[Met Performance] CID:149980



Siegfried
Metropolitan Opera House, Mon, February 28, 1949




Siegfried (212)
Richard Wagner | Richard Wagner
Siegfried
Set Svanholm

Brünnhilde
Astrid Varnay

Wanderer
Joel Berglund

Erda
Margaret Harshaw

Mime
John Garris

Alberich
Gerhard Pechner

Fafner
Dezsö Ernster

Forest Bird
Paula Lenchner


Conductor
Fritz Stiedry







Review 1:

Robert Bagar in the World-Telegram

Astrid Varnay Sings in ‘Siegfried’

 

At the Metropolitan Opera House last evening many Wagnerites – perfect and pluperfect – had braved the weather to experience the No. 3 panel of the “Ring” which is, of course, “Siegfried.” Youth or the youth remaining in one, so that there is little chance of “Siegfried”’s ever losing a public all too eager to accept a heroine, Brünnhilde, old enough to be the hero’s mother – and considering her divinity, probably much older.

There are many things one must accept in opera, especially in Wagner opera, which are not readily acceptable in other forms of make-believe. Music, however, makes everything credible, even opera plots as high-flown in symbolism and imagining as those of the German master’s.

The Brünnhilde of the evening was Astrid Varnay, who essayed the part for the first time this season. Miss Varnay looks the part of the heroine to the grace of the movements on the stage, to the majestic demeanor, to the nobility of her singing, and, in short to the letter.

Her voice was big in volume, though readily pliable to the musical requirements of the moment. And she was entirely musical, singing with considerable expression and with delicate and telling changes of pace. The one flaw, in the practically invulnerable equipment, was the distinct tremolo that haunted her higher tones. I wished that it had not been there, although I felt, at the time, that I would not exchange all that I was getting for the more refinement of sound.

The performance, offering familiars in the other roles, moved along rather convincingly under the baton of Fritz Stiedry. Set Svanholm, the Siegfried, has the bearing of a hero, of not the dimensions of one. John Garris was a wonderful Mime. Joel Berglund took on the duties of Wotan, whom he acted and sang well, yet without the resonant tones the part seems to want.

Margaret Harshaw, as an Erda of opulent voice, aided the proceedings considerably. Gerhard Pechner, as Alberich; Paula Lenchner, as the Voice of the Forest Bird, and Deszo Ernster, as Fafner, were the others.



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