witnessed at any other performance this year. " It was another object lesson as regards the truth of the maxim we have repeatedly preached — that unless the conductor is first-class the singers cannot do themselves justice and fail to get the applause due them. The cast of Lohengrin was ex- cellent, but no better than that of Die Meistersinger ; the dif- ference in the reception of these works was that one was given, apathetically, by a conductor who did not reveal half the beauties of the score, whereas Lohengrin was in the hands of Mr. Seidl, who infused into it all the energy and dramatic fire of his Hun- garian spirit. Other conductors on Wagnerian evenings are 37 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL usually received in chilling silence, while he, last evening, was at his first appearance received with applause so prolonged that he had to get up and bow three times ; and after the second act he had to come out again and again with the singers. ' One must be blind and deaf,' wrote M. Jean de Reske to a friend last year, ' not to perceive how the New York public adores Mr. Seidl.' Blind and deaf, indeed ; yet it requires constant fighting against hostile influences to keep him in his proper place. It is a most extraordinary state of affairs." BELOVED BY HIS SINGERS M. Jean de Reske's enthusiasm for Mr. Seidl was shared by all the other artists, some of whom have written for this volume their appreciations of his genius. Several of the greatest singers of the centurv have told me that they sometimes almost forgot to continue their parts, so utterly absorbed and fascinated were they by the pathos and emotional fervor of his orchestral eloquence. Albert Niemann, the greatest Wagnerian tenor of his day, once said to me as we were walking down Broadway : " You speak of the profound impression the third act of Tristan made on you ; but I can hardly believe that it stirs you quite as profoundly as it does me. Strong man as I am, I am not ashamed to confess that on several occasions in this act my singing has been marred by sobs and tears which I could not suppress. " There is nothing grander in Shakspere, in ^schylus, than the third act of Tristan. But it is a tremendous task to sing it — an enormous burden on the memory. I have sung Tristan about forty times, yet this very morning Seidl and I studied the score together. I cannot tell you how disappointed I am that Seidl did not accept the offer of the conductorship of the Berlin 38 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL Opera. Half the labor and responsibility of singing is taken from our shoulders by such a leader. To give an illustration, this even- ing, for a second only, I was at a loss for my next words. Seidl felt it ; I looked at him, read the words on his lips, and every- thing went along smoothly." The late Max Alvary often spoke to me in the same strain, endorsing the sentiment I have just italicized. He deplored — nay, actually apologized for — the necessity he was placed under of singing in this country under another conductor when Anton Seidl was present and unemployed. One day he thus vividly illustrated the difference it makes to a singer whether he has a first-rate or a second- or third-rate leader : " After a certain per- formance," he said, " the conductor reproached me for not com- ing in with his first beat at a certain place. ' The first beat ! ' I angrily retorted. ' I am an actor — I have no time to watch your beats. I was waiting for a big wave of sound to plunge into it with my voice ; but the wave did not come.' When Mr. Seidl conducts," he added to me, " these waves of sound, be they large or small, never fail to rise." STAGE MANAGEMENT While thus the relations between Anton Seidl and the great singers was one of genuine admiration on both sides, there was one side of the New York performances that often annoyed the great conductor. When everything else was so near perfection, it dis- tressed him to see things so bungled on the stage owing to incom- petent or careless stage management. It will be remembered that the department in which Wagner took special care to instruct Anton Seidl was the correspondence of the various things that happen on the stage with the music which illustrates them. I have before me a letter which Seidl wrote to Wagner, but never finished 39 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL or forwarded, which illustrates the amazing minuteness with which he attended to every detail. I should like to insert this letter here were it not that it includes some rather pointed remarks about per- sons still living. It was written in Vienna, where Wagner had sent him, in 1878, to serve as " correpetitor," and gives an amus- ing account of the stupid cuts that had been made ; the " beauti- ful " dragon which was to be so great an improvement on Bay- reuth, but would not work until it was altered in accordance with Wagner's directions ; and the troubles with the singers. Director Jauner, who, when he first saw the dragon, said to Seidl triumph- antly, " Na, ist der nicht scheener als der in Bayreuth ? " was obliged to confess at last that a "beautiful" dragon was not exactly what was wanted, and he confessed that " zu allerletzt hat Wagner doch immer recht " (after all, in the end, Wagner is always right). Had the managers of the Metropolitan Opera House heeded the wish Wagner expressed to Angelo Neumann, that " he should be allowed, even in matters of stage management, more authority than is usually given to conductors," the New York perform- ances would not have been inferior in any respect to those at Bayreuth. Yet, notwithstanding that shortcoming, these per- formances set up a standard, not only for Europe, but for all the world. Mr. Otto Floersheim, who was one of the very first to champion the cause of Wagner in America (beginning as early as 1 875), and who, during the last ten years, as representative in Germany of the Musical Courier, ha.s had exceptional opportuni- ties for hearing all the great conductors frequently, writes to me as follows : " Seidl was to me a revelation, for he was the first one to demonstrate that a Beethoven, or any other symphony, could be interpreted in a modern spirit. He was to me the impersona- 40 . ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL tion of the principle of progress in music, progress in reproduc- tion as well as production. His interpretation of the Nibe- lungen, Meistersinger and Tristan remain to me the models and the standards of comparison by which I gauge all other repro- ductions of the same works I hear in Berlin, or in any other city, and I can assure you that they are still unequalled and surely have not been surpassed, although I witnessed performances under Richter, Weingartner, Muck, Mottl, Schuch and many others. Also Parsifal, Wagner's swan song, I have not heard performed at Bayreuth more nobly, elevatingly and suggestively than under Anton Seidl's baton last summer." SOME PERSONAL TRAITS Before proceeding to the last year of Anton Seidl's life, let us linger for a while on his characteristics as a man, t» enable the reader to realize that by his death the world lost n«t •nly a great musician, but a noble man in the highest sense •f the word — a man to whom art was sacred, whose pride never degen- erated into vanity, and who performed a number of self-sacrific- ing actions which the world knew nothing of He was every inch an artist, never satisfied with mere financial success, if he felt that his ideals had not been approximated. Th»ugh the most generous of men — he has been known •n various •ccasions to return his check to managers who had suffered Usses — he would not even conduct a charity concert unless it could be done in a way that would not discredit the work or deceive the public. Another of his traits — remarkable among musicians — was his modesty. He knew perfectly well what he could do, but he never acted in a wav to show that he was conscious of it. Dur- ing the years of his eclipse he never complained, except to his friends. He was, indeed, too modest ; he lacked the quality of ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL " push," SO necessary in this country ; and but for the zeal of his admirers he might have been kept in the background till the day of his death. Others intrigued against him, but he never stooped to intrigue against a rival. Quite as remarkable as his artistic honesty and his modesty was his enthusiasm. It" his friends were zealous in his behalf, it was because he had inspired them with the contagion of his enthusiasm for art. He took an entirely impersonal view of such matters, and was conse- quently often misunderstood by persons who can comprehend actions and sacrifices only when made on personal grounds. Of his devotion to his work Mrs. Seidl has some interesting things to tell us : " It is impossible to imagine a man more devoted to the cause of music than Anton Seidl was when he had in view the produc- tion of some important work ; he thought of absolutely noth- ing else. I could not coax him away from his work long enough to take a cup of tea. On an empty stomach he would attend his rehearsals, and would come home (I am now speaking principally of the German operas) so thoroughly exhausted that he was unable to partake of any food, and it would be five o'clock before he would touch anything, having thus gone tor more than twenty-four hours without food. Only at rare inter- vals could I prevail upon him to eat a sandwich. So thoroughly impressed was he with the importance of the work before him. And how hard he worked ! Before his illness he did not know what it was to be tired, and when he was tired he knew no rest. There were days when he passed fully nine hours standing in front of the director's desk. And what exhausting journeys he undertook in this country ! Once while on a concert trip he had to cross the Hudson at Poughkeepsie on a sleigh and the ice was so thin that he was in momentary danger of death ; fortu- 4^ ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL nately I knew nothing about it, otherwise I should have gone crazy. How despondent he was at times when returning home from a rehearsal ! ' I dread to-morrow's performance,' he would say ; ' I need more rehearsals absolutely : if I could have but one more all might be well.' Then he would get so excited that he could not sleep a wink all night. " On the day set for a performance he would remain perfectly quiet, hardly speaking a word. No one not acquainted with him would have thought he was nervous, yet how excited he was, to the very tips of his fingers, we knew very well ! The slightest touch startled him. I knew this and avoided everything that might disturb him. How different he was when sitting at his desk ! Then all anxiety disappeared. Was it not his task to animate his orchestra to do their very best ? Then he was like a general ; not the slightest happening on the stage escaped his notice, and he understood, better than any other musical direc- tor, how to turn to account the various incidents of the stage. Once at a ballet rehearsal in the third act of the Meistersinger, the ballet-master knew absolutely nothing as to the kind of dan- cing that would be proper for the occasion ; the couples simply jumped aimlessly about the stage, when suddenly my husband seized one of the girls around the waist and began dancing, and it proved to be the correct way, although he never in his life had danced before. Director Stanton, who sat by my right on the stage, was astounded, and remarked to me : ' That man knows everything ! ' " If anyone complimented him after the first or second act of an opera, he would be displeased and would say, ' There are still two acts before us. God knows what may happen before we get through ! ' If everything went well to the end he was de- lighted, and it was a pleasure to see with what evident content- 43 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL ment he would light a cigar and smoke it. Smoking was his great passion, and he never felt really comfortable unless he was holding a cigar in his mouth. He would then sit up with me at home till two o'clock a. m., or even later, describing the whole opera, and his excitement was so great that sleep would not have come to him, anyway, at an earlier hour. " How happy he felt when the critics and the public treated him with consideration, and how modest he remained with all his splendid successes ! This was shown especially when he was honored with a gift of flowers ; my heart fairly beat for fear the givers might be offended at his apparent unconcern on receiving the flowers. How often I begged him to show at least a pleasant countenance ! He promised to do so, but the effort proved too great for him, as it was verv painful for him to become the focus of the public gaze. His modesty did not admit of his display- ing any pleasure, although at heart he felt very happy." HOME LIFE For a number of years Mr. and Mrs. Seidl, who had no children, lived at 38 East 62nd Street, New York, and for the few weeks that the conductor could spare from his concert trips and Brighton Beach engagement, he had a cottage at Fleisch- mann's in the Catskills. His music room in New York had a grand piano on which usually lay, or stood, some score he hap- pened to be studying. The walls were adorned with rare por- traits of Wagner, as well as of Bach, Beethoven and Bismarck. Bouquets and wreaths were scattered about, as is usual in the rooms of prominent stage artists. One could not be in the house long without seeing or hearing either Wotan or Mime, two of the eight dogs that were allowed the freedom of the house. Anton Seidl was as great a lover of dogs as Wagner ; there 4+ ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL was never a time when he did not have at least one pet. At Leipsic, in 1870, he had a very inteUigent white poodle of un- usual size. His name was Caro and he used to carry notes be- tween Mr. Schueler and his master. The note was fastened to his collar, and then Mr. Seidl gave a peculiar whistle, where- upon the dog, barking violently, ran to Mr. Schueler's quarters half a mile away. " The outside door of the flat in which I lived," writes Mr. Schueler, " had an old-fashioned door bell, a wire with an iron ring attached about four feet from the floor. This bell Caro would ring, and after being let in, would run to the door of my room scratching and barking until I opened the door. It was too funny to see him hold his head sideways until I took the note from his collar. After writing and securing the answer under the collar, the dog would run home to his master. Caro would never allow anybody else but his master to play on the piano in Seidl's room. If anyone persisted in playing, Caro barked till he stopped. The tricks Caro performed were with- out number : playing on the piano himself, singing soprano or bass, carrying shoes, gloves or any article in the room, walking or dancing on his hind legs, smoking and playing sentinel, holding a cane between the front paws, were some of his many accom- plishments." EIGHT PET DOGS Mrs. Seidl's manuscript contains the following details re- garding the dogs they had in New York, and whom they always took to the Catskills in summer : " Whenever our dear Tony came home from his engage- ment at Brighton Beach or some exhausting concert trip to rest awhile in our beautiful home in the Catskill Mountains, every- 4S ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL thing was bedecked with flowers and leaves, and the columns of our cottage ornamented with garlands and ribbons, so as to ren- der our home worthy of its owner. All his dogs, seven dachs- hunds and one St. Bernard, stood on the piazza awaiting the arrival of the train that was to bring their master home. As soon as he stepped off the car, the intelligent animals would rush off to greet their master in their own boisterous way, raising a cloud of dust in which both master and dogs disappeared, until finally, their first burst of glee having subsided, they would rush up the hill and settle down on the piazza, where a bountiful feast of crackers awaited them as a reward for their good behavior. Often my dear husband would walk up the mountainside during the greatest heat of the summer rather than take a conveyance, just to afford his favorites an opportunity to show their affection for their master ; then there was such a noise and glee that I often wondered how my husband's musically-trained ears could bear the ordeal. Once he took a trip in the middle of May to Fleischmann's, accompanied by his favorite dog Wotan, and as it was still quite cold, he took off his overcoat and spread it on the floor in the baggage car to keep the dog warm, and he himself re- mained in the baggage car to keep him from feeling lonesome or being subjected to ill-treatment by the trainmen. IN THE CATSKILLS WORK AND PLAY " In the early morning at seven o'clock I was in the habit of going to my garden, my dear Tony being still fast asleep and resting peacefully from his very exhausting labor. Of course everything was kept quiet so that his slumber might not be dis- turbed. Suddenly the loud barking of the dogs called my at- tention from my work and looking up I saw my dear Tony looking out of the window, happy and as full of mischief as a 46 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL school-boy, and giving me a wistful glance which meant that he wanted me to get his breakfast ready. Dignified as he was in his ordinary intercourse with the world, he gladly submitted to being spoiled by his wife when at home. I had to prepare everything with my own hands as if he were a child. His breakfast consisted usually of a cup of coffee, bread and butter and fruit ; he shared it with his dogs, and then went to the depot to get his letters and newspapers, and to chat a few moments with friends he met. Then he went to Fleisch- mann's Mountain to play a few games of billiards and then came home for lunch. " The afternoons were generally devoted to work, but if he had a concert in view he would sit down from early morning at his work-table, from which I could hardly coax him to take a mouthful to eat. What pleasure it afforded him to work at his own home ! His studio was so quiet ! From his writing-desk he could see the beautiful trees, hear the song of the birds, for whose benefit he had ordered the construction of little houses to be used as nests. How he enjoyed the delightfully fresh air and the delicious quiet ! He was a completely changed man up in the mountains, and after a fortnight's rest he was ready for work again. What a fast worker he was ! Whatever came into his mind he wrote down immedi- ately without any mistakes and in beautiful handwriting. I never saw him writing the same thing twice. I never could understand how it was possible for him to retain in his memory note for note of his new scorings. What he could but seldom be induced to do in the city he did with pleasure in the country. He would sit down and play wonderfully well, sometimes his own spontane- ous inspirations which, in spite of my frequent requests, he would refuse to put on paper. Whatever composition emanated from his pen was absolutely his own and bore the stamp of his charac- 47 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL ter and individuality; there was no borrowing from his own be- loved masters, and he never took notes. I promised him to study stenography, so that I might preserve at least some of his com- positions, for he had seriously intended after the London season to compose an opera, having received from a very talented poet (Francis Neilson) a libretto which quite inspired my dear hus- band. As he never played his own compositions in the pres- ence of anvone else but myself, many a reader may be inclined to doubt the truth of my assertion when I, his wife, say that it is a pity he was so unwilling to let others hear them, for eminent as he was as an interpreter, I am certain that he might have been equally eminent as a composer. Endowed as he was with the fire of genius, profound feeling, and a high capacity for dramatic expression, which enabled him to inspire not only his numerous artists but also the general public when he was interpreting the masterpieces of Wagner, Beethoven, Liszt and others, I am thoroughly convinced that as a composer he could have created works of a high order. "My dear husband loved nature, took pleasure in forests, trees and flowers, although he knew nothing about taking care of them ; he did not even know the names of the trees and plants. One day he brought home a blue-bell which he had torn out by the root near the sidewalk ; another time he brought a tiny maple tree, which he had torn up by the root, and declared his intention of planting with his own hands. 'Well,' I told him, ' if this little tree with its torn roots grows, then the age of wonders has not yet gone bv.' And it did grow, and is the only tree Anton Seidl ever planted. In various parts of our garden he put tables and iron benches, which he proceeded to paint so well that no professional painter could have done it any better. He also painted my flower boxes and the wood- 48 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL house, and one would have thought he had never done anything else in his life but paint. One day he went into the woods to repair a foot-path which had gone to ruin. He toiled like a common laborer who is working for wages, by the sweat of his brow, and when I told him that this unaccustomed hard work would result in a stiff back he only smiled ; but three days later he was laid up and could hardly move. MIME BURIED ALIVE " One day one of our dogs, who had been lying on the green sward behind the house after dinner, suddenly disappeared. My dear husband. Bertha, our faithful housekeeper, and others searched for him — it was our favorite Mime — but in vain. We understood perfectly well that the dog, being passionately fond of hunting, was probably in the hole of some woodchuck and could not find his way out again, which meant that he would die from hunger and thirst ; or he might have been killed by a woodchuck. It was my husband's christening day, which we always celebrated with a great feast ; this time he would not allow us to celebrate, and he actually shed tears, so much did he take the loss of his favorite to heart. At last, after an absence of seventy-two hours, our Mime was found buried in the hole of a woodchuck, and my dear Tony triumphantly carried him home in his arms. " Mime was, as I have said, very much addicted to the chase, and availed himself of every opportunity for running away ; and he was so sly that no matter how closely we might watch him, he always managed to escape. Of course we had to let him out once in a while, and then he would romp with the other dogs in the fresh-cut grass of the lawn. Then he would lie down to rest. After a while he would get up and lie down a little nearer 49 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL to the gate, and then, when he thought we did not pay any atten- tion to him, off he was Hke a flash, and knew quite well that as soon as he reached the high grass he would be invisible to us. Then he disappeared in the woods. In the parlor he had two low stools with cushions for a bed, and woe to the intruder who presumed to take possession of it ; he would push him off immediately. He was also very musical ; if anyone played or sang for my husband. Mime was always present and remained perfectly quiet, unless he heard discordant notes, especially false violin notes ! Then he was beside himself and moaned so pitifully that he had to be taken from the room, to the great enjoyment of my dear Tony. Mime was a very bright ani- mal ; he understood every word we addressed to him, and knew every trick that high-grade dogs are taught, such as walking through the room on his hind legs, begging, speaking and kissing the hand, but the funniest of his tricks was knocking off the ashes from my husband's cigar with his crooked paw. He also had his sympathies and antipathies for the human race. My dear husband had an occasional visit from the messenger of the orchestra ; Mime was wrapped up in warm covers, and we thought he could not hear the ringing of the doorbell, but the moment this young man rang the bell. Mime would grow furi- ous, whereas if others rang, he would not pay the slightest atten- tion. CHRISTMAS PRESENTS " Christmas was always an enjoyable festival with us, whether at home or on a journey. We always had a beautiful Christmas tree and had about twenty-six guests, on whom I bestowed the handsomest presents. As we had no children of our own, we delighted in inviting poor children, whose happy faces afforded 5° ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL US the greatest pleasure. My dear husband was ever anxious to prepare pleasant surprises, and nothing was too good for me or others. I was always deeply touched on finding invariably among the many costly presents he made me, two hats, for the choosing of them was, as I well knew, no trifling affair for him. He always went to the same milliner, cast his eyes over the hats and pointed his fingers at the ones he wanted, without saying a word. Before he decided on his choice, the girl behind the coun- ter tried on the hats, so he could see what impression they made, and I must say that usually these hats were more becoming to me than those I bought for myself Naturally his appearance at the milliner's always attracted attention, and this was an ordeal to him. " After the guests had received their presents the dogs got theirs, either a couple of chops or sausages for each one of them having been tied to the Christmas tree. They had learned from year to year what would occur. Mime used to walk around the tree wagging his tail and raising his nose, wistfully, until he had found what he was looking for ; then he would bark and perform all sorts of tricks until the desired delicacy was handed to him ; nor was Wotan backward in claiming his share. Those two animals had so much intelligence, and were so wise, that we could keep up a conversation with them, they evidently understanding every word we said. My husband was very fond of taking his breakfast in bed and of reading his news- papers — he took more interest in his newspapers than in his breakfast — and so it happened, usually, that his coffee or tea grew cold and Wotan had to wait tor his share. When Wotan thought that he had waited quite long enough, and all his tricks and begging had gone for naught, he would put one of his forepaws on the bed, and with the other he would strike the 51 ANTON SEIDL — -A MEMORIAL newspaper out of his master's hand, repeating this operation until my husband laid by the paper and gave him his share of the breakfast. At the dinner-table Mime would sit on one side of my husband and Wotan on the other. We had a great deal of fun with Mime. Both dogs slept in the same room with us, Mime in a basket lined with blankets, and Wotan on blankets spread on the carpeted floor. Both dogs waited for their master to come home. Mime knew exactly when he was due. Many carriages would pass through our street without attracting their attention, but before my husband's carriage came to a full stop before the door, Mime was already there. When my husband came home immediately after a concert, his reception by Mime was always a stormy one ; also when he came home at one a. m., but if he came later the reception by Mime would be notably cooler. If it got to be as late as two o'clock a. m.. Mime treated his master with silent contempt as we would laughingly remark ; and even the gift of crackers, which Mime was very fond of, was then declined. In fact, he would not look at the late-comer at all. wotan kills mime " If Tik, Tak, Tek, Froh, Freia and Erda, our other six dachshunds, made too much noise in the basement, all my husband had to do was to talk through the speaking-tube and everything was silent in an instant. I am sorry to say that Mime and Wo- tan disliked one another very much. Jealousy was the cause, and we had to be very particular not to caress one without car- essing the other. Mime was more jealous than Wotan. When- ever Wotan passed by Mime growled and tried to bite his feet. This disposition was, no doubt, the cause of Mime's tragic end. He was bitten by Wotan and so badly hurt that he died within 5* ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL a few hours. I was in my bedroom with my dear Tony, Wotan in the front room, when we heard Wotan bark in a pecuHar man- ner. I went into the room and found Wotan standing over Mime ; I tore Wotan away, but it was already too late, for he had bitten Mime's throat through. We were of opinion that Mime must have snapped at Wotan, and the bigger dog retaliated by killing him. My husband was so much shocked by this foul deed that he wanted to have Wotan killed forthwith, but I dis- suaded him from so doing, for I knew how dear was Wotan to his heart, and that as soon as he recovered from Mime's loss he would thank me for not having consented to Wotan's death. Wotan was his pet ; Mime was mine. As a punishment Wotan was banished from our room to the top floor, where for several days he refused all food, and stood there with drooping ears (I forgot mentioning that my husband had given him a severe beat- ing), and behaved in such a queer manner that we were afraid he might lose his reason. So our friends advised us to resume our cordial relations with him, and once in a while to take him into our bedroom, otherwise the animal would surely go mad. This we did, but never failed to reproach him his infamous deed, and he evidently felt very repentant. Often we caught him smelling the spot on the floor where he had killed Mime, and following the scent to the wash table whither we had carried the poor bleed- ing pet. Poor Mime was forthwith taken to Fleischmann's by our dear, faithful, and devoted friend. Bertha Seifert, and there buried in our family plot. " Is it not curious that my dear husband — when in the spring of '97 I planted several trees in our garden — should have in- sisted on my planting a weeping willow near our well ? I felt quite down-hearted at the idea, and tried to dissuade him, as these willows are generally supposed to be fit only for church yards 53 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL and not for flower gardens. But he insisted, and I had to do his bidding. He said these gentle drooping twigs had a pecuHar charm for him, and he did not attach any superstitious meaning to them. Thus I have continually before my eyes the weeping willows which, when first planted, caused me to have such a ter- rible foreboding. seidl's generosity " I feel impelled to say a few words about my husband's kindness of heart. For suffering humanity his hand and heart were always open ; he never could send the poor from his door unassisted. What he thus gave away would, in the aggregate, amount to a very large sum, which, for his income, was far be- yond his means. And so it was with his clothes, which 1 had frequently to give away to strangers when he could have quite well worn them himself a while longer ; but he could not refuse the clothes to a poor man who said that, but for the want of decent clothes, he might get a good position. I was sometimes compelled, when all the half-used clothes had been disposed of, to give away even the new ones. He proved his kindness of heart, when the times were bad, by taking the orchestra for several weeks on jour- neys without any remuneration for himself, even paying the hotel bills out of his own pocket, his sole purpose being to give his orchestra a chance to earn a little money. And how often he gave concerts for objects of public charity is well known. MASQUERADES AND A SURPRISE " That, in spite of his serious turn of mind, he could enjoy a good joke the following story will prove : Some time ago the Fleischmanns gave a costume ball in the Catskills ; the types of every land were to be seen ; a booth had been erected where 54 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL different things were presented. My dear Tony was there, too, dressed as a little maiden in short clothes and apron, with his arms and neck bare, his hair in curls, a straw hat ornamented with rose-colored ribbons and May flowers on his head, a golden medal around his neck, and low-cut shoes. He sang the birth- day song of Hans Sachs. He was absolutely unrecognizable and everybody was inquiring, 'Who is that? Who can it be?' And it was quite a long while before, to everyone's delight, his identity was revealed. He looked so funny ! His sunburned face, neck and hands formed such a striking contrast with his white arms and shoulders, and produced a curious effect. " Once, on his return from a season at Brighton Beach, the families Fleischmann, Blayer, Edelheim and others surprised him by the production of a Haydn child symphony in which all the children of the above-named families as well as some grown people took part. Of course I was initiated into the secret, but was supposed to know nothing about it. I was told that it was to be a surprise party and I need not bother myself about any- thing. Naturally, I was anxious to do something to promote the general happiness, and so I ordered a fine supply of fruit from New York, also two musicians, so that the children might have a dance later on. I also left an order for various pieces of pastry to be prepared at home. My dear husband, who ordinarily took very little interest in cooking, was in the habit, when coming home from a very exhausting season at Brighton Beach, of visit- ing every individual room in our very pretty house, his heart full of happiness ; even the kitchen did not escape an inspection, and so we did not know how to hide the things from him. 9n the festival day we were invited to dinner at a friend's house, but I went there with my husband as early as 4 p. m., so that during our absence the festive preparations might be made at •ur h«me. ss ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL Just as we were going down-stairs, a train from New York was coming in ; he insisted on awaiting its arrival, and in my despair I ran up to a friend of his and said : ' Please help me get my husband away from the station, for the musicians I ordered are on this train, and if he sees them, " the cat is out of the bag." ' For- tunately we succeeded in getting him away from the station just as the train was coming in. Another friend undertook to take the musicians where they were wanted. All this he failed to see, and his friends who ' happened ' to drop in all followed us to Stiassny's, where we had been invited to dine. All he asked me was what business our laboring man * Ed ' had at the depot with Mime. I made him believe that I had sent Ed for some things I expected. As a matter of fact, I was expecting the things I had ordered for the evening. At Stiassny's the task was to get him into the house, under all sorts of pretexts, but he in- sisted on staying on the piazza. Had we left him there he would have noticed the arrival of every delivery wagon that came up our hill. So we were kept continually busy until we sat down to dinner. It was understood that, as soon as everything was ready, Fleischmann should send a messenger and advise us that all invited guests were in the house, pretending that there were visitors at our house waiting to see us. " At last the servant came and requested Mr. and Mrs. Seidl to come home, as there were visitors to see them. I made believe inviting the family to come over to our house and to bring the children along. It was a hard task for me to conceal my happiness at the idea that we had succeeded so well in deceiv- ing my husband, and I left him under pretence of advising Mrs. Stiassny to dress her children more warmly, and went to the piazza with her. There I observed, to my horror , that two delivery wagons with burning lanterns were coming up our hill. Now what s6 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL was I to do ? To tarry any longer was impossible, for my dear hus- band would have suspected something, but he could not leave the house while the wagons were at our door. Nothing remained for me but to pretend that I felt suddenly ill and to declare to my hus- band that it was impossible for me to go home before I felt better; but I left the room as quick as possible, as it would have been im- possible for me to play this part for any length of time before my husband. At last the wagons were gone ; I felt well again, and we all went up our hill together. Nothing stirred in the house; the outside was quite dark, as usual when we were out; my dear Tony observed that our visitors were probably on the other side of the house in the dining-room. So he unsuspect- ingly opened the parlor door, but immediately, pale with emo- tion, he stood still, for the moment he opened the door the sym- phony began. The surprise was absolute, for he had not had the slightest inkling of the matter. It may be truly said that the picture of so many beautiful young faces, all intent upon perform- ing the task that had been allotted to them, to the best of their ability, was indeed inspiring ! My Tony was deeply touched and delighted at this reception his friends, big and little, had pre- pared for him. The little ones were especially fond of him, as this serious man, from whom nothing but performances of grand compositions were expected, had often played waltzes and other pieces for them so they could dance. The merry company stayed with us till late at night, and my husband was the happiest of all. PRESENTS FOR HIS WIFE " He was particularly fond of bright, lively colors, also new stuffs. If, for instance, I bought him new cravats, he would wear them every day until they were old, then he would resume S7 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL wearing his old ones again. He was quite fond of laying wagers with me, for as a rule he won ; but if it should so happen that I won, he would twist things around in such a way that I finally lost all my reckoning, and it was delightful to see how much pleasure this afforded him ; and as a consequence I did my best to let him win. Inexpressibly good he was. I did not venture to say I liked this or that, for he would at once insist on buying it for me. When Christmas was at hand I had to make him promise me weeks before that he would not make me any costly presents, for I had everything, and required nothing ; other- wise he would have spent all his money on jewelry and other expensive things just to please me. Many a time did I tell him : 'Just give me a little bouquet and it will have for me the same value and will afford me as much pleasure as the most costly present would, for in giving it to me you have thought of me.' When he returned from Europe, very happy over his triumphs at Bayreuth and London, he brought me from the latter city a brooch which had been made for me under his special instruc- tions. It represents the Nibelung's ring and Siegfried's horn with small rubies, which were his favorite stones. Whenever he returned from a journey he brought presents for the servants." RELATIONS WITH MUSICIANS In some notes contributed for this book by Mr. and Mrs. Kaltenborn, the statement is made that while Mr. Seidl himself was extremely generous, and often gave his services free at charity concerts, he insisted that the orchestral musicians " must be paid for their work." Mr. Kaltenborn was one of the leading violin- ists in the Seidl Orchestra, and his first experience as a soloist was somewhat trying. Mr. Seidl had never heard him play, and there had been no opportunity for a rehearsal — it was at Coney 58 Anton Seidl 1894 H O T O li K .\ I I' '^ I ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL Island — so that the viohnist naturally felt very nervous. After- wards, on the hotel piazza, Mr. Seidl complimented him on his achievement, adding, with a smile, " But why were you so nerv- ous ? " Mrs. Kaltenborn answered for her husband : " Because he was afraid of you !" " Oh," retorted the conductor, " they all say that, but I do nothing ; I only look. "; and as he said that, the characteristic expression that made his face so fascinating played around his smiling mouth. He always seemed to enjoy being told that a soloist had been afraid of him — of that quiet look from over the baton. But the soloists loved and admired him, too, for they could be sure, in case he had had a chance for rehearsal, that they would be well accompanied. The eminent violinist. Miss Maud Powell, echoed the opinion of many players and singers when she wrote to him after a Philharmonic concert : " I want to thank you for those beautiful accompaniments, so firm yet elastic and sympathetic, full of shading and perfectly subord- inated in the right places. My impulse last night was to seize your hand in gratitude in the presence of the audience ; then I suddenly thought, ' Oh, dear; Mr. Seidl will think it American presumption or — Frechheit.' " He was also a most admirable accompanist on the piano, so remarkably sympathetic that it is a great pity he did not exhibit his talent in that line more frequently. His long experience as Wagner's secretary had taught him to play on the piano orchestral scores in a strikingly orchestral way, and at Colonel IngersoU's house he would sometimes entertain friends by the hour playing from the Parsifal and other scores in a way that sounded strangely different from the usual versions of those works for the piano. It is a pity that he did not make new vocal scores of the Nibelung dramas. They are needed. He sometimes addressed a short speech to his men explaining 59 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL the character of a new composition. I remember, especially, be- ing told of his doing that when he conducted, for the first time in America, Wagner's juvenile symphony, the score of which he had helped to complete. He insisted that players should study their parts at home, and not leave everything to the ensemble rehearsal. If a mistake was made by the violins, for instance, he knew which one of twenty or more players was the guilty man. " Mr. Seidl had great reverence for old age," writes Mr. Kaltenborn, " and always censured those who were disrespectful to an old man. Instances occurred at rehearsals that brought out this trait of his character strongly. At Coney Island, as elsewhere, his love of nature would show itself. Often he sat at Brighton watching the sea for hours. He was a genial com- panion to sympathetic friends, whom he sometimes amused by indulging in all kinds of mimicry, in which, like his dear friends, Jean and Edouard de Reske, he was an adept. Like his master, Wagner — and Beethoven — he was much given to pun- ning, and laughed at his own efforts as cordially as anyone. He was fond of bowling and excelled in the game." It is well known that Anton Seidl did not care for general society, though he liked to be with friends and was happy in their company, even if nothing was said. FAVORITE HAUNTS " He had his favorite haunts," writes Mr. Kaltenborn, " one — Fleischmann's on Broadway — where he could often be found in the afternoon, taking his coffee and smoking, and where his friends dropped in to see him. The other was the Stewart House, on Broadway and 41st Street, where my father-in-law, Mr. Borman, lived. He would go there many an evening, and always, when he went there after a concert or opera, call up 60 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL through the tube for Mr. Borman to come down, and they would sit there until early hours of the morning, talking over musical affairs or politics, of which Seldl was very fond, and on which he kept well informed. Occasionally a friend would join them, usually Albert Stettheimer or Albert Steinberg. Mr. Borman tells of how at times they would sit, or take a stroll for an hour or more, and Seidl wouldn't say a word, yet dislike to have him leave." With the artists who sang under him Anton Seidl was al- ways on the very best of terms. Albert Niemann, Heinrich Vogl, Max Alvary, Lilli Lehmann, Marianne Brandt, Lillian Nor- dica, Emma Eames, Jean and Edouard de Reszke, Plancon, Las- salle, Campanari, Fischer, and many others adored him, and the feeling was cordially reciprocated. Always serious while devoted to the task of interpreting a master work, he loved to joke at other times. In Signer Campanari's contribution to this volume the reader will find an amusing specimen of the jocular letters he sometimes sent to his friends. On several occasions dinners were given to Mr. Seidl, at which loving-cups were presented to him. When the menus were passed round for signatures he often added a line of music and a jocular verse. Nor did he in the least disapprove being made the subject of comic poems like the following, read at a dinner given by Dr. S. G. Perry to members of the Lotos Club to which Mr. Seidl belonged : THE MASTER. Here is to our noble Master, Who keeps his arm in constant motion, And makes our hearts go slow or faster According as he takes a notion. ♦ 6i ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL He never stops or asks to know If we can bear such deep emotion, But swings his baton fast or slow, With loyal spirit of devotion. And we must sit and hear the strains With heavy hearts or high elation, While he, whate'er our joys or pains, Goes on with his interpretation. The doctor says it is not wise To list to sounds that are excessive ; A man with weak heart sometimes dies From music that is too expressive. February 5, 1897. HIS MAJESTY, RICHARD WAGNER Of Mr. Seidl's stern side and his unflinching devotion to his art, an interesting instance was related some years ago by the Roman correspondent of the Frankfurter Zeitung, when the Neu- mann Company gave a performance of Die JValkure. The King had promised to attend, and it is customary in Italian thea- tres, when his Majesty enters, to interrupt the performance by playing the marcia reale. Anton Seidl was Neumann's conduc- tor, and he was given to understand what he must do at the moment of the King's appearance in his box. But Mr. Seidl absolutely refused to insult the majesty of King Wagner, his sovereign, by any such inartistic proceeding, and Herr Neu- mann, after trying in vain to make him obedient to Italian cus- tom, was obliged to call upon the assistant conductor to preside over the opera. The performance began, and the King put in 62 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL an appearance just as Siegmund and Sieglinde were in the midst of their love duo, whereupon everyone stopped, the " royal march " was played, and then the duo was resumed. THEODORE THOMAS One of the pieasantest incidents to record in connection with Anton Seidl's last year is that a cordial friendship had sprung up between him and Theodore Thomas. When Mr. Seidl used the Chicago orchestra at the Auditorium performances of Wag- ner operas, Mr. Thomas called on him and complimented him on the masterly way in which he had secured control of a new organization. When Mr. Thomas visited New York subsequen- tly, Mr. Seidl returned the visit, and fresh compliments were interchanged. It is needless to add that there was none of the " mutual admiration society " business in this. Both these men have been noted for their stubborn refusal to bestow praise ex- cept where they believed praise was due. To his friends Mr. Seidl spoke warmly of Mr. Thomas as a man and a musician. It has been stated that Seidl was interested in politics, and it was therefore natural that he should want to share the privileges of citizenship in his adopted country. Accordingly, in 1891 he took out his naturalization papers, and ever after that he objected to being called Herr Seidl. "It seems like being boycotted," he said to me one day. " Why don't they say Mr. Seidl ? " He insisted on having the change made on the Metropolitan Opera House programme. Let us now resume our narrative. Mr. Maurice Grau, who had been reinstated with his partner, Mr. Henry Abbey, at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1 891, for the express purpose of driving out Wagner, came to the conclusion — after some unpleasant experiences with the 63 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL ^y Star system — that Wagner, properly sung, was after all an operatic manager's best friend, and that Mr. Seidl was Wagner's chosen interpreter. Moreover, one after another of the great singers, who had been brought over to assist Mr. Grau in his warfare upon Wagner, went over to the Wagnerian side, converted by the eloquence of Mr. Seidl's musical plead- ing. Once more Anton Seidl became the idol of the opera- goers, who was never allowed to take his seat at his desk before he had acknowledged three rounds of cordial applause. TRIUMPH IN LONDON When Mr. Grau was engaged as manager of the Covent Garden Opera in London, for the season of 1897, he took Mr. Seidl with him and gave the London opera-goers a pleasant sur prise. I have before me several hundred clippings from English papers bearing witness to his triumph. The critics were not slow to discover his merits, as the following brief citations from leading newspapers show : " Under his masterly control the subdued playing of the orchestra furnished quite a revelation." " He secured orchestral playing of rare delicacy and beauty, and altogether proved his high reputation to be well-merited." " Once again was a potent influence of this great conductor made manifest in the remarkably subdued and refined playing of the orchestra, which brought home to the ear all the beauties of Wagner's instrumentation, and yet never overwhelmed the voices ot the singers." " A conductor for whom Wagner has no mysteries or pitfalls." " Mr. Seidl manipulated the forces under his control with a mastery that was truly marvelous." " Some of the audience were astonished at that which they 6+ ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL imagined were certain new readings. As a matter of fact, how- ever, they were merely a correction of mistakes in tempi and nuance, which have crept into the performance since the days that Costa, declining to correct a copyist's error, declared the discordance was the composer's intention. At any rate, Seidl, who was a pupil of Richter, and likewise studied under Wag- ner^ in whose house he lived some years — may be accepted as an authority on the Wagnerian traditions." " An orchestral rendering which fell little short of abso- lute perfection." " Has infused a dramatic and poetic spirit into the orchestral playing as welcome as it is novel." " Herr Seidl has raised materially the standard of perform- ance at Covent Garden." " He had the happy faculty — supreme in a conductor — of impressing the vocal and instrumental forces under his control with his personal ideas as to the method in which the music should be rendered." " Anton Seidl has proved himself the best orchestral con- ductor we have had up to now." " Wagner should have been present himself to hear justice done, almost for the first time, to some •f his exquisite phrases. Where opera-goers have before found n«ise and little else, they were on Saturday able to appreciate musicianly melody and masterly scoring." " The Covent Garden band has never played so smoothly, so softly, or with such spirit. And yet Seidl is a quiet man, with an immovable face and very little action. The wav he waits for the singers must make them adore him. He dresses like an ordinary citizen, but his hair is not short. He wears pince-nez, and looks rather like Liszt in his youth." " He is quiet in manner, without coldness at heart, and he has that power which so few conductors possess, of making the 6s ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL player feel exactly what he wants. In moments of danger he displays the utmost coolness." "The beautiful music of the opera under his direction takes on a new and overwhelming charm." These extracts suffice to prove that the London corre- spondent of the New York Sun did not exaggerate when he cabled on June 26 regarding Anton Seidl's debut : " His triumph in London in grand opera has been greater than that of any other foreign conductor, nearly all of the critics admitting that his interpretation of Wagner has been a fresh revelation of the great composer's work, and the best ever given to the English public." Not that this verdict was universally accepted. As every organ grinder has his monkey, every circus its clown, so every body of critics has its buffoon. The Musical Standard declared soberly that "one can never believe Mr. Seidl is in any sense a great Wagnerian conductor ! " Mr. Seidl's triumph in London was the more remarkable inasmuch as he had to assume charge of an orchestra entirely unused to his methods. He was hampered, too, by certain old-established evils, of which the following extract from a Lon- don paper gives an illustration : " What must have been the feelings of a conductor of Herr Anton Seidl's capacity, when he looked round upon his orchestra at the commencement of the third act of Lohengrin on Friday evening — on the orchestra that had to accompany some of the first singers in Europe — and discovered that nearly twenty of his best executants had departed by royal command for the State concert at Buckingham Palace, leaving in their stead a group of no doubt admirable substitutes, but still comparative strangers." 66 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL HOW SEIDL CONDUCTED WAGNER If Mr. Seidl could have had his own orchestra, he would have astonished the Londoners still more. He was, indeed, noted for the skill which he showed in vitalizing an ill-assorted and unprepared band of players ; and he could work wonders with few rehearsals. M. Jean de Reszke once remarked to me that he had never taken part in a more smooth and finished performance of Die Meister singer than that which Mr. Seidl had been obliged, much against his wish, to conduct after only one rehearsal. But there is a Hmit to such feats. When he had the best of material and plenty of preparation, he never failed to reveal the heart, pulse and the very soul of the great com- poser whose apostle he was. Then, not only did he never drown the singers, but in the softest passages the orchestral tenderness was insinuating and caressing beyond comparison. The way he made his orchestra sing, sigh, whisper, exult, plead, threaten, storm, rage, was a marvel to every one who heard it. The dra- matic surges of passionate sound in Tristan were irresistible. He knew the scores by heart, and kept his eye on the singers every moment, so that every gesture had its timely orchestral comment. He knew, too, that the same melody must be taken slower or faster, according to the situation. To mention but one detail : The superb eight bars during which the King gives his blessing to Lohengrin and Elsa, were by him, and by him only, so far as I know, given in the slackened, broadened, majestic tempo, which adds so much to the solemnity of the scene, and which Wagner specially prescribed in a letter to Liszt nearly half a century ago. In the later Wagner dramas he made the tempo vary endlessly and have as many little spurts and eddies and dashing falls, and trout pools full of speckled beauties, as a mountain brook. This phase of Mr. Seidl's genius as a con- 67 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL ductor was admirably described by W. F. Apthorp after a per- formance in Boston of 'Tristan and Isolde. " We must first speak of Seidl,for he was the heart and soul of it. It was he who made the fine performance of the others pos- sible. His management of the orchestra was simply beyond praise ; not once during the whole evening did the instruments unduly over-crow the voices on the stage. Then the orchestral performance, taken by itself, was a marvel of beauty ; such deli- cacy of shading is exceedingly rare. It was not merely that suc- cession of crass contrasts between fortissimo and pianissimo which sometimes parades under the name of ' shading,' but a hardly in- terrupted series of the more subtile and delicate nuances in dyna- mics and tempo. It reminded one of what Mr. Gericke once said of Wagner's conducting Lohengrin in Vienna : ' The most striking thing about it was the surpassing delicacy of all the eflfects; modifications of force and tempo were almost incessant, but were for the most part modifications by a hair's breadth only.' " TRIUMPH IN BAYREUTH When Mr. Seidl went to Europe it was not merely to con- duct at Covent Garden, but also in Bayreuth. As soon as Frau Cosima Wagner heard that he was coming to Europe she sent him a cable dispatch followed by letters inviting him most urgently to interpret the performances of Parsifal in July and August. As the London season extends far into the summer months, and as he had already signed his contract with Mr. Grau, he was obliged to make the condition that the Bayreuth rehearsals must not conflict with the Wagner performances in London. A schedule was accordingly prepared which enabled him to conduct both in London and Bayreuth, without neglecting rehearsals. This in- volved a good deal of extra fatigue in travelling from one place 68 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL to the Other, and Anton Seidl was already far from being in good health. It required all of his iron constitution, strong will, and devotion to art, to surprise and enchant both Bayreuth and London in the same month. And he did surprise and delight Bayreuth as much as he had surprised and delighted London. Dr. Heinrich Porges, an intimate friend of Wagner, and one of the assistants at all the Bayreuth rehearsals from the earliest days, described the reception given to Mr. Seidl at Bayreuth in the iVIunich Neueste Nach- richten. Wagner's son, Siegfried, introduced him to the mem- bers of the orchestra in these words : "A Knight of the Grail has returned to us — one who has, alas, been away from Grail- land altogether too long. I present to you Kapellmeister Anton Seidl, one of those best qualified to interpret a work with the composition of which he was closely associated." That the or- chestra applauded after these words was a matter of course, but it was not a matter of course, but a very unusual compliment, that the orchestra applauded him after discovering how he performed his task. Porges writes : "Anton Seidl is a conductor of the highest rank. That was made evident at once to the players whom he led with a firm hand ; they applauded him already at the end of the first act, and after the second act, which he led with overwhelming passion, they broke out into a storm of applause." On July 9 Mr. Seidl wrote to his wife a long letter from London, from which I translate a few pages : " My Dearest Gusterl ! " I have just got back from Bayreuth. I can only say it was glorious. Siegfried, who, by the way, is a charming and im- mensely talented young man, introduced me to the orchestra very cordially. There was applause ; every one was full of curios- ity and we went at it immediately with all our might and main. 69 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL After the first act the players as well as Frau Cosima broke out into loud and prolonged applause, which was redoubled after the second and also after the third act. I had to make few stops, for the players were attentive and luck favored us so that the result was grand. Truly, Wagner's spirit had come over me ; I heard everything distinctly from the beginning, which is very difficult in this lowered orchestral place. My wide experience in conducting in all sorts of places made it easy for me to sur- mount all difficulties. Everybody declared that no one had ever so quickly and unobtrusively adapted himself to the situation. Frau Cosima embraced me at least twenty times and wept ; she said that the good old times seemed to have returned, that I had brought back the conception of the 1882 festival. My way of conducting as well as my face reminded her, she said, of her father [Liszt]. In a word, everybody congratulated me most cordially. The orchestral players declared they had never been conducted as on this occasion and wondered where I got all this. Many offers have already come to me. I was invited to con- duct the Kaim concerts in Munich ; from Bremen came another offer relating to concerts, and in March and April I was asked to conduct Wagner operas in St. Petersburg, Moscow and War- saw. A mysterious letter came from Berlin inquiring whether I was willing to accept the position of the foremost conductor in Germany, the writer offering to come to Bayreuth and dis- cuss the matter. Richter advises me to go to Pesth, where they need me, he said, as a starving man needs bread , and so on. So you see — victory in all directions. . . . As for London, Mr. Higgins has already intimated that he counts on me for certain next May, June and July. Now I must close. I kiss you a million times ; you poor thing, you have had to wait long for this letter, but my work and excitement did not allow me to 70 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL write sooner. At home everything is well, I hope. Another kiss from your faithful Toni. " P. S. — Last weeic I sent ;^ioo to Seligmann's. Use it if needed. Greetings to Rosi, Veroni and friends. Plenty of crackers for Wotan and Mime." I have met several American music-lovers who had attended nearly all the Bayreuth festivals, and they declared that no one had ever penetrated so deeply into the spirit of Parsifal as Anton Seidl. I may add that Wagner intended to have him conduct this, his last work, in 1882 ; but as the King of Bavaria had lent him his royal orchestra, whose conductor, Hermann Levi, was also a capable interpreter of his scores. It would have been ungracious to carry out his original plan. But ifthusdeprived of the honor of conducting the first production of Parsifal, Anton Seidl had the privilege of leading its one hundredth performance at Bayreuth, and it was, at the same time, the last opera he ever conducted — a touching and beautiful ending of his stage career. A PERMANENT ORCHESTRA This was, however, by no means the end of his musical career. It so happened that Mr. Grau gave no opera in New York the following season, the consequence being that Mr. Seidl had to devote all his energies to concerts. There was a series of twelve at the Astoria Hotel, at which the price of a ticket was I5. There were other series in Chickering Hall and in Brook- lyn, more than sixty in all, including the Philharmonic concerts, augmented from twelve to sixteen because of their ever-growing success under his direction. And yet he was not contented. He felt more and more strongly that a man of his eminence, called upon to give so many concerts, ought to have his own or- 7' ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL chestra, of which he could control the membership, the pro- grams, the rehearsals and everything. The situation was des- cribed at length in an editorial of mine, which appeared in the Evening Post, and which may here be quoted : " A number of local music-lovers have started a movement for collecting a large fund to be used in founding a permanent orchestra for Mr. Anton Seidl. It is probable that on the success of this movement depends the momentous question whether Mr. Seidl will remain in America or go to Europe. Mr. Seidl made his reputation as a conductor. before he came to America, thirteen years ago, and it is well known that in the last years of his life Wagner favored him above all other conductors as an interpreter of his works. He had been in America only a few years when he received an offer of the conductorship of the Royal Opera in Berlin, which, fortunately for New York, he refused. Ever since that time similar offers have come to him nearly every year. The sensation which he created in London last spring as conductor of the Covent Garden opera, and after- wards by his interpretation of Parsifal at Bayreuth, made the Germans realize more vividly than ever before that New York harbors one of the greatest of conductors, and offers to him mul- tiplied rapidly. Munich wanted him as conductor of the Royal Opera, and the de Reszkes endeavored to secure him for the opera season at St. Petersburg. Budapest has twice tried to win him, and among the offers of last summer was one of a tour embracing thirty concerts, for which he was to get as personal honorarium ^7,500. " But Mr. Seidl had pledged himself to conduct our Phil- harmonic concerts, and for this and other reasons he refused all those offers and returned to New York. European man- agers have, however, apparently made up their mind to get our conductor, and lately several new and tempting offers have been made to him. One was from Hamburg, where they seem de- 72 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL termined to secure him, the latest message being, ' Make your own terms.' A few days ago another and still more tempting despatch came from the Royal Opera in Berlin, this being the third time that that most honorable position in all Germany has been offered him. It is a field coveted by all foreign musicians because of its great artistic privileges and opportunities, and be- cause, after a service of some years, the conductor is entitled to a pension. Mr. Seidl is undecided whether to accept or not. He has become an American citizen, is fond of this country, and he realizes that with the Philharmonic Society — as fine an or- chestra as can be found anywhere — together with the German branch of the grand opera here and in London, he has a con- siderable field of activity ; yet he is far from satisfied, owing to the conditions under which most concerts are given in this city. " It must be remembered that in addition to the Philhar- monic concerts, for which three rehearsals are allowed, Mr. Seidl has about fifty miscellaneous concerts. For many, if not most, of these he can secure only one rehearsal where he wants three or four. It is true that even thus he attains results more stirring than most other conductors do here and abroad with well-drilled orchestras ; but he secures them at an enormous expenditure of energy, which is undermining his health and making him pessi- mistic. Not long ago, at a certain concert for which he could get only one rehearsal, not one of the brass players who had rehearsed with him turned up. They had secured a more profit- able job at a ball, and sent inferior substitutes, with whom — totally unprepared as they were — he had to put up, though the worry lest some accident occur, for which the conductor would be held responsible, nearly made him ill. Such things happen frequently, and unless something can be done to remedy them, Mr. Seidl, who is of a highly nervous temperament, will either collapse or leave us for Europe." Alarmed by the urgency of the situation, the friends and 73 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL admirers of Anton Seidl conceived the plan of raising a fund for the establishment of a permanent orchestra. It was agreed that no conductor had ever aroused a larger and more enthusiastic following than Mr. Seidl, yet he was the only prominent leader in this country who had never been provided with a genuine per- manent orchestra. Henschel, Gericke, Nikisch and Paur had the Boston Orchestra to play on as their private instrument, with which no one else could meddle. Mr. Thomas had the Chicago permanent orchestra, Van der Slacken one in Cincinnati, and Mr. Walter Damrosch had for several years an orchestra in New York which was endowed with plenty of money to make it really permanent, and was advertised as New York's only per- manent orchestra. The admirers of Mr. Seidl were, therefore, justified in claiming that it was now his turn to have a first- class band provided for him, so he might show whether he could make it permanent and ultimately self-supporting. It so happened that two projects for a permanent orchestra were started about the same time, neither part)' knowing of the other. Colonel Robert IngersoU's family, including Mr. and Mrs. Walston H. Brown and Mrs. and Miss Farrell, together with Mrs. William Loomis and Miss Elizabeth Hunt Welling first approached Mr. Seidl in regard to the matter. When the other party heard of this plan it promptly agreed to cooperate with the friends of Mr. Seidl, feeling convinced that he was the best man for the place. Accordingly in response to an invita- tion sent out by Mrs. Richard Watson Gilder, Mrs. Wil- liam H. Draper, Mrs. Richard H. Derby, Mrs. Charles A. Post. Mrs. Charles H. Ditson, Mrs. H. T. Finck and Miss Lucia Purdy, more than a hundred music-lovers assembled at the residence of Mr. W. H, Drake to devise plans for raising funds for a permanent orchestra, presided over by 74 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL Mr. Seidl. The meeting was called to order by Mr. Rich- ard Watson Gilder, who called attention to one great advan- tage music has over other arts : " To build up great works of architecture or sculpture requires many years of waiting, but the art of instrumental musical reproduction can be had in per- fection at once. We have a leader of genius, and plenty of first- class players ; all we need, therefore, is to hold these together by financial support, and the thing is accomplished. To see any city of the world purveying for itself finer orchestral music than we might make permanently ours is something not to be endured. A city dedicated primarily to trade needs especially the detachment of spirit that comes through hearing the noblest music, nobly rendered." Dr. W. H. Draper gave a resume of previous attempts to establish a permanent orchestra in New York, and several more addresses were made. A committee on organization was appoint- ed and had several meetings at the house of Dr. Draper. The following list of officers was submitted and unanimously ratified at one of these meetings : President, Charles T. Barney; Secre- tary, Gustav E. Kissell ; Treasurer, William E. Strong ; trus- tees, W. Bayard Cutting, Richard H. Derby, Charles H. Dit- son, Robert W. De Forest, Charles Lanier, Charles F. McKim, Stephen H. Olin, Henry W. Poor, Whitelaw Reid, J. Hamp- den Robb, Albert Stettheimer, Gustav H. Schwab, Mrs. Robert Abbe, Mrs. Arthur Von Briesen, Mrs. Walston H. Brown, Mrs. Prescott Hall Butler, Mrs. Henry Clews, Mrs. William P. Douglas, Mrs. William H. Draper, Mrs. Richard Watson Gilder, Miss Louisa Morgan, Miss Purdy, Mrs. Victor Sor- chan, Mrs. James Speyer. The terms of the subscription to the guarantee fund were as follows : 75 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL "In consideration of the organization of the Orchestra So- ciety of New York and of its undertaking to give musical per- formances, we, the undersigned, each for himself and not one for another, agree with one another and with the said society, to pay, each year, during the five years beginning May i, 1898, to the said society at the call of its treasurer, our pro-rata share of any deficiency that may exist between the annual receipts and expen- ditures of the society, in accordance with the amounts set op- posite our respective names. All, or any part of the yearly amount subscribed by us, not called for in any one year, may be called by the treasurer in any succeeding years if the trustees shall so elect, but in no event shall the total liability of either of us be in excess of five times the amount hereinafter set opposite our names. No subscription hereto is to be binding until a total of at least $25,000 has been subscribed for each of the above- mentioned five years." At the last meeting held, and before subscription blanks had been distributed, it was announced that the sum of $52,000 had already been subscribed by Charles H. Ditson, W. C. Schermerhorn, James Speyer, Charles T. Barney, Charles H. Coster, George T. Bliss, Henry W. Poor, Gustave E. Kissel, William E. Strong, Charles Lanier, Mrs. Gilbert E. Jones and Mr. and Mrs. Henry T. Villard. It had also been announced that Mr. Grau would be glad to engage the Seidl Permanent Orchestra for his opera season, thus insuring the members reg- ular employment for six months a year, and making an addition equal to $80,000 to the fund. He also offered the Metropolitan Opera House free for all rehearsals and concerts. There was no doubt whatever that the additional $75,000 wanted could have been raised in a few weeks. Mr. Seidl was wonderfully elated at the prospect which thus suddenly opened before him. 76 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL He gave up all thought of accepting the offers from Berlin and other German cities, and began making plans for the season. The concert-master of the Permanent Orchestra was to be none less than Mr. Ysaye, who would also have conducted some of the concerts. The only difficulty was in regard to the opera, which would take up so much of the orchestra's time that it would not be possible to give more than ten or twelve concerts. It was, however, agreed that that would be enough to begin with, as New York was already flooded with musical entertainments. THE WORLD AT HIS FEET Thus, after a few years of undeserved neglect, Anton Seidl had suddenly ascended a lofty summit from which he could survey a grand field of future activity. The whole world lay at his feet — Berlin, Budapest, London, New York, the capitals of Germany, Hungary, England, the metropolis of America, were competing for his services. He had to make his choice, and he decided to take the Grand Opera in London and New York, together with the Philharmonic and the Permanent Orches- tras, work enough, in reality, for two men. But he was enthusiastic, and had his body been as strong as his will, he would have accomplished his Herculean tasks. He had been ailing, however, for some time ; indeed, he had never quite re- covered from the attack of pneumonia he had in 1896, which brought him so near death's door that some of the newspapers had articles headed " Seidl Dying." He told me afterwards that he had a hard struggle with death ; he seemed to be ready to drop down a precipice, but held back with his strong will. " If I had yielded the least bit I should have gone over," he said. The last two years of his life had aged him ten in looks. He looked tired and careworn, and was no longer the strikingly hand- 77 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL some man everyone had admired for his splendid head no less than for his interpretative genius. The tragedy of his death has been related by Mrs. Seidl, from whose manuscript I quote once more : FATIGUING DUTIES " On my husband's return from Europe, in September, I was alarmed by his sickly appearance, which he declared was due to a severe cold he had caught, and to the fact of his having partaken of no food for twelve days, but which he felt sure a week's stay in the Catskills would cure. He had, evidently, while in Europe overexerted himself, for in addition to the many rehearsals for Tristan, Lohengrin and Siegfried, in Lon- don, he also directed the rehearsals for Parsifal at Bayreuth. Thus he was compelled to make the journey from London to Bayreuth and return three times. As soon as he finished at Bayreuth, he was at once compelled to return to London, and there conduct several Wagner operas, and immediately after the opera was ended he had to leave again for Bayreuth — a trip which, during the heat of midsummer, is not a trifling matter ; especially for a man like Seidl, who put his whole soul into his work without ever considering that this continual strain might, possibly, ruin his health. He did not seem to realize, at that time, what it was to be fatigued, so thoroughly was he imbued with the sacredness of his mission to insure the production of Parsifal in accordance with the intentions of his dearly beloved master. His ability to accomplish that result, and his desire to stand on the same hallowed spot where his adored master had stood, at Bayreuth, were compensation enough for all the trouble and annoyance he was subjected to. It is a noteworthy fact, seemingly providential, that the last performance of Parsifal 78 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL was the hundredth of that work and at the same time the last opera Anton Seidl ever conducted. It was his swan song and certainly the most fitting end conceivable of a noble career. " During the last summer and the following winter he re- ceived numerous offers of engagement from the highest art insti- tutes of Europe. His insecure position in this country, where engagements are made from year to year and no engagements are made for a series of years, as is the case in Europe, the many poor years (professionally speaking) which he witnessed, and, last, but not least, his useless complaints when he was called upon to give concerts with but one preliminary rehearsal, discouraged him ex- ceedingly. 'Had I but the means,' he would say, 'to engage a permanent orchestra, what great things I could accomplish if I could command as many rehearsals as I chose.' How often he would say, ' What shall I do? If I tear down all my bridges in Europe I am done for as far as that country is concerned. In Europe I can have as many rehearsals as I wish; my income is assured ; I need not kill myself by overwork ; after a certain number of years I may retire on a pension, and I have the most honorable position any man could wish. If I remain here it might possibly be my luck to find myself suddenly with noth- ing to do and in my old age a pauper.' However, his love for his new fatherland prevailed and caused him to give up every- thing else, although thoroughly convinced that his prospects for the future were by no means bright. He doubted at first if the money for an orchestral fund could be raised. ' But whatever may occur,' he said, ' I am determined to remain in this country, for I love America.' " It goes without saying that all this worry excited him ter- ribly, for how many jeering and heartless criticisms he had to put up with on the part of his enemies ! When in addition to this 79 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL he could not during the whole winter get rid of the grippe, and I begged him so often not to work so hard, and to try first to recover his health, he always managed to comfort me and appease my anxiety. A short time before his sudden death he was as- sured by faithful friends and art enthusiasts that he should have his permanent orchestra ! So, after all, the dream of his life was to become a reality ! How happy and proud it made him. ' Now at last I shall be able to show what I can do ! I am sure that in the very first year I shall surprise everybody, and after three years I shall not fear comparison with the best orchestra in the world; and those whose trustful confidence en- abled me to realize my highest ideals shall find their pleasure in my success, and will thus find their reward.' "On Monday, March 28, he had invited Ysaye, Pugno, Gerardy, Schueler and a few other gentlemen to dinner in honor of Pugno, who was to leave for Europe the following Wednes- day. I do not know even now why I objected so much to this dinner; my principal reason was that mv husband would be kept unusually busy during the week by the Philharmonic re- hearsals for the Ninth Symphony, besides other rehearsals ; feel- ing that this would be too much for him in his enfeebled con- dition, I begged him to give his dinner later on, after the production of the Ninth Symphony ; but he insisted on giving it on Monday, because Pugno had to be present and my dear husband had to attend a rehearsal of the chorus on Tuesday. THE LAST DAY "On Monday morning, March 28, he got up in the best of spirits. The promise of a permanent orchestra, the ap- proach of the London season where he was to have such excel- lent artists, besides the promise that all his wishes would be 80 Anton Seidl i8% FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY DUPONT ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL realized in respect to the Ring of the Nibelungen, including a careful attention to all the stage details, and then, to crown the whole, the conducting of Parsifal at Bayreuth — all this was calculated to raise his spirits to the highest pitch, so that he joked and laughed merrily. At eleven o 'clock he had a rehearsal with Madame de Vere and Henry Holden Huss ; after which he had another rehearsal with a foreign singer. Later on came Miss Farrell, with whom he conversed quite a while ; then he took his lunch. Shortly before i p. m. he left me to go to Fleischmann's cafe, where he partook of black coffee and read the papers. He told me he would be home again by six o'clock. Messrs. Ysaye and Schueler arrived first. I asked the former what time it was, and he answered 6.15. " Then Tony may be here any minute," I replied. Presently someone rang the door bell, and Bertha told me that Mr. Bernstein, the brother of my husband's man- ager, Siegmund Bernstein, wished to see me. Without suspecting anything, I went to see him and he told me that my dear husband had gone to his manager's house quite illat five o'clock; that he had had serious gastric trouble, which, after a spell of vomiting, had left him unconscious. On his return to consciousness he felt con- siderably relieved, saying that he would come home after resting a little, and that I should sit down at the table with my guests and proceed with the dinner. I was dreadfully frightened, and turn- ing to the guests, begged them to proceed with the dinner and ex- cuse me, as I had to go to my husband. Mv maid got me a cab, and I drove with Mr. Bernstein to his brother's house. He told me there was no danger, as a doctor had at once been sent for, but terror had fixed its deadly talons on me, and the horse seemed to crawl. I prayed all the time to God, ' Oh, do not let my dearest fall ill ; let me bring him home well.' When I arrived he lay calmly in bed, but did not open his eyes, nor did he say anything. 81 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL Naturally this frightened me, though his breath was calm and regular. I asked the physician if there had been an apoplectic attack, but he answered No, and showed that Tony could, slowly, move his hands and feet. I thanked him, but still fear- ing the worst, I sent a note to our family physician. Dr. Lang- mann, begging him to come at once. The letter was sent in our cab. Meanwhile the Bernstein family, who were extremely kind to me, begged me, whenever I tried to speak to my husband, not to disturb his sleep. Unluckily our physician was not in when the note came. When he at last got it and arrived, he asked me, after looking at my husband, what he had eaten, as there seemed to be evidence of ptomaine poisoning. He immediately sent for a stomach pump, and meanwhile begged me not to be alarmed, as my husband's heart had always been very sound, and the pulse was little above the normal beat. He also telephoned for his assistant, but before Dr. Moscovitch could arrive with the stomach pump, a sudden change must have come over my poor dear husband, for Dr. Langmann was working hard to keep up his breathing. Another physician was sent for, and when both the doctors arrived, blood-letting was resorted to — but in vain. He was past human aid: the noblest, best of hearts had ceased to beat." Dr. Langmann has kindly sent me the following : "Anton Seidl's death was due to one of those exceptionally rare cases when the roe of a shad in springtime develops a deadly poison, so much more deadly since it cannot be detected by sight, taste or smell. There were some minor chronic ailments which must be considered as contributory causes." The autopsy revealed gallstone and liver trouble. Consid- ering the general state of Mr. Seidl's system it is not likely that he could have possibly carried out the tremendous tasks he had 8a ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL taken upon himself for the next year. Better than linger in bed during a long illness it was that he should die at the moment of his supreme glory and triumph. This reflection was the only ray of consolation to the poor, heartbroken widow and the multi- tude of mourning friends. 83 THE FUNERAL SERVICES B Y EDGAR J. LEVEY L METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE, Thursday, March 31, 1898. MEMORIAL SERVICES, ANTON SEIDL, Bom May 6, J 85a Died March 28, J898. ORDER OF EXERCISES: 1. DIRGE, - Musical Mutual Protective Union. Ginductor : Nahan Franko. 2. MALE CHORUS, " Wenn Zwei Freunde Scheiden. " Arion Society. Conduaor : Julius Lorenz, 3. "ADAGIO LAMENTOSO" from Symphonic Pathetique, - Tschaikowsky. Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor : Richard Arnold. 4. "HELDEN REQUIEM, " - - H. ZoeUner. Deotscher Liederkranz. Conductor : H. Zoellner. 5. ADDRESS by the Rev. Merle St Croix Wright. 6. "SIEGFRIED'S FUNERAL MARCH." Wagner. Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor : Henry Schmitt THE FUNERAL SERVICES '■^Tou shall not come nearer a man by get- ting into his house." — Emerson. THE news of the death of Anton Seidl was a shock for which his friends and the New York musical public found them- selves wholly unprepared. On Monday, March 28, 1898, in ap- parently good health, he went after luncheon to the Vienna Cafe, at Tenth Street and Broadway, where he was in the habit of read- ing the foreign newspapers and meeting friends. After leaving there he walked to the house of his manager, Mr. S. Bernstein, 312 East Nineteenth Street, where he first complained of feeling ill. Here his condition rapidly grew so much worse that Doc- tor Swan, and later Doctors Moscowitch, Wagner and Lang- mann, were called in attendance. Their efforts were of no avail, and at 10:15 p. m. Anton Seidl breathed his last. It is a common saying that the renown of an interpretative artist is fleeting and rarely lasts beyond his generation. If so, there is, at least, compensation in the intimate relationship exist- ing with those who come under the immediate sway of his art — a relationship which seems to endow them with a sense of pe- 87 ANTON SEIDI. A MEMORIAL culiar pride in his fame and to cause a sense of personal grief at his loss. Anton Seidl held a place in the affections of the American public such as no artist had ever held before, nor, likely, ever will hold. The last are bold words ; but with all that the future may hold for art and music in America, it is safe to believe that never again will artistic conditions so ripely await the coming of any man as did those which attended Seidl's entrance into our mu- sical life. Arriving here at the moment when the success of mili- tant Wagnerism only needed his authoritative leadership for com- plete victory; obtaining that victory speedily and with it the de- votion — at first partisan, then universal — which always falls to successful leadership in human strife, even in art ; later, the ack- nowledged centre around which clustered and grew the many activities of our musical world, he was, at the moment of his death, in the fulness of his powers, in the zenith of his glory, and the idol of lovers of an art which finds its field in the play of human emotion. It is not surprising, therefore, that the ob- sequies of Anton Seidl were attended by a popular demonstra- tion, unique in the depth of feeling displayed by many thousands. Mrs. Seidl had at first opposed the idea of a public funeral. It seemed to her to ill accord with her husband's simplicity and dislike of ostentation. As soon as the news of his death became known, however, the universal desire of the musical public to give tangible expression to its love and respect became too ur- gent to be denied. As though assured that there would be a public funeral, every prominent musical organization in the city, instrumental and vocal, professional and amateur, begged, by the adoption of resolutions and bv personal appeals, to be al- lowed to participate in the services. The directors of both the Carnegie Music Hall and the Metropolitan Opera House ten- 88 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL dered the use of their buildings, and the offer of the latter was accepted as the more appropriate, it having been with the his- tory of opera in New York that Seidl's career had been most prominently identified. The day of the funeral was set for Thursday, March ji. The short time allowed to perfect the arrangements necessitated simplicity in the main features of the public function. There was no time to prepare for an elaborate display of pomp, even had that been thought fitting. The musical public, however, were allowed an opportunity for the expression of their heart-felt grief, and their demonstration of that far surpassed in effect the impression that might have been made by more imposing forms. The services at the Seidl home. No. 38 East Sixty-second Street, were private. At about 12.30 p. m. the funeral cortege proceeding on its way to the Metropolitan Opera House found the streets on the route thronged with sympathetic observers. Not until the procession reached the corner of Fortieth Street and Fifth Avenue, however, did the funeral take on its public character. At this point there were gathered a hundred representative musicians of the Musical Union, who had volunteered, under the leadership of Victor Herbert and Nahan Franko, to act as a full military band to play funeral music to and from the opera house. Preceding the hearse, this band with thrilling volume and rich- ness of sound began the great Beethoven funeral march (op. 26). The opera house was reached at 1.20 p. m. The streets on all sides were crowded with people who had been unable to obtain entrance, but who waited so that they might at least uncover with bowed heads as the coffin passed before them. The ad- mirable police arrangements prevented the great mass of people from becoming unmanageable. 89 ANTON SEIOL A MEMORIAL The pallbearers were Richard Arnold, Carl Schurz, Rafael JosefFy, Eugene Ysaye, Victor Herbert, George G. Haven, A. Schueler, Oscar B. Weber, E. Francis Hyde, David Liebmann, Walston H. Brown, Henry Schmitt, Charles T. Barney, Albert Stettheimer, Julian Rix, Louis Josephthal, H. E. Krehbiel, Dr. William H. Draper, Xaver Scharwenlca, Richard Watson Gilder, August Spanuth, James Speyer, E. N. Burghard, Paul Goepel, Edward A. MacDowell, Henry T. Finck, Zoltan Doeme, Al- bert Steinberg and Edgar J. Levey. Preceded by the pallbearers and followed by the mourners the remains were borne into the house while the brass band on the stage played a solemn dirge. Instantly the vast assemblage arose and remained standing while the sad procession marched down the aisle. The strains of the music were broken by the sobbing of many. Nothing more dramatic had ever been seen on the stage than that entrance. The same thought was in the minds of everyone. All that was mortal of Anton Seidl was entering the house of his greatest triumphs "zum letzten mal" — for the last time. His house, it almost seemed ; and this a last home-coming. The four walls, the auditorium, the stage were felt to be permeated with the memories of those triumphs. The echoes of loud applause and the cheers of bygone days lingered in the air, and there came to the memory an overwhelming rush of the melodies of old. Down, slowly down to the orchestra pit, and there on a catafalque on the selfsame spot on which he had so often stood in life, he took his place again. From the railing to the stage the space was draped in black, and surrounding the catafalque on all sides were masses of flow- ers sent by friends, musicians, artists and singers from all parts 9° ANTON SEIDL — -A MEMORIAL of the world. Three of these pieces call for mention. One was a conductor's desk, bearing an open score, imbedded in the flowers of which there appeared on the one page a portrait of Wagner, on the other, one of Seidl, and the inscription was " Vereint auf Ewig." Another was a wreath of several thousand violets from Jean and Edouard de Reszke. The third was a floral tribute from Lillian Nordica, who had ever taken pleasure in acknowledging how much of her success in the role of Isolde she owed to her studies with Seidl. This bore the singularly appropriate quota- tion from Isolde's lament before the body of Tristan : " Closed is the eye, and stilled the heart, and there is not even the zephyr of a passing breath. She must stand before you weeping." On the stage, which was set as a cathedral and lighted by many candles, sat the members of the Philharmonic Orchestra, awaiting then, as so often before, the rapping on the conductor's desk calling for attention. Surrounded by his friends, on the one side by the musicians he had led, on the other by the pub- lic he had moved, there arose and enveloped him for the last time the waves of beautiful sound he had loved so well to evoke. The short but effective musical programme was excellently rendered, the musicians being evidently moved and inspired by the occasion. In the Tschaikowsky Adagio, which had been one of the favorites of Anton Seidl's last years, there was the note of poignant grief running into self-abasement and crushing hope- lessness ; in the Wagner number a glorification, an apotheosis. The eulogy delivered by the Rev. Mr. Wright was touch- ing and eloquent. In large part extemporaneous and delivered from but few notes, it cannot, unfortunately, be reproduced. 91 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL Some of his remarks, however, as recorded in the journals of the day, were as follows : ADDRESS OF MR. WRIGHT " What is the mind of man to music ? How can his words be heard beside its mighty voice ? Yet music was his speech. Music is great, because man, its maker, is first great. There is but one mind and one voice that might be desired here to-day, and that is mute. He lies here dumb among the tributes of sorrowing friends. " To-day we honor a man who first honored himself, who honored us, honored our city and our country by making America a worthy member of the great international musical family. He, as director of the opera, had the courage to give music a new birth, and he may justly be called the premier of the music of America. As the soldier is carried to his grave with flags lowered and amid the volleys, so it is but just that he should lie here amid the scenes he loved so well. " This, our fellow, was a creator. His magic touch and enchanting sympathy opened a new world. One such work as he has performed is sufficient achievement for a life. He was a foreigner, but of that class of foreigners who make a country native to our souls — a citizen of this country preferring America and by America preferred. He was a leader perpetual in the everlasting war against evil, selfishness, and lust, his only thought to uplift and ennoble men. " Though dead, he lives. His influence over music is im- perishable. As music is the mother of arts, and father of sub- stantial character, so he brought his inspiration and comfort to our wearied souls. Music heals, unites, connects, completes and frees man to his true self. 92 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL " All honor to Anton Seidl. He is mourned by two worlds because he brought to each a new world, the inward revelation of the spirit. There lies his baton. No man shall take it up. Anton Seidl was unique. Anton Seidl forever." After the Rev. Mr. Wright had finished his words, and just before the funeral march was played, Mr. Krehbiel appeared on the stage and read the following dispatch sent from Wheel- ing by Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll, a firm friend and devoted admirer : DISPATCH FROM COLONEL INGERSOLL " In the noon and zenith of his career, in the flush and glory of success, Anton Seidl, the greatest orchestral leader of all time, the perfect interpreter of Wagner, of all his subtlety and sym- pathy, his heroism and grandeur, his intensity and limitless pas- sion, his wondrous harmonies that tell of all there is in life, and touch the longings and the hopes of every heart, has passed from the shores of sound to the realm of silence, borne by the mys- terious and resistless tide that ever ebbs but never flows. " All moods were his. Delicate as the perfume of the first violet, wild as the storm, he knew the music of all sounds, from the rustle of leaves, the whisper of hidden springs, to the voices of the sea. " He was the master of music, from the rhythmical strains of irresponsible joy to the sob of the funeral march. " He stood like a king with his sceptre in his hand, and we knew that every tone and harmony were in his brain, every pas- sion in his heart, and vet his sculptured face was as calm, as serene as perfect art. He mingled his soul with the music and gave his heart to the enchanted air. He appeared to have no limitations, no walls, no chains. He seemed to follow the path- 93 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL way of desire, and the marvelous melodies, the sublime harmon- ies, were as free as eagles above the clouds with outstretched wings. " He educated, refined and gave unspeakable joy to many thousands of his fellow-men. He added to the grace and glory of life. He spoke a language deeper, more poetic than words — the language of the perfect, the language of love and death. " But he is voiceless now ; a fountain of harmony has ceased. Its inspired strains have died away in night, and all its murmur- ing melodies are strangely still. " We will mourn for him, we will honor him, not in words, but in the language that he used. " Anton Seidl is dead. Play the great funeral march. En- velop him in music. Let its wailing waves cover him. Let its wild and mournful winds sigh and moan above him. Give his face to its kisses and its tears. " Play the great funeral march, music as profound as death. That will express our sorrow — that will voice our love, our hope, and that will tell of the life, the triumph, the genius, the death of Anton Seidl." At the last words the Philharmonic Orchestra began the funeral interlude from Die Gbtterd'dmmeriing and as its last fading notes died away the final tribute of love and respect had been paid by the music-loving public of the metropolis of the western world, where Seidl had made his home. " Und scheint die Sonne noch so schon, Am Ende muss sie untergehen ! " The procession reformed and, preceded as before by the band of musicians from the Musical Union, the remains were taken 94 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL to the crematory at Fresh Pond, where they were incinerated in accordance with the wish that Seidl had so often expressed. In the vast throng that filled the Metropolitan Opera House, at these obsequies there may have been a few whose presence was to be accounted for merely by that curiosity which often prompts people to attend any imposing public ceremony. To such, if we may imagine them as unmusical and ignorant of the peculiarly intimate relation that existed between Seidl and the New York public, it must have been a cause for astonishment that there should have been man- ifested such deep emotion on the part of so many thousands, most of whom could have had no personal acquaintance with the dead. Why should such depth of feeling be exhibited for one with whom no glance had been exchanged, between whom no word had ever passed ? Why did the sense of loss seem so per- sonal ? For these thousands a well-beloved friend had indeed passed away — none the less a friend because their communion with him had not been by spoken words. For with friendship it is far less the spoken word that counts than that sympathy which is the consciousness and realization of common under- standing and emotion. Music is the artistic expression of emotion ; and when music stirs the heart there is at once established between all listeners a mutuality of sentiment, the sincerity of which is never paralleled in any spoken exchange of ideas. Toward the moving cause of this wonder — the interpretative artist — why should there not exist, when the feeling is deep, such gratitude as is known only in ideal friendship ? But Anton Seidl was more than an interpretative artist: he reproduced. All dramatic 95 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL music is the physical expression of the composer's emotion ; and a great artist, if not so overmastered by the sensualism of his art as to seek a mere tribute to the beauty of musical forms, will arouse that same emotion in his audience. It was in his dominant freedom from the tyranny of musi- cal notation that Seidl's greatness appeared most manifest. He did not read from his scores as one would read from a book ; but, like a great orator, he mastered their contents and then de- livered them for the message that was there. Music alone of all the arts speaks solely through terms of sensual beauty, and it is too often true that a musical perform- ance finds in its means its end ; if the ear is pleased, what mat- ters it if the heart be left untouched ? Anton Seidl cared for no music that did not stir the pulse. But if he was moved he would move others; for it was his gift that he could reproduce in tones whatever he felt, naturally, unaffect- edly, truthfully, powerfully. In his conducting he ever sought out the feeling that underlay the composition, and the same emotions that in the heart of the composer first gave the music birth he reproduced in the hearts of his listeners. He never let music play itself, or " played it through "as the phrase is. Hence the universal tribute to his " strong individuality " ; which meant nothing more than an acknowledgment that, like the perfect or- ator, he had mastered the spirit of the composition and spoke with conviction. Many conductors, lacking this, and with the end of only enouncing the physical beauty of musical forms, are frequently betrayed into timidity in the execution of phrases. For such as these, the creators and followers of that arid, pseudo-classical tradition, so chilling to art, there is no expression in music where none has been specifically indicated by the composer. If music were always to be interpreted by great artists, composers would, 96 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL doubtless, like Sebastian Bach, eschew indications of tempi and avoid all dynamic marks. With Seidl, the expression was instinctive, and the discourse never flagged ; never became monotonous or commonplace ; and if it had been possible to musi- cally annotate his readings, the scores would have been inde- cipherable from the multitude of marks of expression. Under him the orchestra truly approached the Wagner ideal of an ever-moving sea of sound ; the ebb and fall, the swell and hush of the music were continuous and ever changing. The sympathy of his audiences responded to the beats of his baton until it seemed as though it were less the instruments of his musicians than the attuned hearts of his listeners upon which he was playing. And so it was that the thousands mourning at the bier of a dead musician with whom they had never exchanged a word, grieved for the loss of a friend with whom they had so often undergone the same emotions. The essence, the ideal of friend- ship was there ; and that they had been moved together under the spell of music, rather than by the less potent force of spoken words, did but warrant the realization of a closer in- timacy. 97 SOME PERSONAL TRIBUTES THE PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY THE first rehearsal for the eighth concert of the Philharmonic Society was conducted by Anton Seidl, the second by the concert master Mr. Richard Arnold, and the third by Mr. Van der Stucken, of Cincinnati. One of Mr. Seidl's favorite compo- sitions, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, was on the programme. Under the circumstances the last movement with the Hymn to Joy was, of course, omitted and in its place was played the Dead March from Die Gdtterddmmerung, which, as at the memorial services, brought tears to many eyes. The following official notice was given out with the pro- gramme : " The Philharmonic Society of New York closes its fifty- sixth season, the most successful and prosperous in its history, in sorrow and mourning, through the sudden decease of its late honored conductor, Mr. Anton Seidl. "After the resignation of Mr. Theodore Thomas in 1891, Mr. Seidl was elected conductor of the society, and has since continuously served in that position until his sudden demise, while actively engaged in preparation for the present concert. Under his leadership the society has uniformly prospered in its attendance and in its artistic results, and the members desire to ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL place on record their profound respect for his consummate at- tainments as a musician and their deep sense of loss in his decease. " Mr. Seidl's genius for conducting was innate, but was fos- tered by assiduous study and long early association with the masters of this generation. His remarkable insight into the orchestral works performed by the society and the vitality and charm of these performances under his direction will long be cherished in the memories of those who have been guided by him in their performance and by those who have listened to their interpretation." A BROOKLYN TRIBUTE I OVERHEARD to-day a child's remark, one who had not reached fourteen vears ; it was intended only for the mother's ear. She knew and loved the great artist Seidl in the simplicity of the soul's life. Through the past five years in his public work she had learned through him to understand and love the mas- ters, and was looking forward to further education under this great interpreter. Having wept to exhaustion, upon the news of his death, which came with such appalling suddenness, she said : " We grieve, and it seems impossible to believe he is gone, but I cannot but feel he has passed into that higher sphere to influence all musicians more." It was a truth I needed, and it is a truth especially needed by his afflicted wife. Our hearts cry out in anguish and rebel- lious questioning, though we have known him only through his work. Such glorious work ! We shall never forget those soul feasts in the Brighton Beach Music Hall until memory is ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL merged In the delights of eternity. Those nights and days when we, through this great apostle of art, were taught how great is the immortal soul of man ! Those nights of Liszt, Wagner, Mendelssohn and Beethoven ! Still, withal, was he hampered, misunderstood and criticised, unable to bring his work to the desired perfection because of paltry dollars, as ever to- ward that perfection he worked in patient love. We knew what his work was, when orchestral circumstances permitted the moulding by his master hand of the fine material under him. But what, oh merciful, pitying God, what must be the desolation of the heart of his stricken wife ? But desolation only, in the first frightful severance of such a tie, as existed between this greatest of all conductors and the companion and partner of his life's work : she being a musician, could support and comfort him in his moments of disappointment and discouragement. None need such loving support as pre-eminently as the artist on all lines. But could she and we lose for a time our own sense of awful sorrow and loss, to look out in spirit and see that nature, expressing itself, without limitation, in the company of those mighty souls whose work he interpreted in so unparalleled a way, one could be glad in his joys, and forgetting our desola- tion, rejoice with him and for him. Then, blessed truth to all sorrowing hearts, he is not dead, but living ! Not merely living in the hearts of all those who were privileged to work with, and therefore truly know him, but living, individually, living as are all the great and mighty ones, aiding and abetting the spiritual work of art. Those who, in their sordid, narrow, uninspired lives, have thought him cold, let them read his article in the Music of the Modern World, " About Conducting," and see there if such can feel the mighty pulsation of the artist soul and recognize at 103 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL once the modesty as man and as musician, the manly assertion of his work, who through the master hand could harmoniously blend the different parts of the orchestra into one great and per- fect instrument. That article is a classic, in its purity of lan- guage, depth of truth and artistic enthusiasm ! It was just what we who have loved and known him would have expected. In it one recognizes how great and magnanimous he was ; as he ex- plains the advantages and the disadvantages of orchestral work as it exists to-day ; hampered as it is by lack of means from be- ing a permanent orchestra in which all the artists work to the mutual benefit of all, instead of being forced to seek outside work to support themselves and fimilies. He knew he had been criticised and blamed through the misunderstanding of his critics, yet he simply makes an impersonal explanation for the benefit of musicians, for the better understanding of music as an art. How could we know that those high, pure and lofty senti- ments, crystallized in perfect form, were to be his last ! Those who knew him best knew he had only begun to be, where in individual work he cared to express himself musically. P. E. A. L. Brooklyn, March 31, 1898. BY ALBERT STEINBERG SEIDL THE MAN ON an early winter afternoon, about fifteen years ago, there stood near the dingy railway station in Bayreuth a slender, smooth-faced man — he looked scarcely more than a boy then — who could not conceal his grief as did the older people who en- deavored to console him. 104 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL First a man with a reddish beard and huge spectacles ap- proached him and spoke a few kind words. This was Hans Richter, and every one, even the foreigners, instantly recognized the High Priest of Wagnerian Art. The couple were presently joined by a veritable giant of a man, who had in his pale blue eyes the dreamy and yet the penetrating glance of a prophet. " Albert Niemann," whispered the crowd of mourners, for Rich- ard Wagner's body was expected from Venice, and the little town of Bayreuth was draped from end to end in mourning and the lanterns were flickering feebly, it being a dark, bleak and miserable day. The little group referred to grew larger every minute, Levi, Piglhein, Lenbach, Reichmann and a host of other notabili- ties appeared upon the scene. They all spoke in hushed tones and the young man seemed never to hear a word. Who was he that he should grieve so much more than the others ? An artist without a doubt. His sensitive features and the shock of hair that flew wildly about his face would have told you as much the moment you set eyes on him. A MAN TO KNOW But was he also near of kin to the dead man that he should be so utterly unnerved .'' The writer of these lines addressed himself to the Count Schukowski, the master of ceremonies on that lamentable day, and was told that the disconsolate young man was " no other than Anton Seidl. He had at one time been Wagner's private secretary, and had triumphantly taken Angelo Neumann's ' Wagner-Theatre,' not alone through Germany, but also through Italy. The master always had a great afl^ection for Seidl," the Count continued, " had taken the warmest interest in his career ; he feels, of course, as if he had lost his dearest 105 \ ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL friend. You should know him, for he is a man of great, per- sonal charm and surely a remarkable artist, for you know that Richard Wagner never had the least patience with any one who wasn t. Little did I think that the man who interested me so much then was destined to spend nearly the remainder of his days in America. For in the fall of '85 I was suddenly accosted on the street bv a friend, who, before I knew it, presented me to Anton Seidl. I told him that it wasn't our first meeting, and when I re- called to him the incidents of that mournful day in Bayreuth he instantly grasped me by the hand as if I were indeed an old friend. He spoke sadly and reminiscently of the first meeting, but when I said : " Now, really, Kapellmeister, what did you think of the funeral march from Gotterddmmerung as it was played by the Bayreuth town band at Wagner's funeral ? " he burst into uncontrollable laughter, for his sense of musical humor was of the keenest. ''lohengrin'' revealed anew A few weeks after this encounter Seidl conducted for the first time in New York, Lohengrin being the opera. We all thought we knew that opera perfectly well, and yet it sounded so differently that many of us were greatly puzzled. Not alone were the climaxes built up in a strange manner, the melos brought out in a more plastic fashion, and a hundred lovely poetic details supplied that were formerly missing, but the opera, as I have al- ready observed, sounded differently. Being asked why this was so, Mr. Seidl smiled and even winked, but refused to give any further explanation. For my own part, I think that Mr. Seidl may have had the same experience with Lohengrin in New 106 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL York that Hans Richter had in London. When the latter re- hearsed the opera the first time in the EngHsh capital it sud- denly leaked out that the parts contained no less than one hun- dred and eighty-six errors, and that it had been given in this way, mistakes and all, for something like a quarter of a century. Let that be as it may, Anton Seidl was acclaimed a musician of the highest type the moment he made himself heard here. And his success grew apace. With every new interpretation the number of his adherents became larger, their admiration more fervent. AN ''aMERICAMANIAC'' Wherefore Mr. Seidl determined forthwith to settle down here with his wife — who, as Auguste Kraus, was known as one of the brightest ornaments of the German Opera Company — and to become an American citizen. In those days he was afflicted with " Americamania " in its acutest form. Everything appealed to him — our democratic ways, our enthusiasm for the works of Wagner, our mixed drinks, our Welsh rarebits, our American clubs, our American scenery. He lived for a while with his wife in West Thirty-eighth street, but decamped quickly for rea- sons that had better not be told, though a French maker of farces would embrace you for telling him these reasons. Resolving never to be taken in again, Anton Seidl and his wife took up their quarters for a while in the apartments of the Metropolitan Opera House, but it was not until they took a house of their own that even their intimate friends had the slightest notion of the couple's charming domestic attributes. For never was there a house in which you met with such boundless hospitality, with such truly interesting people. 107 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL MIME, THE SPOILED CHILD At first it contained, besides the servants, but four inmates — viz., Mr. Seidl, Mrs. Seidl, Bertha, their trusted companion, and Mime. Mime was the spoiled child of the family and the sweetest, cleverest and most devoted Dachshund that ever came over the water. To be sure he was not very musical, but he could do things that no " Dackel " ever did before. When he saw other " Dackels " showing off, by sitting for a moment on their hind legs, Mime would bark in derision, for Mime always sat on his hind legs. It was as easy to him as is the G minor Mendelssohn concerto to a modern piano virtuoso. There were other and finer things that Mime could do. Thus, when Mrs. Seidl would say, " Wie spricht der Hund " (let me hear the dog speak), this canine prodigy would actually talk. What he said was, of course, intelligible to Mr. and Mrs. Seidl only ; also, perhaps, to the faithful Bertha, who would obligingly interpret to the visitor the wise remarks of Mime. But even the man who was not up in Dachshund lore could un- derstand the sapient Mime the moment the lid of the grand piano was opened. He would growl and snarl and retire to the dining-room, for music made his breast savage, and neither Bach nor Wagner would soothe him in the least. As soon as all had become quiet again Mime would reappear in the drawing room to exhibit to the astonished guests his most artistic feat. Walk- ing on his hind legs, he would approach Mr. Seidl and " speak " in most ingratiating tones. Mime's master would refuse to listen until the dog whined and begged and implored. Then, and not until then, would Mr. Seidl lower the hand which held his burn- ing cigar, from which Mime with his left paw would brush off the ashes. To describe the amazement of the uninitiated visitor, the delight of Mr. and Mrs. Seidl, and the haughty pride with io8 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL which Mime — his feat once accomplished — would take himself off to bed is really quite impossible. EARLY FRIENDS IN AMERICA In the early days of his American life Mr. Seidl had only a few friends who saw much of him. He cared but little for society and he did not acquire the English language as easily as did his wife. The circle then consisted of Mr. Edgar J. Levey, now assistant Deputy Controller, who was so brimful of musical enthusiasm that he even studied German to make himself intelli- gible ; of Mr. Oscar B. Weber, of Niemann, the most com- manding figure of the German operatic stage, and several others. Wagner's music was not as familiar then as it is nowadays, and nothing gave Anton Seidl greater joy than to sit down at the piano and unfold to his friends the beauties of Wagner's scores. He had little or no technique from a virtuoso's point of view. And yet he played the instrument in a manner that was unique. His touch was so beautiful that the piano seemed to sing, and he could play in a manner that was truly orchestral. THE MUSIC HE LOVED The music of Wagner was, of course, his religion, but he loved Bach passionately. If ever vou took him in his study un- awares you found him pondering over a prelude or a sonata of the pious old cantor. Latterly he was wrapped up in Tschaikowsky, too, and these three masters — Bach, Wagner, and Tschaikowsky — he revered more, I think, than any other composers. They appealed more strongly to his temperament ; but it must not be thought for that reason that he was not in sympathy with other things he undertook, for he was a firm believer in the old saw that what is worth doing at all is worth doing well, and nothing 109 ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL could have been more unjust than the charges which were fre- quently brought that Mr. Seidl slighted all music that was not Wagnerian. These rumors frequently prejudiced people against him, especially distinguished singers and pianists. Yet when Mr. Seidl unexpectedly led Faust one evening Jean de Reszlce, who had never sung this opera under him before, re- marked to me : " I was never so surprised in my life, for I never sang with so much ease and assurance before. The man seemed to anticipate everything I did, and accompanied me as if we had studied the part together for years." Similarly did Mr. Joseffy express himself to me when he first played to Seidl's accompaniment one of the Tschaikowsky concertos in Philadelphia some years since. " Seidl can conduct anything — when he wants to," was the virtuoso's verdict. seidl's wit and wisdom No one enjoyed this qualified panegyric more than Seidl did himself when he heard of it. It cannot be said that he was a great wit himself, but he greatly admired that quality in others. On the other hand, he possessed a certain dry humor that was delicious, and which was doubly delightful to those who under- stood the Austrian dialect, in which he always spoke. To men- tion but two of his sallies which went the rounds at the time they were made. A young singer whose voice was gorgeous, but whose talent, as is frequently the case, was infinitesimal, often pestered him by asking him his advice. She had just been making bad slips at a rehearsal and came to him, score in hand, saying, with a mixture of composure and contriteness, " Now, what do you advise me to do, Herr Kapellmeister ? " And gazing steadfastly at the young woman for a minute or two he retorted. ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL with the utmost deliberation, " I advise you " — emphasizing the latter pronoun — " to marry some rich old tradesman." And the lady did ! Again, when the agents of Richard Strauss made what he considered exorbitant demands for the performance of " Thus Spake Zarathustra," Mr. Seidl observed, " I know that Zara- thustra spoke a great deal, but he didn't say that much." Rehearsals worried him ineffably, for he was always willing to give up hours of his time to them, to discuss with the mem- bers of the orchestra what he thought and felt and what he wanted. On such occasions he was never met even half-way. The instrumentalists, who owed him much, instead of listening to wisdom such as they may never hear again, bethought them- selves of their private lessons and often grew restive till Mr. Seidl himself lost all patience. A FAVORITE RESORT But rehearsals or no rehearsals, and in good humor or in ill-humor, you could see him every afternoon at about three wending his way to the Cafe Fleischmann, situated at the corner of Tenth Street and Broadway. Detesting walking as he did, he would take the Fourth Avenue car, and, indifferent to all climatic conditions, always stand on the front platform smoking his cigar. To the majority of the drivers and brakemen the gentleman in the high silk hat, and the long hair, was known simply as " The Professor." That's a funny little democratic way we've got. A few who were curiously interested made it their business to dis- cover his identity, and, upon boarding the car, courteously saluted him as " Mr. Seadle." But his was a familiar figure not at Fleischmann's alone, but in all uptown resorts as well. At the Waldorf-Astoria, at ANTON SEIDL A MEMORIAL the Stewart House (where he stopped whenever his town house was closed), and at Delmonico's,the attendants looked pleased the moment they clapped eyes on him, for he was not only exceed- ingly generous, but also very courteous to those who ministered to his wants. The most lovable side of the man's nature, however, was revealed when he was quite free from care. Before he went to London for the last time, he went to his summer home in the Catskill Mountains. There, in a place called Fleischmann's — though better known by its former name which was Griffin's Corners — Mr. Seidl was as full of life and pranks as a school- boy. Had the place been a bit of his own Hungarian Father- land, he could not have been fonder of it. And when any of his friends came up from the city to visit him he was in a ver- itable transport of joy. Nothing was too good for such a one, and Mrs. Seidl, who was one of the most loyal, devoted wives man ever had, vied with her husband to make the guest feel at home. Heavens, how those people did feast ! Even Mr. Pepys, of diary fame, would have been satisfied. A dozen people could have turned up for dinner unexpectedly and yet the supply of Leber- knoedel-Suppe, of trout, of Backhaendl and of Apfelstrudel would never have given out. The wines, too, being of the choic- est vintage, the house naturally rang with mirth and laughter upon such occasions. HIS DUMB FRIENDS But when there were no people Mrs. Seidl, in spite of a horde of servants, would herself look alter her vegetable garden or after her kennel, for Mime no longer ruled as autocrat in the house of Seidl. He had nearly been dethroned by Wotan, a ^ '*-4 1^ rv Cv "ft '*-* •>k C "•i* ^