Metropolitan Opera Archives

anyway - was, as always, one of the supreme pleasures music has to offer. Of all the Wagner operas, this is the most human, the only one that has charm. When Pogner sings the "Johannistag," or Sachs the "Fledermonolog," anybody who knows the opera achieves a kind of identification with living, breathing humans. Tristan, Siegfried, Parsifal - they are bigger than life, archetypes; they move on a different level. But Sachs is one of us.

The opera has been missing from the Metropolitan Opera repertory since the 1963-64 season. In its return Friday, it was seen in the relatively new O'Hearn-Merrill production, a production universally admired. It sits well on the new Metropolitan stage - as solid-looking and medieval as ever. The only thing missing is the moon that used to rise over Nürnberg during the second act in the old Metropolitan days.

The cast was for the most part familiar. Giorgio Tozzi had been scheduled to sing the central role of Sachs for the first time, but he became ill, and Otto Edelmann replaced him. Ezio Flagello sang Pogner, Jean Fenn was Eva, Sandor Konya was Walther, Karl Dönch was Beckmesser and William Walker was heard as Kothner Two singers were new. Mildred Miller sang her first Magdalene at the house, and Loren Driscoll made his debut as David. Joseph Rosenstock conducted.

"Die Meistersinger" received a good, steady performance, one on a par with performances anywhere on the international circuit. For that, we can be thankful. Whatever the reason - the pace of life, pressures, the jet plane and all the others that have been advanced - the fact still remains that we are not breeding today a race of Wagner singers to replace the great ones of the past, the Rethbergs, Schorrs, Branzells and Slezaks. But on this occasion, the cast consisted of professionals who sang with artistry, sparked by a conductor who knows his business.

Mr. Edelmann used his voice with immense skill, and provided a mellow, dignified characterization. The role of Sachs, of course, is pivotal, and Mr. Edelmann was big enough artistically to dominate the performance.

Mr. Konya provided the opposite side of the coin to Mr. Edelmann's mature approach. Whatever might be thought of his acting, there can be no denying the spirit, freshness and ardent quality of Mr. Konya's voice. Vocally he is one of the most distinguished tenors to sing Walther since the days of Slezak, just as you would have to go back to Gustav Schützendorf to find a Beckmesser on Mr. Dönch's level. Mr. Dönch's characterization is completely rounded. It is spiteful, but seldom a caricature; and in those few moments he stoops to horseplay for an easy laugh, it might be wondered how much is his own contribution, and how much the direction is at fault.

Talking about the direction of this "Meistersinger," it remains, on the whole, intelligent. But something really should be done about the mob scene at the end of the second act. The encounter between David and Beckmesser is ludicrously handled, and the pillows flying around the sage are reminiscent of the great days at Camp Mo-ho-ho-haha, when the sardines engaged in great battle with the goldfish.

Mr. Flagello sang sonorously and beautifully. The beautiful Miss Fenn acted well, and for the most part sang clearly and strongly, though she really should try to get more color into her voice. Miss Miller sang a well-routined Magdalene, even though it was her first at the house, and Mr. Driscoll displayed a firmly produced, impressive tenor sound in his debut as David, which happens to be one of the most ungrateful roles in the literature.

Most singers dressed in short pants and trying to emulate an adolescent do look a little silly, and Mr. Driscoll was no exception. But he sang with fullness of voice, and with his history of Broadway experience - he was Freddy in "My Fair Lady"- should get the acting problems licked after a few performances.

Special praise should go to Mr. Rosenstock. He always has been a persuasive interpreter of "Die Meistersinger," and his conducting on this occasion had tenderness as well as power. His tempos flowed naturally, and his work was imbued with a tradition of Wagner conducting that is becoming rarer and rarer.

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