[Met Performance] CID:9690



Tristan und Isolde
Metropolitan Opera House, Fri, February 27, 1891




Tristan und Isolde (18)
Richard Wagner | Richard Wagner
Tristan
Heinrich Gudehus

Isolde
Antonia Mielke

Kurwenal
Juan Luria

Brangäne
Marie Ritter-Götze

King Marke
Emil Fischer

Melot
Adolph Von Hübbenet

Sailor's Voice
Andreas Dippel

Shepherd
Edmund Müller

Steersman
Wilhelm Schuster


Conductor
Anton Seidl







Review 1:

Review in The New York Times

METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE.

The second performance of "Tristan und Isolde" at the Metropolitan Opera House last evening was attended by a comparatively small audience. Those who do not like Wagnerian music may possibly explain this by saying that it was because the public cannot stand this music-drama. But it will hardly do to assume that it is possible to crowd a house with the dramas of the Nibelung cycle and empty it with "Tristan." People who enjoy one are pretty likely to enjoy the other. Perhaps the real cause of the diminution in the attendance is the lack of general faith in Frau Mielke's ability to rival her predecessor in the rôle of Isolde.

Of course, those who have attended the opera frequently this season know that the present leading soprano at the Metropolitan is not so heroic a singer as Lehman; but it is unjust to assume that her Isolde is not a performance worthy of consideration. It is dignified and serious in conception and significant in some of its action. In many places the soprano betrays a lack of judgment, or rather of high training. In singing she falls short of the requirements of the rôle because her lower register is slender and she forces it, and her middle register is sometimes very acid. Her upper notes are brilliant and powerful.

Herr Gudehus's Tristan is one of the finest that have been seen and heard here. He lacks the eloquent repose of Niemann but he sings the part far better than any of his predecessors. He is almost never false to the key, and his strong and trustworthy upper register, which embraces a fine high C hurled forth fearlessly in "Die Götterdämmerung," is easily equal to the severe demands of this score.

The great disappointment of the performance last night was Frau Ritter-Götze's Brangäne. The music is too high for her voice, and as a result she forced the voice too much and at times sang sharp. All the time she sang out of tune. It was most distressing, Otherwise the performance was generally smooth and effective.



Search by season: 1890-91

Search by title: Tristan und Isolde,



Met careers