[Met Performance] CID:127690



Louise
Metropolitan Opera House, Sat, January 20, 1940

Debut : Reno Mabilli




Louise (32)
Gustave Charpentier | Gustave Charpentier
Louise
Grace Moore

Julien
Ren? Maison

Mother
Doris Doe

Father
Ezio Pinza

Blanche
Helen Olheim

Marguerite
Edith Herlick

Suzanne/Young Ragpicker
Lucielle Browning

Gertrude
Irra Petina

Irma
Maxine Stellman

Camille/Artichoke Vendor
Thelma Votipka

?lise
Annamary Dickey

Madeleine
Anna Kaskas

Errand Girl/Street Arab
Natalie Bodanya

Forewoman
Maria Savage

Ragpicker
Douglas Beattie

Ragpicker
Nicola Moscona

Junkman
Louis D'Angelo

Policeman
Anthony Marlowe

Policeman
Carlo Coscia

Painter
Wilfred Engelman

Peddler/Sculptor
George Cehanovsky

Songwriter
Nicholas Massue

Student
Giordano Paltrinieri

Poet
George Rasely

Philosopher
Norman Cordon

Birdfood Vendor
James Demers [Last performance]

Birdfood Vendor
Reno Mabilli [Debut]

Birdfood Vendor
Joseph Santoro

Pope of Fools/Carrot Vendor/Noctambulist
Alessio De Paolis

Dance
Maria Gambarelli


Conductor
Ettore Panizza


Director
D?sir? Defr?re

Designer
Joseph Urban





Louise received three performances this season.

Review 1:

Review of Jerome D. Bohm in the Herald Tribune

Grace Moore Sings "Louise" At Metropolitan

Artists in Charpentier Opera Also Include Doris Doe, Pinza and Rene Maison

For all its undeniably sentimental pages and its unabashed Wagnerisms, "Louise" remains a viable opera, one in which certain aspects of the Paris of 1900 are imaginatively realized for us, a realization all the more poignant because the Paris of forty years ago is gone forever and remains but a nostalgic memory. The sociological problem which once made "Louise" a matter of burning contemporary interest no longer exists. But Charpentier has succeeded here in creating figures of flesh and blood, and while his music is not highly original in its sources, there is considerable atmospheric tone-painting in the score which remains arrestingly suggestive.

Many of these inherent attributes were conveyed in this presentation. Miss Moore's delineation of the central figure remains her most convincing operatic contribution, although her portrayal is not consistently conceived. Moments of true simplicity are contrasted with others in which it is difficult to believe that this Louise is unversed in the ways of life and love. Such a moment was the parting kiss given Julien in the first scene of the second act, which would have been more appropriate had it been bestowed in a performance of "Thais." Much of her singing was effective, invested with tonal and emotional warmth, but as in last year's performances, her delivery of her third-act aria "Depuis le jour," was rhythmically and tonally erratic, well turned phrases being in the minority.

As the mother, Miss Doe's envisagement was often dramatically veracious and her singing, too, served to accentuate the effectiveness of her impersonation. Mr. Pinza, in excellent vocal form, was again a sympathetic figure as the father, although his approach to the part was more Neapolitan than Parisian. The Julien of Mr. Maison, like everything he undertakes, is stamped with the hallmark of sincerity; yet there can be no doubt that he is miscast as a youthful, ardent lover, and it was a much his fault as Miss Moore's that the curtain of the first scene of Act II invoked snickers from various parts of the house.

Some of the most effective bits were contributed by singers entrusted with less weighty parts. The scene in the dressmaking establishment, one of Charpentier's most attractive, was highly diverting. Miss Stellman and Miss Votipka vouchsafing particularly telling touches. Mr. Panizza directed zealously and succeeded in obtaining results from his players. The audience, a huge one, gave frequent demonstrations of approval.



Search by season: 1939-40

Search by title: Louise,



Met careers