Tannhäuser réhabilité (VI) – « La Quatrième » devant la presse parisienne – le snobisme et l’enthousiasme

« La quatrième »’s image in the parisian press – the snobbery and the enthusiasm The greatest star of the Parisian Tannhäuser’s performances in 1895 was Ernest Van Dyck in the title role. According to the Parisian press this production of Wagner’s work owed its success mainly to this Belgian tenor. However after his departure from Paris, and after some other changes of the cast that took place rather rapidly (still in the summer 1895), the performances’ artistic level hasn’t decreased in a significant way, and the work, played continuously until December 15th, 1913, was always highly appreciated by the French audience. Were the enthusiastic reactions of the Parisian public at the turn of the XIXth and XXth centuries to Wagner’s Tannhäuser and his other operas and musical dramas sincere and spontaneous? What was the part of the snobbery in Wagner’s reception in France during La Belle Époque? That was the question asked by some French journalists (Heugel, Maret, Doumic, Coppée and others). The author of the article recalls Georges Rodenbach’s Solomonic answer to this question presented in his text Tannhäuser et le snobisme.