[Met Performance] CID:132030
Der Rosenkavalier {79} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/27/1941.
(Debut: Kurt Baum, Gerhard Pechner
Review)
Metropolitan Opera House
November 27, 1941
DER ROSENKAVALIER {79}
R. Strauss-Hofmannsthal
Octavian.....................Risë Stevens
Princess von Werdenberg......Lotte Lehmann
Baron Ochs...................Emanuel List
Sophie.......................Eleanor Steber
Faninal......................Walter Olitzki
Annina.......................Irra Petina
Valzacchi....................Alessio De Paolis
Italian Singer...............Kurt Baum [Debut]
Marianne.....................Thelma Votipka
Mahomet......................Sari Montague
Princess' Major-domo.........Emery Darcy
Orphan.......................Natalie Bodanya
Orphan.......................Lucielle Browning
Orphan.......................Anna Kaskas
Milliner.....................Annamary Dickey
Animal Vendor................Lodovico Oliviero
Hairdresser..................Michael Arshansky
Notary.......................Gerhard Pechner [Debut]
Leopold......................Ludwig Burgstaller
Coachman.....................John Gurney
Musician.....................Wilfred Engelman
Faninal's Major-domo.........John Dudley
Innkeeper....................John Dudley
Police Commissioner..........Norman Cordon
Conductor....................Erich Leinsdorf
Director.....................Désiré Defrère
Set designer.................Hans Kautsky
Costume designer.............Alfred Roller
Der Rosenkavalier received seven performances this season.
Review of Howard Phillips in unidentified newspaper
Two Singers Make Debut In "Rosenkavalier" Roles
The season's first "Rosenkavalier" at the Metropolitan on Thursday night was the occasion for the debut of Kurt Baum as the Italian singer and Gerhard Pechner in the role of the notary in an otherwise familiar cast. It was Mr. Baum's excellent singing of the difficult first act serenade with its murderous tessitura, which provided the most pleasant surprise of the evening. It was gratifying to hear this music sung with full-bodied tone which carried to the farthest reaches of the opera house.
After a dullish [first] act, there was a marked improvement which found Strauss' delightful comedy moving at a brisker pace, and with a sparkle and gaiety so sadly lacking in the [first] stanza. For this initial listlessness, Mr. Leinsdorf's lethargic conducting was largely, if not entirely responsible. Certainly Madame Lehmann as the aging Princess von Werdenberg and the Octavian of Miss Stevens did little to liven the proceedings.
Moving and poignant as is the Princess of Madame Lehmann, the singer was far from her vocal best, coming to grief in several of the top notes in the glorious final trio.
So far as Miss Stevens is concerned, we have heard her in the role of Octavian to much better advantage. The voice has sounded bigger, warmer, her interpretation less given to superficial posturing. For there is no denying the visual appeal of Miss Stevens in effective and becoming masculine garb, as well as the too infrequent moments when her lovely voice poured out freely and lusciously. Mr. List's Baron Ochs was as always a lively and comic portrait, and Miss Steber's Sophie was excellent, sung, particularly in the final act. Others in the large cast included Messrs. Olitzki, de Paolis, Cordon and Darcy, and Mmes. Votipka, Petina, Bodanya and Kaskas.