Metropolitan Opera Archives

With...all the social amenities out of the way the Metropolitan Opera could settle down Tuesday night to serious matters, namely a performance of Richard Strauss's masterpiece, "Der Rosenkavalier." and the debut of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in the role of the Marschallin.

Although one of the most admired concert artists of out time Miss Schwarzkopf was making her belated appearance on the Metropolitan stage in the same part that served for her American operatic debut nine years ago in San Francisco. She has also recorded the role. So expectation ran high in the capacity, musically-knowing audience before the curtain went up, and the excitement engendered by eager anticipation electrified the atmosphere.

Since the first act is more or less the Marschallin's, the audience knew what to make of Miss Schwarzkopf's performance by the time the act was over. The soprano conquered her listeners, and the roar that filled the house when she took her bows must be the kind that the most vain prima donna could ask for.

When she has sung in "Rosenkavalier" elsewhere, Miss Schwarzkopf's interpretation has inspired some controversy. Last night, her performance was never less than admirable and often it was deeply moving. With her blond radiance, she looked beautiful and behaved with the aristocratic manner expected of the Marschallin. She was constantly projecting the most minute dramatic details suggested by the text in terms of vocal phrasing and coloration and of facial and bodily expression.

If these never seemed artificial there were times when the emotions swept by so quickly and easily one was a little uneasy in their presence. But she was able to do one thing superbly and uncannily: after looking so youthfully happy in her early love scenes with Octavian, she seemed to age physically as she began to think about the passing years and about losing her lover.

This was the element in her performance to which one could not fail to respond, and in the final moments of her deepening awareness of the lonely years ahead she was convincingly and extraordinarily touching.

Vocally, Miss Schwarzkopf is no longer the fresh, pure-voiced artist she used to be. The voice has grown larger. At times it is more shrill; at times it has its old blandishments, and she can still manage lovely high pianissimos.

There were other fresh elements in the performance. Lisa Della Casa, who has sung-and will sing later this season-the role of the Marschallin, appeared as Octavian for the first time with the company. She looked elegant in the second act, less so in the first, and her lovely features did not look well under the male wigs. Her clear voice was not at its best in Octavian's music, since it lies low on the whole, and she tended to phrase sluggishly. Yet she was credibly youthful in action and nicely restrained in the scene where she is Octavian dressed as a maid.

Of the other newcomers to their roles, Norman Mittelmann gave more vocal sonority to the part of Von Fanial than it has had for a long time, and Andrea Velis was his usual expert self as Valzacchi. Lynn Owen made her debut with the company in the vocally ungrateful part of Marianne and handled it satisfactorily.

Anneliese Rothenberger was again a winning Sophie, both in voice and looks, and Mignon Dunn was a fine Annina. Sandor Konya, who sang [in the first night of the season], agreed heroically to appear in the brief but important part of the Italian Singer when the scheduled tenor became indisposed. His voice sounded tired, as it undoubtedly was.

Central to the success of this performance was the conducting of Thomas Schippers, who had not led the opera in the house before. The care and ease with which he paced the first orchestral phrases set the pattern for his interpretation, which was to keep the texture clear, the pace relaxed.

All this did wonders for the singers besides giving the score a chance to make itself heard completely. In a way, it seemed as much Mr. Schippers's night as it did Miss Schwarzkopf's.

Photograph of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf as Princess von Werdenberg by Louis Mélançon.

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