[Met Performance] CID:3120



Lohengrin
Metropolitan Opera House, Mon, December 8, 1884




Lohengrin (11)
Richard Wagner | Richard Wagner
Lohengrin
Anton Schott

Elsa
Auguste Seidl-Kraus

Ortrud
Marianne Brandt

Telramund
Alkuir Blum

King Heinrich
Josef Staudigl

Herald
Joseph Miller


Conductor
Leopold Damrosch







Review 1:

Review in The Mail and Express

Lohengrin at the Metropolitan Opera House.

When "Lohengrin" was produced here many years ago - at the old Stadt Theatre we think - the plan on which it was constructed was so novel, the instrumental and vocal effects were so startling, and the whole work proved so great a departure from the traditional operatic form, that many of its beauties remained unrecognized. Nor have the Italian performances given here since then revealed all the noble and lofty features of this work. The tendency to sentimentalism characteristic of even the greatest Italian artists, the desire for self-display bred and encouraged by their native composers as well as by habit, the inability of Italian conductors to grasp the philosophy of the story as well as the musical and dramatic depth of the score, and the hopeless, pitiable confusion and despair of the choruses have prevented a full appreciation of "Lohengrin" in this country. The work was said to be too long, the score unmelodious, and complaints were made that there were no tunes which could be recalled and whistled on the way home. The gravest objection, however, was that the music often became so loud as to seriously interfere with the conversation of those who go to the opera to talk and not to listen - to be heard, not to hear.

With a performance like last night's, however, these complaints should cease. "Lohengrin" has now been revealed in all its beauty. Its moving story, in which supernatural purity, kingly dignity, womanly love and womanly despair, sinful, ambitious and sorcerous hate are so artistically made the elements of a powerful drama, was acted so graphically; and the music, which, reflecting all these varied elements, enriches and enforces the plot, was sung with so much animation and feeling that no one could fail to be deeply impressed. There was, in fact, every indication that the production of? "Lohengrin" by Dr. Damrosch's company has wrought a deep impression. Last night's was the third performance, yet the house was crowded and the representation followed with unflagging interest. At times during the progress of the acts the efforts of the Wagnerites to suppress applause were of no avail, while after every fall of the curtain the enthusiasm was unbounded.

The result is the more gratifying because the success is not that of any one artist but of "Lohengrin" as a work. In all the performances the harmonious rendering of the music- drama as a whole has been the first consideration, and with this object in view, the individual efforts of the principal artists concerned have been so well harmonized and so well balanced that no character has become unduly prominent or assumed more importance than the intentions of the poet-composer seemed to warrant. In such subordination to the aims of the composer, in their readiness to always keep the proper performance of the work as a whole in sight, and to regard a comprehensive and complete representation as their greatest triumph, the German singers have placed themselves above the level of mere interpreting artists. They are entitled to our gratitude as well as admiration, and they will find their worthy reward in the fact that their names will be inseparably associated with the most important epoch in the history of music.

In our notice of the first performance of "Lohengrin" we indicated what each of the principal singers accomplished in his or her part. Later on, as "Lohengrin" is repeated from time to time, we propose to take up each character separately, showing how Wagner developed it dramatically and musically and how it is interpreted at the Metropolitan. We shall also have further opportunity to speak more specifically of the work of the chorus and orchestra.



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