Metropolitan Opera Archives

The curtain came down on the last of the three "Ring" cycles at the Metropolitan last night with the final performance of the season of "Götterdämmerung" in which Karl Liebl made his first appearance here as Siegfried.

The completion of three "Ring" cycles in one season, something that has not happened in New York in many years, has proved that the German wing of the company is far from dead and furthermore that the public for German opera, particularly Wagner, has not diminished and [?}appreciably with the years. Although there were a few empty seats here and there last night, most of the performances have been sold out.

Most important, the performances generally have adhered to a high artistic standard. Despite constantly changing casts, due to illness and other commitments of the singers, there have been no really bad nights, and the presence at the conductor's desk at every performance of Erich Leinsdorf, who said farewell to the Metropolitan last night preparatory to assuming conductorship of the Boston Symphony, assured a continuity of style and musical integrity with as few ups and downs as were humanly possible in a theater that does not specialize in this particular genre.

A performance of "Götterdämmerung" which is neither spectacularly bad nor spectacularly good can be appallingly dull. This performance was not spectacular in either direction, yet it managed to avoid being dull, thanks to the presence of veterans in key positions who knew what they were doing at every moment and could give the ring of authenticity to the whole procedure.

Veterans, of course, are apt to be battle-scarred, and some of them were last night. Margaret Harshaw, who has been a great Brünnhilde in her day, still sings beautifully and affectingly when Wagner's dynamics do not require her to force the vocal cords too much. But when power is called for, the voice becomes hard and edgy. But she knows the role backward and forward, and as she built it up the inconsistencies of the voice seemed to matter less and less.

Karl Liebl's voice no longer is in its prime, but one wonders if it was ever equal to the Heldentenor demands of Siegfried. It has a certain brightness at the top, but the low range is day and colorless and sometimes barely audible. But, again, Mr. Liebl is an experienced and intelligent Wagnerian who knows what he is about, and there was dignity, if not splendor, in his vocal delivery. On the histrionic side, he did not look or act a bit like Siegfried, but who does?

Jean Madeira appeared for the first time this season as Waltraute, and she made her long, emotional appeal to Brünnhilde with sustained dramatic persuasiveness. Heidi Krall, pretty and appealing, substituted for Gladys Kuchta as Gutrune, and Margaret Roggero replaced Mignon Dunn as Flosshilde.

A special word should be said for Gottlob Frick's Hagen. He made a chillingly sinister figure and his dark, cavernous bass was projected nobly. His acting, however, was tentative and he should correct a very bad habit of keeping time with bodily movement.

Search by season: 1961-62

Search by title: Götterdämmerung,

Met careers