Word: wagnerism
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Meistersinger von Nürnberg is a devilishly difficult opera to perform well. At the very least, Composer Richard Wagner wrote requirements for a heldentenor of exceptional stamina, and power enough to vault the massed forces of the Wagnerian orchestra, and a baritone of considerable theatrical skill to probe the complex character of Cobbler Hans Sachs, one of grand opera's most intriguing heroes. It can also benefit greatly from a well-drilled chorus and properly poetic settings. Last week an audience at the Metropolitan Opera House saw a Meistersinger that had all of these attributes and more...
Caustic Caricature. Meistersinger was wholly different, from the very first notes of the theme of the mastersingers-the guild of vocalists in 16th century Nürnberg that the opera celebrates. Because Meistersinger, Wagner's only attempt at comedy, deals entirely with real people and with none of the composer's familiar Teutonic gods and goddesses, it demands more realistic stagecraft than most of the Wagnerian operas. Last week, the story of the knight Walther's love for the goldsmith's daughter Eva, and of how he won both her and the mastersingers' song contest...
...Andrew Marton, Gerd Oswald. Among the advisers: General d'Armee Pierre Koenig, Lieut. General James Gavin, Lord Lovat, General Gunther Blumentritt, Frau Lucie-Maria Rommel. A few of the stars: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Richard Burton, Jean-Louis Barrault, Curt Jurgens, Robert Ryan, Rod Steiger, Robert Wagner, Richard Beymer, Mel Ferrer, Jeffrey Hunter, Peter Lawford, Kenneth More, Richard Todd, Leo Genn, Stuart Whitman, Eddie Albert, Edmond O'Brien, Red Buttons, Sal Mineo, Tommy Sands and Fabian...
That should have been that. But it wasn't. Inevitably, Buckley's move gave Morgenthau's three active opponents a chance to raise a cry of "bossism." At the same time, it enraged some delegates who had supposed that Wagner really meant it when he vowed to fight to the death against Buckley's brand of political feudalism...
...evening, Morgenthau delivered a listless acceptance speech to a hall half filled with dead-weary delegates. He spoke with all the enthusiasm of a Georgia sixth-grader reciting the Emancipation Proclamation, and even his ritual invocation of New York Democratic heroes-Al Smith, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Herbert Lehman, Robert Wagner-won only tepid applause...