Metropolitan Opera Archives

Review 1:

Review of Cecil Smith in Musical America
Eleanor Steber sang Eva for the first time since 1946 in the fourth and last performance of Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger.” She was not at ease in the part. In the extensive parlando passages she seemed unable to articulate the words with a tone that was clear and free from tremolo; the clouded quality of her voice frequently kept it from carrying across the orchestra. Even in the quintet, which requires a sort of sustained singing at which Miss Steber is ordinarily adept, she appeared to be calculating her breaths painstakingly, and she sang a bit sharp. In the action of the part she was rather too floppy and coy, as though she had not found the proper way of projecting spontaneous and unaffected youthfulness from the stage. I do not remember another performance in which Miss Steber communicated so few of the necessary vocal and histrionic points.

Mr. Reiner conducted waywardly – now very fast, now surprisingly slow – but the articulation of the orchestra was precise and tone was glowing. The chorus sang brilliantly in the melee at the end of the second act. The other principals were Herta Glaz, Hans Hopf (who sang the Prize song admirably), Richard Holm, Paul Schoeffler, Herbert Janssen, Alois Pernerstorfer, Gerhard Pechner, and the same list of secondary people as before.

Search by season: 1951-52

Search by title: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg,

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