Talk story about Leonie Rysanek. Writer explains a major operatic career usually lasts about 25 years, but one of the remarkable exceptions is Leonie Rysanek, who was recently in town to sign 2 performances of Sieglinde in the Metropolitan Opera's production of "Die Walkure"--a role she first performed in 1951--and to appear at Carnegie Hall in a concert version of Janacek's "Jenufa." At 61, she is still one of the great singing actresses of the postwar generation, and a few days before her performance, writer watched her rehearse for "Die Walkure." She was pacing through her movements with Phebe Berkowitz, the stage director. Also in the auditorium was James Levine, the Net's artistic director, who was Miss Rysanek's conductor for "Walkure." He said he'd heard her sing Lady Macbeth in 1959. Tells of his recollections about her. After the rehearsal, writer spoke to Rysanek in her dressing room. Tells about her career, including how she was catapulted into the international scene when she sang her first Sieglinde, in the "Ring" cycle that reopened the Bayreuth Festival, in 1951. In the '60's, Miss Rysanek said, she had gone through a very public vocal crisis. With the encouragement of Rudolf Bing, she continued to work. Today she's given up most of her big roles because they tire her. Tells about the shorter parts she'll sing.
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