[Met Performance] CID:128130



Lohengrin
Metropolitan Opera House, Fri, February 23, 1940




Lohengrin (437)
Richard Wagner | Richard Wagner
Lohengrin
Ren? Maison

Elsa
Kirsten Flagstad

Ortrud
Marjorie Lawrence

Telramund
Julius Huehn

King Heinrich
Norman Cordon

Herald
Leonard Warren


Conductor
Erich Leinsdorf







Review 1:

Review of Robert Lawrence in the Herald Tribune

Maison Sings in "Lohengrin" With Flagstad

Huehn and Cordon Also Have Roles in Wagner Opera at Metropolitan

A bridal duet of rare eloquence was set forth by Kirsten Flagstad and Ren? Maison in last night's "Lohengrin" at the Metropolitan Opera House. The great soprano was in her best voice as Elsa. Her enactment of the role has gained in subtlety and delineative power until its every aspect is now a moving experience.

The collaborating artist, Mr. Maison, was also at his best in the bridal chamber scene, where the lyrical beauty of his singing created a deep impression. Psychologically, he made Lohengrin what few other tenors have succeeded in depicting - a lonely visionary, wanting desperately to descend from the higher plane of Montsalvat into the prosaic world about him, but misunderstood and rebuffed even by the maiden he defended. Mr. Maison was never self-righteous last night, and his characterization bore conviction. Yet not all of his vocalism reached the same degree of excellence, and his glittering sequin costume of the first and last acts make him unduly conscious of his stage deportment. The radiance of Lohengrin should come entirely from within.

Julius Huehn was again the Telramund, Leonard Warren appeared as the Herald, and Norman Cordon delivered the music of King Henry with such consummate beauty of tone that he definitely crossed the boundary last night that stands between a promising young basso and an artist who has arrived. Marjorie Lawrence, the Ortrud, sang at times with brilliant effect, but her bearing often lacked dignity and her costumes looked as if they had been salvaged from a secondary theatrical warehouse.



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