[Met Tour] CID:354779



Die Walküre
Yale Bowl, New Haven, Connecticut, Tue, June 6, 1916




Die Walküre (180)

Brünnhilde
Johanna Gadski

Siegmund
Johannes Sembach

Sieglinde
Melanie Kurt

Wotan
Clarence Whitehill

Fricka/Waltraute
Ernestine Schumann-Heink

Hunding
Carl Braun

Gerhilde
Rosina Van Dyck

Grimgerde
Florence Mulford

Helmwige
Lenora Sparkes

Ortlinde
Vera Curtis

Rossweisse
Rita Fornia

Schwertleite
Lila Robeson

Siegrune
Marie Mattfeld


Conductor
Artur Bodanzky





The Metropolitan Opera House Orchestra augmented to 100 musicians
The performance of "Die Walküre" in the Yale Bowl scheduled for tonight was postponed until tomorrow evening because of wet seats and damp air following a shower late in the afternoon. The artists remain tonight and will visit Yale tomorrow. There is a brilliant scene at the Taft Hotel tonight and it is expected that 25,000 will see the performance tomorrow, many of whom are already here.

Review 1:

From The New York Times, 06/02/1916
STARS REHEARSE IN BOWL.
Opera Audience of 30,000 Expected for "Die Walkuere" Monday Night.


Rehearsals for the production of Wagner's "Die Walküre." which is to be made in the Yale Bowl next Monday evening. began here today. The principals--Mmes. Gadski. Schumann-Heink. and Kurt, and Messrs. Sembach, Whitehill, and Braun-arrived here and began experiments on the acoustic problems involved in the production. The orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera Company will come here tomorrow, and then, under the direction of Arthur Bodanzky, general rehearsals will be held until the time of the performance.


The construction of the stage began this morning. One of the problems will come with the Installation of the apparatus to make a curtain of steam for certain of the scenic effects. The Yale Dramatic Association will have spent $30,000 for the construction of the stage and amphitheater alone before the curtain rises on Monday night. The audience will number between 25,000 and 30,000, and it is said this will be the largest audience which has ever heard an opera out of doors. Review 2:

Review from The New York Times, 06/06/1916

"WALKUERE" IN YALE BOWL.

20,000 Plainly Hear Wagner's Opera with Metropolitan Stars.

Although threatening weather curtailed the attendance at the open-air production of Wagner's "Die Walküre in the Yale bowl tonight to only about 20,000 people, the success of the experiments in acoustics and adapting electrical effects to open-air performances of the kind was so pronounced that the idea will be speedily developed.

S. Kronberg, who brought the Metropolitan opera singers here, tonight said that he now regarded the innovation as past the experimental stage, and he will duplicate the acoustic and electrical effects used tonight in his tour of the Middle West with the -same company of soloists, beginning Thursday night in Pittsburgh. Had cloudless skies prevailed tonight an audience of 30,000 was promised, but the expense of $35,000 incurred in the production was covered and there will be a slight surplus for the Yale School of Music, under whose auspices the company visited this city. The management issued a denial that one cent of the profits would go to the German army fund.

The principals were cordially received, but the applause was clearly aimed at recognition of artistic cleverness rather than at individual popularity. The stage was pitched on the football gridiron, fifty yards from the grandstand seats, yet the words of the opera were easily distinguishable in the distant seats on the parapet of the bowl. The wild outdoor settings and the brilliant electrical effects combined to give a glamor to the scene which seemed peculiarly fitting to "Die Walküre," and the production was an artistic success.

The principal rôles were sung by Mme. Johanna Gadski, Mme. Melanie Kurt, Mme. Schumann-Heinle. Johannes Sembach, Clarence Whitehill, and Carl Braun. Arthur Bodanzky conducted the Metropolitan Opera House orchestra of 103 pieces.



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