Above: Hertha Töpper as Octavian in DER ROSENKAVALIER
[Update: Hertha Töpper passed away on March 28th, 2020, at the age of 95]
I’ll never forget listening to Strauss’s DER ROSENKAVALIER for the first time: it was a Saturday matinee broadcast from the Old Met at Christmastime in 1962. I was 14 years old and had been in love with opera for three years.
At that time, the German operas were not easy for me; I had made it thru my first broadcast RING Cycle in 1961 and I seem to recall having been more thrilled by the story than by the music. ROSENKAVALIER, with its long conversational stretches, posed a challenge all its own. But the singing of the three female leads in the opera’s final scene moved me deeply, and when the broadcast ended I sat down and wrote fan letters to all three of them: Hertha Töpper (Octavian), Anneliese Rothenberger (Sophie), and Régine Crespin (the Marschallin). Within days I received replies from all three.
Metropolitan Opera House
December 22, 1962 Matinee/Broadcast
DER ROSENKAVALIER
Octavian.....................Hertha Töpper
Princess von Werdenberg......Régine Crespin
Baron Ochs...................Otto Edelmann
Sophie.......................Anneliese Rothenberger
Faninal......................Ralph Herbert
Annina.......................Rosalind Elias
Valzacchi....................Paul Franke
Italian Singer...............Sándor Kónya
Marianne.....................Thelma Votipka
Mahomet......................Marsha Warren
Princess' Major-domo.........Robert Nagy
Orphan.......................Loretta Di Franco
Orphan.......................Nadyne Brewer
Orphan.......................Dina De Salvo
Milliner.....................Lilias Sims
Animal Vendor................Frank D'Elia
Hairdresser..................Harry Jones
Notary.......................Gerhard Pechner
Leopold......................Erbert Aldridge
Lackey.......................Joseph Folmer
Lackey.......................John Trehy
Lackey.......................Lou Marcella
Lackey.......................Edward Ghazal
Faninal's Major-domo.........Andrea Velis
Innkeeper....................Charles Anthony
Police Commissioner..........Norman Scott
Conductor....................Lorin Maazel
Ms. Töpper sent me the gorgeous photo which appears at the top of this article. Ever since then, this has remained the quintessential image of Octavian for me. As it turned out, Octavian was Töpper’s only Met role, though she had an enormous career in Europe.
Here’s a sampling of the Töpper Octavian, with Erika Köth as Sophie:
Hertha Töpper & Erika Köth – Presentation of the Silver Rose ~ ROSENKAVALIER
Hertha Töpper was born in 1924 and made her operatic debut at Graz as Ulrica in BALLO IN MASCHERA in 1945. By 1951 she was singing at Bayreuth, and had debuted at Munich as Octavian. She went on to sing at all the major opera houses and festivals of Europe; among her most prominent roles were Brangäne, Carmen, Fricka, and Dorabella. She also was a well-loved recitalist and concert singer, specializing in the music of Bach.
A couple of years ago, by chance, I plucked Töpper’s recording of Bartok’s BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE (in German) from the library shelf; it proved to be a revelation, with fantastic singing from both the mezzo and the great Dietrich Fisher-Dieskau, and truly atmospheric conducting by Ferenc Fricsay.
~ Oberon
Oberon's Glade 