Metropolitan Opera Archives

Richard Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger” had proceeded for one full act last evening at the Metropolitan, though not without untoward incident. For the tenor, Set Svanholm, embodying the Walther, had shown more than once a rather uncertain condition of voice. During the intermission between Acts I and II Edward Johnson came before the house to announce a substitution – Charles Kullman for Set Svanholm, owing to the latter’s indisposition.

Be all that as it may, last night’s “Meistersinger” brought considerable pleasure to a large audience, thanks to a handsomely conceived and executed Hans Sachs by Paul Schoeffler, some first-class conducting by Fritz Reiner, and a stage ensemble that was musically and dramatically quite in the picture. Replacement or no replacement that is.

How warm, how genial, how close to the folk humanity in all of us is this fascinating work! To know and, therefore, to love this score is to understand its rich tapestry of sentiment and loyalties and delicate relationships. Things of the spirit far more elevated than one would think are here discussed in an atmosphere of pure enchantment, of pastoral beauty and poetry, of music that is tender and sentimental and dramatically always just and convincing.

Wagnerian Satire

In this opera, if nowhere else, Wagner is a master in the fullest command of his resources. And he may surely be pardoned a long, three-act “J’Accuse” of contemporary critical manners and conceits, for the unfailing charm that emerges out of it in the doing.

His character Beckmesser may be a ludicrous take-off of the music critic Edward Hanslick, but he is also the archetype of all dogma and reaction in art. And as such, of course, he must be destroyed and through the most powerful means available – broad slapstick satire.

Schoeffler Wins Ovation

But with all respect to the others in last night’s cast – Polyna Stoska, as Eva; Gerhard Pechner as Beckmesser; Kirsten Thorborg, as Magdalene; Peter Klein, as David, and so on, not excluding Mr. Kullman’s Walther – it Was Paul Schoeffler who dominated the vocal part of the evening, showing a rare insight into this role of Hans with a lordly, serene, beautifully sung performance.

Not in a long time do I remember getting an emotional kick out of the “Tristan” quotation that is heard in the first scene of Act III, but I did last night because Mr. Schoeffler and Miss Stoska did a pretty and communicative piece of acting at that point.

At the conclusion the audience remained applauding for many minutes, and when Mr. Schoeffler took a solo bow he was given an ovation.

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