Especially for Hamburg, the Italian-American composer and director Gian Carlo Menotti composed Hilfe, Hilfe Die Globolinks!, an opera ‘for children and for those who love children’. The premiere took place in 1968 and a year later it was filmed in the studio.
I must confess that I’m not a big fan of children’s operas, but I’ve been shamelessly enjoying this one. It is an irresistible fairy tale about aliens (Globolinks) who are allergic to music and can only be defeated by means of music.
The images are very sensational for that period, full of colour and movement and the forest little Emily (the irresistible Edith Mathis) has to go through with her violet to get help is really frightening. The aliens are a bit of a let-down according to modern standards, but that doesn’t matter, it gives the whole a cuddly shine. The work is bursting with humour and irony; musical barbarians are lashed out at: the school principal who doesn’t like music turns into an alien himself.
There are also a lot of one-liners (“music leads you to the right path” or “when music dies, the end of the world is near”). It is incomprehensible a work like this is not performed all the time in every school (and I don’t mean just for the children), the subject is (and remains) very topical.
None of the roles, including the children, could be better cast, and this once again proves the high standard of the Hamburg ensemble. In which other city would you find so many great singers/actors who can perform so many different roles on such a high level?
Ariodante (Ginevra)
Listening to Janet Baker is always a feast. Her Ariodante sounds old-fashioned heartwarming.
Warm-blooded too. And sopranos Edith Mathis (Ginevra) and Norma Burrowes (Dalinda) are a pure joy to listen to.
Edith Mathis sings “Si, morrò, ma l’onor mio”:
Nozze di Figaro (Susanna)
This reconstructed production of Die Hochzeit des Figaro (yes, it is sung in German) is of great historical value. But it has more to offer; the production is magnificent, the orchestra of the Hamburg Opera under conductor Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt is excellent and the singers are all idiomatic.
The American baritone Heinz Blankeburg is a droll Figaro and as Susanna, Edith Mathis is simply wonderful. I would actually like to shout it from the rooftops: this is how Susanna is meant to be! The young Tom Krause is a more than delightful Count and Arlene Saunders as the Countess, is a real match for him (and his timbre).
Cherubino
From 1960 on, all operas performed at Glyndebourne were recorded live. The more-than-valuable archive began to be polished off and transferred to CDs in 2008.
It was no coincidence that it was precisely Figaro’s Wedding that inaugurated the new series: after all, that opera gave the go-ahead to the new festival in 1934, which is now among the most prestigious in the whole world.
Gabriel Bacquier does not immediately associate you with Almaviva, and the Contessa is not the role you think of in connection with Leyla Gencer, but they both sing beautifully, with a great sense of nuance. The rest of the cast is also fantastic, headed by Mirella Freni (Susanna), then still at the beginning of her career, and the very young Edith Mathis as the ideal soprano-Cherubino
Salzburg Festival 1966 directed by Karl Böhm:
Rosenkavalier (Sophie)
Montserrat Caballé (Marschallin) is a beautiful, young and spirited Marschallin, who enriches the role ‘at his Caballés’ with the most beautiful pianissimos and legatos.Teresa Zylis-Gara is a wonderfully light-sounding Octavian and Edith Mathis a Sophie who sounds like a 15-year-old girl. Otto Edelmann (Ochs) completes the fantastic recording
Edith Mathis as Sophie, here with Tatiana Troyanos (Octavian) in Salzburg 27 July 1969:
Zauberflöte (Pamina)
I think it’s one of the most important Magic Flutes ever, especially because of the singers! Shall I name them? Nicolai Gedda, Hans Sotin, the young Franz Grundhebber, Edith Mathis, Kurt Moll; Fischer-Dieskau, Kurt Moll , the very underrated William Workman and ….. last but not least! YES! Our ‘own’ Deutekom in her parade role.
Edith Mathis & Nicolai Gedda in „Mein, o welch ein Glück!’
Edith Mathis died 9 Februari 2025, only three days before her 86th birthday Rest in Peace Grandiosa!
Lohengrin arrives in Antwerp, painting from the Lohengrin mural cycle, by August von Heckel , Neuschwanstein Castle
For me (definitely not a Wagnerian!), Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin ranks as high as his Tannhäuser : I can never get too much of it. No wonder my Lohengrin shelf is well-stocked. A selection of recommendations and turn-offs.
CD’S
GEORG SOLTI
My favourite CD recording is the one conducted by Georg Solti (Decca 4210532), mainly because of the conductor. It starts already with the overture: very mysterious yet with both feet on the ground. Very sensitive, but also emphatically real without any sectarianism; no Hare Krishna here, but no Halleluja either.
Despite all the swans, Lohengrins do not usually fall out of the sky. Before officially recording the role Domingo had been preparing for it for almost twenty years. His Lohengrin is loving and warmblooded.
Jessye Norman was the perfect Elsa in those days; young and innocent with a voice that completely blows you away. Fischer-Dieskau’s Heerrufer is a matter of taste, but Siegmund Nimsgern and Eva Randová are a perfectly vicious pair!
Domingo’s baptism of fire in the role of Lohengrin was in Hamburg in 1968. He was then 27 (!) years old. It was not only his first Wagner, it was also the very first time he sang an opera in German, a language he did not yet master.
Fragments of the performance have been preserved (e.g. Melodram MEL 26510). His voice sounds like a bell, with a lot of bronze and a golden shine. The high notes are high and sung in full. Where can you still experience a Lohengrin like this? So beautiful that it makes you want to cry.
His Elsa was Arlene Saunders, at that time a much-loved prima donna in Hamburg, today she is totally forgotten. How unjust! Saunders was not only an amazingly good singer, she was also a beautiful woman and an exemplary actress.
MAREK JANOWSKI
Marek Janowski is considered one of the best Wagner conductors of our time, but his Lohengrin, recorded live in Berlin in November 2011 (PentaToneClassics PTC 5186403) is a little disapppointing to me.
Janowski conducts very carefully, too carefully for me, making the overture most like an overly- stretched mush. Fortunately, he soon recovers and in the second act he makes the menace palpable. In the Wedding March, he makes the notes flow nicely into each other and he succeeds very well with his choice of tempi, all the while neatly restraining the orchestra. Yet I cannot escape the impression that he loses himself into the details.
I am not a fan of Annette Dasch, I find her voice a bit ‘ordinary’, but perhaps it does suit the character of Elsa? Susanne Resmark is a decent Ortrud, with a big voice and a nice dark timbre. But her ample vibrato is sometimes annoying.
The rest of the singers are certainly superb, but there is one problem: they do not blend. Klaus Florian Vogt’s sound is very ‘white’, his timbre quite sweet and his approach very lyrical. Beautiful, yes, but frankly I’ve had it by now with the same thing over and over again: he doesn’t develop. Moreover, he cannot compete with the deep low sound of Günther Groisböck (Heinrich) and the truly phenomenal volume of Gerd Grochowski (Telramund). In the ensembles, he simply shrinks away to nothing.
Below Günther Groisböck sings the ‘Gebet des König Heinrich’
BERTRAND DE BILLY
One of the newer Lohengrins, at least on CD, was conducted by Bertrand de Billy and recorded live at the Frankfurter Opern in March 2013 (OEHMS classics OC946). Judging by pictures in the textbook, we are to be happy that the production was not released on DVD but on CD!
Camilla Nylund is a wonderful Elsa, for me perhaps the best Elsa of recent years. Michaela Schuster, meanwhile, has made Ortrud into one of her showpieces, although there is something in her interpretation that displeases me a little. For Falk Struckman (King Heinrich) I am willing to commit murder, so I will forgive him for his voice becoming a bit unstable. The German-Canadian tenor Michael König (Lohengrin) is new to me. His voice and interpretation really make me quiet, so beautiful and so moving! Just because of him and Nylund, I am going to cherish this recording!
ERICH LEINSDORF
Back in time for a moment. In 1943, Erich Leinsdorf conducted a wonderful Lohengrin at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (Sony 88765 42717 2). The overture is to die for, just like a fairytale. I can’t get enough of it.
Lauritz Melchior is of course the Lohengrin of the era and Astrid Varnay sounds surprisingly lyrical. It’s a pity that she pronounces the consonants so very emphatically, something I don’t like. Alexander Sved is a very authoritative Telramund and Kerstin Thorborg a good Ortrud.
FRITZ STIEDRY
Opposite Leinsdorf’s recording is a 1950 recording under Fritz Stiedry (Walhall WLCD 0146). His approach is very down-to-earth, straightforward, which is also amplified by the poor sound quality. But it is undeniably beautiful and very surprising.
The singers also: Helen Traubel is a delightful Elsa and Astrid Varnay has been promoted from Elsa to a very impressive Ortrud after those seven years. And then Herbert Janssen’s Telramund: what a voice and what an impressive interpretation.
DVDS
AUGUST EVERDING
Even on DVD there is no shortage of good, not so good or even ridiculous performances (long live the director!). I start with an undoubtedly fine performance from the Metropolitan Opera, recorded in 1986 (DG 0734176) .
August Everding’s production is very traditional, with ditto costumes and sets. It is very beautiful, but for me there is something missing, as if the soul has been taken out of the performance.
But then there is Leonie Rysanek (Ortrud) and you have to keep looking at her with fascination. Just watch her glance at Elsa’s accusation. Delightful! James Levine conducts with verve and gives all the shine to the score, truly magnificent. Watching his face while he conducts is also fascinating; it shows complete commitment to the music.
Below, Leonie Rysanek as Ortrud:
GÖTZ FRIEDERICH
It was August Everding who first recognised Götz Friedrich’s enormous qualities. It was also he who ensured that Friedrich was appointed chief producer in Hamburg after his escape from the GDR.
Contrary to what is written about him, Friedrich never saw himself as a representative of ‘Regietheater’. On the contrary, his productions are very faithful to the libretto and the music. Do not expect strange concepts from him.
The Lohengrin he made in Bayreuth in 1982 (Euroarts 2072028) is, for me, among the opera’s finest productions. It moves between harsh reality and the utopian dream world of an adolescent girl. Karan Armstrong is a beautiful woman and a great actress, but her tremolo is very annoying at times. Peter Hofmann is in every way a dream Lohengrin: with his handsome looks, clad in white and silver, he seems to have literally stepped out of a girl’s reveries. Elisabeth Connell is an impressive Ortrud and Bernd Weikl a terrific Heerrufer.
Below is a short excerpt from the production:
NIKOLAUS LEHNHOFF
That Nikolaus Lehnhoff was very familiar with Friedrich’s production is obvious. Like Friedrich, he omits the swan. Lohengrin (Klaus Florian Vogt in one of his best roles) is preceded by a ray of light, giving him the allure of a 1950s pop star. Talk about girlish dreams!
Light and soft, like the first rays of the rising sun, this is how the first bars of the overture sound. In the middle of the stage, shrouded in shades of dark blue and black, Elsa ( a very poignant Solveig Kringelborn) comes up, her hands on a chair. This chair will remain the centre of her universe, and her only foothold, from now until the end of the opera. The feeling of loneliness takes hold of you, and you realise that things will never work out, all the knights and swans notwithstanding. The most striking thing about this brilliant Baden-Baden production is its matchless lyricism. The singers seem to have walked straight out of Bellini operas and even Ortrud, in the interpretation of the phenomenal Waltraud Meier, is like a Lady Macbeth with human traits. After Götz Friedrich, this is for me the best Lohengrin on DVD (Opus Arte OA 0964D)
Below is a scene between Elsa and Ortrud:
RICHARD JONES
Does the libretto speak of a regime? Dictatorship? Persecution and/or lack of democracy? Yes? Hup, then we simply move the action to the 1930s. So banal, and so clearly a lack of inspiration! I blame Richard Jones especially for the latter. His Lohengrin, in its banality, is not only weird, but also predictable and uninspired. At least for me.
Right at the start the beautiful overture, sublimely and sensitively played by the Bayerischer Staatsorchester under Kent Nagano, is totally destroyed by the picture. We see a girl with dark braids, dressed in green dungarees, sitting at a drawing table, drawing a house.
Lohengrin (Jonas Kaufmann) is a hippy dressed in jeans. He emerges, with under his arm, a big, white plastic swan, which is also mechanically controlled: it pecks around and into its feathers. I find it tacky.
The Munich production, July 2009 (Decca 0743387), marked Kaufmann’s debut in the role of Lohengrin. Did he succeed? Yes and no. His voice is naturally powerful and lyrical at the same time and with a big volume. He does not have to force anything and his highs and lows are beautifully balanced. Yet I miss something in his performance, that little ‘etwas’… Maybe it’s because it’s his debut, but on me he makes a not too happy impression.
Anja Harteros is a heartbreaking Elsa. She plays the role very impressively and manages to combine girlishness with a budding femininity.
Michaela Schuster did not know how to be portray Ortrud at the time, but Wolfgang Koch (Telramund) makes up for a lot. Such a beautiful voice! Deep, grand, supple, lithe, majestic and authoritative. He also manages to impress particularly as an actor. Evgeny Nikitin is a convincing Heerrufer.
Below is the trailer of the production:
HANS NEUNFELS
Recorded in Bayreuth in 2011, Hans Neuenfels’ production (Opus Arte OA 1071 D) is a bit obscure. Because, what are rats doing in Lohengrin? Now… here’s the thing: the Brabanders have been turned into rats by failed experiments and Lohengrin comes to help them, like someone from the animal liberation front. Something like that. Sort of. No, I didn’t think it up and I wouldn’t have been able to understand it if I hadn’t read the reviews. But apparently the enthusiastic (yes, the production was enthusiastically received!) fellow reviewers are either clairvoyant, or they had a special sit-down with the director. Even the overture is teeming with (animated) rats in pink, white and grey. And that’s just the beginning. And to also give away the ending: Elsa’s little brother is a just-born fat baby with the umbilical cord still on…. Annette Dasch looks beautiful and innocent and acts well and Klaus Florian Vogt sings beautifully and lyrically. Once and never again.
In 1967 Liebermann was still in charge of the Hamburg opera house. He made sure they offered a good, solid and varied repertoire with special attention to the contemporary repertoire.He built a fantastic ensemble of singers and attracted foreign stars and would-be stars ( the world career of Plácido Domingo took off in Hamburg).
Liebermann is now regarded as the founding father of Regietheater, (German for director’s theater), although his ideas were very different from today’s conceptualism, in which the boundary between the permissible and the ridiculous is sought and often crossed
The reconstructed production of Die Hochzeit des Figaro (yes, it is sung in German) is of great historical value. But it has more to offer; the production is magnificent, the orchestra of the Hamburg Opera under conductor Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt is excellent and the singers are all idiomatic.
The American baritone Heinz Blankeburg is a droll Figaro and as Susanna, Edith Mathis is simply wonderful. I would actually like to shout it from the rooftops: this is how Susanna is meant to be! The young Tom Krause is a more than delightful Count and Arlene Saunders as the Countess, is a real match for him (and his timbre).
We even get a bit of historical ‘maestro to the pit’ as part of the recording. Atmittedly, the tape is not completely reconstructed, there are gaps and the colours are very much “the sixties”. It doesn’t matter, I’m very happy to enjoy it al (Arthaus Musik 101263)
Giancarlo Menotti. For most Dutch opera lovers, he is no more than a vaguely familiar name. His operas have never been very popular here and performances can be counted on one hand.
A pity, really, because not only is his music exceptionally beautiful (think of a combination of Mascagni and Britten), but the subjects he deals with in his (self-written) libretti are socially engaged and they address current topics.
THE CONSUL
A newspaper article of February 12, 1947 on the suicide of a Polish emigrant whose visa for the USA had been rejected, was seen by Menotti, who sadly remembered the fate of his Jewish friends in Austria and Germany (his own partner, the composer Samuel Barber, was also Jewish). He took this sorry tale and used it as a basis for his first full-length opera. The subject has – unfortunately – lost none of its actuality and The Consul is and remains an opera that cuts right through your soul.
In 1960, it was produced for television, and that registration has been released on DVD by VAI (4266 ). In black and white, without subtitles (don’t be alarmed, there is very clear singing) and extremely dramatically portrayed by Jean Dalrymple.
Patricia Neway sings ‘To This We’ve Come’:
HILFE, HILFE DIE GLOBOLINKS!
This opera is ‘for children and for those who love children’. The premiere took place in 1968 in Hamburg and a year later it was filmed in the studio.
I must confess that I’m not a big fan of children’s operas, but I’ve been shamelessly enjoying this one. It is an irresistible fairy tale about aliens (Globolinks) who are allergic to music and can only be defeated by means of music.
The images are very sensational for that period, full of colour and movement and the forest little Emily (the irresistible Edith Mathis) has to go through with her violet to get help is really frightening. The aliens are a bit of a let-down according to modern standards, but that doesn’t matter, it gives the whole a cuddly shine. The work is bursting with humour and irony; musical barbarians are lashed out at: the school principal who doesn’t like music turns into an alien himself.
There are also a lot of one-liners (“music leads you to the right path” or “when music dies, the end of the world is near”). It is incomprehensible a work like this is not performed all the time in every school (and I don’t mean just for the children), the subject is (and remains) very topical.
None of the roles, including the children, could be better cast, and this once again proves the high standard of the Hamburg ensemble. In which other city would you find so many great singers/actors who can perform so many different roles on such a high level?
Especially for Hamburg, the Italian-American composer and director Gian Carlo Menotti composed Hilfe, Hilfe Die Globolinks!, an opera ‘for children and for those who love children’. The premiere took place in 1968 and a year later it was filmed in the studio.
I must confess that I’m not a big fan of children’s operas, but I’ve been shamelessly enjoying this one. It is an irresistible fairy tale about aliens (Globolinks) who are allergic to music and can only be defeated by means of music.
The images are very sensational for that period, full of colour and movement and the forest little Emily (the irresistible Edith Mathis) has to go through with her violin to get help is really frightening. The aliens are a bit of a let-down according to modern standards, but that doesn’t matter, it gives the whole a cuddly shine. The work is bursting with humour and irony; musical barbarians are lashed out at: the school principal who doesn’t like music turns into an alien himself.
There are also a lot of one-liners (“music leads you to the right path” or “when music dies, the end of the world is near”). It is incomprehensible a work like this is not performed all the time in every school (and I don’t mean just for the children), the subject is (and remains) very topical.
None of the roles, including the children, could be better cast, and this once again proves the high standard of the Hamburg ensemble. In which other city would you find so many great singers/actors who can perform so many different roles on such a high level?
In 1967 was Liebermann nog de baas van het Hamburgse operahuis. Hij zorgde voor een goed, gedegen en gevarieerd repertoire met extra veel aandacht voor het hedendaags repertoire, bouwde er een fantastisch zangersensemble op en trok buitenlandse sterren en would-be sterren (in Hamburg begon de wereldcarrière van Plácido Domingo) aan.
Liebermann wordt tegenwoordig gezien als de vader van het regietheater, alleen bedoelde hij er iets anders mee dan het huidige conceptualisme waarin de grens tussen het toelaatbare en belachelijke opgezocht en vaak overschreden wordt
De zo goed mogelijk gereconstrueerde productie van Die Hochzeit des Figaro (ja, er wordt in het Duits gezongen) is van een grote historische waarde, maar dat niet alleen. De productie is prachtig, het orkest van de Hamburgse Opera is onder dirigent Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt voortreffelijk en de zangers stuk voor stuk idiomatisch.
De Amerikaanse bariton Heinz Blankenburg is een koddige Figaro en als Susanna is Edith Mathis gewoon niet te versmaden. Eigenlijk zou ik het van daken willen roepen: zo is Susanna bedoeld! Zo en niet anders! De jonge Tom Krause is een meer dan heerlijke Graaf en Arlene Saunders een Gravin die perfect bij hem (en zijn timbre) past.
We krijgen als onderdeel van de opname zelfs een stukje historische ‘maestro to the pit’ voorgeschoteld. Goed: de band is niet helemaal gereconstrueerd, er zitten hiaten in en de kleuren zijn echt jaren zestig. Geeft niets, dat alles neem ik graag voor lief. Aanbevolen! (Arthahaus Musik 101263)
Gian Carlo Menotti. Voor de meeste Nederlandse opera-gangers is hij niet meer dan een vaag bekende naam. Zijn opera’s zijn hier nooit echt populair geweest en de uitvoeringen ervan zijn op de vingers van één hand te tellen.
Jammer eigenlijk, want niet alleen is zijn muziek buitengewoon mooi (men denke aan de combinatie van Mascagni met Britten), ook de onderwerpen die hij in zijn (zelfgeschreven) libretti aankaart zijn maatschappelijk betrokken en snijden actuele onderwerpen aan.
Een krantenartikel van 12 februari 1947 over de zelfmoord van een Poolse emigrante wier visum voor de VS was afgewezen, werd door Menotti, die zich het lot van zijn Joodse vrienden in Oostenrijk en Duitsland nog goed herinnerde (ook zijn eigen partner, de componist Samuel Barber was Joods), gebruikt voor zijn eerste avondvullende opera. Het onderwerp heeft – helaas – niets aan zijn actualiteit verloren en The Consul is en blijft een aangrijpende opera die je door je ziel snijdt.
In 1960 werd het geproduceerd voor de televisie, en die registratie is door VAI (4266) op DVD uitgebracht. In zwart-wit, zonder ondertitels (niet schrikken, er wordt zeer duidelijk gezongen) en buitengewoon dramatisch in beeld gebracht door Jean Dalrymple.
Patricia Neway zingt ‘To This We’ve Come’:
HILFE, HILFE DIE GLOBOLINKS!
Speciaal voor Hamburg heeft de Italiaans-Amerikaanse componist en regisseur Gian CarloMenotti Globolinks!, een opera ‘voor kinderen en voor hen die van kinderen houden’ gemaakt. De première vond plaats in 1968 en een jaar later werd het in de studio verfilmd.
Ik moet u bekennen dat ik niet zo’n liefhebber van kinderopera’s ben maar hier heb ik toch schaamteloos van zitten genieten. Het is een onweerstaanbaar sprookje over aliens (Globolinks) die allergisch zijn voor muziek en alleen door middel van muziek bestreden kunnen worden.
De beelden zijn voor die tijd zeer sensationeel, vol kleur en beweging en het bos waar de kleine Emily (onweerstaanbare Edith Mathis) met haar viooltje doorheen moet om hulp te gaan halen is werkelijk beangstigend. De aliens zijn volgens de hedendaagse begrippen een beetje knudde, maar het geeft niet, het geeft het geheel een aaibare glans. Het werk zit barstensvol humor en ironie, er wordt naar de muziekbarbaren uitgehaald: de schooldirecteur die muziek niks vindt verandert zelf in een alien.
Er wordt ook rijkelijk met oneliners gestrooid (“muziek leidt je naar de juiste weg” of “als de muziek sterft is het eind van de wereld nabij”). Onbegrijpelijk dat zoiets niet standaard voor alle scholen (en ik bedoel hiermee niet alleen de kinderen) wordt opgevoerd, het onderwerp is (en blijft) zeer actueel.
De bezetting van alle rollen, inclusief de kinderen, kan gewoon niet beter, en bewijst nog eens de hoge standaard van het Hamburgse ensemble, want waar vind je nog zoveel geweldige zangers/acteurs bij elkaar, die zoveel verschillende rollen op zo’n hoog niveau kunnen brengen?
Basia con fuoco 