In his introduction
to this performance Richard Caniell,
archivist and guiding light of the series
notes at page 5 of the booklet, that
the 1939-1940 season at the ‘Met’ was
a feast for lovers of Wagnerian opera.
The Guild series has already picked
from the Met’s rich orchard including
‘Die Walküre’ and ‘Tristan und
Isolde’ both featuring Melchior and
Flagstad. The roster at the theatre
included the greatest Wagner singers
of the age, and in the case of Melchior
and Flagstad, of any age. Erich Leinsdorf
had taken over the German repertoire
at the house on the death of Arthur
Bodansky in November 1939. Bodansky
is notorious amongst Wagnerians for
the often savage ‘cuts’ he made and
this is true of the present performance.
Over 40 minutes of music are missing
compared to Kempe (EMI ‘GROC’). Worse,
as far as some of the great Wagnerian
singers were concerned, was that Leinsdorf
wasn’t Bodansky who they were used to.
In those days Leinsdorf was considered
lacking in authority and experience.
Whatever the tensions, they were buried
in the creativity of the performance
heard here, with Melchior strong and
secure throughout, even a little lachrymose
in his ‘farewell’ (CD 3 tr. 12). As
Lohengrin’s lover, Elsa, Elisabeth Rethburg’s
silvery soprano shows some signs of
her age; she had debuted at the theatre
as Aida in 1923. Thorborg, two years
her junior and on the Met roster since
1936, is formidable as Ortrud, although
as Caniell admits (p.11), Wagner’s tessitura
defeats her in the ravings in Act 3.
Of the lower male voices
Huehn is steady as Friedrich if not
ideally refulgent of tone (CD 2 tr.
14). He is a paragon compared to List’s
wobbly King. By comparison, in one of
his earliest performances at the Met,
Leonard Warren as the herald gives every
indication of the vocal virtues he was
to bring as the leading Verdi baritone
at the theatre. This was a mantle he
was to wear until his untimely death
on that stage on March 4th
1960 during a performance of La Forza
Del Destino.
This Lohengrin
has appeared on various labels since
the days of ‘EJS’ LPs. With some commendable
restraint Richard Caniell recounts (p
34) how an entrepreneur, posing as a
student, joined the Immortal Performance
Recorded Music Society, who had been
given the right to access the then copyright
NBC performances, and stole various
tape restorations. These including this
performance were issued on various labels
naming ‘Eklipse’ and ‘Walhal’. This
issue has undergone much further work
since then. Whilst still conforming
to the philosophy of unfiltered presentation
and pitch corrections this is perhaps
best compared to the transfer of the
same performance issued on ‘Arkadia’
in 2000. On this Guild issue un-correctable
defects in Melchior’s ‘Höchstes
Vetrau’n’ (CD 3 tr. 6) have been patched
out from other sources, as has the Prelude
to Act I. In an opera so full of pageantry,
sound has an important part to play
in enjoyment. Collectors will need to
weigh the merits of Melchior in the
opera (and the four arias in the appendices)
with that of other interpreters on historical
and more modern recordings and then
decide if investment in this issue will
be worthwhile.
Robert J. Farr
Orchestra and Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera,
New York/Erich Leinsdorf 