Metropolitan Opera Archives

The season’s final “Die Walküre” was, by and large, a very praiseworthy one. A superlative element from the start to finish was Fritz Stiedry, whose inspiration prefaced every moment and caused one to overlook weaker stage features of which, there were not a few. Max Lorenz, the Siegmund, seemed in better than his usual vocal form (at least during the first half of the [first] act); and although his movement and posturing were exaggerated, they at least did not fly in the face of the psychology of the part, like certain other impersonations the Metropolitan has exhibited. Mr. Lorenz is, at all events, experienced in the dramatic traditions of the Festpielhaus. Rose Bampton’s Sieglinde likewise indulged in overdone stage business, and her approach was only too often from the wrong interpretative angle. Her singing was spread and breathy, and deteriorated steadily as the performance progressed.

Emanuel List’s Hunding had unusual merit, and Herbert Janssen’s Wotan maintained its long-established niveau. This listener (and doubtless not a few others) have repeatedly wondered why Mr. Janssen persistently sings in the third act, “So leicht wähntest du Wonne der Liebe erworen” where Wagner has written “Wonned der Herzens erworben.” Barring the Valkyr battle cry. Helen Traubel’s voice sounded at its sumptuous best, alike in the “Todesverkundigung” and in the closing scene with Wotan. Blanche Thebom’s Fricka, though it lacked the great format, was definitely a superior embodiment.

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