, the more the enjoyment derived. And is it not equally true that
Wagner's style of music discourages singing of this sort, or, in fact,
singing of any sort? Are not the principal features of Wagner's operas
the orchestra, acting, and general _mise-en-scene_, and does not
singing, pure and simple, have but little part in it?"

If the writer of these questions had asked them in Wagner's presence I
believe that Wagner would have jumped up and boxed his ears. Nothing
so irritated him as this notion that the singing in his operas is
subordinate to the orchestra, or, in other words, that he puts the
statue in the orchestra and the pedestal on the stage. As early as
1850, he complained to Liszt about his friend Dingelstedt, who, in his
article on the first performance of "Lohengrin," had expressed a
similar opinion. And many years later, in writing of Schnorr von
Carolsfeld's wonderful impersonation of _Tristan_, he begs the reader
to note that the last act of this work contains "an exuberance of
orchestral devices, such as no simple instrumental composer has ever
had occasion to call into use. Then assure yourself," he continues,
"that this complete gigantic orchestra, considered from an operatic
point of view, is, after all, only related as _accompaniment_ to the
'solo' part represented by the monologue of the vocalist, who lies on
his couch; and infer from this the significance of Schnorr's
impersonation, if I call to witness every conscientious spectator at
those Munich performances, that, from the first bar to the last, the
attention and interest of all was centred on the vocalist actor, was
chained to him, and never allowed a single word of the text to escape
through a momentary absence of mind; and that the orchestra, as
compared with the singer, completely disappeared, or, more correctly
speaking, seemed to be a constituent part of his song."

I have never had the privilege of hearing Schnorr, but I heard Scaria
repeatedly at Bayreuth and Vienna, and he always impressed on me, in
the manner here described by Wagner, the supreme importance of the
vocal part in his scores. Not a word of the text was lost, and in the
most difficult intervals his voice was always beautifully and
smoothly modulated. He enabled me to realize for the first time, the
truth of what Wagner said regarding his vocal style, in the following
words: "In my operas there is no difference between phrases that are
'declaimed' and 'sung,' but my declama