Metropolitan Opera Archives

Karl Kritz, who has been assistant conductor at the Metropolitan for the past five years, directed this performance, the season's third, in the absence of Fritz Busch. He proved to be a spirited and efficient leader, keeping the score in motion, and preserving the characteristic touches that Mr. Busch had put into the production. This single performance of an opera prepared by others was no real test of Mr. Kritz's abilities, but he did prove that he is reliable and more concerned with giving a smooth and eloquent performance than with trying to display his own personality.

The cast was the same as at the first performance, with Italo Tajo as Figaro; Bidu Sayao as Susanna; Eleanor Steber as the Countess; John Brownlee as the Count; Jarmila Novotna as Cherubino; and in other roles, Claramae Turner, Alessio de Paolis, Leslie Chabay, Salvatore Baccaloni, Lawrence Davidson, Paula Lenchner, Thelma Altman, and Lillian Raymondi. Mr. Tajo, Miss Sayao, Miss Steber, Miss Novotna and the others captured a large measure of the incandescent wit and grace of the music. Thanks to Mr. Busch's preparation, Herbert Graf's stage direction, the singers, and the orchestra, this production renews one's faith in the Metropolitan as an artistic institution.

Search by season: 1948-49

Search by title: Le Nozze di Figaro,

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