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Waghalter and the Deutsches Opernhaus
But Waghalter, before he could devote his time to composing operas, had to earn a living and complete the apprenticeship that was expected of promising young musicians in turn-of the-century Berlin. So Waghalter turned his attention to conducting, benefiting considerably from the tutelage and example of the legendary Artur Nikisch. Before long, Waghalter was making a name for himself as a conductor at the Komische Oper in Berlin, where he conducted for five years. Then, after a brief engagement at the opera house in Essen, he was recalled to Berlin to become the principal conductor, at the age of 31, at the newly constructed opera house in the Berlin suburb of Charlottenburg. It was opened on November 7, 1912 with a performance of Beethoven’s Fidelio under the baton of Waghalter.
The founders and patrons of the Deutsches Opernhaus in Charlottenburg-Berlin envisioned it as a popular and democratic alternative to the patrician Staatsoper. Critical to this identity was the development of a repertoire that could attract a broader public than that which traditionally patronized the Staatsoper. In this project the musical inclinations and talents of Waghalter played a central role. Waghalter’s melodicism had led him in a direction that was highly unusual for a German composer - toward the music of Giacomo Puccini, whose operas Waghalter championed enthusiastically. He was convinced that Puccini’s music—despite the failures experienced by earlier efforts to introduce the Italian master’s works—could find an audience in Germany.
The great Italian composer was skeptical about the possibility of achieving a breakthrough in Germany, and it was with considerable reluctance that he acceded to appeals by Georg Hartmann, the Intendant of the Deutsches Opernhaus, that he sanction a premier of his newest opera, La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West) in Berlin. Hartmann entrusted to Waghalter the musical direction of the work. Puccini, fearing that the entire project would end in disaster, traveled to Germany to attend the rehearsals. The letters written by the composer in the days before the Berlin premier testify to his extreme anxiety. But the premier in March 1913 was an absolute triumph: the new opera house was rocked by ovations at the conclusion of the final act. According to contemporary press accounts, Puccini and Waghalter shared an astonishing 70 curtain calls!
After the performance, an immense gala was organized to honor the composer. Following the dinner, the guests urged Puccini to perform on the piano selections from his operas. But the composer’s memory failed him. Thereupon, according to an account published in Musical America (April 12, 1913), “Waghalter unobtrusively took up the thread where the composer had lost it, took his place at the piano and played, played, played, humming also the voice parts at times. But Puccini could scarcely believe his ears when Waghalter bade him to give him any cue he liked from any of his operas and he would follow it out. The trial was made and Waghalter acquitted himself brilliantly.”
Astonished by the unexpected triumph, Puccini immediately agreed to a proposal by Hartmann and Waghalter for the reintroduction of the composer’s Manon Lescaut. Five years had passed since its disastrous Berlin premier. In December 1913 Manon Lescaut was performed at the Deutsches Opernhaus. Under Waghalter the opera achieved such a sensational reception that the success was noted in the international press. The New York Times wrote: “The conspicuous event of the early winter music season of Berlin is the signal triumph won by the young conductor, Ignatz Waghalter (leader of the orchestra at the Deutsches Opernhaus at Charlottenburg), with Puccini’s ‘Manon Lescaut.’ The piece failed lamentably when produced for the first time in Berlin five years ago at the Komische Oper, but now as a consequence of the brilliant orchestral treatment given under Herr Waghalter’s direction it is hailed as a masterpiece, certain to retain a permanent place in German operatic repertoires.”
Other Puccini works that received their premier at the Deutsches Opernhaus under the direction of Waghalter were La Bohéme and Tosca.
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