Metropolitan Opera Archives

Three members of the cast appeared in their roles for the first time in the season's final performance of Strauss's "Arabella." They were Jean Fenn, as Zdenka; Walter Cassel, as Mandryka; and Paul Franke, as Count Elemer. Miss Fenn looked charming as the boy who turned out to be a girl of such explosive fashion, but her voice did not carry well in the heavier passages and it sometimes lacked luminosity of quality at the top, a matter of great importance in the duets with Arabella and in other ensembles. Nonetheless, she sang with deftness and assurance. Less at ease and less secure was Mr. Cassel. He sang the two great love duets with Arabella almost at half voice, but to his credit it should he said that he made the scene in Act II deeply touching, for all his vocal tentativeness. With more rehearsals and more experience in the rôle, he might well become an excellent Mandryka. Mr. Franke was an engaging Elemer.

Eleanor Steber again sang the title role eloquently. The other leading artists, in familiar roles, were Ralph Herbert, as Count Waldner; Martha Lipton, as Adelaide; Brian Sullivan, as Matteo; Laurel Hurley, as Fiakermilli; and in other roles, Clifford Harvuot, Lawrence Davidson, and Thelma Votipka. Rudolf Kempe turned a performance that could easily have been nervous and unsteady into a glowing interpretation. He obviously has this score in his blood.

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