[Met Performance] CID:180610



Lohengrin
Metropolitan Opera House, Fri, December 26, 1958

Debut : Giulio Mollica, Arnold Knight, Arthur Backgren, Walter Hemmerly




Lohengrin (506)
Richard Wagner | Richard Wagner
Lohengrin
Brian Sullivan

Elsa
Lisa Della Casa

Ortrud
Margaret Harshaw

Telramund
Hermann Uhde

King Heinrich
Otto Edelmann

Herald
Mario Sereni

Noble
Giulio Mollica [Debut]

Noble
Arnold Knight [Debut]

Noble
Arthur Backgren [Debut]

Noble
Walter Hemmerly [Debut]


Conductor
Thomas Schippers


Director
Dino Yannopoulos

Set Designer
Charles Elson





Lohengrin received five performances this season.

Review 1:

Review of Robert Sabin in Musical America
After two seasons' absence, Wagner's "Lohengrin" was restored to the Metropolitan's repertoire with a new conductor, Thomas Schippers, and two new cast members, Lisa Della Casa (Elsa) and Mario Sereni (King's Herald). The others were in familiar roles: Brian Sullivan (Lohengrin), Otto Edelmann (King Henry), Hermann Uhde (Telramund), and Margaret Harshaw (Ortrud).

Since this was not a memorable performance, its history can be brief. Mr. Schippers conducted the work à la Puccini, which resulted in some very strange tempos, balances, and stylistic traits. The Prelude, for instance, became a pale pastel, instead of a burning vision. And he devoted most of his attention to the orchestra instead of to the stage, where it was sadly needed.

Miss Della Casa has a lovely voice and a beguiling stage presence, but her very Viennese Elsa, complete with portamentos and sighed-out phrases, was scarcely at home in a Wagner opera. As a matter of fact, the best singing of the evening was Mr. Sereni — robust, clear, and consistently smooth in texture.

Mr. Edelmann is a staunch Wagnerian, but he was not in best voice, and he had trouble with the deeper reaches of the role. Mr. Uhde, always a powerful actor, had similar troubles with his top phrases, though, like Mr. Edelmann, he had the assurance of a veteran artist.

Mr. Sullivan sang the title role far better when Fritz Stiedry was at the helm, though he gave a sincere and devoted performance on this occasion. The painfully obvious fact that the performance had not had sufficient rehearsal was not his fault or that of the other singers. Miss Harshaw, too, was not in best form.

To complete my regretful report I must add that the excellent Metropolitan chorus hit some perilous snags. When the organ burst forth in Act II in an entirely different key from the orchestra (apparently no one had thought of tuning them together) it seemed somehow symbolic of this hapless evening.

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