Metropolitan Opera Archives

The fifth and final 'Der Rosenkavalier' of the season was given on the evening of March 13, with Jarmila Novotna singing Octavian for the first time here, and John Garris, who lately joined the company, doing good work as Valzacchi. The other members of the cast were the familiar ones.

To Octavian, Mme. Novotna brought all her aristocratic charm. Hers is, perhaps, the first Octavian that has ever, on the Metropolitan's stage, convinced one of the high breeding that is the backbone of the character. Unfortunately, Mme. Novotna's unquestionable charm is so wholly a feminine one, that she was not a very convincing boy in spite of her excellent Cherubino in 'The Marriage of Figaro.' Her lovemaking with the Marschallin and, to a less degree, with Sophie, was passionate and occasionally torrid, but the roguish element, present in the first act, decreased as the opera went on. The two delicious lines, 'Nein, Nein, I' trink kein wein', and `Oh! die Schõne Musik' in the Inn scene, failed to register. Mme. Novotna is a personable, high bred and charming Octavian, but the characterization as a whole does not compare with either her Violetta or Mazhenka in 'The Bartered Bride.' The voice, though it sounded well, lacks the necessary heft, especially in the trio.

Mme. Lehmann's Marschallin had its usual qualities of excellence. Marita Farell was an unconvincing Sophie, though her voice sounded well at times. Mr. List, too, gave a good if somewhat uneven performance, scoring many points and letting others get by him. Mr. Leinsdorf seemed in a hurry and more than once things seemed blurred. The stage "business" imposed by Mr. Defrère on Sophie and Octavian, totally destroys the romance of the work's two most treasurable moments, the presentation of the rose and the Mozartean duet at the close.

The remainder of the cast included Messrs. Olitzki, Gurney, Darcy, Dudley, Pechner, Carter, Arshansky, Burgstaller, Oliviero and Engelman, and Mmes. Votipka, Petina, Stellman, Paulee, Van Kirk, Dickey and Montague.

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