Music: Met's Metamorphosis

• Share

(3 of 5)

Contracts, Plans. When Edward Johnson sailed home from Europe this summer, he carried in his trunk as many contracts, in his head as many new plans, as anyone could desire. He had hired such singers as Poland's Gertrud Riinger, whose dramatic soprano made her a favorite in Berlin; Soprano Franca Somigli, who grew up in Manhattan as plain Marian Clarke, won fame four years ago in Europe and delighted Mussolini; Soprano Gina Cigna, who earned a gold medal studying piano at the Paris Conservatory, has been a star at Milan's La Scala ever since Toscanini recommended her there six years ago. Much was expected of Kerstin Thorborg, tall young Swede whose contralto won her first place at the Stockholm Royal Opera.

Aside from Lucrezia Bori who resigned last spring (TIME, April 6), 16 singers were not scheduled to return this year. Johnson declared he would stick to last year's plan of fostering young talents by planting them in the spring season, but that they must not be billed for the regular season. Firmly he let it be known that this year would be one of weeding out incompetents.

Sensitive about the long-languishing French & Italian operas, Johnson scoured Europe for a man who could resuscitate them. In Paris he was struck by a fresh, vividly staged Fidelia; in Vienna he applauded a crisp mounting of Tannhauser. Finally in Salzburg he overtook and engaged the man responsible for both: young, sleek-haired Dr. Herbert Graf who was working with Toscanini. In his 33 years Graf has won a doctorate from Vienna University for his thesis Richard Wagner as Stage Director, staged more than 50 operas including Modernist George Antheil's Transatlantic. Known for his direct, challenging technique which he learned from the cinema and the Russians Stanislavsky, Tairoff and Meyerhold, he won fame by staging the most energetic Falstaff Philadelphia ever saw, increased his reputation when he mounted Mozart's Escape from the Seraglio and Gluck's Alceste in Florence's Boboli Garden last year. Hardly had he stepped off the boat in Manhattan last month when he was rushed to Cleveland to stage Elektra under Conductor Artur Rodzinski.

In his still new role of Metropolitan manager, Edward Johnson chose Die Walküre to open his season next week, the first time in 35 years a Wagnerian opera has been first-nighted at the Metropolitan. Artur Bodanzky will be the first-night conductor, but a new conductor has been engaged, Portuguese-born Maurice de Abravanel, and an old one re-engaged, Richard Hageman, who will be on hand to direct the U. S. premiere of his Capon-sacchi. Another U. S. premiere was to be Cimarosa's more-than-a-century-old Secret Marriage. Both operas are to be sung in English. Manager Johnson also plans revivals of such operas as Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann, Wagner's Flying Dutchman, Saint-Saens's Samson et Dalila, Smetana's Bartered Bride (held over from last spring), Rimsky-Korsakov's Le Coq d'Or (for which Lily Pons spent this summer learning how to dance & kick), Mozart's Don Giovanni, Bellini's Norma.