Word: wagnerism
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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...
Soprano Ingrid Bjoner was generally first rate as a shyly aggressive Eva. Bass Karl Doench was appropriately repellent as Beckmesser, the malevolent town clerk whom Wagner created as a caricature of one of his most caustic critics-Viennese Music Critic Eduard Hanslick. The chorus and extras were drilled with spectacular precision, creating at the end of Act II one of the most convincing pillow-throwing, hair-pulling riots a Met Meistersinger has ever seen...
...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...
...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...