“CARMEN : Bizet
Original Air Date: 04/03/1954
Cast: Kozma; Stevens, Tucker, de los Angeles, Guarrera
Media: MOD Audio SID.17480636 Tags: Archive; 2017
This is a standard Met Carmen from the 50s, with especially rich vocal performances from Tucker and DeLos Angeles. Stevens is a Met icon, but again one needs her visuals to get the full effect. Stevens broadcast Carmen 11 times,4 under Edward Johnson’s regime in the 40s and
7 times under Bing, 4 of them with Tucker, 2 with Del Monaco, 1 with Di Stefano.
This revival of Carmen had been originally under the baton of Pierre Monteux who had previously conducted the work 1917-1919!!!. Kozma gets a good review from Robert Sabin in Musical America. Although this as this is only the 3d Sirius week of rebroadcast in the last 5 years, it is now available in the Met’s streaming service, MOoD.”