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The Metropolitan Opera Company gave its first "Rosenkavalier" of the season Friday evening to the delight of a packed house. George Marek, of RCA-Victor, once confessed that in selling records he just called them operas, never grand operas, for fear of scaring Mr. and Mrs. Average Music Fan. Well, Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal had the same idea when they wrote "Der Rosenkavalier." This was no opera they said, but a musical comedy. And they might have added, the perfect musical comedy. It is a wonderful blending of mockery, satire, romance, heartbreak and hokum. It was von Hofmannsthal who suggested that Strauss compose a waltz for the piece, to give it a true Viennese flavor. The Maestro proceeded to fashion not one, but several, of the schamltziest ever to flow from an inspired pen. Ironically, and yet fittingly, he bestowed the loveliest of them on the gauche and goatish Baron Ochs, the heavy of the glorious frolic.

The Met gave the Strauss-von Hofmannsthal gem the works. There was Karl Boehm, a distinguished acquisition to the roster of conductors this semester, on the podium. His baton caught all the brilliance of the gorgeous score. There was Herbert Graf's

staging which, of course, was in the tradition. There were Rolf Gerard's handsome settings and costumes, made possible by a generous gift from the Metropolitan Opera Guild. The first-nighters got quite a kick when Octavian drove up to the Von Faninal palace in a coach behind a real horse. And they relished the singing and miming of an excellent cast.

Over the years, Lotte Lehmann made the Princess von Werdenberg synonymous with her own name. In our time she had no equal as the Marschallin. But we are happy to report that Lisa Della Casa is a worthy heiress to the role. Her interpretation of the aging beauty who realizes that she must lose her cavalier to a younger woman had true poignance and warmth. Otto Edelmann was Baron Ochs to the life: He etched the rotund rake with satiric strokes that had just the right touch of pathos in them. His singing and acting were cut from the bolt of genuine robust comedy. Rise Stevens, a perennially popular Octavian, and Hilde Gueden, as the Sophie he wins through the Marschallin's compassionate intervention, were delightful. Salutes also should go to Thelma Votipka, Ralph Herbert, Alessio De Paolis, Martha Lipton, Kurt Baum and Marsha Warren for helpful contributions.

Minor faults there were, here and there, but such was the gaiety of the evening that to point them out would ungracious. All the lucky ticket holders had fun. That was evident from their lusty applause. And what superlative fun! However, some among us were dabbing at moist eyes with handkerchiefs in those bittersweet moments of the Marschallin's renunciation and resignation. If you happen to have a friend with an aversion to opera houses, just take him or her to the Met for a performance of "Der Rosenkavalier." If you don't have a convert on your hands, we'll attempt to eat a libretto right off a lobby stand. For here is the most enjoyable and rewarding introduction to good music around town.

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