[Met Performance] CID:54615



Siegfried
Ring Cycle [41]
Metropolitan Opera House, Wed, February 12, 1913 Matinee





Siegfried (101)
Richard Wagner | Richard Wagner
Siegfried
Jacques Urlus

Brünnhilde
Johanna Gadski

Wanderer
Putnam Griswold

Erda
Louise Homer

Mime
Albert Reiss

Alberich
Otto Goritz

Fafner
Basil Ruysdael

Forest Bird
Bella Alten


Conductor
Alfred Hertz


Ring Cycle [41]








Review 1:

Review in the Herald:

AFTER BAD START, MR. URLUS, NEW TENOR, 'FINDS HIMSELF;' TRIUMPHS AS SIEGFRIED

Metropolitan Recruit, One of the Best Siegfrieds Ever Heard Here

Lincoln's Birthday was celebrated melodiously at the Metropolitan yesterday, Two performances of opera running almost continuously from early afternoon to midnight - "Siegfried" at the matinee and "Tosca" at night. The line for the "Tosca" performance began to form at the box office at four in the afternoon and by seven o'clock it extended unbroken around the building to Seventh Avenue and Fortieth Street. More than five hundred persons were turned away unsatisfied and the audience was referred to by Mr. Earl Lewis, the treasurer, as "capacity."

The afternoon "Siegfried" was practically a flawless performance. It was the second time that Mr. Jacques Urlus, the new German tenor, has sung here, and it really was his debut, for at his first appearance, last Saturday, he lost his voice utterly in "Tristan und Isolde." Yesterday he "found himself" and sang and acted a Siegfried that won for him an unqualified success. During the first act he was sparing of his voice at times, nevertheless at the end of that act, the audience told him by insistent applause and many curtain calls, that he satisfied.

In the second act he came near spraining his ankle, as he had had no stage rehearsal and was not accustomed to the arrangements of the platforms. His foot slipped, but he deftly caught himself and held the pose so that few noticed the mishap. It was an ideal second act, for Mr. Urlus displayed that rare combination of youthful buoyancy, a lyric, beautiful voice and an abundance of sentiment that never lapsed into sentimentality. In the final act he finally loosed the full power of his voice and sang gloriously.

In appearance he recalls Max Alvary, the ideal Siegfried of years ago. In acting and singing he suggests the artistic subtlety and lyric beauty of his voice that Mr. Jean de Reszke had. His voice is not metallic, but rather "dark" in color. His phrasing is that of a musician, his enunciation is clear and free from exaggerations, his acting is plastic, his poses effectively picturesque. He is the best Siegfried that Metropolitan operagoers have seen and heard in many years. Mme. Gadski as Brünnhilde sang better than she had done at any previous time this season. Mme. Homer was dramatically impressive as Erda, and Mme. Alten sang beautifully the music of the Forest Bird.

Mr. Reiss, as Mime, was admirable in every play and gesture. He was not even put out by the dropping of an egg in the first act, when he was brewing a poison portion. He aimed to drop it in the cup, but it went on the floor, and he scooped it up with his hand. Mr. Griswold sang finely as the Wanderer, and Mr. Goritz was capital as Alberich. Mr. Hertz conducted a wonderful performance, bringing out the poetry of the second act and keeping the volume of his orchestra in control. He was recalled with the other principals after the last act and applauded. It was the third performance in the present "Ring" cycle and by far the best of the series.



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