[Met Performance] CID:122190



Siegfried
Metropolitan Opera House, Wed, December 15, 1937




Siegfried (176)
Richard Wagner | Richard Wagner
Siegfried
Carl Hartmann

Brünnhilde
Marjorie Lawrence

Wanderer
Friedrich Schorr

Erda
Kerstin Thorborg

Mime
Karl Laufkötter

Alberich
Adolf Vogel

Fafner
Norman Cordon

Forest Bird
Natalie Bodanya


Conductor
Artur Bodanzky







Review 1:

Review signed M. K. in the Brooklyn Eagle

Second Performance of "Siegfried" at Metropolitan Places It Among the Best of Season's Current Productions

"Siegfried" had its second hearing at the Metropolitan last night with Carl Hartmann in the title role, and the performance confirmed the impression of almost a fortnight ago that this is one of the best productions of the Metropolitan season. Though the cast might not be considered great, the singing is of such high order and so consistently good throughout the evening, that the performance, as a whole, ranks among the finest of recent years.

A great share of the success of this production lies with Mr. Hartmann. An experienced artist, he has sung over 50 Siegfrieds in Europe and for all-around performance challenges comparison with the best. His may not be a voice with the fullest, rounded tones nor the warmest quality, but it has a flexibility, dynamic contrast, and dramatic quality to make him a true heldentenor. What is most attractive about Mr. Hartmann is his stage presence and ability to act. At times he sings too much to the audience and waves his arms in futile gestures, but these are minor blemishes in a thoroughly impressive performance. No one has sung the forge scene with more realism; it takes on new life as he sings his way lustily through to the cleaving of the block. In the other acts he sustains his performance so that it rises to a logical climax at the close of the opera.

Karl Laufkötter's Mime has become an outstanding characterization. Friedrich Schorr's Wanderer varies only occasionally from its accepted excellence; Adolf Vogel's Alberich is more and more a contribution to the second act; Kerstin Thorborg is at her best as Erda, and Marjorie Lawrence gains stature with each repetition of her Brünnhilde. Such a cast, supported by Emanuel List as Fafner and Natalie Bodanya as the forest bird, combined with the superior interpretation of Artur Bodanzky conducting the orchestra, give this production its distinction.

The lighting effects could have been improved last night; some of the arranging was clumsy, and there were moments of stage direction which appear unstudied, but they fortunately did not mar the total effect.



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