newjerseynewsroom.com

BY WARREN BOROSON

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

The Metropolitan Opera’s new season has just begun, and surely almost all of the world’s best singers are going to perform there. So it might be a good time to point out that — as shrewd as the Met has been over the years in choosing its singers — there have been lamentable oversights. Some great singers never sang at the Met.

I’m not talking about people like Jenny Lind, who died in 1887, four years after the Met opened up shop; or Maria Malibran, her father Manuel Garcia, Giuditta Pasta, or other singers whose stars shone during the 18th or 19th centuries. (See “The Great Singers” by Anna, Comtesse de Bremont, Brentano’s, 1892.)

Nor do I have in mind people whom the Met wanted to sing, like Fritz Wunderlich (1930-1966). He was scheduled to perform in “Don Giovanni” when he fell down a flight of stairs in Germany and died — at the age of 35. Or Kathleen Ferrier (1912-1957), the contralto who also died young — and whom Met director Rudolph Bing was interested in. (He mentioned her in his book, “Five Thousand Nights at the Opera.”)

Among the famous operatic singers who bypassed the Met:

Richard Tauber (1891-1948). He did have overtures to sing in the United States after fleeing Nazi Germany, but remained in London.

Conchita Supervia (1895-1936) She sang at La Scala, Covent Garden, and the Chicago Opera. I’ve read that the Met wasn’t interested because her voice wasn’t considered big enough.

Rosa Raisa (1893-1963) At La Scala, she was the first “Turandot,” chosen by Puccini himself. She sang at the Chicago Opera.

Mario Lanza (1921-1959) Someone said that he should have gone to the Met instead of MGM. La Scala wanted him to perform, and the Met is said to have been interested.

Joseph Schmidt (1904-1942) He was a little over 5 feet tall, and supposedly this disqualfied him for the stage. He did sing in the United States, in Carnegie Hall. He died in a refugee camp in Switzerland.

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, the famous Lieder singer, corresponded with the Met about appearing in Das Rheingold, but nothing came of it.

Jeanette MacDonald (1903-1965) After she became famous, she could have sung at the Met — had she enrolled at Juilliard first. She decided against this “backdoor approach.” She also turned down an invitation from the Met to sing in “Romeo and Juliet, as a benefit, a decision she later called a “crashing mistake.” She did sing in opera houses in Canada, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati, after taking lessons from no less than Lotte Lehmann.

I was surprised to discover, in my research, that some famous singers who I thought had never sang at the Met actually did, including Adelina Patti, Dmitri Smirnov, David Devries, and Maria Ivogun. Whether Nelson Eddy ever sang at the Met, I cannot determine. (Some sources report that he sang in 1924, in “Pagliacci.”)

Grace Moore (1898-1947) auditioned for the Met and was turned down — twice. But she auditioned again and eventually made it — possibly because of her connections. (She was not only a fine singer but one sexy dish.)

Of course, some splendid singers never tried to sing at the Met. Like the Russian Antonina Nezhdanova (1873-1950). She never sang in the United States, although she did sing with Enrico Caruso and Tita Ruffo in Paris. (Bernard Shaw wrote that he was glad that he had lived into his 70s, so he was able to hear her sing.) I suspect that, having conquered Russia, she felt she didn’t need any more worlds to conquer.

OK, who was the most famous singer who auditioned at the Met — and was turned down? My guess is: the woman singing this song, heard in the video to the right.

Warren Boroson gives classes on music in New Jersey and in New York.