[Met Performance] CID:189900
Götterdämmerung {182} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/19/1962.
(Review)
Metropolitan Opera House
January 19, 1962
GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG {182}
Brünnhilde..............Margaret Harshaw
Siegfried...............Hans Hopf
Gunther.................Walter Cassel
Gutrune.................Gladys Kuchta
Hagen...................Gottlob Frick
Waltraute...............Irene Dalis
Alberich................Gerhard Pechner
First Norn..............Mignon Dunn
Second Norn.............Irene Dalis
Third Norn..............Martina Arroyo
Woglinde................Martina Arroyo
Wellgunde...............Rosalind Elias
Flosshilde..............Mignon Dunn
Vassal..................Charles Kuestner
Vassal..................John Trehy
Conductor...............Erich Leinsdorf
Review of Francis D. Perkins in the New York Herald Tribune
Harshaw Sings In 'Ring' Finale
Margaret Harshaw sang the Brünnhilde of "Götterdämmerung" for the first time this season when the closing music drama of Wagner's "Ring" cycle was repeated at the Metropolitan Opera House last night. Both she and Hans Hopf, who reappeared as Siegfried, were not in their best voices in the daybreak scene. As a result, their ecstatic music took on a rather routine character. But, although Miss Harshaw's singing seldom achieved a sense of effortlessness, it gained markedly in her next scene and especially in the second act where there was vivid color and emotional poignancy along with musicianship and dramatic intelligence; her denunciation of Siegfried was notable for its expressive impact.
Mr. Hopf's singing also gained in quality, but his impersonation was reputable rather than memorable. Gladys Kuchta's Gutrune had appealing, while not always firmly focused, tones; Walter Cassel was a well characterized Gunther and Gottlob Frick, a pale and sinister Hagen. Irene Dalis doubled as Waltraute and the second Norn and Gerhard Pechner sang his first Alberich of the season in this performance, under Erich Leinsdorf conductorship.