Metropolitan Opera Archives

In spite of the ineptitudes of the staging - that foolish "battle in the clouds" without a cloud touches the nadir of Metropolitan absurdity - there was much to admire in yesterday's "Die Walkeure" at the Metropolitan, continuing the matinee Wagner series.

First of all there was Kirsten Flagstad. Her voice rang out with thrilling splendor. Particularly memorable was her delivery of Brünnhilde's last speech, the second "Diess Eine musst du erhoeren!" etc. And then she was one element of the performance that could be looked at, to the eye a real Norse goddess.

Friedrich Schorr sang admirably the parts of Wotan's music that lay within his vocal compass. A noteworthy case in point was the passage beginning "De labie suess dich selige Lust." But his Wotan seems to be inseparable from that preposterous red velvet cloak, and sometimes yesterday he behaved like a male shrew.

Vocally magnificent was the Siegmund of Lauritz Melchior, and Elisabeth Rehtberg, the Sieglinde, sang spiritedly and in better voice that she has done on occasion. Rise Stevens as Fricka grappled intelligently and painstakingly with a task that overweighted her. Emanuel List provided his usual Hunding.

Artur Bodanzky conducted with energy and authority, and the orchestra got along with a minimum of quacking.

Search by season: 1938-39

Search by title: Die Walküre, Ring Cycle [65] Uncut,

Met careers