[Met Performance] CID:15630



Lohengrin
Metropolitan Opera House, Mon, December 2, 1895

Debut : Lola Beeth


In Italian



Lohengrin (97)
Richard Wagner | Richard Wagner
Lohengrin
Jean de Reszke

Elsa
Lola Beeth [Debut]

Ortrud
Eugenia Mantelli

Telramund
Mario Ancona

King Heinrich
Edouard de Reszke

Herald
Antonio De Vaschetti


Conductor
Anton Seidl







Review 1:

Review of Reginald De Koven in The New York World:

Whether it was on account of the influence of Tristan or not, I do not know, but I confess to having found the performance of "Lohengrin" last night decidedly tame. And it was not the fault of the opera either, for apart from the de Reszkes, who as the King and Lohengrin were, as always, unexceptionable and satisfying, I did not find the work of the cast productive of great enthusiasm. It was the original intent of the management-why heaven only knows-that Lohengrin should have been in French last night. But Jean de Reszke was not prepared, or not willing, and so Mlle. Lola Beeth, who made her American debut as Elsa, was compelled to learn the role in Italian in the short space of a week. The fact must be taken into account, in judging her performance last night. I heard Mlle. Beeth some years ago in Vienna, where for ten years she was prima donna at the Imperial Opera House, and carried away many pleasant recollections of her work in a number of roles. But revengeful time brings certain disabilities in its flight, and I fear Mlle. Beeth has not escaped them. I liked her portrayal of Elsa from a dramatic standpoint immensely; her action was sympathetic, reposeful, distinguished, appropriate, and picturesque to a degree. The quality, too, of her voice is both fresh and agreeable. But whether on account of nervousness or because she caught the infection from Mme. Mantelli, whose voice last night was more ready and intermittent than usual, or on account of the inherent and radical defects of the German vocal method, which the passage of time tends to intensify in all singers who use it, Mlle. Beeth's vocal emission struck me as decidedly uncertain uneven and wavering. She did not seem able to hold a tone at all without a tremolando, which was neither artistic nor agreeable. She certainly sang better at the end of the opera than at the beginning, and I am therefore inclined to think that had she not allowed the size of the Metropolitan to impress her unduly she would not have forced her tones so much, and would in consequence have sung much better. At any rate, I was not by any means as much pleased or impressed with Mlle. Beeth in New York as I was in Vienna. Sig. Ancona as Telramund did efficient work as usual, and the orchestra under Mr. Seidl gave a most effective rendering of the score. Sig. Vachetti, I fear, had his head turned by the many pleasant comments passed on his performance of the Herald the other night, for last night he was evidently careless from the ill-considered assurance hour of brief success, and made a very bad breakdown in the second act by singing painfully off key. Even two great di Reszkes cannot make a performance of Lohengrin entirely satisfactory. I still live in the hopes of that time, it may not arrive till the millennium, when I may hear the chorus in Lohengrin sung in tune throughout the opera.



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