[Met Performance] CID:130960



Siegfried
Ring Cycle [70] Uncut
Metropolitan Opera House, Thu, February 20, 1941 Matinee





Siegfried (193)
Richard Wagner | Richard Wagner
Siegfried
Lauritz Melchior

Brünnhilde
Kirsten Flagstad

Wanderer
Friedrich Schorr

Erda
Karin Branzell

Mime
Karl Laufkötter

Alberich
Walter Olitzki

Fafner
Emanuel List

Forest Bird
Natalie Bodanya


Conductor
Erich Leinsdorf


Ring Cycle [70] Uncut








Review 1:

Review of Irving Kolodin in the Sun

Flagstad and Melchior Sing Uncut "Siegfried"

After an interval of two performances, in which Guest Conductor Bruno Walter and Edwin McArthur had charge of the proceedings, the direction of German opera at the Metropolitan returned to Erich Leinsdorf yesterday, with the uncut "Siegfried" of the matinee Wagner Cycle. Whether the hard-working conductor had profited from the interval of rest, or whether he was merely impelled to a greater effort by these recent events, his "Siegfried" was one of the most alert and well-controlled performances he has recently given us.

For the most part, the cast had been heard in earlier "Siegfried"s of the season, through the superlative vocalism of Kirsten Flagstad, in the final duet, gave a special touch of magnificence to the occasion. Apparently it has now become a policy of hers to avoid the final high C (which is just as well, since it can scarcely be heard in the orchestral turmoil, anyway) but this was a small detail in the mosaic of perfect parts that made up her achievement. Lauritz Melchior's Siegfried was also of excellent quality. As for the dramatic details of the final scene, there would have been as much illusion if the two singers had simply taken a position at the center of the stage and remained there without the exaggerated miming that was seen yesterday. The associated performers were Friedrich Schorr, who sang the first act admirably when the range was below E, Karl Laufkötter (Mime), Karin Branzell (Erda), Walter Olitzki (Alberich), Emanuel List (Fafner) and Natalie Bodanya (Forest Bird). Needless to say, the house was crowded.



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