CARMEN:Bizet
Lewis; Horne, McCracken, Amara, Krause
Original Air Date: 03/10/1973
SID.19490530
I was surprised to find that there is only one other Horne-McCracken Carmen broadcast (from a year later with Reardon for Krause). The loss to the broadcasts is the premiere of the production with them under Bernstein (there is a commercial DG recording, but esp. for McCracken, live is very different). Most of the protagonists in Met broadcast Carmens have been represented back to 1937 with Ponselle. There are three 1950s performances which include two Joses from Mario del Monaco,and one with Giuseppe di Stefano, all with Stevens. I’ve heard excerpts of these, and they should be broadcast. The second Del Monaco from 1957 features Mitropoulos in the pit, so that would be first on my list. The DiStefano has been available on private recordings and features Di Stefano breaking her arm (literally) and her clearly saying Put my arm down. I would put in a word for Borodina’s 2001 Carmen (she has been streamed in recent years) with Richard Leech and snappy conducting from Bertrand de Billy. Vocally she is the most glamorous Carmen in some time, and especially so on this broadcast. This is not my kind of Carmen. Horne was very good when she opened the season under Bernstein, but the performance became steadily less subtle vocally,and by the time Lenny was gone, I found it very vin ordinaire Same cast and conductor (except Reardon for Krause) broadcast it again a year later in a performance available on MOoD. The performers are no better.