DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER:Wagner
Original Air Date: 03/05/1960
Schippers; London, Rysanek, Liebl, Tozzi
SID.19030319
This is the first of Rysanek’s five Senta broadcasts and she is paired with her longtime Dutchman partner, George London. Most of this cast re-assembled in London for a studio recording under Dorati, but the sound was never quite right, and the electricity of a live performance definitely not there. Rysanek’s two greatest roles for me were Senta and Empress in Frau. Her Senta was simply one of the greatest evenings in the theatre in 50 years of operagoing. Both this and two later Dutchman broadcasts with her are available in MOoD. This performance follows by less than 24 hours Leonard Warren’s onstage death in Forza. Warren had been Rysanek’s husband in her Met debut in Macbeth two years earlier. The fourth performance of the matchless combination of London and Rysanek. Three years later there is another broadcast under Bohm, which is on Met Player. This is the first broadcast pairing of Rysanek and London together. They were an unbeatable pair, and although I prefer Bohm’s rendition, this is best one for London. Best broadcast of the week by far.
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