On April 20th, 1999, my then-boss Bryan Hester and I attended a performance of Alban Berg's WOZZECK at The Met. Aside from being an opera (and a production) we both loved, Bryan and I were keen to see the great Hildegard Behrens in one of her finest roles.
Ms. Behrens was a singer who stood in my highest echelon of operatic performers: along with Leonie Rysanek, Maralin Niska, Shirley Verrett, and Jon Vickers, she was a unique and deeply committed artist whose performances - even when the voice didn't entirely cooperate - thrilled me to the core. I had seen her in most of her Met roles: Elettra in IDOMENEO, Sieglinde, all three Brunnhildes, Donna Anna, Tosca, Salome, Senta. Santuzza, and Elektra, whilst inexplicably - and regrettably - missing her Giorgetta (TABARRO), Isolde, and Leonore in FIDELIO. I also attended a Verdi REQUIEM (!) and a recital she sang at Carnegie Hall, and a concert performance of ELEKTRA at Tanglewood in 1988 that was one of the greatest Behrens triumphs:
Hildegard Behrens - Allein! Weh ganz allein! - ELEKTRA - Ozawa cond - Tanglewood 1988
But, getting back to the 1999 Met WOZZECK: she was riveting as always, and there was an exciting ovation at the end. As Bryan and I were heading out onto the Plaza, I said: "Let's go and say hello to her!"
In those pre-9/11 days it was somewhat easier to get backstage at the Met than it was later to become. When we told the security guard that we worked at Tower Records, he waived us thru.
It was eerily quiet as we walked down the long corridor to the dressing rooms; we seemed to be the only people who had come backstage. The dressing room doors were all open, but only someone from wardrobe was hovering about.
We approached the 'prima donna' dressing room and could hear the unmistakable speaking voice of Ms. Behrens: low-toned and a bit rough. We knocked timidly, and stepped into the room. She was having a very quiet conversation with young Jonathan Press, who had played her child in the opera. She looked up, and greeted as if she'd been expecting us. We told her we worked at Tower and she said, "Yes, I know!", although later Bryan and I could not recall ever having met her at the store.
She talked so quietly and intimately, accepting our compliments with smiles and nods. She had recently sung her first Kundry in Europe, and I asked if we would be hearing her in that role at The Met. "Oh, I would love to...but you'll have to ask Jimmy!"
Since she was speaking to us almost as friends, I felt just a bit awkward asking her to sign my program. She did so, and then we wished her goodnight.
That evening turned out to be her penultimate performance at The Met; she sang one last Marie (a broadcast) on April 24th, 1999, and never appeared on that stage again. Her Kundry never happened here in New York, nor did other roles I had sometimes imagined her in: Ortrud, Medea, Puccini's Minnie, Janacek's Emilia Marty, or Schoenberg's ERWARTUNG.
We heard later in 1999 that Hilde (as we always called her) had been awarded the Lotte Lehmann Ring by the Vienna State Opera. She continued to perform in Europe, including such roles as Kostelnicka in JENUFA and Cassandre in LES TROYENS.
In 2009, I was shocked to read of Ms. Behrens' sudden death of a heart attack while in Tokyo, where she was planning to give a recital. She was 72.
Over the past few months, I have been scanning my autographed photos and playbills; the autograph Ms. Behrens gave me on that April evening in 1999 was not in the box with my other mementos, though I could not imagine having misplaced it or given it away. Then yesterday, while sifting thru a box of items we'd never unpacked after our move from Perry Street to Inwood, the missing document was found. I had framed it, so it got separated from the rest of my souvenirs. And here it is:
Here's a brief scene with Hildegard Behrens as Marie in WOZZECK.
~ Oberon