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[Met Performance] CID:236550



Der Rosenkavalier
Metropolitan Opera House, Sat, February 16, 1974

Debut : Brigitte Fassbaender, Manfred Jungwirth, Linda Mays, Valerie Lundberg, Richard Abrams







Der Rosenkavalier received seventeen performances this season.

Review 1:

Review of Harriett Johnson in the Post

Boehm Leads 'Rosenkavalier'

In "Der Rosenkavalier," Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal created far more than the work they described as a "comedy for music" breathing the baroque splendor and stepped-up joie-de-vivre of 18th century Imperial Vienna. Out of their collaboration came their greatest stage lady, the Princess von Werdenberg, more familiarly known as the Marschallin, a beauty who understood the limitations of life and could face the reality of a poignant situation with grace. She was adventurous enough to enjoy a young lover when her husband the Field Marshal was off hunting, but wise enough to come to terms with herself when she sent him off as the bearer of the symbolic rose, realizing that in doing so she might very well lose him.

Evelyn Lear in Debut

Saturday night the Metropolitan Opera presented "Der Rosenkavalier" for the first time this season with Evelyn Lear in the title role for the first time in America. Miss Lear was as chosen to take over the part when star soprano Birgit Nilsson, originally scheduled for the Marschallin, became desperately needed for extra assignments in the Wagnerian repertory. Karl Boehm, the greatest living Strauss expert, now nearing 80 and still seemingly the ultimate in vigor, conducted an incandescent performance and received ovations from the audience whenever he appeared to begin each act. He was aided by a cast that provided one of the most thoroughly satisfying performances within memory in the house. They made the most of the work's humor, warmth and elegance.

The Met has had some of its most illustrious artists sing the Princess, most notably Lotte Lehmann, but Miss Lear held her own and brought something very distinctive and ingratiating to the part. In Miss Lear the Met chose a slim singer very different physically from the typically Viennese, ample statuesque prototype of the Empress Maria Theresa that the creators of "Rosenkavalier" had in mind. But by current standards she was more beautiful than any of these. More important, she brought to the part the quintessence of emotional maturity. She had an inner vitality linked to vocal beauty that had as many ramifications as the character of the Marschallin, herself. The voice was not so sturdy as many who have sung the part, but in its sheen there was an ecstasy that suited the Lady's extraordinary personality. When the Princess, considering, herself aging at 32, told her 17-year old lover, Octavian, "Deep in my heart I know how the world's joys cheat and elude us-that all things must pass like mists, like dreams" - Miss Lear's voice was as poetic as the lines.

Robert O'Hearn's elegant set for Act I made us feel that we could be in Schoenbrunn Palace itself and in such surroundings we heard the German soprano, Brigitte Fassbaender, make her debut as Octavian, the rose-bearer. Miss Fassbaender's voice had ease and vitality and she brought a believable masculinity to the part. She portrayed Octavian as more the rugged young man, hail-fellow-well-met than the elegant aristocrat he was, but her interpretation was still valid: passionate and impetuous as he should be.

Manfred Jungwirth

The debut of Manfred Jungwirth, a bass with a baritone ring, as Baron Ochs, brought with it a different and welcome interpretation. His Baron was a little wistful and not so loutish as most. The creators intended him to be crude, scheming, boorish but in the whole context, Jungwirth's Ochs was all of these tempered by a certain reserve and grace. Even in his dancing he was graceful. Altogether he was not a caricature as he is often played.

Edith Mathis sang her first Sophie at the Met and she was only passably successful as her high notes were forced and her characterization was somewhat awkward. William Dooley made an excellent impression in his first von Faninal. Leo Goeke's Singer showed his superior tenor voice when he sang the part's one aria with fervor. Yet he forced continuously. He should learn to conserve his voice, not push it so relentlessly.

Photograph of Brigitte Fassbaender as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier by James Heffernan.

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Met careers

• Karl Böhm [Conductor]
• Brigitte Fassbaender [Octavian]
• Evelyn Lear [Princess von Werdenberg (Marschallin)]
• Manfred Jungwirth [Baron Ochs]
• Edith Mathis [Sophie]
• William Dooley [Faninal]
• Mildred Miller [Annina]
• Andrea Velis [Valzacchi]
• Leo Goeke [Italian Singer]
• Carlotta Ordassy [Marianne]
• Michael McClain [Mahomet]
• Douglas Ahlstedt [Princess' Major-domo]
• Linda Mays [Orphan]
• Joyce Olson [Orphan]
• Valerie Lundberg [Orphan]
• Maureen Smith [Milliner]
• Charles Kuestner [Animal Vendor]
• Donald Mahler [Hairdresser]
• Andrij Dobriansky [Notary]
• John Trehy [Leopold]
• Richard Firmin [Lackey]
• Peter Sliker [Lackey]
• Lou Marcella [Lackey]
• Edward Ghazal [Lackey]
• Robert Schmorr [Faninal's Major-domo]
• Charles Anthony [Innkeeper]
• Richard Best [Police Commissioner]
• Nathaniel Merrill [Production]
• Robert O'Hearn [Designer]
• Richard Abrams [Stage Director]